The two people who had gone into town returned to the mountain villa late in the evening.

Upon returning to the villa, Adeline retreated to the kitchen to cook, not emerging even once.

Not a single step.

‘The memories won’t come back…’

In truth, Adeline was troubled after receiving the doctor’s diagnosis in town.

It was problematic if the Duke’s memories returned, but she was also at a loss for what to do if they never came back.

And that wasn’t all.

Recalling what had happened at the dressmaker’s shop, Adeline paused while chopping vegetables for dinner.

The dressmaker’s shop in town was quite large for a place at the end of the world.

She had pushed him into the fitting room with a few clothes that seemed suitable for a Duke.

It was while Adeline was sitting in a chair, waiting for him to finish changing, that it happened.

“My, that young man changing clothes has a peculiar hair color.”

“Indeed. Such jet-black hair is rare in the Empire. It’s just like Duke Torpeo’s black hair.”

Adeline focused on the conversation between the shop owner and the neighboring shopkeeper coming from the distant counter.

“But what kind of man has such long hair? He looked normal otherwise.”

“Is the young man handsome? I should take a look. Has he come out of the room yet?”

It was then. Just as the Duke, having finished changing, was about to emerge from the fitting room, Adeline sprang from her seat.

And quickly pushed the Duke back into the fitting room as he tried to come out again.

After that, she had packed all the clothes and led Casius out of the shop by the hand.

“Haah.”

Adeline sighed, feeling dizzy at the memory.

It was certainly an eye-catching hair color.

No one in the Empire had such deep black hair as Duke Torpeo.

In the Soltarius Empire, black hair was considered a blessed color. It was highly valued as it occasionally appeared in the imperial bloodline.

But for a commoner to have black hair…

As if the hair color alone wasn’t attention-grabbing enough, it was also long, seemingly drawing even more attention.

Adeline’s worries deepened.

Would it be possible to keep him confined to the villa like this?

Eventually, Adeline shook her head.

That would be unreasonable. Even a man who had lost his memories would notice something strange about being kept confined to a villa.

If so, there was only one option.

Adeline’s eyes sparkled with determination.

* * *

“Shall we sit over there?”

“You’re going to cut it yourself, Del?”

The method Adeline had in mind was to give the Duke’s hair a clean cut.

She thought it would be less noticeable if it were short rather than long, and this seemed the best solution for now.

“Yes. If I don’t cut it, who will? We’re living here alone. Sit down.”

Adeline seated the Duke at a table in one corner of the study to trim his hair.

As she draped a white cloth over him and began to trim his bangs, she paused.

Adeline stared intently at the Duke before her.

With his hair haphazardly cut, it was hard to believe he was a Duke.

Who on earth had cut the Duke’s hair as if it had been gnawed by rats?

It was a mess.

Though she didn’t know the reason, it seemed unlikely that the Duke of Torpeo, known as the Iron Man, had cut it himself.

But Adeline couldn’t even begin to guess the reason, so she decided to end her speculation.

What mattered now was tidying up this man’s hair.

Adeline moved a step closer to the Duke to trim his bangs.

“Close your eyes. Hair might get in them.”

At Adeline’s words, the Duke quietly closed his eyes.

Snip, snip. As the bangs that had half-covered his face were cut away, the Duke’s straight eyelashes were revealed.

When Adeline’s hand paused in its cutting, the Duke’s downcast eyelashes lifted.

It was then that Adeline, focused on tidying his hair, failed to notice how close they were.

“Is it going well?”

The Duke asked Adeline first.

But Adeline, absorbed in her task, didn’t hear the Duke’s question.

“Del?”

When there was no answer to his repeated inquiry, the Duke lifted his closed eyelids this time.

Flutter, flutter, his neat eyelashes trembled as his eyes opened.

And very slowly, Adeline’s gray eyes met his bright red ones. It was a moment when their gazes intertwined.

It should have been a romantic atmosphere, but…

“…!”

On the contrary, Adeline’s heart sank.

Though it wasn’t the first time she’d seen those eyes, Adeline froze at the Duke’s red eyes so close before her.

Eyes as red as blood.

It was vastly different from the eyes she’d seen in the darkness on that first day at the villa, or the eyes that had peeked out from between his hair.

The eyes that had always been hidden beneath his long bangs were now revealed.

‘Duke Torpeo.’

It was said that the Duke’s red eyes held the blood of countless people he had slaughtered on the battlefield.

That they were so vivid because they were filled with the color of bloodshed.

People were said to flinch when they met his gaze.

That’s why the Duke usually kept his bangs long.

Even Adeline had never seen the Duke’s red eyes this close before.

That’s why her whole body froze.

Even though she knew the man before her was not Duke Torpeo, but Mel who had lost his memories.

“Del?”

Even when she had made grand plans for survival, she had somewhat underestimated this Duke Torpeo.

Save the Duke who was in mortal danger and persuade him. Then ask him to save her from the Crown Prince.

It had started with this simple plan.

But as Adeline faced the Duke properly, she began to feel uneasy.

Would this man, who had killed countless people to become a Duke, really save her?

‘Am I… wrong?’

A man who could kill someone like Adeline without anyone knowing, without any problem.

To be with such a man, deceiving him that he had lost his memories…

Only then did Adeline realize how dangerous her actions had been.

Adeline forgot to breathe.

It felt as if all the moisture in her mouth had disappeared, drying up rapidly. Adeline kept averting her gaze from the Duke, who kept trying to meet her eyes.

“Is something wrong? Did you cut my hair strangely?”

But the Duke, not understanding the situation, didn’t know to move away from Adeline.

“No, it’s not that. Close your eyes.”

Adeline unconsciously backed away from the Duke. It was because Mel kept trying to meet her gaze up close.

Then she gripped the scissors in her hand tightly. Her hand was trembling without her realizing it.

It’s okay.

It would get better if he closed his eyes.

If those bright red eyes disappeared from her sight, surely this trembling in her heart would subside.

Repeating this to herself, Adeline spoke.

“Mel, please close your…”

She was about to ask him to close his eyes again.

But that was when the Duke’s large hand, extending from inside the white cloth around his neck, touched Adeline’s shoulder.

Clang!

The metal scissors fell to the floor with a dull noise.

It was because Adeline had flinched unconsciously at the Duke’s touch.

As the scissors fell and the noise subsided, silence hung between the two.

Adeline’s lips trembled slightly.

“What’s wrong?”

At the Duke’s question, Adeline bit her trembling lips.

“It’s nothing. I’ll start again.”

“You’re shaking.”

As Casius gestured with his chin, Adeline’s reflection could be seen in the mirror behind them.

More precisely, her trembling hands were visible.

Seeing this, she thought she should quickly finish tidying his hair before the Duke noticed something was amiss.

“When am I shaking? Close your eyes, Mel. I still need to tidy up more.”

Adeline feigned nonchalance in her voice.

Then she bent down to pick up the scissors, and stood up again to continue tidying the Duke’s hair.

“I said close your eyes, didn’t I?”

Adeline wanted to quickly resolve this situation and be alone.

But seeing the Duke not complying with her, she felt her patience wearing thin.

It was hard enough to keep avoiding his gaze indefinitely. The Duke kept refusing to close his eyes. Without realizing it, she raised her voice.

The Duke, who had been staring intently at Adeline, grabbed her wrist.

And then.

“Del, let’s stop.”

He slowly took the scissors from her hand and placed them on the table.

“Let’s do it again after dinner. You might hurt yourself like this.”

With those final words, Mel stood up and left.

Adeline’s eyes trembled endlessly as they followed his retreating figure.

Thump, thump. Her heart beat violently.

But she couldn’t tell if it was trembling because of the man’s concern for her, or if her heart was constricting because of those blood-red eyes.