I felt as if my mouth had instantly gone dry, but I tried to nod as if nothing was wrong.

“That’s right. As you say, Your Excellency.”

I heard laughter from above again, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to determine if it was mockery or something else.

This was because servants were approaching from the opposite side.

“Lady Ariana, we have prepared your bath water.”

Wedding, wedding night, bath.

The implications of that sequence of words were blatant.

As I stood there stiffly for a moment, Dante pulled me closer into his embrace and whispered.

“If you’re tired, you can just come up.”

“I’ll take a bath first.”

The response came out reflexively.

Dante chuckled, then finally released my waist.

Feeling as if I could breathe freely again, I approached the servants as if escaping.

As I immersed myself in the bath water sprinkled with flower petals, I bit my lip tightly.

Of course, I had prepared myself for the wedding night. Dante had made it clear from the start that he had no interest in a fake marriage that was just for show.

But to be precise, it was only half a preparation. Because five years from now…

‘Everyone in the Empire knows that Duke Heigenberg is unable to be intimate with women.’

It was a scandal that would be humiliating for a man, but Dante had never denied it.

If he had tried to conceal that fact in the first place, such rumors wouldn’t have dared to stir.

‘But that doesn’t mean he can’t even kiss.’

Having experienced it directly twice, I couldn’t help but know.

Dante knew how to kiss. And he was very good at it.

Reflexively recalling the two kisses, I unconsciously curled up.

“My lady, are you cold?”

“I’ll pour in some more bath water for you.”

The servants poured in more water infused with fragrant oils.

As the intense scent of roses wafted up, my heart pounded as if being chased.

A while later.

I was sitting primly on the bed, exuding the scent of roses.

‘I feel like an herb pickled in rose oil.’

After soaking in the rose-scented bath water and then wiping my entire body with rose oil, there wasn’t a part of me that didn’t smell of roses.

The unfamiliarity of such an overtly seductive scent emanating from my body made my chest keep tightening.

‘We only held the ceremony today, but I’ve been staying in this mansion for quite some time.’

The garden visible from Dante’s bedroom looked as unfamiliar as if I were seeing it for the first time.

‘It’s really… spacious.’

Even the guest rooms were large, with bedrooms, living rooms, and dressing rooms attached, but not as much as this place.

Every detail that caught my eye showed meticulous craftsmanship.

I had never seen such an intricately and elegantly carved mantelpiece on a fireplace before.

As I absentmindedly gazed around…

Click.

The sound of the door opening was heard. Then footsteps began to approach.

The room was so dark that I couldn’t see an inch in front of me, as even the moonlight was hidden behind clouds.

However, the owner of the footsteps approached unhesitatingly as if everything was clearly visible.

The closer they got, the more excessively my heart pounded. At the same time, a childish stubbornness activated, not wanting to reveal that I was flustered.

So I impulsively opened my mouth.

“I’m sorry about today. My sister disrupted the wedding banquet.”

“Well, for something you’re sorry about.”

As Dante sat on the edge of the bed, that part sank down.

The moment his unique scent touched my nose, the rose fragrance that had been tormenting my sense of smell all evening lost its presence.

“You seemed to be enjoying it.”

“…Was it that obvious?”

I moistened my dry lips and said.

“I thought Elena would make a move, but I didn’t expect her to use the wedding as her stage.”

It was also unexpected that she would involve Adolf.

Elena’s struggles were in many ways a little more intense than I had anticipated.

But thrashing about with weights attached only makes you sink faster. Seeing her voluntarily put herself in that position, I couldn’t help but feel amused.

“It doesn’t matter. After all, the most important event at a wedding is…”

His finger lifted my chin.

“The wedding night, isn’t it?”

I slowly exhaled.

Whenever I’m with this man, I always become conscious of my breathing. The sound of my heart beating, even the blinking of my eyes. Everything that was natural loses its ease and becomes awkward.

“You know what? The most interesting thing about you is that you keep showing unexpected sides.”

Dante said, suddenly drawing close.

His red eyes looked at my face as if licking every corner.

“In front of others, you seemed like a skilled agitator… but now.”

He touched my stiffened cheek and twisted his lips.

“You look like prey about to be devoured.”

“…”

Only my heart was beating rapidly; I couldn’t dare to move even a fingertip.

Dante drew even closer to me.

Now, despite the darkness, I could see his face.

“It makes me curious.”

His face, illuminated by the reddish candlelight, was so handsome it seemed unreal. Moving his perfectly shaped lips, he whispered.

“What kind of expression you’ll show if I fluster you more.”

The hot palm cupping the back of my neck and his face suddenly drawing close happened simultaneously.

I tightly closed my eyes.

The sensation of lips being engulfed was unfamiliarly bone-chilling. The mingling of hot breaths too.

My trembling fingertips clutched at the innocent blanket.

The strange thrill flowing through my lower abdomen and the sensation of sensitive, moist inner flesh touching. Everything was so unfamiliar it made my mind hazy.

As soon as the kiss that seemed eternal ended and our overlapped lips parted, I let out a breath.

“Ariana Lopez.”

The voice scratching at my ears was unlike his usual self, rough without any trace of composure.

I bit my wet lips tightly.

It’s a name I’ve heard thousands of times, so why does the way his lips pronounce it feel so unfamiliar?

“No. Now it’s Ariana Heigenberg.”

Dante smiled gently as if pleased with that combination.

“Listen well. Revenge is certainly enjoyable. That sweet taste is…”

His thumb approached and slightly crumpled my lower lip.

“Addictive to the point of being hard to resist. I know it well.”

He knows it well?

At those words, information about what kind of person Dante is suddenly lined up in my mind like an encyclopedia.

A man who, as an illegitimate child, led a terrible war to victory, outmaneuvered his half-brothers, removed all the elders who opposed him, and seized the position of duke.

Yes. You of all people are qualified to discuss what revenge is.

‘How did it feel?’

When you stood at the pinnacle after trampling on those who despised you, did you look down and rejoice? Did you tremble? Or… did you writhe in the emptiness of losing your purpose?

“But, after you’ve finished venting all your frustrations about the past…”

The touch caressing my lips fell away, and once again he suddenly brought his face close.

Is he going to do it again? Just as I was about to unconsciously close my eyes tightly, a low whisper tickled my lips.

“You’ll have to realize. Your reality is here. By the side of this Dante Heigenberg.”

Dante gently raised the corner of his mouth.

“Our reckoning will start from then on.”

“…”

He delved into my blankly parted lips.

The second time was shorter than the first but equally intense.

Feeling an unfamiliar fire rising up to my heart, I helplessly surrendered my entire body.

Dante pulled away as suddenly as he had approached.

“This won’t do.”

Dante, who had muttered lowly, abruptly rose from the bed.

I blankly watched as he readjusted his shirt collar that had become slightly disheveled.

“Where… are you going?”

Dante lightly reached out and gently tapped my cheek.

“Because I don’t think I can hold back.”

“…”

A deep smile appeared on his handsome lips.

“But my pride won’t allow me to embrace a woman whose mind is completely elsewhere.”

My mind was… elsewhere?

Only upon hearing those words did I realize. Since entering this bedroom, my brain had completely forgotten about thoughts of revenge for a while.

It was something that had never happened since losing my life and returning to the past.

‘…Ah.’

How could that have happened?

While I was at a loss for words due to the strange shock, click. The sound of the door closing was heard.

I belatedly realized that I had truly been left alone.

‘Did I just… get rejected?’

Since the groom left in the middle of the wedding night, it certainly fit the definition of ‘being rejected.’

While immersed in bewilderment, I suddenly recalled the last words Dante had uttered.

“Because I don’t think I can hold back.”

Heat rushed to my face.

It was a line that explicitly suggested what would have been happening now if he hadn’t held back.

No way. It must have been bravado.

Even as I thought that, goosebumps rose on my skin, and I unconsciously pulled up the blanket.

‘…But is he really not coming back?’

As I lay on the bed that was too vast to lie on alone, various thoughts kept popping up.

Thoughts about the splash Elena must be making by now. Thoughts about Lucas, who must still be sleeping, unaware of anything.

And…

“Our reckoning will start from then on.”

Those words came as a shock to an unusual degree.

Making all the people I had loved pay for their sins was my only goal.

Making them settle all the debts they owed me. I had never even thought about what would come after that.

‘…I’ve ended up in debt.’

A new debtor-creditor relationship has arisen.

I thought my relationship with Dante was a transaction. One where neither party gained or lost one-sidedly.

But Dante isn’t demanding anything from me. As a result, all the help I’ve received has become pure debt.

‘After everything is over…’

What will become of me then?

A thought I had never had even once since returning in time.

As I mulled over that thought, the dawn turned white.

At some point, I fell asleep as if passing out.

“Master, Master!”

The butler of the Fedegrin Marquis’s residence burst into the study, panting.

Lucas turned to look at the butler with furrowed brows.

“What’s with this commotion?”

“Y-You need to come out right away, sir!”

At the butler’s fuss, Lucas’s face hardened coldly.

He was already in a bad mood.

His irritation at not being able to contact Elena plummeted to rock bottom the moment he saw the wedding news splashed across the front page of today’s “Empire’s Morning.”

‘Ha, they actually…’

Lucas ground his teeth and tore the newspaper to shreds.

The photo of Ariana smiling prettily was ripped apart miserably and scattered on the floor.

Still not satisfied, Lucas inhaled roughly.

It was beyond shocking; he simply couldn’t believe it.

Ariana had actually gone and married another man.

Abandoning him.