During the day, her fever spiked so high she had to take antipyretics and sleep for hours. It wasn’t until evening that she finally felt well enough to eat.

Melissa expected Reizen to return to the hotel late as he usually did.

She had planned to visit Rael after dinner, but for some reason, he came back unusually early that evening.

He changed his clothes immediately and came to Melissa’s room, lifting her chin as she struggled to sit up in bed.

Her small lips were devoured by his kiss. She couldn’t resist, meekly offering her tongue to his demanding mouth.

Their unresolved feelings slowly melted into heat.

Whenever heavy emotions settled in their hearts, they replaced words with kisses.

In a way, the mark’s side effects were just a convenient excuse for both of them.

“Haa! Ah…!”

After that day, her cries of pleasure never ceased.

“Get on top. Move yourself.”

The more anxious they became, the rougher their coupling grew.

Reizen gripped her hips, thrusting up into her from below. With each relentless thrust, she struggled but took him beautifully, crying prettily all the while.

“Haa, ah, hng… uh, ungh…”

Every time he pierced her depths with his engorged member, her normally composed face transformed into that of a woman lost in ecstasy.

Melissa felt increasingly strange to herself.

When he took her roughly from behind, she felt like an animal surrendering to instinct, losing her human dignity.

Something she had preserved through all her painful past was slowly melting away.

It was different from simply losing her virginity.

She felt like a beast in heat.

The endless mating season left her with strange feelings.

* * *

Alcohol and drugs.

s*x and men.

Rael blankly surveyed her surroundings as she reflected on her twisted life. Next to her bed sat Melissa, looking exhausted, asleep with a medicine bag clutched in her hand.

The sight of her sleeping awkwardly in the chair, bent uncomfortably at the waist, was both familiar and strange.

Of course, the face was familiar enough, being identical to her own, but such a gentle sleeping expression was foreign – she never slept with such a peaceful look.

Rael stared at Melissa’s face with dead eyes before pulling the blanket over herself and burrowing into bed.

Meanwhile, Melissa woke up with a haggard face and continued organizing the medicine. It was incomprehensible why she stubbornly insisted on staying by Rael’s side when she was clearly exhausted enough to need rest in her own room.

Rael felt irritation rising.

She pretended not to notice, hiding under the blanket without speaking, but watching Melissa’s gentle hands adjusting her covers made anger surge up, bitter words spilling out.

“Melissa, what are you, some kind of saint?”

Rael snapped from beneath the blanket, her face twisted.

“Please, I’m sick of it. Just leave me alone and live your own life, will you?”

Speaking those words made Rael feel like she was crumbling inside, but she didn’t care. Her life was already ruined beyond repair.

She thought she had no regrets about when it would end.

So if she was going to die anyway, she wanted Melissa to stop being held back by her.

Honestly, Rael felt far inferior to Melissa.

She had spent her whole life trying to catch up, but the only thing she was better at than Melissa was selling her body – the thought was bitter and pathetic.

And now that Marita Loge’s establishment was gone, she couldn’t even do that anymore. She had lost her place to live.

She had never thought about how she would survive on her own after leaving the establishment.

After all, where could a fallen noble’s daughter go?

Outside the establishment, living alone like this would be impossible. Her face was too well-known – she would be recognized and harassed or captured anywhere in the empire, making escape futile.

And now… Selheim had rendered her left hand completely useless.

Though bandaged tightly, she could feel it without looking. The complete lack of sensation in her fingertips…

Rael felt despair. Along with it came an excruciating pain that made her whole body feel like it was sinking beneath the bed. She deliberately sharpened her thorns.

She intended to drive everyone away by clawing and hurting those around her more severely.

“Just leave me alone, Melissa.”

“Rael.”

“Please drop your f*cking pathetic pity! What kind of crazy b*tch would take in and nurse someone like me…!”

Suddenly, Melissa’s hands roughly tried to snatch away the blanket.

Rael tried to hold on with her right hand, but two hands were naturally stronger than one, and she lost her grip on the blanket.

The blanket that had served as a curtain flew into the air.

The room was surprisingly bright – bright enough that dust particles could be seen floating in the air as the blanket flew.

“What are you doing…!”

As Rael shot up shouting, Melissa strode forward.

Expecting a slap across the face, Rael squeezed her eyes shut, but…

Whoosh.

Warm arms gently enveloped Rael.

“What the f*ck…!”

Rael struggled to break free. But Melissa held her tightly, desperately refusing to let go.

She didn’t offer words or comfort. No advice or questions.

“Rael.”

She just called Rael’s name.

“Rael…”

Called it over and over while stroking her hair. Melissa’s embrace carried a faint scent of vanilla.

It reminded her of when they used to sit side by side at a table, feeding each other spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream.

Their feet couldn’t reach the floor beneath their chairs then, so they must have been very young.

Though they only had memories of hurting each other as adults, they had so many beautiful memories from childhood.

Memories were double-edged swords.

Sometimes they brought gentle nostalgia, but sometimes they pierced the heart sharply with pain.

That’s what Melissa was to Rael.

She wanted her near, yet wanted her gone. Her presence was reassuring, yet seeing this different version of herself with the same face made her stomach churn.

If Melissa was light, Rael was darkness.

If Melissa was up, Rael was down.

That equation would never change in their lifetime.

She hated it. Really, really, really hated it to the point of disgust.

“Let go!”

Though Rael’s resistance was weak, Melissa responded by stroking her back even more tenderly.

“I don’t care what you think. Right now, I just want to hold you because you look like you’re in unbearable pain.”

“Who the f*ck asked you to do this?”

“Yes.”

Melissa’s hand warmly stroked Rael’s hair.

“I wanted to hold you like this.”

At those words, Rael’s face crumpled with tears. Rather than healing her wounds, Melissa’s actions made her festering sores burst open, making them sting even more.

The pain was unbearable, so excruciating she could barely breathe, as Rael gasped out between hot breaths.

“I hate you, sister.”

Melissa nodded slightly while holding her.

“I know. I hate you too.”

“I hate you so, so, so much!”

Her shrill voice cracked like a scream. Choked up at those words, Melissa took a moment to steady her breath before responding numbly.

“I… know that too.”

At that, Rael suddenly burst into tears.

Her face, marred with wounds, was probably still swollen and ugly. But at this moment, she didn’t care who saw.

Rael sobbed silently in Melissa’s arms like when they were children. The tears she had suppressed to the point of silence slowly began to seep through her teeth in thin streams.

“Haa, hng… what do you know, sister.”

She spat out curses along with her laments.

“What the f*ck… hng, how do you know…”

Are you a sucker, sister?

Or are you just stupid?

How can you forgive and understand people so easily? You shouldn’t do that. If you accept everything like that. Then who’s left to protect and defend you?

Rael couldn’t hold back her sobs, clinging to Melissa with her whole body while continuing to curse. Her trembling hands clutched at Melissa’s clothes, desperately hoping she wouldn’t leave, wouldn’t abandon her.

Melissa held Rael tightly and said through her tears.

“I still haven’t replied to your letter.”

“You know I didn’t write it expecting a reply.”

“That’s why I really wanted to answer, but you took away my chance, you idiot.”