In the darkness, Damion slowly opened his eyes. He looked ahead, struggling to lift his heavy eyelids.

He saw the back of a familiar man. Damion immediately recognized who it was.

Kardian.

His half-brother who had been executed a few months ago.

Why was he, who was clearly dead, standing before his eyes? Damion furrowed his brow and took a step closer to him.

Kardian was laughing, his shoulders shaking as if something was very amusing. His laughter was accompanied by humming. Then suddenly, as if sensing someone’s presence, he stopped.

An uncomfortable tension hung between them. Damion’s heart felt stifled. Just as he let out a suppressed groan, Kardian turned around with a smirk.

He was holding a white candle in his hand. Damion’s gaze followed the dripping wax downward. The wax was falling onto Ansi, who was sitting lifelessly with her eyes closed.

‘No!’

He shouted, but no sound came out.

At that moment, Damion suddenly realized there was a gun in his hand.

Without further hesitation, Damion aimed the gun at Kardian. With a loud gunshot, Kardian immediately collapsed on the spot.

Damion took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes, then opened them. In that instant, the person he thought had fallen was someone else. It was neither Kardian nor Ansi.

‘Leo.’

The subordinate who had shot Damion when he was in the unit. The one who had confessed to being instigated by Kardian and ended his own life with an apology.

The red blood flowing from Leo soaked the floor. Damion shook his head and hurriedly ran to him. But it was already too late, his breath had stopped.

Damion’s face twisted at the terrible sight. He felt dizzy. Soon his vision blurred and everything went dark.

“Ugh…!”

He abruptly sat up in bed. It was the dark dawn, and this was his room. The earlier scenes were just a dream and an illusion.

Damion ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

As his breathing gradually stabilized, he felt the state of his body. His sweat-soaked body showed how much he had suffered from this nightmare.

The dream of Leo was a nightmare he hadn’t had in a while.

After meeting Ansi and being with her, the dreams of Leo and other nightmares had diminished.

But why did he have such a dream now? When there were no more obstacles in his way. Now there was only happiness left to share with Ansi.

As if saying he shouldn’t be happy.

His chest felt tight. Even though there was nothing left unresolved, he felt choked up.

Damion got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Tomorrow was the day Ansi would visit this mansion. He didn’t want to show her any gloomy expressions.

Damion decided to wash everything away. It seemed like this unsettling feeling would disappear if he did.

The Raurell Duchy mansion located in the capital was busy. It was to welcome the madam who would be visiting after a long time.

In fact, she was now Baroness Rubellsa, but all the servants were certain. The day would surely come when they would call her madam again.

The one who anticipated it the most, yet also worried about it, was Simon Parry, the former personal maid of Ansi.

“I think this should be enough?”

After arranging the room Ansi used to stay in once more, Simon looked around.

The room was spotless and dust-free as it had been regularly maintained, but thinking that the owner of the room might come in and see it today, she paid even more attention to the details.

Of course, before leaving the mansion, Ansi had used the master bedroom with Damion for a while, and it seemed she would stay there today as well. So she might not even come into this room…

Still, Simon wanted to keep this space where Ansi had lived as immaculate as possible.

As the first place Ansi started her life in this house, it must hold special meaning!

No, actually, Simon thought maybe she herself was the one attaching meaning to it.

That was because when she was chosen as the new lady’s personal maid and first greeted her, Simon couldn’t describe how happy she was.

She had worried a lot about how to make the madam, who had somewhat hollow eyes, smile somehow.

In the end, the madam left this house…

Thinking about how much the master had acted like a puppet… no, how sad he had been afterward, her head automatically shook.

At that time, the servants were immersed in worry, saying the master would pass away like this, and they came to revere the madam as the only person who could move the master.

However, from Simon’s perspective, she had a slightly different impression.

Even if the master was so sad, if the madam herself didn’t want to, she hoped she wouldn’t return.

Because she supported Ansi de Rubellsa’s life as a woman, not as the madam. Simon wanted Ansi to be happy as just a person, not bound or tied to anything.

So she couldn’t help but be excited and worried about Ansi returning to this mansion again.

“Madam…”

Simon let out a sigh and left the room.

She put on her coat and went downstairs. Most of the servants were already gathered on the first floor.

Before long, the car of the master of the mansion, the Duke of Raurell, arrived in front of the main gate. Under the direction of butler Nouvel, all the servants of the mansion came out and stood in line.

The snow piled on the path and stairs in front of the building had been neatly cleared for the madam.

Soon the car passed through the main gate and stopped in front of the mansion. The door opened and the owner with brilliant golden hair got out of the car. Damion de Raurell, a man who had achieved glorious accomplishments befitting his name.

With a gentle gesture, he opened the passenger door. Even though he must have seen her the entire way here, Damion smiled happily as if seeing the person for the first time.

At the end of that radiant smile was the long-awaited protagonist of today.

Ansi, escorted by Damion, got out of the car. Equipped with a thick white winter bonnet, coat, scarf, and gloves, she got out holding a large bouquet of snowdrops.

Seeing her, Simon was overcome with various emotions, forgetting the cold.

Joy mixed with longing. A much deeper feeling than when she first greeted Ansi made Simon feel exhilarated.

However, upon seeing the servants lined up outside, Ansi’s face turned serious and she immediately whispered something to Damion.

The servants who had been eagerly awaiting her return were puzzled, but the next moment they realized why Ansi had been so serious.

“It’s cold outside. Let’s go inside the lobby for greetings.”

At Damion’s instruction, the servants quickly went inside. Only then did Ansi greet each of the servants with a clumsy greeting.

And the moment it was Simon’s turn, Simon finally burst into tears.

“I’m so glad to see you again, madam…”

She had originally planned to smile and welcome the madam! She had ruined the plan. She couldn’t even imagine how embarrassed the madam must be to see a crying servant as soon as she arrived.

But without hesitation, Ansi reached out and hugged Simon.

“I missed you, Simon. Thank you so much for worrying about me.”

A kind and calm greeting was returned. Simon pulled away from Ansi’s embrace, looked at her face, and thought it was truly fortunate.

Unlike the last time she saw her, Ansi now looked truly happy. Without the emptiness that had filled her blue eyes, or the underlying anger of unknown origin.

Thank goodness.

Thinking that sincerely, Simon broke into an excited grin.

“This is a gift for inviting me.”

On the way to the dining room, Ansi handed the bouquet of snowdrops to Damion.

In fact, he had seen the bouquet since he went to pick her up, but he had been pretending not to notice it until now, as he was told to act like he hadn’t seen it.

“It’s the first time I’ve received a bouquet as a gift.”

“It’s a poisonous flower, so don’t eat it.”

“That’s a necessary precaution. I’ll keep it in my room so no one can eat it.”

Damion joked as he took the bouquet. Still, he couldn’t hide his joy and grinned from ear to ear.

“Do you like it?”

“More than I could ask for.”

Ansi sat at the dining table with a pleased smile. Soon, the food was placed in front of them.

The meal that chef Rauty had put particular effort into preparing was truly perfect. It was more diverse and of a higher standard than expected, and the plating was impeccably neat.

Ansi, who had once worked as a servant, could understand how much effort they had put into this single meal.

“I didn’t expect them to welcome me like this.”

In fact, while visiting the Raurell Duchy mansion today, she had been a bit worried. After all, she was the former wife of the master. She had expected somewhat negative reactions.

But as she greeted the servants one by one, she realized they were sincerely welcoming her.

It was unexpected. It was also unexpected that their welcome made her happier than she thought.

The two started their meal in a good mood. As the atmosphere warmed up with stories about each other’s daily lives, Damion suddenly said,

“There’s something I’m curious about.”

“Yes.”

“How did you know I was at the lake in the Dede Forest?”

He was referring to the time when Damion had jumped into the water.