It was a gloomy day with rain threatening to fall.

Melissa barely managed to raise her heavy body, feeling damp. As she tried to stand up by grabbing the pole beside the bed, her legs gave way and she almost collapsed.

“My lady!”

Nora rushed over to support Melissa.

Since Melissa had fallen and hurt herself once before, the maids were particularly attentive to her physical condition.

“Though it might be presumptuous… I think you should rest today. We’ll take turns caring for the young lady.”

If she insisted, she could have shaken off the maid’s hand and gone to Rael. But Melissa was grateful to have someone who cared for her wellbeing, so she returned to bed.

“Then I’ll rest just for the morning.”

As always, offering a reasonable compromise.

Nora, showing a rare smile, nodded respectfully. Afterwards, the maid left, saying she would check on Rael in Melissa’s place.

As soon as the door closed, Melissa collapsed onto the bed.

Lately, her energy levels had been hitting rock bottom every day. Despite making an effort to eat properly and get regular sleep, it was exhausting to handle Reizen through the night.

“…”

Come to think of it, what kind of stamina did that man have?

He would wake up early in the morning, handle work at the imperial palace, take care of personal matters, return in the evening, and never finish with just one round at night.

Only after Melissa reached climax multiple times and begged him to stop while sobbing would he finally relent with his hips. Even then, it felt like he was only being considerate because she was struggling.

Being so passionate about bedroom activities now, how did he manage to hold back before?

‘Is this normal for everyone in bed?’

Her body was covered in red marks from his all-night fondling. The tender flesh below was so thoroughly handled that it stung just from rubbing against underwear when walking.

Even firm fruit becomes soft if constantly handled, and Melissa felt like her body would wear away like soap from all his touching.

But Melissa couldn’t voice any complaints. Having a child was an extremely important matter. It was an effort they both needed to make, so Melissa was trying her best to endure.

Besides, while Reizen remained fine despite sweating through the exercise, it seemed unfair that he would be seen as the bad guy if Melissa, who just stayed at the hotel, went around groaning.

So she tried her best not to show signs of being under the weather.

If she didn’t get pregnant within a year, she would be sent to Sorbet, and Reizen would lose everything he had built up.

After all, that was the only help he wanted from her.

To wait quietly at the hotel, spread her legs at night to receive his seed, and get pregnant.

Reizen had said this made Melissa more useful than Florence, and while that felt quite hurtful, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

She had to get pregnant.

Otherwise, there was no value in staying by Reizen’s side.

Melissa had dozed off on the bed and slowly opened her eyes when she sensed someone’s presence. Through her blurry vision, a familiar face suddenly appeared.

“Sister, are you stupid?”

It was Rael, looking somehow full of discontent.

With bandages wrapped tightly around her left hand, Rael was standing on her own without a wheelchair. Though her face was covered in bruises, her expression looked the best it had been recently.

Melissa was internally happy to see Rael. At first, Rael had refused to even look at her, hiding under blankets, but now she had come to visit because Melissa was sick.

My goodness.

Melissa smiled weakly, her eyes curving.

“If you’re sick, you should say so. Why foolishly try to hide it? I heard from that short-haired girl that you tried to come nurse me in my room while you’re sick yourself.”

Before Melissa could respond with an “mmm,” Rael plopped down heavily on the bed.

The careless movement made the bed shake like an earthquake. Just that small impact made Melissa feel dizzy. Her skin hurt whenever it touched the blanket, suggesting she might have a fever.

She exhaled hot breaths and looked away. Seeing this, Rael touched her forehead with her right hand. There was a faint smell of cigar on her hand.

“You have a fever? And what’s this on your neck?”

Without asking permission, Rael pulled down the blanket in her detached manner. Melissa had no time to stop her. As the blanket scattered in the air, the red marks covering her entire body from the night’s activities were starkly revealed.

“Wow, f*ck. He really marked you up. Is this a canvas or what?”

“…”

“Does he moonlight as an artist? Drawing all over your body, crazy.”

Melissa’s face turned bright red at having her sister discover evidence of her messy lovemaking.

“…Give that here.”

When Melissa demanded grumpily with her face red to her ears, Rael tossed the blanket with a clearly displeased expression.

The blanket fell just short of Melissa’s hands, barely catching on the bed. It was awkwardly far, requiring her to crawl over to reach it since her outstretched hand couldn’t quite make it.

“Ah.”

When she’s hurting, instead of helping…

Melissa’s brow furrowed slightly.

“…Looks like my brother-in-law is really rough at night.”

Rael rummaged in her pocket and put a thin cigar in her mouth. After lighting it and letting the smoke rise hazily, she perched on the windowsill and opened the window.

“Are you getting hit in the middle of doing it?”

“No?”

Melissa’s eyes went round. When she answered with a shocked alarm, Rael laughed bitterly and tapped ash out the window.

“Right. I’ll believe you.”

Rael narrowed her eyes and took a deep drag of the cigar, tilting her head back. Half-lying askew against the window, she blew a round donut-shaped cloud toward the ceiling.

It was such an insolent pose that grandfather would have burst from his grave if he’d seen it.

“But, Melissa.”

Melissa was wrapping herself protectively in the blanket when she shifted her gaze to the window.

What. Why?

When she expressed her displeasure with her eyes, Rael spoke while sitting in an embarrassingly casual position with one leg up on the windowsill.

“If you hate it here, want to leave with me?”

“Where to?”

“Our faces have been sold as much as they can be anyway, so we can’t live here anymore…”

Rael lifted her eyebrows slightly as she considered.

“Mm, how about Tavania?”

It seemed like an impulsive suggestion to anyone watching.

With absolutely no planning.

“Honestly, there’s no guarantee we won’t fight there either, but two is better than one, right? Better than living miserably here…”

Rael’s gaze fell on Melissa’s neck. Melissa, covering the congestion on her neck with her hand, could only smile sadly without speaking.

Rael spoke again, almost spitting out the words.

“Let’s run away.”

Now that Marita’s establishment was gone, they probably wouldn’t be able to track the two of them anyway.

So if there was a chance, it was now. Until now, the only escape Melissa had thought of was death, but with the establishment gone, a new option had appeared.

Plus, now she had Rael with her. While it would be dangerous for a woman alone to take a ship to another country with this face, having two instead of one felt different.

But…

What would happen to Reizen if she disappeared?

What currently supports Reizen is his position as prince, his expanding overseas trade, the newly started territory development, and the commoners’ support.

But the moment he falls out of favor with the Emperor, his position and territory would all be stripped away.

The rosy future he dreamed of would all disappear. So Melissa leaving Reizen meant taking away more from him than she’d thought.

Wouldn’t that be repaying kindness with enmity?

She didn’t think it was right to do this to someone who had told her to live and cried with her. Besides, as Rael would know, the sisters… had a terrible relationship.

They hadn’t gotten along since childhood, and now watching her puffing away at that cigar made Melissa want to criticize her behavior so badly it was burning her up inside, though she couldn’t.

“Ha.”

Rael laughed coldly, seeming to know what Melissa was worried about just by looking at her eyes.

“Don’t tell me you hate the idea of going with me?”

“That’s not exactly it.”

“So you do hate it! I hate the idea of going somewhere with you too! But you looked like you were suffering and in pain so I just suggested it! I was just throwing it out there! Ugh, sh*t.”

Rael jumped up angrily from the windowsill.

Her mood seemed to have soured already, looking like she was planning to return to her room. Shoving her feet roughly into her slippers, she was dragging them across the floor toward the exit when she grabbed the door and turned back to speak.

“But, Melissa!”

Though there was some irritation mixed in, it was a rather serious voice.

“It’s your freedom to choose whether to stay here and live or die, but in my opinion, if you’re going to stay here, you need to become stronger.”

But I’m already enduring the pain well enough now.

As Melissa tried to laugh it off as unnecessary meddling, Rael frowned fiercely and declared:

“Don’t take this lightly and listen. You always avoid problems when they come up. When pain comes, you think just enduring is enough. You were like that when you were engaged to Selheim too.”

That comment stung a little.

Melissa looked at Rael while wrapped tightly in her blanket. The two expressionless women met eyes.

Rael took one long drag of her cigar and exhaled irritably before speaking.

“Don’t avoid reality, whatever it is. That’s what I’ve wanted to tell you since before.”