He whispered softly, bathed in the wavering moonlight.

“Without even turning on the lights.”

Today, is it a full moon?

Even in the dark room, only he appears this bright.

Delphine blankly gazed at the man’s beautiful appearance.

Was it because she had just woken from a light sleep?

Her mind was hazy and her sense of reality did not easily return.

Seeing her not glaring at him as if to kill or scrutinizing him suspiciously like usual, Ioan’s gaze also softened further.

The tense atmosphere that was always sharp dissipated, and a soft, moist air flowed between the two.

As Delphine stared at the man with eyes still clouded by sleep, she suddenly noticed the bandage wrapped around his thigh.

Kneeling like that can’t be good for the wound.

The image of him rushing towards her through the raging flames flashed through her mind again.

“Burns.”

At the sudden utterance, he lifted his head with a puzzled expression.

Delphine murmured in a quiet tone.

“…The doctor said to apply medicine.”

“Ah, I’ll make sure to apply it.”

“I’ll help you.”

A flash of surprise crossed Ioan’s face at the unexpected offer.

He hesitated for a moment as if uncertain.

But the wait didn’t last long.

As always, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her offer.

Ioan slowly unwrapped the bandage.

Underneath, a twisted wound on his thigh, thicker than her waist, was fully revealed.

Seeing the burn worse than expected, Delphine’s confused feelings became even more unsettled.

‘If he really used that crystal with its strange power, couldn’t he have freely extinguished the fire?’

“Ioan Pryde. He is strangely cruel and strong……”

“I don’t know that man either. I saw him for the first time at the concert.”

“But is that really a human ability?”

The desire to deny that he had nothing to do with those bizarre incidents, to say it wasn’t true.

But the rational suspicion that all circumstances and evidence pointed to him waged a fierce war in her heart.

Misunderstanding her contorted expression, Ioan quickly said.

“It’s disgusting, isn’t it? I’ll just……”

“No, it’s not.”

Delphine grabbed his hand as he hurriedly tried to cover the bandage again.

He froze at her touch as if shot with a tranquilizer gun.

“It’s okay. …I’ve applied ointment like this before.”

Delphine carefully spread the ointment over his wound.

Just like she had done for that beautiful boy back then.

Is it because of this moonlight?

Is it because tonight is the night of the full moon?

Or is it because of the deep, sweet nap?

Today, more than ever, it felt as if her reason was paralyzed and only emotion was moving her.

“…There were many times when the wounds were worse than this.”

Delphine, who had recited in a tearful voice, raised her trembling eyes.

She met eyes with him, who was looking down at her with yearning eyes.

Delphine sensed that they were recalling the same memory.

Long ago, right here in this mansion.

She used to apply ointment to his back like this.

“…Is this perhaps the person you mentioned before?”

Ioan asked in a voice lower than usual.

“The one who was your only comfort?”

Delphine nodded silently.

“A commoner from District 3 was your only comfort, how unexpected.”

He murmured as if whispering, carefully adding her name at the end.

“…Delphine.”

Not the awkwardly polite “madam” like usual.

By now, his brown eyes were also moist, as if reminiscing about something from the past.

The wavering light of the full moon shone through the parted curtains of the chamber.

Precious memories that Delphine had deliberately hidden deep in her heart came flooding in like a tide.

“Ioan. Have you ever heard of the legend of the full moon?”

The boy who had so captivated her lonely heart.

Was it that day when she had been severely scolded by her father, she had playfully asked him that question when she went to find him.

“If you mix blood in water reflecting the full moon, you exchange pieces of each other’s souls.”

“…If I could have even a piece of the young lady, I would be happy.”

In the Empire, especially nobles, must not speak of superstitions about magic.

But it should be fine in front of Ioan.

With that thought, she had engaged in a common childish prank.

For her, who had no childhood friends, that memory of secretly playing pranks behind her father’s back remained a very precious memory.

When she asked last time, he had changed the subject…

‘Really, really, this is the last time.’

Let’s ask one more time.

For the last time. Really for the last time.

Maybe he’ll tell the truth first.

Before I walk into that hidden factory myself in three days.

Before I uncover the past you so desperately want to hide with my own hands.

…Please tell me first with your own mouth.

“Ioan. Do you really not remember? The legend of the full moon.”

Delphine asked in a trembling voice, clinging to his clothes with both hands.

The image of him appearing to save her time and time again when she was in danger.

The sight of him staying by her side all night as she suffered from a fever.

His face as he leapt through the raging flames, as if crying out that he would lose the whole world if she were gone.

It made her release the reins she had been barely holding onto, telling herself she shouldn’t be like this with a man whose identity she didn’t know.

His eyes trembled finely as he met her desperate gaze.

“…Delphine.”

A more disheveled gaze than ever before.

Lips that seemed about to confess something at any moment.

Delphine felt that one layer of his mask had been peeled away.

‘So he does remember that day after all.’

Our pure friendship.

That thrill that might have become first love if not for the extreme difference in social status.

Before she knew it, Ioan’s hand had come to rest on her waist.

The two gazed at each other heatedly with only the moonlight between them.

As their gazes deepened and intensified, the invisible wall between them melted away.

He slowly lowered his head towards her, looking at her with blurred eyes.

Their hot breaths mingled at a precarious distance.

But just before their lips met.

“Ioan. Please……”

Delphine broke the silence and opened her mouth again.

“Please tell me the truth. Hm? You, you surely……”

Hesitating, Delphine finally uttered the words she had been holding back for so long.

“Liked me……”

At her last words, uncertainty flashed across his relaxed eyes.

He hesitantly parted his lips.

“I……”

Please.

Please……

Delphine looked up at him with an aching heart.

The brief moment he hesitated to answer felt like an eternity.

He squeezed his eyes shut as he moved his lips.

And when he opened them again, all traces of that boy from back then had vanished without a trace.

Wearing the mask of a nobleman, he murmured with that pretentious elegant smile of his.

“Madam. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“……”

A teardrop that had been pooling in Delphine’s eyes, unable to fall, finally dropped.

Ioan’s eyes shook greatly at the sight, but he did not open his mouth again.

Delphine, who had been silently watching him for a long time as if giving him one last chance, finally said slowly.

“…Is that your answer?”

To my final question?

The beautiful man shining in the full moonlight quietly replied.

“…Yes, madam.”

Delphine removed her two hands that had been clinging to him.

Her heart grew cold.

It felt as if the passion that had been trying to bloom through the cracks had all withered in an instant.

Why does the light of the full moon, which had seemed so warm and mysterious in her childhood, now feel so cold?

Delphine, who had been quietly watching that faint light, gently closed her eyes.

“If that’s your answer, …I understand.”

Delphine turned around, separating their closely pressed bodies.

The moment she heard his answer, even the little hesitation that remained was completely burned away.

Three days later.

I will go to that factory.

No matter how hard you try to hide it, I will walk towards where the truth lies.

…Even if it’s a path that opposes you.

No matter what awaits me at the end.

#Chapter 4. Resolved to Turn Away

Three days later.

Just as dawn was beginning to break.

As Delphine opened her eyes to the rustling sound, Ioan was there before her, perfectly dressed in his uniform as usual.

Ioan, who had been adjusting his uniform with an expressionless face, noticed her open eyes and smiled faintly.

“An urgent matter has come up, so I won’t be able to have breakfast with you today, madam.”

It’s exactly as Belly had said she would arrange.

That she would cause a disturbance somewhere in District 3 to lure him out early.

Delphine simply nodded silently.

Perhaps thinking she was still half-asleep, the man said in a gentle tone.

“You can sleep a bit longer. I’ll try to return home early. Well then.”

Return home early. I wonder if he’ll be able to.

After giving his greeting, Ioan quietly left the chamber.

Delphine lay in bed a while longer, then quietly got up.

First, breakfast as usual to avoid arousing suspicion from the maids Ioan had assigned.

Then to the study.

“I’ll be in the study today too.”

Delphine added casually to Anna beside her as she headed up to the third floor.

“…I need to finish a novel that’s nearing its end.”

“Yes, madam. Then I’ll do some needlework in the next room so as not to disturb you.”

It was exactly 9:30 when Lin tapped on the window of the third-floor study.