The sound of rain and the crackling of burning logs quietly blended together. The humid air sharpened his senses, and he couldn’t forget for even a moment that he was alone with Ibi in this damp cabin.

Thanks to that, more than half of the conversation they had at home seemed colorless.

Zion drew a clear line, stating that he would never become that man for Ibi’s unfounded expectations. Yet, not even an hour had passed, and he found himself in the same situation as that man.

Moreover, it was undoubtedly a trap, not a mere coincidence. Ibi Ariaete had prepared it.

So, he needed to be careful not to play along, but even though he knew, he couldn’t bring himself to escape.

“Do you need a mop, Viscount?”

“I’m fine.”

Zion answered without turning around.

He glared at Ibi, turning his back on her. Then, in this awkward situation, he silently cursed himself for allowing it to happen.
So, Zion didn’t notice Ibi staring at his back.

Leaning her head on her knees, Ibi looked at Zion’s back.

Unlike his face, which exuded refined grace, his back was rugged. With broad shoulders and visibly firm muscles, it looked imposing, filled with scars.

Thus, Ibi became curious about the exposed back in front of her.

“Ah!”

Zion was startled, jerking his waist with a gasp. Then, bewildered by the unexpected sound, he turned around.

By some unknown reasoning, Ibi, covered in a mop, was gently running her fingers over his back.

“What are you doing now…!”

“Why do you have so many scars?”

Zion, about to ask in astonishment, swallowed his words in confusion at Ibi’s calm voice.

“Here’s a scar, and here too.”

Ibi touched each scar on the man’s back with her hands. Zion suddenly became conscious of how battered his own back was.

Amidst the innocent man’s dismay, Ibi, tickling his back, asked, “Did these happen at the border?”

“That’s the only reason.”

“I see…”

“…Please remove your hands.”

Zion couldn’t endure it any longer and spoke with a hint of irritation. Ibi glanced at Zion, then calmly withdrew her hands. Leaving them open, she gently placed them on his back.

“Ugh!”

As her icy hands stuck to his bare skin, Zion swallowed a gasp.

Zion, who was on the verge of screaming, glared at Ibi in disgust, but Ibi burst into laughter. Therefore, Zion couldn’t even get angry and was on the verge of losing his mind.

Ibi was blatantly advancing. This was another hell, drawing a clear line and cutting off all possibilities.

Ibi, as if warming her cold hands, openly grabbed Zion’s back, and eventually, Zion tried to get up to avoid Ibi’s mischief.

“How long did you search for me?”

However, a sudden question caught him off guard.

“Wasn’t it hard? Searching alone.”

Zion couldn’t answer. But it wasn’t because of a curse.

Since they first met in Teynda, not even knowing each other, Zion had searched for Ibi several times during the short time they spent together. Sometimes persistently, sometimes anxiously.

That’s why Ibi could easily guess. How strenuously he must have wandered searching for her.

So, Zion could say it, and Ibi wanted to hear it in his voice.

But this stubborn man wouldn’t open his mouth easily. No matter how long she waited, there was only silence.

Ibi was a bit disappointed, but she didn’t give up. Both sides were equally stubborn.

“When I was alone earlier, I imagined it. A world without you, a world where I’ve never met you.”

Ibi murmured while drawing a picture on Zion’s back with her fingertips.

Zion didn’t avoid it as if he had given up halfway, and Ibi explored his back more freely, continuing to speak.

“Fortunately, it seems like you didn’t die. Right?”
Ibi’s voice was tinged with melancholy.

A heaven-sent orphan from the impoverished district, in need of daily salvation just to survive.

It seems like they manage to survive somehow despite enduring harsh conditions.

Ibi’s bitter smile disappeared in an instant.

In a soft, muffled voice, Ibi added, leaning her chin on her knees.

“But just surviving is everything. There has never been anyone like you until now.”

Ibi’s voice became sweet. The touch on the back was ticklish. Zion, who had become even more miserable because of it, inadvertently turned the conversation.

“You have a butler, don’t you?”

“Well, Dez has been with me since Teynda, always by my side.”

Zion’s mood rapidly worsened as Ibi brought up the topic of the butler.

However, he didn’t show his emotions, and Ibi continued casually.

“He’s my only ally. I’ve endured everything up to this point because Dez has been with me. If Dez wasn’t there, I would have been really lonely.”

“So, you two get along well.”

“Yes, he’s a precious person.”

Listening silently to Ibi’s words, Zion began to wonder what he was doing.

But just as Zion was about to get annoyed, Ibi opened her mouth again.

“But Dez is someone I have to protect. He thinks he takes care of me, but strictly speaking, I’m the one raising him.”

“Great, taking care of each other.”

Zion suppressed his desire to tease her.

Although Ibi’s butler had always irritated him, he never expressed it, as he didn’t want to appear as a petty person who restrained others.

So, he had hidden it well until now, but the counterpart was Ibi.

“So, what I want to say is different. I cherish Dez, but I don’t rely on him because the person I rely on, I’ve decided there is only one in the world.”

Listening halfheartedly to Ibi’s words, Zion realized that her words were oddly defensive.

Perplexed, he turned to look at her. However, Ibi didn’t look at Zion but instead gazed at a scar on his back, mumbling.

“The only person I’ve relied on until now is you.”

Ibi spoke as if expressing her grievance and then looked up with eyes as dark and deep as the night sky.

Before Zion could sense the danger, Ibi whispered with her small lips.

“The person I want to rely on in the future is Lord Baron.”

That one sentence finally made Zion’s already precarious heart thump loudly.

Zion forgot how to breathe.

It was a trap he knew, yet he didn’t escape.