The mansion was utterly silent with just the two of them there.

It was hard to believe this was the place where she had lived her entire life before it became the Pryde estate.

Does this man not even go out anymore?

Does he intend for us to live trapped in this mansion together for the rest of our lives?

In the dining room where breakfast was served, Delphine had been quietly glaring at Ioan, but instead of putting the egg dish in front of her into her mouth, she asked,

“…What about them?”

It should be okay to ask now, right?

He seemed to have calmed down a lot, and she had paid a sufficient price over the past two days.

The traces blatantly left all over her body were proof of that.

Now it was time to check the price of this deal.

“They’re alive.”

Ioan then nonchalantly answered and kindly held out a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Delphine, looking at him as if he were crazy, had no choice but to open her mouth and eat the food.

This must be a kind of deal too.

She eats as he wants, and he answers the questions she asks.

Swallowing the food he gave her, she soon asked again.

“…What about the punishment?”

“……”

Lifting a spoonful of potato, he stared at Delphine.

Then, holding out the spoon again, he calmly replied.

“All three of them are intact. Is this enough of an answer?”

“Are their fingernails and toenails all normally attached too?”

“…Yes.”

At least it seemed there was no severe torture or threats.

Only then was Delphine completely reassured.

It became clear that he had not inflicted serious harm on her comrades and would not do so in the future.

Then what should she do now?

If she obediently follows his demands like now, will the day come when his anger subsides and he allows her to go out?

“…I can’t trust your words.”

Delphine deliberately made a coy expression and looked up at him.

“Then?”

“Let me see them just once. I need to check with my own eyes.”

At that, Ioan smiled awkwardly.

“…You know it’s not allowed, don’t you?”

“I’m not saying I’ll go alone. We can go together.”

Delphine pleaded again.

She just wanted to see with her own eyes that they were safe.

Then Ioan, who had been smiling strangely for a while, finally shook his head firmly.

Delphine’s head drooped in great disappointment.

Watching her, Pryde laughed inwardly.

When was it that she was obediently behaving after her scheme was exposed?

As soon as his anger seems to have subsided a little, she tries to put him in the palm of her hand like this again.

But the most ridiculous thing was that even with her transparent acting, he wanted to do as she wished.

‘Get ahold of yourself, Ioan Pryde.’

If those rats had been quietly in the underground prison, he might have really taken her in front of them.

That’s how crazy he was about her.

But should he say it was fortunate?

They had escaped, taking advantage of the gap when he let his guard down, being absorbed with her.

One of them knew magic, and he didn’t know when or how they would approach her again.

She was a descendant of the saint.

“Ioan….”

She, who had been pretending to eat the food he gave her, tried to negotiate again.

That voice subtly calling his name, those eyes looking up at him with long eyelashes.

She had now figured out what he was weak to and how much.

“……”

But there was something she had overlooked.

It wasn’t only her who had grasped the other’s weaknesses while being together like one body for the past two days.

“Hm? Ioan…. If you just let me see their faces once…. Ah!”

Anyway, there were only the two of them in this mansion now.

That meant he could freely take her anytime, anywhere.

“Wait. Why all of a sudden….”

Now that he skillfully attacked only her weaknesses, which he had thoroughly grasped, the emerald color in her eyes gradually darkened.

Pryde suppressed his rising desire to conquer and penetrated her more slowly and patiently.

Those pretty lips no longer uttered the names of the rats he hated to hear.

Before long, she was on the table instead of the plates.

Her disheveled red hair looked more appetizing than any delicacy in the world.

Looking down at her with a hungry gaze, Pryde suddenly recalled the time when a snowstorm heralding winter came.

The memory of when he first kissed her in this dining room.

And she also seemed to remember that day.

A blush spread across her smooth, beautiful face with a distant expression.

Feeling the blood rush to one place, Pryde let out a low groan.

Is this woman really trying to drive me crazy?

No, he had been out of his mind for a long time, but until he had her, he hadn’t known there was an even higher state than that.

She was his saint, he had to protect her, this was not love but love-hate.

…He was such a dirty demon without even a soul to have her.

His previous self who had tried to avoid these moments now seemed so foolish.

‘I’m almost grateful that you betrayed me.’

Pryde smiled languidly with the satisfaction of his twisted possessiveness being fulfilled.

Then he slowly lowered his head towards her.

The soft kiss grew more and more intense and passionate.

Receiving his fiercely clashing lips, Delphine panted breathlessly.

Is this okay?

From the morning, and even in a place like this.

…With a man like this?

Delphine’s feelings for him were complicated and contradictory.

Although he was said to be the most cruel man in the empire, he had never been cruel to her even once.

Even if he sometimes hurt her with his attitude of hiding the truth and his cold words.

Moreover, even while fighting to the death glaring at each other, he always appeared and saved her when she was in danger.

How could she, who had lost even her father and was so lonely and confused, only hate such a man?

On top of that, the passionate and affectionate relationship they had shared over the past two days was decisive.

Every time she collided with him like this, reason and emotion, head and heart clashed.

It made her feel even more like she was going crazy.

Is this how children feel when they put their hands into a pit of fire, knowing they shouldn’t?

Or is this the psychology of a fallen woman who abandons everything and indulges only in the pleasures of the flesh?

Even though she knew he wasn’t a good person at all.

Even though she knew she should never give her whole heart to such a man.

She wanted to embrace this man and burn herself completely.

Then it seemed like this maddening thirst that was bubbling up would disappear.

‘This is to save my comrades.’

Yes. That’s why. It’s definitely not because she fell in love with a man like this….

“Ah…!”

The complicated thoughts ended there.

Delphine was helplessly drawn into the act with him, without time to agonize further.

After this, all that awaited her was only hellish pleasure.

The warm days of spring sunshine continued.

During that time, the man planted flowers in the garden, brought expensive gifts, and often bought cakes or pastries for Delphine from the bakery in District 2.

And he held her every night and morning.

As if dealing with an extremely precious and beloved being, he granted everything Delphine wanted and asked for.

Except for one thing.

Her leaving the mansion.

“How long will this go on…?”

To her asking with a distant face, he simply replied,

“Until it’s safe.”

But Delphine couldn’t understand his words.

The La Rouge headquarters had already collapsed, so what was the problem?

The newspapers she was reluctantly allowed to read after a week were also full of articles about the heroic Pryde who suppressed the rebellion every day.

There was no news or articles about remnants of the rebel group remaining.

“Sigh….”

Looking at the spring flowers Ioan planted swaying in the garden, Delphine let out a big sigh.

When he reluctantly went out, she was all alone in this spacious mansion.

The knights densely surrounding the vast mansion grounds never crossed that wall.

Of course, that didn’t mean she hadn’t thought of secretly escaping the mansion.

But each time, her comrades trapped underground stopped her.

If she escaped alone, then what about them?

It was almost impossible for her alone to infiltrate the underground prison said to be in the deepest part of the imperial palace.

But at least they were alive for now.

And Ioan had promised her that he wouldn’t use excessive torture.

If they were alive, an opportunity would come someday.

‘…When will the time he speaks of, when it’s safe, be?’

Even walking in the garden was boring now.

Thanks to no one being in the mansion, Delphine, who had been taking a walk in a thin indoor dress, headed back to the mansion desolately.

I should read a book.

Lately, those were her only sources of entertainment.

It was when she went to the study like that and opened a new novel Ioan had bought for her.

Click-.

At the familiar sound she heard for the first time in a long while, Delphine was startled and raised her head.

The walkie-talkie she had hidden in a corner and forgotten about.

The sound just came from there.

‘No one but La Rouge knows the transmission code…?’