The woman instinctively sought warmth and nestled in. He gently patted her trembling back. Having never done this before, he wasn’t sure if he was doing it right.

Pat pat. The repetitive movement continued.

Ansi’s breathing gradually intensified, and then her suppressed crying burst forth.

“Hic……”

It was a sound that made the listener’s heart sink.

Damion looked with a stiff expression at the woman sobbing her heart out between dream and reality.

She continued to cry. The sound grew louder, and sorrowful weeping filled the bridal chamber. Her cold body kept trembling.

Suddenly, an uncomfortable thought settled in Damion’s mind.

That the woman who was supposed to take away his misfortune was still so miserable.

But soon he shook his head.

It wasn’t as if they had entered into this marriage unknowingly.

Damion tightened his arms around Ansi even more.

“Mmm……”

Ansi opened her eyes with a faint groan.

The room was dark. Unable to tell what time it was, Ansi pushed aside the blanket and approached the window. As she pulled back the thick curtains, bright sunlight entered the room.

It was already well into the day.

She looked around.

She seemed to remember being carried into the bridal chamber in Damion’s arms yesterday.

The decorations that had adorned the room were already neatly cleared away. On her body, instead of the dress she had worn at the wedding feast, she now wore a cream-colored silk nightgown and even a robe.

She didn’t remember changing clothes herself. Surely not….. Ansi unconsciously clutched the robe over her dress.

Just then, there was a quiet knock.

The door opened and an unfamiliar woman entered. The woman with neatly tied brown hair brightened upon seeing Ansi.

“You’re awake, my lady!”

Hurrying over, she set down the bowl she was carrying and bowed to Ansi. She appeared to be slightly older than Ansi.

“I am Simone Perry, who will be exclusively serving you from now on.”

“Ansi Rubel… Ansi de Orphée.”

“As if I wouldn’t know your name, my lady.”

Simone smiled warmly. At the word ‘exclusively’, Ansi wanted to ask about last night’s events and her changed clothes, but unsure of what answer she might hear, she ended up keeping her mouth shut.

However, Simone was a perceptive maid. She spoke in a natural tone.

“Were you surprised when you woke up? I changed your clothes early this morning, my lady. The master had returned to his room by then.”

“Ah… thank you.”

So that’s how it was. Ansi nodded blankly.

It seemed like she had cried in that man’s arms in a dream-like state.

Was that just a dream? Or had it actually happened?

‘How long has it been since I cried like that.’

She was accustomed to suppressing her emotions. Originally not one to show her feelings, this had been even more repressed over the past year. So, like a habit, she pushed down and pushed down the rising feelings in her heart.

But why, of all places, in that man’s arms…..

Damion had held her tightly as she poured out her tears. His firm embrace seemed like it would never crumble or waver, so Ansi clung to the warmth of their contact.

Damion had patted her. Without deliberately waking her or telling her to stop, without asking why she was crying.

Just silently, for a long time.

It was a vague memory, but somehow that warmth lingered on her body, refusing to fade easily.

“Are you feeling alright? Nothing uncomfortable?”

Simone asked worriedly, examining Ansi. Ansi opened her eyes wide.

“Do I look unwell?”

“It’s not that you look unwell, you were unwell. The doctor came by in the evening. Your body temperature was too low. I’m so relieved it returned to normal this morning.”

“…I see.”

No wonder that man’s embrace had felt unusually warm.

Simone held out the bowl she had brought. It was medicine. As Ansi drank it, Simone carefully spoke.

“The doctor said you seemed to have been in a state of extreme stress. Are you… alright now?”

Ansi’s gaze wavered. Despite telling herself countless times in her mind that she was fine, it seemed she truly couldn’t be fine when faced with Kardian.

For a bride to collapse like that on her wedding day.

What must Damion, that man, have thought?

What about the other guests at the wedding feast?

Worry began to creep in.

“It’s nothing. I must have been very nervous due to the wedding preparations. By any chance… do the guests know that a doctor came?”

“No. The doctor came in secretly through the back door and left secretly. Even Lady Rubel doesn’t know.”

That was a relief. A brighter light came to Ansi’s face. Simone furrowed her brows.

“It’s just as the master said.”

“Pardon?”

“He said you would absolutely not want people to know about your collapse. That you don’t like receiving attention.”

“Ah……”

It was a thoughtful consideration. Even not telling Sofia.

“Anyway, from now on you need to take care of your health before you collapse. I’ll help you a lot.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s my role.”

Simone smiled lightly.

“You’ll be heading home in the afternoon. The master ordered to allow time for just you and Lady Rubel before he departs. Would you like to have a bath and then eat?”

Although she hadn’t stayed long, it seemed she had already come to think of this place as home, as the thought of leaving felt somewhat frightening. It was fortunate that she would at least be able to say goodbye to Sofia leisurely.

“I’ll do that.”

Ansi rose from her seat. Simone walked even faster than her and opened the bathroom door.

“I’ve drawn the bath.”

Ansi froze for a moment as if broken, then nodded with difficulty. It had been so long since she had received, rather than given, someone’s service that it felt awkward.

“I’ll help you.”

“No, thank you. I’ll bathe myself.”

At Ansi’s refusal, Simone’s eyes widened slightly, but she soon nodded gently.

“Please call me if you need anything, my lady.”

As she entered the bathroom, Ansi thought it fortunate that she had been assigned a servant who, though somewhat talkative, knew how to maintain boundaries.

She was unaware that Damion had personally assigned someone who would be compatible with her.

“Hah……”

As Ansi removed her clothes in front of the bathroom mirror, she let out a small sigh while looking at her thin body.

Last night, nothing had happened between them.

That fact brought both relief and worry simultaneously.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t prepared herself for the wedding night when choosing marriage. Nor was she unaware of what might happen.

She had seen it in the romance novel Elize had shown her once, and she had even looked up related materials in the library out of curiosity about the marriage process and how children were conceived.

So it was a natural event after marriage, something everyone went through. Something that flowers and animals all go through for reproduction.

She had taken the contraceptive pills she had obtained in advance, so there wouldn’t be any consequential results either.

The dry kiss they had shared on the day the fireworks burst. It wouldn’t be different from that. So she just needed to go along with it perfunctorily and it would be over.

Even though she had steeled herself with such thoughts…..

Somehow she felt nervous.

It might be better to get it over with quickly.

As she turned away with a sigh, she suddenly looked back into the mirror.

“What’s this?”

There was a faint mark on her right waist that she hadn’t seen before.

Ansi frowned as she examined it closely.

Upon closer inspection, the fingernail-sized pattern seemed less like a dot and more like… a picture.

A strange lump that looked like several flowers or a bizarre clump of dirt, with four large tubes extending from it. It resembled the shape of a heart she had seen in books.

Ansi hurriedly wet her hand and rubbed her waist. But the picture remained.

“A tattoo?”

Given that it wasn’t particularly sore or red, it didn’t seem to be newly acquired.

“Was this always here?”

The waist wasn’t a place one usually looked at closely. But no matter how much she thought about it, she had no memory of getting such a tattoo.

Should she ask her mother?

Trying to suppress her dubious feelings and anxiety, Ansi stepped into the bathtub.

“Farewell, Ansi. You must live happily.”

In front of the elaborate carriage symbolizing the newlyweds’ return home. Sofia caressed Ansi’s hand for a long time.

Even though she called her Ansi, not Rein, it was clear that she was living in the present, not the past.

Because that smile towards her daughter contained not just happiness.

That smile also mixed longing and bitterness for those who could not share in the current happiness. This fact pricked at Ansi’s heart.

Nevertheless, Sofia was smiling.

It was clear that this was the happiest she had appeared in the past year.

“I’ll be happy, Mother.”

Ansi spoke heavily.

It was a lie. For she was leaping into hell of her own accord.

But if the end of this path was hell anyway, she wanted Sofia’s heart to be at ease, at least for now.

“Thank you for entrusting Ansi to me, Mother-in-law.”

Damion called out the glib title and smiled warmly at Sofia. Sofia burst into laughter as if embarrassed.

“Please take good care of our child, my lord.”

A happy light shone on Sofia’s face.

Ansi hurriedly turned and boarded the carriage.

Soon the carriage departed. As it became just the two of them, Ansi’s body stiffened again.