Until now, it felt like falling off a cliff and being swept away by rapid currents.

My father suddenly died, the family collapsed, and I even had a wedding with a man who resembled Ioan so much.

When I fell asleep, I dreamed of the mansion turned into a sea of blood, and when I woke up, I couldn’t tell if this place was a dream or not.

“A dream, a dream…”

Delphine suddenly turned her head to look at the mansion next to the garden.

For a moment, her vision wavered, and she had the illusion that the mansion was being dyed in blood.

“My lady? Your complexion is too pale, are you alright?”

But that was only for a moment.

Delphine, who had unknowingly closed her eyes tightly, bravely opened them again slowly.

The mansion was still peaceful, neither dyed in blood nor filled with sorrowful cries.

“A dream. No, it’s not.”

Delphine’s emerald eyes began to burn again with their original light.

She couldn’t be forever bound by the miserable visions of that day.

“He’ll be late today too, won’t he?”

“What? My lady? Why suddenly…”

“There’s something you need to do for me. …Keep watch for a bit.”

“What?”

Having made her decision, Delphine headed towards the mansion, her dress skirt fluttering.

Delphine walked towards the third-floor study with confident steps, having shaken off her hesitation.

In fact, her father’s death wasn’t that sad.

From the beginning, their father-daughter relationship had been marred by hatred and fear rather than affection.

The grief of losing her father passed quickly, and she had managed to save her life, albeit humiliatingly.

Then should she just be content with having saved her life?

If so, she could certainly do that.

In reality, her current life wasn’t much different from before.

Her father had restricted her from going out before marriage to avoid unnecessary scandals.

So she could just pretend not to know anything, cover up all suspicions, and not question the man’s identity.

Delphine knew there was a way to just continue living like that.

She knew there was a way of survival that involved living with eyes closed and ears blocked.

…But that wasn’t the way she wanted to live.

Her unyielding pride wouldn’t allow such a cowardly attitude towards life.

She didn’t want to die, but she also didn’t want to live as if dead, merely surviving.

Delphine clenched her white fist, through which blood vessels could be seen, and climbed the stairs in one breath.

“Oh my…”

Anna, who was struggling to keep up with those swift steps from behind, muttered softly in a dismayed tone.

“That temperament has come out again…”

That fiery nature that the late master had tried so hard to correct.

Whenever the young miss got like this, he would always make a big fuss…

The old nanny hurriedly began to climb the stairs, chasing after the waving red hair.

As expected.

Anna’s premonition was not wrong this time either.

“My, my lady. From the beginning of your newlywed life… What if you cause a commotion like this…!”

Anna tried desperately to stop her, but Delphine seemed to have already made up her mind and was resolute.

“I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry.”

Unlike the restless Anna, Betty, with her bold personality, had a determined expression.

“Be careful, my lady. I’ll signal if anyone approaches.”

Delphine nodded slightly towards them standing in the corridor, then carefully entered the study.

The room used by the head of the mansion.

Previously, it was her father’s study.

Delphine stood in front of the door for a moment, surveying the room with sharp eyes.

The wallpaper, dark red carpet, and bookshelves filling the walls looked the same as before.

Only a huge mahogany desk and chair, seemingly adjusted to fit the man’s build, had been newly added.

Delphine slowly approached the desk.

It was furniture that boasted unnecessary intimidation, resembling its owner.

On top of it, piles of documents were neatly arranged at military angles.

“The records of that day, that incident, must be somewhere here…”

Delphine picked up the documents and quickly skimmed through their contents.

It was hard to believe from the start that her father had committed treason.

In this empire where the emperor boasts absolute power? Her father who had been so cautious of the imperial family?

Wasn’t he the one who had strived all his life to become a member of the imperial family by using her?

However, no clues were found in the pile of documents sorted in alphabetical order.

Delphine neatly rearranged the documents again and hurriedly turned her gaze back to the room.

Surely, there must be documents or clues summarizing the incident’s contents somewhere…

“Del. Learn this, you might need it someday. …When you’re at the center of it all.”

Her mother had taught her things that other noble young ladies would never have heard or seen, right up until her death.

For example, how to find hidden objects or, conversely, how to hide oneself.

She had also learned how to use a sword in secret, avoiding her father’s eyes.

When she was young, all activities with her mother were just fun, like a game.

After she grew a bit older, she guessed that the ‘center’ her mother spoke of must be the imperial family.

After all, her father had always desperately wanted to become a member of the imperial family by using her.

But now that she thought about it, there were many strange points.

Why would someone destined to become a docile canary in the imperial palace need to learn how to use a sword?

For example, while her father tried so hard to kill her fiery temperament.

‘I can’t ask anymore.’

Why her mother always looked at her with such sad eyes.

What were those screams that occasionally came from the women’s quarters.

Why her father suddenly became ice-cold towards her one day.

“…Perhaps, did you foresee that such a day would come? Mother.”

Muttering softly, Delphine thoroughly searched every corner of the study.

She tapped on suspicious-looking wooden panels and closely examined the books on the shelves.

What Delphine examined most carefully was the huge mahogany desk.

‘No matter how big his body is, is there really a need for a desk this large?’

Delphine opened each unlocked desk drawer one by one, carefully calculating if there might be space for a secret drawer in this enormous desk.

Most of the drawers were empty.

“Does he use a separate study elsewhere…?”

Just as Delphine was about to give up and opened the last drawer, she found a somewhat peculiar object.

It was a small, transparent glass vial.

Interestingly, it contained a pitch-black substance.

“…Is it medicine?”

Or perhaps, poison?

As Delphine muttered curiously and reached for the vial, at that moment.

“M-Master, what brings you here!”

A shrill cry from Betty could be heard from the corridor outside.

It sounded like she was deliberately raising her voice for someone to hear.

Delphine startled, forgetting about the vial she was about to pick up, and lifted her head.

Master… Has that man returned already? So suddenly?

‘…How?’

Delphine hadn’t just stationed a maid in front of the room.

Just in case, she had placed a total of four maids from the mansion’s main gate to the study.

All of them were loyal maids she had saved from Pembrook Manor on ‘that day’.

She hadn’t received any signal from them, so how did he come straight up to the third-floor study?

“Coming to my own study, you ask what brings me here.”

A gentle voice answered Betty from outside the door.

“…It’s almost as if someone has something to hide in here.”

The voice sounded very close, as if he was standing right outside the door.

For a moment, her heart froze.

What should she do? Was she going to be caught?

What if the man tried to kill her?

…Like her father?

In that instant, the bright red blood that had splattered up to the chandelier on the ceiling covered Delphine’s vision.

Her hand, gripping the mahogany desk, began to tremble.

Bang−.

But before she could escape, the study door opened, and a man with a frame so large his head nearly touched the doorframe appeared.

“…What brings you here, wife?”

He asked in a gentle tone, with a smile on his face.

He showed no sign of surprise at seeing Delphine standing in the study. His aristocratic mask remained undisturbed.

What should she say here?

Delphine hid her trembling hands behind her back and answered calmly.

“A book from the library was missing, so I was checking if you might have left it in the study.”

At those words, the man’s eyes crinkled softly as he opened his lips.

“Ah, which book might that be?”

However, there was not a trace of laughter in his brown eyes nestled between his narrowed lids.

Without time to think, an answer sprang from Delphine’s lips.

“‘Ancient Demon Traces and Exorcism Exploration’ by Dr. Malcolm.”

The most famous book related to demonology in the Empire.

Was it because of that newspaper article mentioning demons she had read recently? The name of that book suddenly came to mind.

At that moment.

Just as the name of that book left Delphine’s lips, a crack appeared in the man’s mask-like face.

It was Delphine who was surprised by this reaction.

What was this unexpected response?

The masked man and Delphine, who had imitated his expressionless face, faced each other.

Both had gentle smiles on their lips, but their eyes scrutinizing each other showed not a hint of mercy.

It was the man who broke the silence first.

“I don’t remember leaving it here, but did you find the book, wife?”

“It doesn’t seem to be here.”

Delphine replied nonchalantly, glancing around the study once more.

“Did you return to the mansion because you left something behind?”

“Ah, yes. I left a document that needs to be approved.”

He calmly picked up one of the documents that had been placed on the mahogany desk.

Smile.

The man and woman smiled at each other and walked out of the room with elegant steps.

The door to the study closed again.

“Well then, wife.”

“Yes. Have a safe trip.”

After exchanging static greetings like an ordinary couple, the man went out of the mansion through the entrance again.

After watching him for a moment from the top of the stairs.

Delphine immediately turned around, grabbed her dress skirt, and ran to her chamber.