“Ioan.”

At her touch, Ioan took a hasty breath.

“But Del, it’s still a time to be careful…”

“It’s alright.”

It was the first time she was the one pleading with him.

Even before she spoke, she knew he would not be able to resist her temptation for long.

The conversation ended there.

The day like night, the night like day began with him.

It was as if only the two of them were left in the world.

In the empty mansion, in every place where childhood memories remained, they passionately explored each other without a word.

The last place they headed was the lady’s chamber.

Where she had hidden the poison and blade to kill him.

There, Delphine embraced him, repeatedly caressing his distorted back.

“Del…”

He was out of his mind, lost in ecstasy and rapture.

When she pretended to drink water in the middle, taking the poison into her mouth to swallow, he readily received her without any suspicion.

Calling out her name loudly for the last time, he fell into a death-like slumber.

Catching her breath, Delphine slowly raised her nearly exhausted body.

Before she knew it, it was deep dawn outside the window.

“…”

The last night with him, heavenly yet hellish, had ended.

As the pleasure that melted her mind passed, Delphine, regaining her clear reason, quietly looked down at the man sleeping beside her.

Breathing too slow but steady.

Indeed, as Belli said, it was impossible to kill him with just one poison.

Come to think of it, was this the first time seeing him in such deep slumber?

For a moment, she stared absentmindedly at that tranquil face that looked innocent at a glance.

Delphine slowly raised both hands high.

The dagger in her hand shone a vivid blue in the moonlight.

Her hands holding the coldly gleaming piece of metal trembled with agony.

The decision to leave him was fully made the moment she realized her love, but that did not mean the resolve to kill him.

Really?

With my own hands?

The man I love, and who loves me?

…The one I made this way?

“4 am. In front of the bakery in District 2. You cannot be even a minute late. Remember, if you miss this chance, you will never be able to leave.”

Lin told her to escape the mansion and come to District 2 after killing him.

Not much time remained until the time he mentioned.

There was no time for hesitation.

I’ll kill him like this.

Just as he slit my father’s throat in an instant.

Just as he slaughtered a thousand innocent humans to make a contract with the devil.

Just as he brutally oppressed the countless people of District 3…

However.

Clang-.

The dagger fell from Delphine’s hand.

Delphine backed away from the bed with a pale face.

One of her hands was unconsciously placed on her belly. As if trying to protect something.

With trembling hands, Delphine fumblingly opened the door of the bedchamber.

Let’s leave for now.

What she had decided was only the fact that she would leave him.

Right. Run far, far away.

Let’s decide later what to do with this child in my womb, the devil’s seed.

Escaping the mansion where he slept was easy.

She ran through the streets, scattering tears in the cold dawn breeze.

At the promised place, Lin was out wearing a black mask.

“Delphine.”

“Let’s go.”

Before he could ask for details, before he could ask if she had killed Ioan, Delphine cried out.

“Quickly… get me out of this place…!”

“We need to pass through the central barrier first.”

Lifting her with one arm and putting her on the horse, he began to gallop vigorously.

The darkest dawn before sunrise.

Cutting through the cold wind, Delphine repeatedly thought with a trembling heart.

Yes. I’m running away.

Far, far away.

From this hellish empire. From that devilish man.

From my heart that I ended up giving to him…

Pryde awoke at dawn, when the sun was beginning to rise.

It was two hours earlier than Lin, who made the poison, had anticipated.

The lost warmth on the bedside.

The blue dagger fallen on the floor.

The way he had fallen asleep like one intoxicated, not noticing any of this happening.

It was not difficult to deduce the circumstances that had unfolded in the early morning.

She left.

Him.

With his child inside her.

The very next day after he threw away all his pride and revealed all those truths.

Pryde clenched both fists with all his might, his eyes bloodshot red.

With his Adam’s apple bobbing as if he would burst into tears at any moment, he spat out her name as if wailing.

“Delphine…!”

How long, how far will you make me miserable…

He despised himself for falling for her again and again, being deceived by her eye smile, by her words of love, even after being fooled so many times.

Hadn’t his soul and his heart capable of feeling emotions already disappeared the moment he made a contract with the devil?

He wanted to rip out his aching heart.

From the moment they first met, she was always so far away that no matter how much he struggled, he could never get close to her.

The more I love you, the more I try to have you, the more miserable I become.

Becoming evil, becoming tattered without a shred of soul left.

…Yet the most miserable thing was his heart that thought of her even in moments like this.

I can’t let you go even when you do this to me.

It was not a matter of will.

Now, there was nothing left inside him except his feelings for her.

I’ve lived with the sole purpose of protecting you.

Without you, my life has no meaning.

He leaped out of bed as if he had never been asleep and headed straight for the imperial palace.

Recognizing him, the knight commander immediately popped out, saluting and asking.

“Lord Pryde? What brings you here at this hour…”

There was no place in this Astrax Empire where his power did not reach.

She would know that fact now too, so if she decided to run away from him, she must have intended to leave this empire.

“Prepare the troops. We’re going to the northern barrier.”

Ioan buttoned up his crisp white uniform and muttered in a low voice.

That deeply sunken gaze was unusual.

It was the look in the marquis’ eyes when he was about to carry out a cleanup operation.

The knight commander saluted without presenting a single question and hurriedly ran out of the office.

She must be planning to cross the northern barrier and go to the Northern Continent.

But there was no way to escape the empire without crossing the barrier.

There was no place in the empire where his power did not reach.

‘Did you leave me knowing all that, Delphine?’

His hand, which was buttoning the uniform, suddenly stopped without him realizing it.

Last night, she really seemed to truly love him.

So much so that even he, who had never been truly deceived by her acting, let his guard down for a moment.

…Are you saying all of that was an act and a scheme for today’s escape?

Did you really never think of me as more than a slave, not even once?

Delphine Pembrook.

“Yes. Run away.”

He started buttoning again.

Having finished dressing by fastening the scabbard at his waist, he murmured in a low voice through clenched teeth.

“Delphine. To have you, I will sell this trivial soul as many times as it takes.”

Before dawn had fully broken, a blockade order was issued at the central barrier entrance.

A search order was distributed throughout the empire for a young woman with red hair and emerald eyes.

Ioan Pryde set out for the northern barrier of District 3 with a brigade-level force.

All of this happened around the time his wife, Delphine, had just arrived near the northern barrier.

#Chapter 8. How to Run Away from a Devilish Husband

A border village located near the northern barrier, beyond the central barrier.

As it was close to a wasteland, this village had a particularly large number of empty houses.

“Let’s hide here for a while.”

Once they crossed the central barrier, Belli and Marian, who had been in hiding, joined the escape.

The four of them, including Delphine, secretly slipped into an abandoned house located in a sparsely populated area.

Then, only after Lin cast a defensive magic circle around it, did they catch their breath and share what had happened during the day.

“You did really well, Delphine. You showed great courage.”

Marian, who had a kind-hearted personality, started by praising her.

On the other hand, Belli, with her blue eyes shining sharply, immediately confirmed the facts.

“Did that man Ioan definitely ingest the poison?”

Delphine nodded heavily.

Then, with a guilty face, she quietly confessed that she couldn’t bring herself to kill him.

Fortunately, none of them seemed particularly surprised or inclined to interrogate her about that fact.

Rather, as if they had somewhat expected it, Marian shrugged her shoulders.

“Yes. Taking a life is actually not an easy thing to do. …Especially a man you’ve known since childhood.”

Lin also deliberately joked in a cheerful voice.

“I would have been surprised if you had really killed that man.”

Delphine couldn’t miss that it was to comfort herself.

She smiled with tearful eyes.

“If he took the poison, he won’t be able to open his eyes at least until morning.”

Belli said, examining the window where the early morning air still lingered.

Lin also nodded in agreement, adding,

“Yes. Now that he’s asleep is our chance. If we miss this, escape will become very difficult.”