“Grandfather sponsored this castle for a long time. Perhaps because of that… many things left here are familiar to me. Small things like tapestries and handkerchiefs…”

A thought suddenly occurred to her – it wasn’t that she didn’t want to speak until now, but that there had been no one to listen.

Melissa took one deep breath.

It had been a long time since she’d spoken this much to someone. Her heart pounded, nervous and trembling about how he would take it. She was afraid of being criticized for the words she had mustered the courage to say.

But, strangely, she didn’t want to stop talking.

“The Countess.”

She clasped her trembling hands tightly together.

“Died because of me. While protecting me.”

Though she tried to appear calm, her voice shook. The woman held back tears as she continued.

“She was one of the few adults who protected me until the end. I didn’t think of her specially, nor did I particularly like her…”

“But.”

“I saw a frame in the room. She had preciously kept my embroidery from when I was 12 years old in a frame. How could I erase those traces? How could I change a space that still holds the Countess’s cherished scent?”

Melissa shook her head stiffly.

“That’s impossible. I can’t do it.”

Emotions layered like hardened earth had settled within her. The sadness and longing pressed deep inside were conveyed through her quiet voice.

“So that’s why you said you couldn’t use that room.”

He sighed like he was in pain and slowly turned around. The darkened room was filled with Melissa’s irregular breathing as she sniffled.

Would he scold her? Would he reprimand her for troubling the castle staff over such a trivial matter?

Melissa lifted her head uncertainly. When their eyes met, Reizen whispered in a calmer voice than expected.

“You did well.”

It was a completely different tone from his earlier sarcastic congratulations.

“If you had explained your situation like that, the maids would have understood perfectly.”

Melissa’s eyes widened slightly. Observing her reaction, Reizen continued.

“Nobles don’t need to speak at length. Their status explains everything. Speaking without purpose is also vulgar behavior.”

“…”

“But, Melissa Grey.”

Blue eyes gazed at her clearly.

“No one will speak for you if you remain silent.”

Firm, strong eyes.

“Say what needs to be said. People don’t know unless you tell them. How you think, why you act that way. Making others understand that and adapting from now on is entirely your responsibility.”

Focus gradually returned to Melissa’s hazy eyes. Her body, which had been trembling finely in the wind, also regained stability.

‘That’s right. Why didn’t I speak up?’

Looking back on the past, she had always been precarious.

Without parents, she had to become the perfect young lady to lead the family, and suffered under that pressure. As an older sister, she had to educate Rael and set an example, and as the future Crown Princess, she had repeatedly practiced suppressing her desires throughout her life.

But when her grandfather died and she endured all sorts of torture and questioning, her spirit broke from fear and helplessness. When she was sold here and there against her will and beaten, she was finally buried in isolation.

What saved her was, ridiculously, ‘giving up.’

When she finally let go of everything and waited for death in prison.

By then she could no longer think normally.

Her wounded heart lost its form, and her existence was erased from the world.

No matter how much she cried and begged to be saved, no one listened. Her ex-husbands raised their whips telling her to be quiet, and the guards sprayed dirty water before locking the iron door.

For a very, very long time.

For what felt like an eternity. No one listened.

So at some point, she seemed to have given up.

Considering even small hopes a luxury, she didn’t expect anyone to listen. Like a habit, she suppressed her emotions and forcibly swallowed words she wanted to say.

But.

Why did words flow so easily with him?

Was this also an effect contained in the goddess’s brand?

If so, it was an emotion she had never felt before.

The moonlight gathering at the window was particularly pale. Against the backdrop of swaying white curtains, the blonde man opened his mouth.

“I’ll hold the physician accountable for making the bride collapse on her first day. He won’t be able to interfere for a while.”

Even though he spoke of ordinary things, he was strangely reassuring. Perhaps it was partly due to his pleasantly low voice, but it was also something else.

Melissa stared at the man with a blank face. Their eyes met. She felt a gentle warmth like rocks that had absorbed the day’s heat.

Just as she was about to continue speaking, Reizen unhesitatingly averted his gaze.

“Well then. Since your tears seem to have stopped.”

As if intending to leave, the man straightened his back. The bed creaked as it shifted from his large body’s weight.

Melissa grabbed his wrist suddenly. Through the thin satin robe, the hot warmth of his skin surface transmitted directly.

Reizen’s body stopped moving. She swallowed hard and looked at her own hands with surprised eyes. It had been quite an impulsive action.

“Why, should I stay the night?”

Come to think of it, the two of them were married for an heir. An heir. A child…

When she went down to clean at Marita’s shop, she would see men and women entangled, n*ked and drenched in sweat.

That’s when she learned. How messy and violent the act of conceiving a child was.

The woman moaning in pain while the man poured out his lust. Even now her stomach churned remembering the woman beaten to a pulp with smeared makeup.

Melissa quickly shook her head, trying to shake off the scenes in her mind. The connected hands pushed away and the man’s arm fell with a thud.

It was a clear rejection.

***

The man who had given his bedroom to the bride leaned against the wall as soon as he closed the door.

It was deep into dawn. They had ridden for two full days from the capital to the territory, so his body should be tired.

He looked at the mirror placed across the hallway.

His heated face was flushed and burning. His blue eyes were full of passion, and unconsciously, excited breaths escaped.

‘This is maddening.’

Particularly problematic was the lower part that kept swelling at random times. The unrelieved desire felt like it was coiling and writhing like a snake.

Why didn’t anyone tell him about these side effects of the marriage vow?

Reizen bit his red lips until they bled. Then he staggered and stood straight, holding the wall.

Red light was flowing from his left chest reflected in the mirror. The man who tightly gripped his collar threw open the bathroom door with defiant eyes.

Because of the rising heat, his whole body felt like it was burning alive. It was unbearable, as if his internal organs would melt at this rate.

He hurriedly took off his robe.

Cold water had been drawn in the huge bathtub. Fortunately, it seemed the diligent maids had prepared water for the morning in advance.

Though it was the same spring, the temperature difference between the capital and territory was extreme. The capital’s late winter was like spring here.

The unheated water would be cold enough to freeze his lungs, but there was no time to hesitate thinking about that.

Splash!

He submerged his whole body in the tub. Up to the top of his head, completely.

As he held his breath while soaking in the cold water like that, the energy flowing from his chest gradually faded.

His body, which had been groaning and suffering from high fever, was finally cooling down properly.

“Phu, ha!”

The man who emerged from the water gasped for breath.

This was already his sixth immersion today.

“Ha…”

His blue eyes cooled as the heat disappeared. As he returned to reality, his senses came alive.

With dawn approaching, sleep was out of the question, so he planned to go to the study and continue examining documents.

‘What am I doing, really.’

The n*ked man rising from the tub wiped off the water, washing his face. Through his wet fingers, a small laugh escaped.

—

T/N: Reizen is unexpectedly likeable. and cute.