“May I come in for a moment?”

It was her voice, Delphine’s.

Pryde froze in place like an animal shot with a tranquilizer.

“Yes!”

Before he could stop her, the woman quickly answered loudly.

She had instinctively judged that her survival lay there.

As Pryde glared at the woman with a furious gaze, the reception room door slowly opened.

His saint enters the reception room.

Seeing that flowing red hair again, a burning thirst arose once more.

I want to break you.

But I want to cherish you.

I hate you for completely miring my life and soul in the mud, yet I love you so much I want to protect only you.

To think these are the only emotions left to me.

‘Even if I change my status, can I not discard this base nature?’

He loathed himself for being so twisted and gloomy.

Himself, no different from that cabaret woman.

Pryde clenched his fist that was about to grab the woman’s neck.

Perhaps that guest is someone who remembers the previous Ioan.

Thinking this, Delphine headed to the reception room.

She wondered if she could get some clues from her.

As she opened the door and entered, the woman standing very close to Ioan turned her head.

Deep green eyes.

Reddish-brown hair.

Betty was really right.

Delphine twisted her lips at the inexplicably unpleasant feeling that arose.

“Ah. You’re Ioan’s, no, the Marquis’s wife? ……I can tell just by looking. Nice to meet you!”

The woman smiled, lifting her lips painted with red rouge.

She really calls him Ioan.

Delphine quickly looked the woman over.

She was a woman with a strange appearance.

A tacky dress decorated with lots of ribbons and lace, thickly applied white powder and red lipstick.

Delphine’s face hardened coldly.

She had heard from married women around her.

The reason men sometimes go out to District 3. She had heard there are also cases of buying women there, where the brothels are located.

‘……And he said he plays a role in managing District 3.’

If this is management, is that why he was there day and night?

Delphine shot Ioan an even colder glare.

“……Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“She’s a visitor who was just about to leave.”

He answered immediately, gently but firmly.

“There was no need for you to come out, my wife.”

At those words, the woman hurriedly put on a troubled expression and glanced out the window.

“Well……I’d like to leave quickly too, but suddenly there’s a snowstorm like that.”

“I’ll take you back.”

At Ioan’s chilly reply, Delphine raised her eyebrows in surprise.

‘He’ll take her back himself?’

Moreover, what is with that informal attitude?

However, for some reason, the woman cried out with a pale face at those words.

“Oh, no, Marquis! Please let me stay here until the snowstorm stops. That’s alright, isn’t it, Madam? There are many rooms here after all.”

At that rude and informal attitude, Ioan’s expression sank even more coldly.

“Well……”

Delphine hesitated, looking back and forth between Ioan and the woman.

She didn’t know why the woman was so frightened, but it was clear they knew each other.

In that case, let her stay for now.

Ioan seemed intent on pretending not to know his own identity until the end.

That woman could be a good card to play.

Having quickly made up her mind, Delphine nodded, pretending to be benevolent.

“Driving out a guest in this weather would be nothing short of murder.”

At that, the woman smiled brightly and nodded vigorously.

“Right? You don’t like men who just go around killing people either, do you, Madam?”

If there was one thing that bothered her, it was this strange unpleasantness felt when looking at the woman’s deep green eyes.

“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Cali!”

……This must be just because of this woman’s rudeness.

Delphine had just managed to smile after making that judgment.

“Um… Madam. Master.”

With a knock, Betty’s voice sounded from outside the reception room.

As the order to enter fell, Betty entered with a strange expression.

“Well… Another guest has arrived.”

Guests lining up in this weather.

Betty also seemed very puzzled by this situation.

“Another? ……Who?”

Could it be another redhead?

Betty, quick to notice the displeased tone in the short question, hurriedly answered.

“This time it’s a noble gentleman. He said to tell Madam his name is ‘Glyn Glasscock’.”

At those words, Ioan’s gaze, which had been glaring at the woman, flew to and pierced Delphine.

“A noble? Who is Glasscock? What madman visits someone else’s mansion in this weather?”

Exactly. I’m curious too.

Delphine glanced at the woman with red rouge on her lips with a cynical gaze.

“Ah, then I’ll go to the room I’ll be staying in.”

The woman said shamelessly, feeling the gaze.

“It’s already impossible to drive a carriage through that snowstorm anyway. The horses won’t move.”

Looking out the window at the woman’s words, the snowstorm had gotten worse in that short time.

Glyn Glasscock? Who was that again?

Just who could it be to come all the way to the mansion in this weather to see her?

Truly curious about the identity of the guest, Delphine silently moved her feet.

Coming out to the hall, she could see a man standing at the front door, completely soaked.

Only after seeing the face of the man wiping his wet hair and clothes with a towel could Delphine remember where she had met Glyn Glasscock.

He was the man who had given her an incomprehensible warning at the social club.

“Ah, Mrs. Pryde!”

Just then, the man who spotted her smiled as if pleased.

“……Who is he. That man.”

Ioan, who had been standing behind her at some point, murmured ominously.

Delphine didn’t bother to answer and approached the man.

“Lord Glasscock.”

“Mrs. Pryde.”

The man skillfully bowed and kissed the back of her outstretched hand.

It was excellent etiquette, but the man’s face was blue from braving the snowstorm.

“My. First……”

“Who is this? ……Your wife?”

He was about to guide him to a guest room with a bathroom when a gentle voice was heard.

It was Ioan, standing beside her with a posture more elegant and upright than ever before.

Delphine had no choice but to introduce the shivering man first.

“This is Lord Glyn Glasscock. I’ve met him once at a social gathering. Lord Glasscock, this is…”

Delphine paused for a moment, then continued, trying to appear nonchalant.

“…Lord Ioan Pryde.”

“Ah, how do you do. I’ve heard much about you, my lord.”

Glasscock extended his hand to Ioan, offering a peculiar greeting and gaze.

His fingertips were visibly trembling.

It was no wonder, as Glasscock appeared to be soaked from head to toe.

At this rate, he might come down with a severe fever.

The Empire’s medical science wasn’t very advanced, and catching the flu in this winter could be life-threatening.

Thinking this, she tried to quickly usher him inside, but Ioan, standing firmly beside her, showed no intention of moving.

Ioan, who had been coldly staring at the man’s outstretched hand, raised his gaze again and muttered.

“…What brings you to the mansion in this weather, without any notice?”

“Ah, I apologize. I was passing through the 1st District urgently when the weather suddenly worsened…”

Glasscock answered, his whole body shivering.

“The horse got scared and wouldn’t move. …Then I saw the Pryde mansion, so I took the liberty of coming here. Could I stay until the blizzard subsides?”

Delphine glanced at Ioan.

She wasn’t naive enough to believe that the man who had warned, “Ioan Pryde. Be careful,” had just happened to pass by the mansion.

Callie and Glasscock.

Could it really be a coincidence that these two arrived during the ‘blizzard’ period?

Whatever the case, it was an excellent opportunity for Delphine, who wanted to uncover Ioan’s true identity.

“Of course. We can’t be so heartless as to turn away someone in distress.”

Delphine said, turning her head towards Ioan, who was openly showing his displeasure.

“We already have another guest, anyway.”

The implication was clear: You have your guest, so you won’t turn away mine.

“…”

Ioan continued to scrutinize Glasscock with a cold gaze but didn’t particularly object.

“You need to warm up first. I’ll show you to a guest room.”

Delphine called a servant and instructed them to guide him to a room.

Glasscock, with a pale blue face, expressed his gratitude and retreated to the room for now.

Ioan, who had been observing the entire situation with a displeased expression, slowly spoke.

“…Glasscock? It’s a surname I’ve never heard before. Are you certain of his status, my lady?”

“I am certain.”

“Didn’t you say you’ve only met him once?”

Ioan’s tone was exceedingly gentle, but his eyes examining her were cool and composed.

“I met him at a social gathering where one cannot enter without a confirmed status.”

“When was this?”

…On the day you got seven stitches on your forehead while saving me.

Delphine stared intently at his forehead covered by his bangs.

However, both the existence of that social club and the fact that she had visited it were secrets.

Delphine put on a deliberately cold expression and changed the subject.

“…You question his status. What about Miss Callie? I don’t believe I’ve heard her surname yet.”

At those words, Ioan, who had been about to press further, suddenly stretched his lips into a long smile.