“How did you know that?”

“You are wearing outdoor attire.”

Ah.

Delphine looked down at her dress, which was more ornate and had fuller skirts compared to her indoor clothing.

“…Yes. I dared to ‘try’ to go out.”

When she raised her head again, her emerald eyes were blazing.

“I didn’t know there was still an outdated rule requiring a husband’s permission to go out.”

“Oh my. Now that you mention it.”

He responded with feigned surprise, acting in a detestable manner.

“I gave orders to my subordinates to ‘guard’ you before I left… I completely forgot to inform you in advance.”

Lies.

Delphine glared at his masked face with fiery eyes as he shamelessly explained.

Clearly he had instructed them to keep her from escaping.

Soldiers who absolutely obey orders wouldn’t arbitrarily reinterpret their superior’s command, would they?

“I see. No wonder their attitude was so resolute, just like ‘dogs’ that only listen to their master’s voice.”

As soon as Delphine retorted with a contemptuous tone, he smoothly countered.

“Oh dear. Perhaps the soldiers’ manners were rough due to their military background. I’ll instruct them to improve. I simply… didn’t expect you’d want to go out so soon.”

His brow furrowed as if genuinely regretful.

“Especially considering what happened so recently.”

His attitude suggested he had already completely forgotten the fact that he had carried out that regrettable act with his own hands.

Delphine was so taken aback by his nonchalance that she forgot to argue back and just clenched her fists.

The man gazed at her with an indecipherable look, then spoke again.

“I’m glad you seem to have overcome it quickly.”

Then, as if hesitating slightly, he added in a small voice.

“…I thought you would, since you’re a strong person.”

Throughout the conversation, he had maintained such a gentle and elegant expression that it felt unnatural.

Almost as if he was wearing a mask.

However, in the moment he uttered those last words, for the first time, a hint of human emotion flickered across his face.

It was a soft expression, as if reminiscing about something nostalgic.

‘What was that?’

And Delphine did not miss that momentary change.

‘Those words, as if he knows me well?’

The more she prods at him, the more something comes out. For instance, clues about his true identity.

“I was just…”

Delphine slowly opened her lips but failed to finish her sentence, hastily drawing in a breath.

His large hand, with veins bulging, had swiftly loosened his black tie and tossed it onto the bed.

The same bed where she had slept in his arms all last night.

As Delphine remained frozen, he slowly began unbuttoning his jacket one by one.

Then, with an impassive face and a tone of genuine concern, he asked.

“My lady. Is your outdoor attire not uncomfortable? Shall I…”

“I forgot I need to finish some work in the study.”

Delphine quickly said, hiding her startled expression.

Her demeanor was as dignified as ever, but her hand gripping the doorknob was unmistakably urgent.

“Well then.”

She closed the door as hastily as she had opened it and left the room.

Left alone in the chamber, Pryde quietly chuckled.

But only for a moment.

The smile vanished from his face as if it had never been there.

The elegant and gentle air that had surrounded the beautiful face also evaporated along with the laughter.

What remained in its place was a man who looked as cold as ice and as cruel as a beast.

Gone was the elegant gesture of unbuttoning one by one in front of her. Pryde roughly tore off his jacket.

The jacket, having lost all its buttons in a single motion, fell to the floor with a thud.

Revealed beneath the thick uniform jacket was a shirt stained with blood.

Pryde continued to strip off his shirt with unrestrained behavior, ripping it off.

Unlike the wretched state of the shirt soaked in red blood, his bare body revealed underneath bore not a single wound.

Only very old scars remained.

Pryde threw the jacket and blood-soaked shirt into the fireplace without hesitation.

The clothes immediately caught fire in the blazing logs.

Gazing at the scene with an emotionless look, he recalled what had just happened.

Her terrified expression when she opened the door.

The man who had been staring at the fire with a blank gaze slightly moved his lips.

“…She’s become sensitive to the smell of blood. Next time I should change clothes before coming.”

He soon picked up the indoor clothes neatly placed on the bed and put them on.

A moment later.

When he reopened the chamber door and came out, the mask of an elegant nobleman had once again taken its place on his face.

“You must be busy.”

Delphine spoke as she cut off a tiny piece from the edge of the duck steak on the plate in front of her.

“You don’t need to force yourself to return home in time for dinner.”

“What are you saying, my lady.”

Pryde elegantly sipped the wine as red as blood and smoothly replied.

“Now that we’ve entered into a sacred marriage, shouldn’t I be devoted to my family? His Majesty will understand.”

While Pryde was focused on carving the duck steak, Delphine secretly rolled her eyes in displeasure.

‘He’s saying such unrealistically sensible things.’

It wasn’t wrong.

But it certainly wasn’t something that should be said by a person who had cut off her father’s head and then married his daughter.

For a moment, only the sound of cutlery clinking echoed in the dining room where the two were seated.

Even that was barely audible, just a faint sound.

Delphine secretly observed the man, not even glancing at the fingernail-sized piece of duck she had cut.

From his posture sitting ramrod straight, to the way he held the knife, even the angle and manner in which he tilted the wine glass.

His dining manners were flawless, without a single point to criticize.

Unbidden, the image of the slave boy who used to live in this mansion came to Delphine’s mind.

Ioan had been an exceptionally beautiful boy.

Even though he always wore old, ill-fitting clothes due to his lowly origins, it didn’t detract from his beauty at all.

‘If there were a prince, wouldn’t he look like this?’

Delphine had been a young girl then, still living in a fairy tale world.

Seeing his unblemished white face framed by flowing blond hair, she had thought such things at times.

Once upon a time.

“Try this. You’ve only ever eaten black bread, right? It’s delici…”

One day, she had secretly brought him some white bread.

At that time, she was even more naive about the ways of the world than others her age.

Due to her overprotective father, she had grown up barely hearing any news from outside the mansion until her debutante.

So how could she have controlled her expression when she saw the boy eagerly grab the bread she offered and stuff it into his mouth with dirt-covered hands?

And when she realized her face couldn’t hide her bewilderment and slight disgust, the expression that child made…

“…My lady?”

Startled by the suddenly heard baritone voice, Delphine snapped out of her reverie.

Before her eyes sat a man who retained all the features of that beautiful boy from back then.

A man wearing an elegant indoor shirt made of fine silk, holding a wine glass gracefully.

“Is the food not to your liking?”

Delphine hurriedly put on a slight smile, as if everything was fine, lest he discern her thoughts.

The man responded by lifting the corners of his mouth in a smile as well.

As she put the fingernail-sized piece of duck in her mouth, Delphine asked in a casual tone.

“By any chance, have you ever been to District 3, Lord Pryde?”

The Astrax Empire consisted of District 1, where the imperial family and central nobility lived.

District 2, where the commercial areas were clustered.

And District 3, the factory area where laborers and commoners lived mixed together.

It was also that District 3 where Ioan was said to have been sold by his birth mother.

‘I wonder how he’ll answer.’

Delphine observed the man with a subtle gaze.

Most nobles had never set foot in District 3.

Delphine herself had only heard stories that smoke and polluted streams flowed there, but had never actually been anywhere near the place.

“Of course. I go there frequently even now.”

However, an unexpected answer came back.

Delphine looked at the man with slightly surprised eyes as he admitted it so readily.

He smirked in response.

“My, my lady. Shouldn’t you at least know what kind of work your husband does?”

For a moment, forgetting her resolve to remain calm, something welled up inside her.

How was any of this her fault?

Wasn’t he the one who had suddenly appeared in her life as if he had fallen from the sky?

‘…Or not?’

But the anger was short-lived. Soon, confusion overwhelmed Delphine.

Logically, people don’t fall from the sky.

Then, as everyone said, was she really the only one who hadn’t known about the man’s existence?

The fact that a brilliant hero had suddenly appeared in the empire a year ago?

Delphine still couldn’t be certain whether she had gone mad due to the incident three days ago.

Her lips quivered before she spoke in a tone heavy with hesitation.

“About that…”