Blink, blink again. Ansi, who had been staring quietly at Damion, slightly tilted her head and closed her eyes.

The man’s lowered eyes met Ansi’s lips. The sensation of contact was drier and colder than she had expected.

She thought it would be hotter, given how passionately he expressed his love.

Yet strangely, when those cold lips touched hers, Ansi felt as if she had been burned by fire.

Complicated and strange emotions shook her violently. The strongest was disgust and hatred stemming from kissing Orfe’s man.

However, there was a flicker of excitement that squeezed its way in between.

A great sense of betrayal and guilt washed over Ansi like a wave. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

Noticing this, Damion pulled his lips away.

“…Ansi.”

A low, husky voice, but a gentle call. Ansi tried to hide her expression, swallowing her emotions as she embraced Damion.

“You are… my salvation.”

The man, who seemed surprised by those words, soon hugged Ansi back. Though his embrace was firm, it was sad how cozy and comfortable it felt.

Colorful fireworks continued to bloom in the sky. Ansi squeezed her eyes shut.

The brilliantly shining fireworks disappear without a trace at the end of combustion. Ansi thought that would be their ending.

Towards that tragedy, she would hold this man tightly and burn away.

“Henet has arrived.”

At Nouvelle’s words, Damion slightly raised an eyebrow, then promptly nodded.

“He’s in the reception room. Shall I tell him to wait a bit longer?”

“No, let’s go right away.”

Damion headed straight for the reception room. Since Henet wasn’t the type to visit without notice, he must have something urgent to tell.

“Did you decide to let Helcia stay with that good-for-nothing?”

At Damion’s words, Henet, who was sitting on the sofa, jerked his head up. His face indeed looked troubled.

Damion brought over a whiskey bottle and glasses, plopping down on the sofa next to him. He poured the amber liquid and handed it to Henet, who let out a deep sigh before downing the glass.

“Fortunately, she broke up with that bastard and didn’t go on the boat trip.”

“So that’s why you didn’t come either. I was quite curious about the woman impersonating your lover.”

Henet inhaled sharply.

Damion furrowed his brow, holding up his whiskey glass. He thought it was about Helcia, but was it actually about the woman who impersonated his lover?

“Was she someone you know? How exactly did she go about impersonating in the first place?”

Henet suddenly stood up and paced around the room. Whatever was making him so anxious, he circled for a while before finally returning and rubbing his face.

Then he grinned as if nothing had happened.

Too awkwardly, and awkwardly again.

“Damion. Instead of that story, how about we talk about you today?”

“What story?”

“I mean Lady Ansi de Rubellsa. I’m curious if things are going well.”

“We’ve decided to get married.”

“What? You really…!”

Henet raised his voice in surprise. Damion, who had been staring at him intently, put down his empty glass and tilted his head.

Then, as if he understood, he said quietly,

“It was Ansi who impersonated your lover.”

“…!”

Henet turned pale and froze. However, seeing that transparent reaction, Damion seemed unfazed and merely furrowed his brow.

“That’s not like her character.”

“You, you don’t know because…!”

“I would know better than you.”

“Ha… Of course you would. But Damion, is she really a woman who will bring you benefits?”

“She is.”

“In what way exactly?”

“She has great potential that others don’t. So Henet, whatever Ansi did in the past is not a particular disqualification for me.”

“You, do you really love that woman or something…?”

Seeing Henet’s serious expression, Damion smirked.

“Think what you like.”

Right, of course it wouldn’t be that. He’s not the type to choose marriage for such a reason.

For a moment, the woman’s desperate eyes flashed in Henet’s mind, but he soon shook his head and spoke.

“She told me herself. That it was her doing.”

“…You met Ansi?”

“I didn’t meet her knowing she was your fiancée. I just traced the source of the rumors, and there she was.”

“Where was the source?”

“A fountain pen. She sold a pen with my name on it, claiming to be my secret lover.”

At those words, Damion paused.

He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then asked as he put down his glass.

“Do you have that pen now?”

“I do. I couldn’t let it circulate in the market.”

Henet took out a cloth case from his pocket. As he unrolled it, a high-quality fountain pen appeared.

Seeing it, Damion burst into laughter.

“Haha!”

He looked absolutely delighted and amused. Though there was nothing funny about the situation, he bent over laughing as if he had just seen a hilarious comedy. Henet was utterly confused and opened his mouth.

“Damion, have you lost your mind? What’s so funny?”

“I was the culprit.”

“What are you talking about?”

Henet felt increasingly lost in a maze at these incomprehensible words.

However, Damion’s next words pulled him out of that maze in an instant.

“I gave her that pen and told her to sell it. Usually when selling items with names on them, people attach a relationship that won’t be easily traced, so she must have said ‘secret lover’. Given her personality, she wouldn’t have said that directly, so the middleman who connected the sale probably said it.”

“What? Why did you have my pen… Don’t tell me.”

“You gave it to me. Don’t you remember?”

Only then did Henet recall.

It was the day Henet had made a good investment profit with information from Damion. When Damion, who had borrowed Henet’s pen briefly, said that, Henet had willingly given the pen away.

“Then…”

Henet recalled the words he had spoken on the day he met Ansi.

Even to such words, she did not reveal the origin of this pen until the end. It seemed she thought it might cause harm to Damion if she said he had given it to her.

Instead of escaping the maze, Henet fell into a swamp of unbearable embarrassment and regret.

For a woman who could keep her mouth so tightly shut, to have spilled out words about stopping their relationship… Henet was suddenly overcome with a feeling of being a criminal.

“Ugh…”

“What’s the problem? The misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“Well, I don’t think there’s much to worry about.”

Damion spoke nonchalantly, but Henet was still bothered by her gaze. It was mixed with more intense and passionate emotions than just a woman unwilling to let go of the thread of hope cast over her life.

And Henet guessed that perhaps.

“She seemed to like you.”

“…Really? That’s good.”

Damion spoke as if it were someone else’s business. He didn’t look particularly happy about it.

Feeling somehow more uncomfortable, Henet stood up from his seat.

Bang bang, the door resounded as if it would be torn off. Geris, who had been knocking on the door repeatedly, shouted towards it.

“Rain, are you not home?”

There was no sound from inside. Geris raised his eyebrow sardonically.

It had been about a month since his last visit, so it seemed she had temporarily left the house, anticipating his arrival.

Why didn’t she understand that it was useless? If the door was closed, he could break in, and if she wasn’t there, he could wait inside.

Geris took out a thin pin from his pocket. This time, he intended not to damage the doorknob. He thought it would be more fun to wait inside and appear as a surprise.

Click, the door opened.

Entering the dark house, Geris lit a candle with a match.

“…No way.”

Feeling something was amiss, Geris strode over and flung open the bedroom door.

There was nothing. The odds and ends that had filled the drawers, the books that had cluttered the desk in her pretense of reading, the few pieces of clothing—all gone.

“She’s flown the coop, hasn’t she?”

Geris muttered in a twisted voice. To think she would run away without repaying the money like this.

He chuckled, his body shaking. After rolling on the bed laughing for a while, his expression suddenly hardened.

“I should have sold her off back then.”

A gloomy mutter escaped. He had been too kind until now. Rain Arel, he didn’t know where she had run off to, but it seemed he would have to catch her and teach her a lesson.

The East Cathedral, the largest cathedral in the capital, was bustling with countless people.

The sudden marriage announcement of the Orfe prince had turned the social world upside down for a moment, and now everyone was desperate to become a guest at this wedding.

Moreover, as both the groom and bride were quite well-known even among ordinary imperial citizens, the crowd filled even the outside of the cathedral.

The protagonists of the wedding were split on either side of the cathedral entrance, each in their own waiting room. It was a place to check their attire and prepare their bodies and minds solemnly before the ceremony began.

Bam, the door to Damion’s waiting room opened without a knock.

Damion, who had been reading a newspaper on the sofa, looked up. He wasn’t surprised at all, as he could tell who it was just from the sound of the door opening.

“You’ve come, Father, Mother.”

Damion stood up with a welcoming smile. Basilov and Marianne entered together.

The door closed immediately, as if there was no time to spare. At the same time, their faces hardened.

“End it quickly. We can’t have any more disgrace.”

Basilov spoke in a low, warning tone.

Damion hadn’t expected them to congratulate him on his marriage. But for the first words to be about disgrace.

He barely managed to suppress a laugh that was about to escape.