Only a cold chill lingered in the silent room. Damion, leaning back on the sofa, twitched his fingers resting on the armrest. His tightly pressed lips fully revealed his discomfort.

“Is Ansi inside?”

“Oh my, haven’t you heard? The lady went to the Duchess’s tea party. She said she’d be back before dinner, so you should be able to dine together.”

Damion had told Ansi he might be late returning as his talk with Count Rozel could run long. But when he finished earlier than expected and returned, this was the news he heard.

Gone to meet the Duchess?

This was completely unexpected. Hadn’t they just discussed a few days ago that she wouldn’t meet the people of Orphe?

And now she acted so unilaterally without a word.

Just then, a small noise was heard from outside.

Damion rose and looked out the window. He saw a woman getting out of a carriage.

He immediately left the room.

Ansi, climbing to the second floor, flinched upon seeing Damion.

“Why are you surprised?”

The words slipped out in a harsh tone before he knew it.

Ansi quickly resumed walking as if nothing was wrong.

“I thought Damion would be back later.”

Last time, and this time too. There was no sign she was pleased he had returned early. Why did that fact bother him so much?

His chest felt tight. It felt like his necktie was choking him.

“I have something to ask you. Come in for a moment.”

“I’ll change into indoor clothes and come. Let’s talk at dinner time, it’s almost time to eat.”

The woman looked tired. She clearly didn’t want to talk with him, which made Damion even more uncomfortable.

“Come in now.”

He spoke quietly, suppressing his rising anger.

Ansi stared at Damion blankly, then sighed softly as she moved her feet.

She entered his room.

The door closed.

“I heard you attended Mother’s tea party. Why on earth did you go there?”

Damion, who had turned his back, immediately got to the point. The woman before him didn’t seem to want a long conversation.

“…How did you know?”

A sharp response came from Ansi. Her brow furrowed in displeasure.

Damion’s eyebrows rose.

She was the one who broke the promise. Yet her response to this question was not an excuse or an apology, but asking how he knew.

It wasn’t simply that she couldn’t speak, but that she had deliberately tried to hide it. By her own will.

Realizing this, an emotion resembling betrayal welled up. He had never really relied on or greatly trusted her to begin with.

“Is how I knew important?”

“It is to me.”

“Ansi, you clearly said you understood my wishes. You agreed it would be better not to meet my family. So why did you go there without telling me, I asked.”

“Because I thought you wouldn’t let me go.”

The answer was disappointingly firm and clear.

She had accurately grasped his intentions.

Damion let out a hollow laugh as he bent over. His platinum hair spilled over his forehead. Close enough for their breaths to mingle, he met her eyes and whispered.

“If you knew that, you shouldn’t have gone.”

“Now it’s your turn to answer my question.”

Blue eyes rippling like the sea gazed at him as if to swallow him whole. Those blue eyes that never avoided him, those tightly closed lips, were damnably beautiful. His wife reflected in his amethyst eyes was like a demon from myth, stealing human hearts.

That demon asked, as if she had been waiting.

“Did you have me watched?”

Damion’s face contorted.

Why did he feel so wretched? He felt a momentary shock at the feeling.

“Had you watched?”

Damion lowered his eyes to scan her black dress, then raised them again to meet Ansi’s gaze.

“Me, watching you?”

Ansi nodded.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Ha.”

A sneer escaped him involuntarily.

Surveillance? That’s something you do to someone whose every move needs to be monitored. He found it amusing that she thought herself so important.

But what was even more amusing was that he was wondering if he should have actually kept her under surveillance, just as she said.

He straightened up. His hand roughly loosened his tie. Yet his throat still felt tight.

“If there was such a good method as surveillance, you should have told me earlier.”

“…What?”

“Then I could have clearly known how my mother insulted and slighted you when you went there. Then I wouldn’t have needed to ask you like this.”

At his mocking voice, Ansi’s blue eyes wavered for a moment. She swallowed. A slightly trembling voice escaped.

“Damion, you assumed the Duchess would dislike me. But that’s not true. The Duchess said she was rather hurt that I hadn’t visited her first. She said she was glad and happy to meet me like this, even if it’s late.”

“Did you take those words at face value?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t? Does Damion think I’m unworthy of the Orphe name?”

“Ansi.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

Ansi glared at him with sharp eyes, as if looking at an enemy. No matter how much she disliked him, such an openly hostile emotion was unfamiliar.

“I’ve never thought that.”

“Then there’s no reason to stop me. I said I was fine, and I really was fine. So isn’t the one who truly can’t accept me not the Duchess, but Damion?”

Ansi took a step back. As she turned and grasped the doorknob, she said.

“It was Damion who said he’d marry me. Not me.”

She went out, and the door closed.

Damion stood there, staring blankly at the door. Soon he slumped onto the sofa and rubbed his face.

Until he met Count Rozel, everything had seemed to be going smoothly. He thought if he carefully followed the set order step by step, he could achieve the purpose he had set for his life.

But before Ansi, that order became meaningless. Strangely, many things felt as huge as waves. Yet sometimes they also felt as small and empty as bubbles that could disappear at any moment.

Having his relationship with the Duke and Duchess of Orphe exposed seemed like a bigger deal than it actually was.

On the other hand, the weight of the Orphe name felt like nothing.

Unworthy of the Orphe name? What was that Orphe to judge whether someone was worthy of the name or not?

Damion stared at the closed door. In the place where Ansi had disappeared, only her lingering presence remained to torment him.

A woman who curled up like a docile lamb, then suddenly bristled like a hedgehog.

She was unpredictable.

And his own heart as he looked at her became harder to control.

It was an incredibly dangerous thing.

“Could you tell them I won’t be having dinner today? I’m tired and need to rest.”

“Are you very tired? Should I bring you a light meal, my lady?”

Simon asked worriedly as she brought out Ansi’s indoor clothes.

But Ansi just buried herself in bed. I’ll just stay like this for a moment. Right now, she didn’t even have the energy to change clothes.

“Ansi, I was actually quite hurt. I wanted to see you earlier, but you didn’t come to me. I’m so glad we could meet like this.”

When Ansi went out to the garden after changing into a black dress, the Duchess suddenly became affectionate towards her.

She couldn’t fathom the intention behind it. All she could do was focus all her nerves on not reacting stiffly like a wooden doll to the changed attitude.

“But my lady, why are you wearing black clothes…? Did something happen today?”

Ansi narrowed her eyes and looked at Simon as she lay curled up on the bed.

She didn’t know who to trust and who not to trust. There was no one here who was entirely on her side.

Even Damion de Orphe, who seemed to trust her unconditionally and believe in her carelessly, actually thought she couldn’t be presented to his family, didn’t he?

Why had Simon dressed her up so elaborately? Perhaps she knew this would happen?

Such suspicions filled her head.

“I heard one of the group members passed away yesterday. Today’s tea party was held after the funeral.”

“Oh goodness! I should have prepared a black dress for you… Weren’t you in a difficult situation? And I, not knowing about this, so carelessly… I’m sorry, my lady.”

Simon stuttered in shock.

In fact, it wasn’t Simon’s fault. The invitation didn’t mention anything about a funeral to begin with, and Simon had just been diligent in her duties.

But why is she apologizing so much? Is it because she knew everything and deliberately dressed her up elaborately?

Ansi sat up in bed. Then she asked in a dry tone.

“I’m curious about something.”

“Yes, please ask, my lady.”

“Did Simon tell Damion that I went to the Orphe Duke’s residence?”

“Yes, I did, but…”

“Did Damion tell you to watch me?”

“What? What do you mean by that, my lady?”

Simon blinked her eyes blankly a few times, then understanding Ansi’s words, shook her head vigorously.