“For you to speak so first, my lady… Then, may I fulfill our marital rights now?”

The man spoke in a chillingly calm tone as he traced her spine with his long fingers.

Delphine shuddered and writhed at the strange, unfamiliar sensation flowing from her toes.

However, the man’s body, hard as metal, did not budge an inch.

“I assume you made this provocation with proper preparation.”

Those words were the starting signal.

The man pushed his body against Delphine like a violent wave.

Delphine was so overwhelmed by the unfamiliar undulation she had never experienced before that she could barely stand on her feet.

“No, stop, what are you…”

I need to remove his shirt. And I must check that back.

However, as the man’s fiery hot touch caressed every corner of her body, her resolve evaporated all too easily.

Meanwhile, his shirt remained as motionless as his eyes.

At the end of the impulsive provocation, it was she who ended up in a terribly disheveled state.

“Please, stop…”

Despite her desperate plea, his hand traced down the curve of her waist.

Delphine could no longer hold back and sobbed, gasping for breath.

“No, I’m sorry… Let, let go of me.”

She thought he would let go right away.

The movement stopped immediately, but the large hand radiating heat did not leave her body.

The arm firmly gripping her waist was the same.

Looking up at the man gazing down at her with eerily calm eyes, Delphine finally set aside her pride and pleaded once more.

“Stop, please stop… I wasn’t prepared…”

At last, his body that had been embracing her so tightly it was suffocating, pulled away.

Delphine collapsed onto the bed, folding her legs, dizzy from the sensation.

The man, whose excitement had subsided somewhat, looked at her with a complex expression and then—

“…I’ll go cool my head for a bit.”

With that, he turned around and left the room.

The chamber door closed.

Delphine sat alone on the bed, continuing to gasp for breath that wouldn’t easily calm.

Her shoulder and white thighs exposed through the half-removed nightgown.

Discovering her own appearance that had become a mess in an instant, Delphine laughed bitterly.

This is the price of provoking a beast without proper preparation.

To begin with, showing bare legs in front of a man.

It was something unimaginable for her former self.

“Delphine Pembrook. What are you really?”

She laughed bitterly once more at the complex emotion that couldn’t be expressed in words.

And that night, he did not return to the bedroom.

[This is the timeline separator]

It took some more time for Delphine to truly ‘prepare’ herself.

After all, what she had experienced that night was something entirely different from what she had only heard about before.

That strange feeling she felt when that man pressed his body close to hers.

‘To think I have to… share such a thing with a man.’

He had warned her not to provoke him without being prepared.

Delphine could easily guess that next time, the man would certainly not stop midway.

If she removed his clothes to see his back, what if she couldn’t stop halfway?

What if it was revealed that he truly wasn’t Ioan, what should she do then?

Could she still share such an act with the man?

Forgetting completely the scene where her father’s neck was cut by his hand?

Meanwhile, time flowed relentlessly, and winter was already approaching.

Delphine had now given up even her daily garden walks.

It was because seeing the fragile flowers swaying in the cold wind kept evoking unfamiliar emotions.

A man who plants flowers in the garden until just before winter for her sake.

Yet still a person whose identity she cannot grasp.

The enemy of her father and family.

This feeling where such a person no longer seems frightening or dislikeable, she had no idea what to call it.

“The ‘Frenzy’ announcing winter will come soon, my lady.”

The man suddenly spoke as they shared breakfast today as well.

After that day, he never laid hands on Delphine again.

He always treated her with courtesy and elegance as before.

Delphine got the impression that the mask he wore had become even more solid after that incident.

“Ah, yes. I should tell Wilson to finish the winter preparations.”

Delphine answered weakly as she listlessly stirred her portion of stew.

The empire’s winter always arrives suddenly with a snowstorm.

The people of the empire called that frenzied snowstorm announcing the start of winter the ‘Frenzy’.

The man, who had been staring at her intently, carefully added.

“Once winter comes, social activities will become impossible. …How about inviting acquaintances for a tea party before that?”

Delphine quietly shook her head.

Then, after hesitating for a moment, the man added again.

“…Then shall we hold a party to lift your spirits? I’ll tell Wilson to prepare it as grandly as possible.”

Delphine just shook her head this time as well.

At that, a look of anxiety flashed across the man’s face.

Delphine quietly observed the man.

She knew that he was concerned about her recently becoming much more taciturn.

Why is he being so nice to me, this man?

There’s no reason for him, a great hero, to be so flustered over a traitor’s daughter.

Even though he doesn’t even take me…

As that thought occurred, the dizzying memory of that day surfaced again, and Delphine momentarily squeezed her eyes shut.

The man, who had been watching her with a subdued expression, slowly parted his lips.

“My lady. Are you… happy in this mansion?”

Delphine opened her eyes and looked at the man with an expression of disbelief.

Over his face, the image of a boy who had disappeared three years ago overlapped.

“Miss. Are you happy?”

Why does this man resemble Ioan, that boy, so much?

Clank—

Delphine abruptly stood up from her seat.

In the process, the wine placed on the table spilled, staining the white tablecloth.

Delphine, looking at the red liquid slowly staining the white cloth with trembling eyes, spoke in a shaky voice.

“I shall retire now. ……I feel a bit unwell.”

Delphine headed towards her chamber, leaving behind the man who was quietly gazing at her.

[This is the timeline separator]

The decision was made unexpectedly quickly.

‘I cannot live like this any longer.’

Delphine, sitting in the study, turned her gaze towards the window.

The servants were all busy preparing for winter.

They prepared smoked and dried foods that could be stored long-term, and stuffed quilts and outdoor clothes with cotton.

While everyone was moving busily, she alone felt as if she were stuck in late summer.

In the memory of that day when her father’s head was cut off.

But what was the point of surviving if she remained like this?

If she were to remain trapped in the memory of that day, unable to move forward or go back to how things were before.

Soon when the ‘madness’ comes, she would be trapped in the mansion with that man, with no way out.

Before that, she must confirm.

That man, Ioan Pryde’s back.

If everything had been her misunderstanding, she was prepared to endure whatever happened afterwards.

That is, to share her body with the man who had cut off her father’s head.

‘It’s not that he doesn’t desire me.’

She, who shared her body with him every night, knew this best.

When she discreetly asked Anna, she said that not all men become like that every day.

So he too must have reached a point where it was difficult to endure the accumulated abstinence.

“You must have made such a provocation with resolve.”

Delphine clenched her fist.

Yes. That resolve you spoke of. I’ve finally made it.

Tonight, Delphine decided to willingly stand before those two paths.

Either accept everything as her misunderstanding and fall into his arms, or……

Uncover the identity of that strange man.

[This is the timeline separator]

Late at night.

Delphine deliberately stood by the window instead of lying in bed.

Gazing at the full moon for a long time.

It was a decision made because even though she would stay wide awake until the man entered the chamber, she would unknowingly fall asleep at the slightest sign of his approach.

Tonight, of all nights, she absolutely must not fall asleep so futilely.

The moon had been up for quite some time, but the man’s return was especially late.

Perhaps it would have been better to ask him this morning to return a little earlier today.

Standing by the window, the early winter wind coming through the cracks was quite cold.

Just as her legs were starting to ache, she heard the sound of someone walking down the corridor.

Regular and disciplined footsteps.

Delphine could now recognize her husband’s gait.

The door opened.

The man did not seem surprised at all to find her standing by the window, looking at him.

“My, it seems you cannot sleep, my lady.”

That was all he said.

The door closed.

“You should get into bed. Then you’ll be able to sleep.”

Saying this, the man began to unbutton his uniform one by one.

At some point, he had stopped smelling of blood even when he returned late.

In fact, the man strangely did not emit any body odor at all.

Even when she buried her face in his embrace up close.

Shouldn’t a person give off at least a little scent of living flesh?

Swallowing the question she couldn’t bring herself to ask even Anna, Delphine slowly approached the man.

The candles were already lit, but the moonlight was brighter.

“……My lady?”

Sensing something different from usual, he asked gently.

Instead of answering his question, Delphine placed her hand on top of his large hand that was undressing.

Under the moonlight, her thin, delicate hand that had never done any hard work formed a strange contrast with his hand, with its prominent knuckles and tendons.

“About the resolve.”

Delphine, looking at their overlapped hands, whispered in a low voice.

“I’ve made it.”