“Young lady! You mustn’t run so unladylike!”

Ignoring Anna’s shocked cry, Delphine continued running.

From the window of the inner chambers, the entrance of the mansion was visible.

Rushing to the window, Delphine stood there with a tense expression, watching the back of the man growing distant like a dot.

Strange. It’s strange.

They had just exchanged lies with each other.

The document he picked up was one she had already checked.

It was a document that had been approved a week ago.

“…No matter how I think about it, something is strange.”

After confirming that he had completely left the mansion, Delphine hurriedly called for the maids.

However, the result was the same.

All those stationed at the entrance and in the hallway answered that they hadn’t seen him.

The office is on the third floor of the mansion.

There’s no way to reach the third floor without going through the entrance and the central staircase.

Were her loyal maids lying to her?

She doubted it for a moment, but the possibility was low.

Hadn’t the other servants working at the entrance acted as if they had seen a ghost when the man came down from the third floor?

“Didn’t the master leave early in the morning today as well?”

And the book? What was that reaction earlier?

Chewing her lips, Delphine hurriedly called for her faithful butler.

“Wilson.”

“Yes, madam. Did you call for me?”

“We definitely had a book called ‘Investigation of Ancient Demon Traces and Exorcism’ in our library. Could you find it for me?”

“Yes, I understand.”

Wilson had been working at the Pembrook mansion since her father’s time.

After a moment’s hesitation, Delphine asked again.

“And… was there a secret passage in this mansion that could lead to the third-floor corridor without going through the entrance?”

“Not that I know of.”

Wilson shook his head firmly.

Delphine wrapped her arms around herself as if to protect herself from the creeping, strange feeling.

Strange. It’s too strange.

It felt as if she had suddenly been thrown into a marionette puppet show controlled by someone.

It seemed like invisible strings were being pulled behind people.

‘No, perhaps I’m the one being controlled?’

Delphine looked down at the garden where irises were swaying, her face pale.

[This is the timeline separator]

The book never turned up.

That book about demons was one of the banned books designated by the country, not something easily obtainable.

In the first place, it was surprising that such a book existed in this peaceful Pembrook mansion, which is why Delphine remembered it.

The same was true for her father’s rebellion incident diary that she was looking for.

Despite thoroughly searching the entire mansion for days, it wasn’t there.

There was nothing more she could do in the mansion now.

“Do you know how startled this old nanny was? Oh, Lord. To think of rummaging through the office!”

Anna, her timid nanny, had been muttering for days with her hand on her chest.

“It’s fortunate that the new master is merciful, if it were like before, it would have been a real disaster!”

“Yes. Anna, you’re right. It would have been a disaster indeed…”

Sitting in the study, Delphine murmured lowly with her hand on her chin.

Although she failed to find any clues, there was something she became more certain of through this incident.

That man has no intention of killing her.

Even if she glares at him suspiciously. Even if she sneaks into his office.

…Then, how far will he tolerate her?

“Young lady. Are you listening? Always be modest, well-behaved…”

Letting her nanny’s fussy words go in one ear and out the other, Delphine quietly lit up her emerald eyes.

If that’s the case, she should test the limits of his patience.

[This is the timeline separator]

At the guard barracks located in the northern part of Zone 3.

After finishing a brief report, Walter, the deputy commander of the guards, carefully asked.

“Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”

It had been ten days already.

His superior had been carrying out a noisy suppression operation as if to wipe out the seeds of the rebels in Zone 3.

“…”

As always, there was no response from his superior. Walter, gauging his mood, finally added one more word.

“Is this because of His Majesty’s anger?”

There was a reason for him to ask this.

From the Emperor’s perspective, how could he look favorably upon the Captain of the Imperial Guards who dared to take the daughter of a traitor as his wife, defying his orders?

Even the Emperor, who had kept the Captain close like a sword to protect himself, had issued an order prohibiting him from approaching the Imperial Palace, saying, “I don’t want to see your face for a while.”

Rumors were rampant in the capital that the beautiful traitor’s daughter had been placed under house arrest in the mansion.

However, at those words, Pryde only gave a faint smile, as if it were utterly ridiculous.

The Emperor was always anxious, fearing he might lose his power or that an assassin might come for him.

What Pryde feared was not that old coward.

What made him, who never flinched before anything, so afraid was none other than the Pryde mansion.

More precisely, a woman who was quietly residing in his mansion.

His wife.

Lady Pryde.

His thoughts raced towards her before he could rein them in.

The wonderfully undulating red hair and emerald eyes that he often felt were more dazzling than the sun itself.

Whenever those eyes looked at him, containing a flame resembling his own soul, he always…

Oh no.

“…Is this the reason you were in such a hurry to get married, I wonder.”

Pryde roughly spat out a curse.

Walter, who remained in the barracks, flinched for a moment.

Even though he had joined as a knight and had been through rough times on the battlefield, he was still the son of a nobleman.

Hearing such harsh curses that he had never heard before, Walter carefully called out his superior’s name.

“…Lord Pryde?”

But Pryde’s attention was entirely elsewhere.

This was an entirely unexpected crisis.

Who would have thought that he would be unable to control mere lust?

His patience, which had crumbled like a sand castle from the moment he saw her in a wedding dress on their wedding day, was now in a state that could barely maintain its form.

Is this because the fruit of his long patience is right before his eyes, or…

Pryde rose from his seat, his massive body seeming to want to cut off his thoughts.

“…We’re marching out.”

“What? But, my lord. The soldiers are all exhausted from the continuous operations. They need at least one night’s rest…”

“Useless fools.”

Pryde snarled through gritted teeth, then strode out of the barracks without hesitation.

“I’ll go alone. Don’t follow me.”

Left alone, Walter let out a frustrated sigh.

Just like that, they had become useless fools despite carrying out an inhuman schedule for ten days straight.

He muttered as if dumbfounded.

“…Why has she become even more sensitive after marriage?”

Only after his superior left the barracks did he relax, releasing the tension that had stiffened his entire body.

It had been a year since he started serving under the man who had risen as the empire’s hero.

Yet he still couldn’t get used to that overwhelming presence.

He had never felt lacking in spirit in his life, but strangely, whenever he faced that hero, he felt like a small animal before a beast.

It was as if he was facing an existence he should never encounter.

Recalling those cold eyes when cutting down enemies, he shuddered for a moment.

What could have disturbed the mood of that ice-cold man?

Walter found it quite curious to see his superior, who always acted as if he had no heart, showing emotions.

After pondering for a moment, he soon organized his thoughts with the simplicity characteristic of a knight.

He heard he married a great beauty, perhaps the newlywed life isn’t going as smoothly as expected.

Then he neatly arranged the scattered documents on his superior’s desk.

Unaware that among them was one document that had been approved a week ago.

[This is the timeline separator]

In the late dawn.

Pryde, moving his footsteps towards the inner chamber, inwardly murmured.

She’s not asleep today.

With his senses keener than anyone else’s, he could tell even through the door.

Her breathing was different from when she was asleep.

Irregular, and somewhat tense…

In front of the inner chamber door, Pryde paused his steps for a moment, lost in thought.

Should he return to the imperial palace or the barracks like this?

He was most acutely aware that his patience was now almost at its limit.

In this dark dawn, could he really resist this rising impulse if he saw her lying alone in bed?

As he took a deep breath, his chest, filled with muscles, swelled upwards.

His bronze eyes, which had been emanating a cool spirit, became turbid.

His thoughts didn’t continue beyond that point.

He opened the door of the inner chamber somewhat roughly with unhesitating movements.

It wasn’t a decision made with confidence that he could resist his instincts.

Rather, he was in a state where he no longer had the patience to turn away from this sweet temptation.

As expected.

As he deliberately made noise entering, she slowly raised herself from the bed where she had been lying with irregular breaths.

Through the plain curtains, the wavering moonlight brightly illuminated the room without candles.

On the enormous bed sized for his build, his saint was looking at him with her red hair flowing down.

There was an illusion that her transparent skin was faintly glowing in the moonlight.

Feeling his heart greatly stirring, Pryde urgently drew in the breath he had been holding.

But he immediately realized his mistake.

It felt as if his brain was being paralyzed by her scent that filled the room.

“You’ve come home late again today. You seem to be very busy these days.”

The woman, unaware of his circumstances, asked gently.