The ivory stairs in front of the hotel were shorter and lower than those at the castle where they had been staying. If they were going to use her ankle as an excuse to divert attention, they should have done the same at the castle.

At least that’s what Melissa thought, but Rael whispered in her ear, seemingly unconcerned.

“Sister, you need to learn to be a bit more shameless.”

Reizen was too perceptive not to understand what was going on. The man walking ahead turned to look at the servants lined up at the bottom of the stairs and pulled his lips into a mischievous smile.

‘He’s probably going to say something mean again.’

He might criticize her for never complaining about pain at the castle but suddenly being selective about when and where to be hurt. What an embarrassment that would be in front of everyone.

Melissa tried to divert attention before Reizen could respond. She smiled brightly and said,

“I’m fine. I just twisted my ankle slightly. I can go by myself…”

But rather than her excuse, it was Reizen’s eyes that darkened. Before she could finish speaking, the man quickly descended the stairs and lifted Melissa into his arms.

“Reizen!”

Her sharp voice rang out in reproach.

“Yes, Melissa.”

Though he knew that wasn’t meant as a question requiring an answer, the man playfully smiled and kissed the top of her head. To think he would carry a lady in front of dozens of people and act as if nothing was wrong.

Melissa let out a dry laugh at his brazen behavior.

“Put me down, please?”

Though she whispered reproachfully, the man was already steadily climbing the stairs.

“If you struggle more here, they’ll figure it out.”

His leisurely voice clung to her ear.

“Pretend you’re in pain, quickly.”

He even demanded she act more convincingly in front of Florence. Melissa glared at the man who seemed to be enjoying himself, but when Florence approached, she started groaning as if her ankle really hurt.

Florence bit her red lips hard with her front teeth.

“It’s unfortunate that such an accident happened on these stairs we built for this magnificent building like the Imperial Palace. I’ll show you to an empty room. Should we call a doctor…”

“No need for a doctor, just get us some compression bandages.”

Reizen cut her off firmly.

“But if you’re staying until tomorrow…”

“We plan to return today after seeing them off.”

Since they had driven here at dawn, there was no need to stay. When Reizen gestured toward the car at the bottom of the stairs, Florence’s expression darkened.

“That’s a shame. I had prepared some good wine for today.”

“Wine?”

Rael suddenly interjected from behind. Florence’s shoulders trembled in surprise.

“Could you pack that for me? As a farewell gift.”

Florence openly frowned, looking at her as if she couldn’t believe such a person existed. Seeing this, Reizen burst out laughing.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that expression, Roana.”

When he deliberately called her by name, three women’s gazes fixed on Reizen. Between looks that seemed to ask ‘What are you plotting?’, the man smiled as brightly as the sun and said,

“Ah, let me introduce you properly. This is my dear friend Roana Florence. She was the president of the theater club during our academy days.”

After Reizen set Melissa down beside him and finally introduced Rael as his ‘sister-in-law’, Florence’s eyes grew unfocused. She seemed to realize that the secret between her and Reizen was now gone.

Receiving the bandages brought by a servant, Reizen left with Melissa, wearing a refreshed expression.

After entering the room, the man sat Melissa on the sofa and knelt on one knee before her. For Melissa, who was accustomed to social hierarchy, this was absolutely incomprehensible behavior.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking your ankle.”

When he tried to pull her ankle out from under her skirt, Melissa startled and fumbled.

“It was just acting!”

“I know.”

If he knew, then why?

“Still, better make sure.”

His stubbornness to check was evident. Melissa looked down at the man’s face, now devoid of playfulness, and relaxed her shoulders.

He had definitely changed.

The last time they came to Glinford, he seemed not to care at all about her feelings, but now he was being most considerate of Melissa’s hurt feelings.

His hands removed her shoe.

Why did this feel more embarrassing than having her dress removed? Melissa bit her lip nervously as her left foot was completely exposed.

The man held her foot with one hand and moved the ankle. When his thick fingers with prominent knuckles brushed between her toes, a sound escaped without her realizing.

“Ah!”

It felt like every hair on her body stood on end.

Sweat ran down her spine. She thought it was because of the tight corset in early summer, but it was actually due to the heat emanating from her body.

The man was examining her carefully like a doctor when he looked up. His upward gaze gleamed fiercely like a beast that had found its prey.

“Just from being touched, you’re already feeling it?”

How lewd.

His husky voice openly revealed his decadent desire.

His fingertips teasingly played with her foot before trailing up her leg to her thigh. His touch slowly exploring under her skirt was sticky with sweat.

When Melissa made another “Ah!” sound, his smile deepened.

“This makes me want to eat you up, Melissa.”

Once the hotel staff finished loading the luggage onto the ship, they would leave after lunch. This meant this lunch could be their last meal with Rael.

‘We don’t have time.’

Despite her anxious concerns, Reizen sat casually on the sofa. As the sofa tilted, Melissa’s body naturally pressed against his.

“We need to go…”

His hand moved teasingly under her skirt. Every time his fingers brushed against sensitive areas through the fabric, she trembled.

“We should.”

Reizen agreed in a scratchy low voice as he sat her on his thigh. His thigh was hard with no cushioning, and with her feet not touching the ground, it was difficult to maintain balance.

Melissa flailed her hands trying to find something to hold onto. It was by accident that she touched his already fully er*ect manhood. When she startled and pulled her hand away, Reizen pulled her small hand back and pressed it against his clothes.

“It’s okay to touch.”

An enormous size that couldn’t even be fully grasped with one hand. Not only was it hard, but it was also damp enough to feel the heat through his pants.

“It’s always like this. Even though the brand has weakened, always.”

As if sensing her anxiety after the brand’s effects had faded, Reizen gave her the words she wanted to hear.

Why is he so kind to me?

He had been from the start.

The only person who told her to live when she had given up on life. And…

‘The person I’m grateful to for making me want to live.’

Melissa opened her mouth, putting her desperate feelings into it instead of answering. She meant to just briefly taste his lips before pulling away, but once the kiss started, it couldn’t stop.

Reizen gently savored her lips. Her saliva tasted sweet like candy. Melissa turned her body to properly settle on his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Once they fell into it, they desired each other more deeply and hotly. That feeling made her inexplicably happy. Because it meant they wanted each other even without the brand.

Reizen lifted her chin.

“Haa.”

He let out a suppressed breath and smiled slightly with lips that had become glossy under the hotel lighting.

That smile the man wore looked like he owned the world, but it was also his way of expressing anxiety.

“I think it’s time to bring in the weapons I’ve stockpiled.”

Melissa knew what Reizen was planning to do. As soon as she thought this, the man’s hands hotly roamed her body. While her body responded diligently, words they had exchanged in the past painfully screwed into her mind.

“I told you. The Prince’s consort should just… stay alive. Don’t do anything.”

So that’s why you wanted me to do nothing…

“If someone had to kill people unavoidably, then. Would that be without sin?”

Even those probing words that seemed sharp, it must have been because you had killed someone.

Then what was her answer at that time?

Was it what you wanted to hear?

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

A worst-case scenario briefly crossed her mind. Why did she wonder what if you had killed grandfather?

Not everyone in the revolutionary army would do the same things. Even those rough-looking men she saw at this hotel before must have been revolutionaries.

It could have been their doing.

Commoners who didn’t dare raise their voices in the past were now rising up one by one, continuing their demonstrations in the square day after day.

It was a summer where voices condemning the Imperial family and nobility grew ever louder. She thought of the blood and sweat they shed under the blazing sun. The protesters she saw in the capital didn’t look much different from the revolutionaries she met at the hotel.

Someone among them must have killed grandfather.

Melissa spread her arms and embraced Reizen’s bare body. When he pushed his hard lower part in, tears welled up as her held breath burst forth. The man who lowered his waist ground below deeply.