Edmond spoke slowly to me again, as if delivering a verdict.

“You already know.”

As I heard those words again, my eyelids trembled and my vision seemed to flicker and blink.

As I stood frozen with my mouth open, Edmond smiled faintly and then erased it.

Come to think of it, there was a time when Lilien was cold to me. I had my doubts then, but… Ha, I covered my mouth as a sigh or gasp escaped.

As if to dissolve my shock, he spoke in a strangely reassuring, calm, and low voice.

“My sister knew but forgave you. So don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t tell me, even when you were subtly avoiding me back then…”

Edmond scratched his eyebrow, avoiding my gaze.

“…I found out due to a subordinate’s mistake.”

Oh no. I buried my face in my hands with a miserable feeling. Suppressing the urge to go straight to Lilien, I swallowed a groan.

My face was burning and I couldn’t look up. How foolish, I hadn’t known anything until Lilien forgave me with a smiling face.

But what was even more embarrassing was that I was feeling left out in the midst of it all. Thinking that it would be better if everything was laid out in the open, even if it meant anger.

“And both my sister and I know that you…”

Suddenly his voice dropped, making me very anxious as I loosely raised my face.

With clouded, sunken eyes, he gritted his teeth as if recalling something.

“Devon, that he inflicted violence upon you.”

Violence? I blinked my slightly widened eyes. Just then, I could see the brightly sunlit garden behind him, backlit.

‘Ah, that time.’

Naturally, the memory I wanted to forget of being slapped by Devon and shedding tears came to mind.

Due to other ordinary atrocities, he would naturally think of me as a victim of domestic violence.

‘Well, it’s not wrong.’

I didn’t feel the need to correct that specifically. After all, hitting and kicking aren’t the only forms of violence. Devon was the main culprit who drove me into pain throughout our married life.

Edmond rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply, his back heaving as if suppressing anger.

After a while, as he lowered his hand, our gazes collided in mid-air. In that moment, his eyes melted gently, as if welcoming spring after a harsh winter.

“Please stay at the mansion so I can protect you.”

Is it my imagination that it sounds like pleading? Then suddenly, recalling the scene from the banquet hall the day before, my mischievous mouth moved without will.

“Can you swear?”

“A vow, you mean?”

I quietly looked up at Edmond’s eyes, tinged with a cold light. Our gazes clashed for a while, mine and his sharp gaze.

How nice it would be if we could check people’s emotions on a scale. Sadly, that’s impossible, and people test each other’s hearts to estimate their size.

I too became curious about how far he would accommodate my childishness and audacity. I took out the storage artifact I had been carrying habitually until the day before.

I read the engraved spell on the artifact that glowed softly like a red ruby.

Then, as a bright light spread, a box resembling a ring case appeared.

I opened the box in front of him with a click, as if showing a proposal ring.

“It’s the Stone of Oath.”

Edmond’s sharp eyes crumbled a little, as if surprised. His eyes, full of questioning, turned to me.

“As you know, the Stone of Oath is a promise made at the risk of one’s life.”

Life, just mentioning it felt heavy.

Even as I spoke, I didn’t think he would really stake his life on the oath. I hoped he would just take it as a warning of sorts.

“If you promise on this Stone of Oath that you really won’t harm me, I won’t leave the mansion-”

At that moment, Edmond knelt on one knee in front of me without hesitation. Thanks to his bowed head, his silver bangs brushed against his nose bridge and fell.

His gaze falling on the stone seemed very deep. Like the one I had encountered on the beach that day. And he naturally took the box containing the Stone of Oath.

“Brother?”

He glanced up at me.

“If I make this vow, will you feel at ease?”

“Well… yes…”

Because it’s a contract made at the risk of one’s life.

“Then let’s do it, the vow.”

“What?”

While I was too surprised to respond intelligently, Edmond took out a dagger with the Mifidian ducal family crest from his bosom and cut the hand holding the box.

Without even a hint of hesitation.

Drip, drip, drops of red blood fell on the white marble. He didn’t even frown as he held the box with the hand holding the dagger. Then he brought his bleeding hand over it.

Plop, plop. The droplets of blood fell onto the smooth surface of the stone. Before the blood could flow down the round surface, a bright light shone. Soon the light disappeared and when the blood droplets had completely absorbed, he met my gaze. His golden eyes were tinged with a soft heat.

“Etricia Vuel, I will never harm you.”

“…”

“No matter what happens.”

Edmond seemed only holy and noble, like a priest. Behind his calm and serene voice, the chirping of birds sitting in the pavilion could be heard.

Whoosh. At that moment, a clear summer breeze blew.

Edmond’s moonlight-soft hair fluttered, and I met his gently curved eyes beyond. I, who had been in a daze, only came to my senses when the wind slapped my cheeks.

“Wh-what did you just do?”

“I know the spell.”

“Who’s asking about that? Why without any hesitation-”

Realizing my voice had gotten louder due to frustration, I closed my mouth.

‘After I suggested it to test him and now I’m getting angry, how shameless of me.’

But a life oath…! And to do it so immediately like that!

I firmly closed my mouth and glared at Edmond as if dumbfounded. Edmond, unperturbed, held out the box to me.

“Take it. The moment you drop your blood and read the spell, the oath will be complete.”

“No, I won’t take it. It’s burdensome.”

At my triple refusal combo, he slightly furrowed his brow.

“Please take it. It’s a sign of my trust.”

“No.”

I glanced at the box he was holding out with narrowed eyes. It was not just heavy, but excessive. I was just being petty, remembering Edmond’s behavior at the banquet hall the day before. But if he reacts like this…

I slowly pulled the chair back with my feet, pushing against the marble. Then he twitched his eyebrows and grabbed the chair legs with both hands, pulling it back with a scrape.

Surprised, I grabbed under the chair as I was being pulled, and the momentum made my upper body lurch forward.

“Ah, wait…!”

In an instant, the distance closed and our noses collided.

Ugh, I closed my eyes tightly and opened them to meet widely opened golden eyes. We both froze, close enough for our breaths to touch each other’s cheeks.

Fortunately, Edmond turned his head to the opposite side first.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t control my strength…”

“It-it’s okay. These things happen.”

I cleared my throat as I leaned my upper body back. The early summer breeze that had been blowing well until just now had gone somewhere, and the pavilion was so quiet that even the bird sounds from outside couldn’t be heard.

Edmond slowly turned his head towards me. Eventually, when our eyes met, there was not a hint of agitation as if nothing had happened.

“You have nothing to fear.”

His voice was firm and clear.

Ha, a self-deprecating laugh burst out for a moment. As I covered my mouth with the back of my hand and laughed softly, Edmond made a subtle expression. I erased the smile that had spread across my face and stared at Edmond.

“I’ll stay at the mansion. A promise is a promise after all.”

“Then do you believe that I won’t harm you?”

Hehe, I shook off my laughter and brushed back the hair that had fallen over the side of my face. Then I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“I believed it from the start.”

That he wouldn’t harm me now.

“But…”

I was afraid of the future. And I felt lonely and disappointed. I was afraid of being abandoned again, afraid that if I got my hopes up and they were shattered, I wouldn’t be able to get up again. I was trying to run away to avoid having such unfulfillable desires, like wanting to enter the banquet hall.

‘Was I perhaps feeling hurt?’

So I even tried the Stone of Oath on this person, as if testing his heart…

Ugh, I swallowed a groan and squeezed my eyes shut. My face burned for a while. Because I wondered if I had been such an immature person.

When I opened my eyes again, Edmond was getting up, dusting off his seat.