“So, you’re going to make her a victim of your bestial impulses because you don’t want to lose the bet?”

“Shut your mouth.”

Sched warned again as if he was about to strangle his insolent opponent.

Damn it, whether he wins or loses that bet doesn’t matter as long as he can keep Riana.

“If not that, then why are you being so stubborn!”

Eclas pressed Sched.

A drop of blood fell from Sched’s clenched fist.

He knows. That it’s all his stubbornness. That it’s an attachment that will only leave scars.

That letting her go would make everything right again.

But he can’t do it.

It’s not that he won’t… but that he can’t.

The veins in his temple bulged as he clenched his teeth.

He doesn’t know anymore.

Whether this emotion is vengeance, anger, lingering attachment, or just habitual obsession.

But what’s clear is that he’s not ready to let her go right now.

[This is the timeline separator]

Suddenly, the sunlight touched the tips of her toes.

Riana, who had been crying for a long time, lifted her head.

The sun had completely risen outside the window.

Regardless of her mood, the light filtered through Ideana’s clear sky.

Knock knock.

Startled by the knocking sound, Riana looked at the door with fearful eyes.

“…Lady Riana, are you alright?”

A muffled, polite voice was heard from beyond the door.

It was Eclas.

Riana squeezed her eyes shut.

She should say she’s fine, but her lips wouldn’t part easily.

“You need… treatment.”

Riana clutched her blood-soaked clothes.

“I’ve brought a doctor. May I… come in?”

At his kind inquiry, Riana parted her trembling lips.

“…I want to be alone.”

Her voice, intended to be loud, was choked with tears and lingered in place.

“Lady Riana?”

Unable to hear her response from beyond the door, he asked again.

She couldn’t say ‘I want to be alone’ again.

Because the words she had barely uttered seemed to scatter and become meaningless.

She wiped her hot eyes with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and pressed down all the thoughts she had been accumulating inside.

She stood up and checked her appearance several times.

She examined if anything was wrinkled or disheveled, and not satisfied with repeatedly smoothing it out with trembling hands, she draped a shawl over her shoulders.

Carefully approaching the door, she took another deep breath, practiced forcing up the corners of her mouth, and then grasped the doorknob.

As she slowly opened the door, a neatly dressed man stood there.

His eyes, full of concern, examined her.

Riana noticed a long, thin wound on Eclas’s cheek.

His clothes, unusually buttoned up to the neck, also looked unfamiliar.

She had heard a brief commotion from the direction of Sched’s room earlier.

Something must have happened between Sched and Eclas.

Riana saw that Eclas’s expression wasn’t very good, but regrettably, she had no energy left to worry about him.

“Are you alright…?”

At Eclas’s question, Riana forcibly propped up her crumbling expression.

She wanted to appear as normal as possible.

She wanted to greet him as if nothing was wrong, as if nothing had happened.

But she simply couldn’t voice an answer.

She was afraid she might burst into tears the moment she opened her mouth.

Riana just nodded.

“I’ve brought our doctor. He’s discreet and skilled, so he should be of help.”

He introduced the Bitel family doctor.

An elderly woman bowed politely.

At the doctor’s kind smile, Riana opened the door a little wider to welcome the two.

“I’ll be outside, call me when the treatment is done.”

Eclas stepped back, letting only the doctor enter.

She thought it was somewhat fortunate that he wouldn’t come in.

The doctor asked Riana to sit on the bed and lifted her clothes to check the wound.

“Fortunately, it’s not serious.”

The doctor spoke in a comfortable voice, as if trying to reassure the gloomy-looking Riana.

She said it was fortunate that although the healing wound had reopened, it wasn’t as deep as before.

As Eclas had said, she was as skilled as the Lester family’s doctor.

She calmly examined other areas besides the large wound on the abdomen.

The bite marks on the nape, the dark purple bruises on the wrists, the faint scratches on the ankles and calves from flying porcelain shards.

Seeing the wounds left all over her body, the doctor let out sighs of pity, but didn’t add unnecessary advice or ask about the circumstances.

“…Would you like me to check anywhere else?”

“No. It’s fine…”

Riana said, covering her neck where his teeth marks remained with her hand.

She didn’t want to entrust the treatment of such places to someone else’s hands.

She could do it well enough on her own.

“…Do you need someone to curse with you?”

The doctor who had been quietly observing her asked.

Riana blinked for a moment and then shook her head.

“It’s alright.”

Finally, a faint smile appeared on Riana’s lips.

“Stay as far away as possible. From things like this.”

The doctor left just one piece of advice as she packed her medical bag.

Stay as far away as possible.

It was wise counsel.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

The doctor threw a smile at Riana as if offering comfort and went outside.

As the doctor left, Eclas, who had been waiting outside, came in.

“Is the treatment done well?”

“…Yes.”

Riana nodded.

“Then, let’s move rooms.”

Eclas said calmly, as if everything had already been decided.

Riana looked at Eclas who was deciding her whereabouts.

“Don’t worry. Duke Lester won’t make an issue of it either.”

Eclas said with his arms folded.

It wasn’t something Sched had permitted, nor was it Sched’s decision.

But if Sched Lester had any conscience at all, he couldn’t keep her staying next to his bedroom.

“And now you don’t need to serve close to Duke Lester anymore.”

“Is this his excellency’s decision…?”

“Half of it.”

He nodded.

“So he’s going to keep Lady Riana by his side?”

“That’s…”

“If he’s in his right mind, he won’t be able to do that for Lady Riana’s sake.”

At Eclas’s continued questioning, Sched finally evaded with silence.

He must know.

That things have become too twisted to keep Riana closer.

So Riana will no longer serve Sched closely.

“Then I…”

“For now, since you’re not feeling well, let’s talk about moving you to a place where you can use your body less.”

Eclas showed a warm smile for the first time in a while.

Riana silently nodded.

Not only did she not have the right to decide, but it seemed far better than working by Sched’s side.

“And I haven’t heard an answer yet.”

Eclas took a step closer.

Riana, sitting on the edge of the bed, raised her red-rimmed eyes to look at him.

“Do you still have no thoughts of leaving this place?”

At that, Riana’s lips pressed tightly together.

She lowered her eyelids, momentarily lost in thought.

Honestly, the situation seemed so clear that there shouldn’t be anything more to think about.

Yet why couldn’t she give a simple answer?

What lingering attachment could possibly remain?

Eclas knelt in front of her, deep in thought, and met her eyes.

“Forget about today.”

Riana just silently averted her gaze and lowered her head.

Eclas, who had been watching her, opened his mouth again.

“It was his rut.”

Her small head raised again at the word that popped out of his mouth.

“His rut…?”

Her eyes, reminiscent of green grass, trembled at the unexpected word.

As I thought, she didn’t know at all.

“I wasn’t sure if I should tell you since it’s a sensitive matter for Duke Lester, but after what happened, it doesn’t seem right for you not to know.”

“Ah…”

Emptiness flowed from Riana’s parted lips.

In an instant, all her worries became laughable.

His rut, so that was the reason.

That burning gaze, those kisses that deeply penetrated her with desire, that longing breath stimulating her skin, that excitement and anger.

“So that’s what it was…”

It was all because of that.

Sched didn’t want her, he just needed someone to release his lust on.

She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

Is this fortunate? Or is it even more unfortunate?

Riana bit her lip and then released it.

“…Will you help me leave?”

Eclas was right.

This was no place for her to be.

If she stayed here, Riana felt she wouldn’t be able to control herself.

If Sched were to enter his rut again someday, approaching her with that alluring scent like today, would she be able to resist?

If he showed her love with such intense eyes, could she turn away?

She wasn’t confident.

She didn’t want to be a mere plaything for his simple desires.

She couldn’t let her emotions be handled like a broken doll.

“You’ve thought well.”

Eclas nodded at her voice, filled with resolve.

[This is the timeline separator]

Dietrich awoke from his light sleep to the sound of tapping on the window.

He had barely fallen asleep at dawn, and already an uninvited guest had arrived.

As he rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses, he saw a white messenger bird perched at the window.

Opening the window with a long yawn, the messenger bird landed on his shoulder.

“I wonder what letter the Great Temple has sent again…”

Dietrich mumbled drowsily in a languid voice.

He took out the letter from the message tube tied to the bird’s leg and unfolded it.

As he read through the letter, his drowsy eyes gradually cleared of sleepiness and widened with astonishment bordering on shock.

“This can’t be!”

Just as Dietrich’s startled voice spread out, someone knocked on his door.

“C-Come in.”

“Great Priest, has something happened at the Great Temple?”

The priest seemed to have seen the messenger bird arrive.

“W-Well…”

Dietrich scratched his head and read the letter once more.

“G-Great Priest Giselle Marlhein is coming here. No, she’s already left and is on her way.”

At Dietrich’s words, the priest’s eyes also widened.

Another Great Priest was coming to Ideana.