Reizen let out a small scoff and closed the medicine bottle, putting it back in his chest.

She didn’t even realize he was being lenient, and this was how she repaid his consideration.

When planning this, Reizen had decided not to harbor any personal feelings at all. When people focus too much on their own emotions, they tend to lose sight of the bigger picture.

But at this moment, the flame he had buried deep in his heart was rekindled.

What he had been suppressing all this time, and thus now surging overwhelmingly…

Was uncontrollable anger.

* * *

Melissa volunteered to nurse Rael.

Rael’s entire body was burning with fever, and she remained unconscious for days. In the early morning hours, she would cry out in pain, groaning and screaming in a hoarse voice.

“Rael… hng, I’m sorry……”

Each time, Melissa would hold the writhing Rael tightly and pat her back.

She would wake up startled and scream, or shake her bandaged left hand in the air while trembling all over.

The symptoms didn’t distinguish between day and night.

By the time the swollen bruises around Rael’s eyes had turned to pus and burst, Melissa’s face was also nearly half-gone from exhaustion.

How much time has passed since then?

The newspapers were plastered with photos of Marita Loge’s store burned black from the fire and the ruined entertainment district. Melissa rifled through the newspaper with trembling hands.

However, there was no news anywhere about the death of the queen of the entertainment district.

‘Did I kill someone?’

Melissa was gripped by fear.

At the time, she had acted courageously because she feared Rael might die, but even if it couldn’t be helped, taking a life was another matter entirely. Though she was glad Rael was alive, she couldn’t help but worry.

It was late at night when Melissa trudged back down the corridor, drained of energy.

Since that day, Reizen spent more days away from the hotel than in it. Through the maids, she heard indirectly that he was dealing with the aftermath of the entertainment district incident.

‘Should I apologize?’

At the time, she had only thought about the goal of saving Rael. She didn’t know where such courage had come from within her.

And if such a situation were to happen again, Melissa would have rushed to save Rael all the same.

When she opened the door, a sharp smell of alcohol stung her nostrils.

“Back from nursing?”

He spoke without looking up, sitting with his legs crossed at the bedside table, pouring amber whiskey.

“Our lady is just so kind, isn’t she?”

The tone was clearly sarcastic.

The newspaper in Melissa’s hand crumpled. The ink smeared miserably in her small hand.

Ice clinked as it fell into the glass. Though she didn’t know when he had started drinking, a bottle of hard liquor was already showing its bottom.

“Because I’m kind……”

Melissa said, keeping her expression composed.

“Because I’m kind, I can endure my husband’s drunken fits.”

Lately, Reizen has been drinking more frequently.

She had no intention of meddling in the Prince’s affairs, but she wasn’t pleased about him drinking until his eyes grew unfocused.

He asked.

“Are you going to keep being so kind?”

Having already refilled his empty glass, he wore a neat smile at the corners of his mouth. His tone could almost be mistaken for gentle.

“Rael agreed to imprison you in Sorbet by framing you as a murderer. She didn’t care whether you lived or died.”

“We should be clear about who did what. It wasn’t Rael, it was Marita. And it was Selheim who moved Marita.”

“So, does that make it forgivable?”

“Not everyone can bravely refuse and stand up to fire. There are situations where you have no choice……”

“If you had no choice but to kill someone, then.”

Melissa’s throat tightened.

“Does that mean there’s no sin?”

Reizen rested his chin on the table. His long eyelashes moved slowly up and down.

Blue eyes watched the changes in Melissa’s expression, as if piercing through her thoughts.

“I’m really curious now. By your standards, whether murder can be excused with words like ‘had no choice.'”

Melissa bit her lip with clouded eyes.

If Marita had died, then Melissa would be a murderer too. Though it was impulsive and unavoidable to save Rael, could such a thing really be forgiven?

She suppressed her trembling voice and asked.

“Is Marita… dead?”

Asking so soon.

Reizen muttered as he poured more alcohol down his throat. As he moved, the front of his robe fell open. He didn’t seem to feel the need to cover it, apparently unconcerned.

“……”

During the moment of silence, Melissa’s heart burned. She had expected news of Marita’s death to appear in the papers if her body had been found. But everything was strangely quiet. Had he perhaps intervened to suppress it?

Various possibilities came to mind, but she couldn’t ask anyone else. Only the two of them knew the truth about the fire that day.

Reizen quietly observed the woman who was breathing heavily, extremely tense. His blue eyes glinted, reflecting the softly lit bedroom lights.

“Curious?”

“Your Highness.”

“Then answer my question first.”

Melissa retorted with an expression almost on the verge of tears.

“Is my standard for murder so important? In the end, the law and public will judge.”

Reizen nodded his head once, deeply.

“Ah, so if the law and public approve, that’s enough? Your own judgment doesn’t matter.”

“Your Highness, please……”

Why wouldn’t he tell her about Marita Loge?

Has she really died?

Was I a murderer?

Was he asking because he was curious how I would react to the truth?

Melissa was confused about the intent behind his questions. At the same time, her face turned deathly pale with the terror that she might have really killed her aunt.

She felt like she was being played by him. She had tried not to be shaken, but found herself shaken anyway. Feeling suffocated and angry at the situation, Melissa tried to leave the room.

As she turned sharply and grabbed the handle, a low voice caught her ankle at that moment.

“…She’s alive.”

Melissa covered her sobs with both hands. Her heart lurched. Ridiculously, her legs went weak with relief.

She leaned one shoulder against the wall and cried silently. She bit her lip, hiding her tears in the darkness where the light didn’t reach.

A muffled voice holding a glass rang out from afar.

“I thought you’d ask me at least once if you were worried. How could you ignore someone for a week?”

Again, liquor was poured into the crystal glass.

How many glasses had it been since she came in?

If things were like before between them, she might have complained, but since their fight in the capital, there was still awkwardness between them.

“Is the brand alright?”

When Reizen asked, Melissa unconsciously grabbed her left arm tightly. Though she didn’t claw at it in pain like before, her body was gradually getting worse.

“I heard you asked for medicine.”

So Whilton blabbed about that too.

Melissa made an annoyed expression, thinking of the big knight who seemed to do nothing but gossip at every opportunity.

The thought made her tears dry up.

Melissa quietly walked to the table and pulled out a chair to sit in front of Reizen.

“About that medicine… Lord Whilton said that while it reduces the pain, it damages the internal organs. He said I wouldn’t last long.”

When Melissa’s eyes asked if that was true, Reizen nodded readily.

“Why do I always have to hear such important things through others? When I’m the one sleeping closest to Your Highness every night, in the same bed……”

“So, did that hurt your feelings?”

“That’s……”

Melissa trailed off and closed her mouth. Avoiding his gaze, she stared into a dark corner and said quietly.

“…Yes.”

Even if he couldn’t tell her the whole truth, she wished he would at least not exclude her from important matters. That way, she wouldn’t have to act foolishly.

She wanted to be helpful, but it seemed Reizen didn’t want that, so she tried to do what she could from where she was. But even for that, she needed at least basic information.

She knew she couldn’t be a full part of Miellin.

It was understandable in a way that she was being excluded since she didn’t have the long-standing friendship and trust built at the academy like the others.

Moreover, as she was once the lady of the Grey family, she was naturally someone they would be wary of.

But while it was fine and natural for others to ignore her and look at her with disdain, she wished this one person wouldn’t.

That day when she saved Rael…

The cold, harsh gaze he had cast down at the two women felt like it was clawing at her heart.