“……Ioan.”

When she called his name, the corners of his lips lifted slightly for a moment.

Just from calling his name.

“Yes, my lady?”

However, that smile disappeared without a trace the moment Delphine continued speaking.

“Yesterday, did Miss Cally come to the chamber?”

Delphine’s expression was gravely serious.

Seeing this, Ioan’s lips moved slightly before he soon answered.

“……Yes, she did.”

Then he hastily added.

“But I sent her away immediately. There was absolutely nothing improper.”

“I’m not trying to question that.”

Delphine shook her head right away.

I don’t care who you spend your nights with.

At these words that clearly revealed such an intention, Ioan’s mouth twisted.

“Did she come inside the chamber? Last night, I’m certain I put my necklace in the box in front of the mirror.”

After hesitating for a moment whether to speak or not, Delphine finally added one more thing.

“……And you saw me do that.”

The moment those words left her lips, an intense emotion flashed across his face.

But it was only for an instant.

The man asked in a low voice, with a face that had become frighteningly calm.

“Do you suspect that I killed that woman? ……My lady?”

Delphine answered by not answering.

He gazed at her for a moment without moving, then soon parted his lips.

“I won’t say I didn’t.”

“What do you……?”

“Because I am prepared to kill anyone in order to protect you.”

He murmured with a face as cruel as a demon’s, yet beautiful as if not human.

“Anyone, no matter how many……”

Delphine could not utter any reply as she looked into his cold eyes.

A man saying he is prepared to kill anyone to protect her.

A man who returned as a marquis from being a slave.

Something pierces inside her chest.

Delphine did not dare to look closely at what that emotion was.

[This is the timeline separator]

He was more resolute than ever before.

He firmly declared that she must absolutely not leave the chamber until the blizzard stopped, and that he would even resort to temporary confinement for her sake.

If Delphine, unable to bear the frustration and curiosity, made even a pretense of secretly leaving the room—

“My lady.”

He didn’t say anything more.

He simply blocked her path and silently shook his head.

With a gentle but firm expression.

Even the three meals were brought directly by the servants.

It was fortunate that he didn’t try to feed her himself.

As one day passed, then two, Delphine began to grow anxious.

‘There are still things I need to hear from Glasscock.’

Surely Ioan would drive the man out as soon as the blizzard stopped, or even before then.

Or have him arrested as a suspect in Cally’s murder.

So she needed to make contact with him before that blizzard stopped.

But how could she leave this chamber?

Even while sharing a room, Delphine could not see him sleep.

He stayed awake until Delphine fell asleep, and when she opened her eyes, he was already up.

It was doubtful whether he slept at all.

If there was a single opening, would it be when the man entered the bathroom?

He still hesitated to turn his back to her even after everything was revealed.

So when Delphine secretly opened the chamber door after hearing the sound of water, what she found were two servants he had stationed in front of the door in advance.

‘……How thorough.’

Delphine decided to pretend to adapt to this situation first, to reassure him.

Thus, as if she had given up on trying to go outside the door, she spent all day throwing logs into the fireplace, reading books, or writing something.

Occasionally when their eyes met, she would smile, curving the corners of her eyes.

At a glance, everything seemed peaceful.

Except for the frozen corpse outside the mansion.

In this empire, a commoner thief freezing to death was hardly an incident.

Betty whispered through the door that the servants were moving around in groups of two or three, and Glasscock was quietly holed up in the guest room.

[This is the timeline separator]

On the fourth day like this.

At last, the maddening blizzard began to gradually subside.

“……It will stop soon.”

Delphine, who had been quietly passing time in the chamber like a well-mannered lady for a while, spoke in a calm tone.

“Indeed. This bout of madness was unusually short.”

Ioan replied in a beautiful manner that showed no sign of having stayed awake guarding his wife.

He seemed to be in a fairly good mood.

Having made that judgment, Delphine suddenly opened her mouth.

“……I’d like to have a warm cup of tea.”

“I’ll have a maid bring it.”

“I want to go down and brew it myself. I feel stifled after being in the room all this time.”

“It’s not……”

“If you’re worried about safety, I can move with you, can’t I?”

“……”

There was no answer from him.

Delphine, glaring at him with her almond-shaped eyes raised, deliberately turned her head so that her hair swayed.

Silence followed.

Is this not enough?

Pretending to be upset, Delphine turned her head away anxiously and muttered, slightly pouting her lower lip.

“……What danger could there be when I’m with you?”

Still silence.

Delphine waited patiently for the man’s answer, her head still turned away.

And finally, with a small sigh, the man’s answer came.

“……Very well. Let’s go down together, my lady.”

Delphine quickly turned her head back and smiled brightly.

Seeing her like that, Ioan also smiled back like an affectionate husband, as if he couldn’t help it.

It was truly a peace long-lost, like the subsiding madness.

[This is the timeline separator]

The kitchen was quiet after mealtime had passed.

“I’ll just brew the tea and go right back up.”

Delphine said elegantly as she took out the tea leaves.

“Gentlemen might not know, but sometimes the act of brewing tea brings peace to the mind.”

“Is that so? Indeed, it’s a world unknown to me.”

He replied gently, turning his back to examine the row of tea canisters.

Taking advantage of that brief moment, Delphine pulled out a teacup with purple flower patterns engraved on it.

Underneath, a small folded white note was placed.

‘It’s really there.’

All food entering the chamber had passed through Ioan’s inspection.

So this was the method she came up with.

Betty, who was watching Glasscock, would secretly hide the note received from him under a teacup in the kitchen, and Delphine would find it.

This was information that Betty had whispered quietly to the servants standing by the door while Ioan was in the bathroom.

Delphine quickly grabbed the note and hid it under her hand.

“You seem to like purple.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Delphine looked up abruptly.

“Pardon?”

Fortunately, Ioan didn’t seem to have noticed her suspicious behavior.

He smiled softly and replied.

“You appear to choose that teacup often.”

Indeed, this was one of Delphine’s favorite teacups.

When had he observed her so closely?

Delphine smiled gently and poured two cups of fragrant tea onto a tray.

The man naturally took the tray and led the way.

Back in the chamber.

When Delphine silently handed him a cup of tea, Ioan looked a bit surprised.

“…Thank you, my lady.”

If two cups of tea were made, surely one was for himself.

Seeing Ioan express gratitude so politely, Delphine felt a pang of conscience.

‘It was an act to deceive him.’

“…It’s cold,” Delphine muttered, moving closer to the fireplace.

Glancing back, the man sitting in a chair drinking tea was sufficiently far away.

Unless he was a flying hawk, no human eye could read such small writing from that distance.

With her back completely turned to the man, Delphine quickly unfolded the white note.

[As soon as the blizzard stops tomorrow, please come to the garden gazebo. I will tell you what I couldn’t finish last time.]

…What he couldn’t finish saying.

Delphine discreetly let the note slip into the fireplace.

The thin paper turned to ash the moment it touched the blazing fire.

Turning back, the man was still sitting in the chair, absorbed in drinking tea.

Suddenly, their eyes met as he looked up.

They smiled at each other simultaneously.

Pretending nothing had happened, Delphine picked up a book and settled in front of the fireplace.

Pryde immediately noticed that her pages weren’t turning at all.

Of course, he wasn’t able to focus on the tea in front of him either.

‘A note. From that rat bastard?’

He had been watching to see why she was acting so uncharacteristically cute.

It seemed she had hidden a paper under the teacup beforehand.

No doubt that fearless maid had helped her.

‘Foolish man.’

Pryde coldly sneered at the man who must be pacing anxiously in the guest room.

He already knew that rat had killed that woman.

Probably to silence her. The woman had been desperate to tell him where the rat hole was.

He had only delayed punishment for her sake, as she must have been shocked by that impudent murder.

But thanks to that behavior, his grace period, which was to last until the blizzard stopped, had been shortened.

The stay of execution, that is.

“Ioan.”

Just then, she who had been pretending to read with unnatural movements suddenly spoke.

“Yes, my lady?”

Quickly erasing the sneer that had formed on his lips, Pryde answered. She hesitated before speaking.

“About Miss Kelly… I’m sorry for suspecting you without reason.”

Pryde paused for a moment, not answering hastily.

What scheme is our saint up to now?