Izer treated Celian coldly as before. As soon as Percy fell asleep, he would call for her and demand her body. Kind words or love, affection, need — such words never crossed his lips. 

 However, he wanted Celian to sleep beside him. Not the act that adults euphemistically call ‘sleeping together,’ but purely sleeping. The act of closing one’s eyes and sinking into unconsciousness. 

 The lovemaking that used to continue until he satisfied his desires reduced to once, or sometimes twice, and he spent most of the long nights sleeping while holding her. 

 Celian also acted distant in front of Izer. She tried to avoid him using Percy as an excuse whenever possible, and far from speaking informally, she didn’t even call his name. While trying not to give him any excuse with her words or actions, she would suddenly find an aroused Izer sucking on her br*ast. 

 Their bodies were closer than anyone’s, yet their conversations were not just perfunctory but almost unpleasant. Yet even now, the man’s hands burrowed between her thighs, and the woman lowered her arms submissively to receive his touch. 

 Moving his fingers, Izer whispered.

“Aren’t you curious where I went?” 

 “To the sea, you said……” 

 “To discuss business with Montes. That business includes my marriage.” 

 “……” 

 Like a clam seen at the fish market on the way back, the woman’s lips pressed tightly shut. And that wasn’t the only thing that tightened. As his fingers forcefully opened and entered below, an unstifled moan escaped. 

 “Hng……” 

 “I don’t want you to hear about it through others. About that marriage.” 

 “Hng, nngh……” 

 “Ah, f*ck……” 

 He touched her first, yet he got excited when she tightly gripped his fingers. His mouth watered, imagining how overwhelmed she would be if he made her lean against the wall and took her from behind. 

 Swallowing his curse, Izer delivered his message.

“I will never marry that woman.” 

 “……” 

 “There isn’t much time left.” 

 Her glazed eyes blinked. She seemed to want to ask what didn’t have much time left. 

 But he wouldn’t tell her anything until it was all over. Because this woman knew her position too well, she would run away immediately if he told her what he planned to do. 

 The fingers that had been teasing her insides slipped out. Supporting Celian as she slid down the wall, he straightened her disheveled skirt. 

 “We’ll continue the rest tonight.” 

 ***

After a satisfying lovemaking, she would fall into fluffy sleep and wake in a soft bed. She spent her days playing with an adorable child, then sank into pleasure again when the sun set.

 In Celian’s daily routine described above, sometimes unbearable ominous signs would slip in one page at a time. Like Ophelia’s words when visiting the mansion — “This b*tch is still in this house” — or the Porchmen’s guide booklet occasionally left on her bed…… 

 If Ophelia and Harris’s existence was overwhelmingly ‘frightening’ to Celian, Izer was something ‘painful.’ 

 Celian, opening her eyes, looked down. She saw the arm firmly wrapped around her waist below her br*asts. The peaceful breathing she felt right behind her neck told her that he had fallen asleep safely this night too. 

 “……” 

 That night by the lake, a ridiculous play unfolded in that cabin. 

 Izer sucked her toes, which he hadn’t licked even six years ago. It was fortunate at least that they weren’t dirty, thanks to him carrying her there. 

 The kisses that traveled up her feet and ankles naturally headed toward her groin. She, who had never comfortably received an oraljob from him before, sat with an extremely arrogant face while receiving his service. 

 She had been crazy. 

 She just escaped from the fear of death, and she had been mad. She instinctively craved her savior. Added to that, her body, trained by Izer Chesterfield all this time, wanted pleasure, so perhaps it was a natural conclusion that she rolled around with him, even commanding him to enter her. 

 Twisting her body, Celian slipped out of bed and opened the drawer. Gulp — just as the white pill went down her throat, there was a rustling sound. 

 “What are you doing?” 

 “Taking medicine.” 

 “Birth control?” 

 “Yes.” 

 Honestly, sometimes she forgot to take it. But now it seemed she shouldn’t do that anymore. So she deliberately brought the entire bottle of birth control pills to Izer’s bedroom and took them in front of his eyes. This is the distance between you and me, this is the limit of our relationship…… While praying and praying again that her message would reach him.

The medicine bottle in her hand disappeared. Celian looked up at the bottle now held at a height she couldn’t reach even with her extended arm. She had to take two pills, but she had just taken one. 

 “I need to take one more.” 

 “One is enough.” 

 “No. I was told to take two……” 

 “By Doctor Owen?” 

 Of course, Owen wasn’t the source of the birth control pills Celian was taking. Izer put the bottle in the drawer and led Celian to the bed. 

 “Don’t force yourself to take too much medicine. It’s bad for your health. I didn’t know.” 

 “……” 

 “I’ll pull out if necessary. Reduce the dosage.” 

 “There’s no need……” 

 “I reduced my sleeping pills too. You should reduce yours.” 

 He would casually threaten Celian using his own body as hostage. While having such a strong will to live, he seemed to have little desire for his health. 

 Of course, Izer was very healthy. Sometimes he was so healthy that she thought he could afford to be less so. 

 As Celian walked through the corridor after being forcefully proven his health since morning, the head butler approached her. 

 “The Duke says he has urgent matters to discuss tonight.” 

 Her blood ran cold. She reflexively turned her eyes to check if Izer’s door was properly closed. The butler delivered the message in a monotone voice. 

 “Nine o’clock in the evening. He said you must see him today as he’ll be going hunting from tomorrow. The Duke will be in his room all day.” 

 “What does he want to see me for……” 

 Her lips went dry. Her heart pounded differently than when she was with Izer. With an unstable, seemingly about-to-burst pulse, she only blinked rapidly. 

 “Well, I wouldn’t know. I’m merely performing the role of messenger.” 

 “……” 

 “Nine o’clock at night, Miss Berienne. And take this.” 

 A man in his sixties handing her a check in the middle of a corridor in broad daylight. It brought about the humiliation of seeming like payment received for selling her body to the person before her. 

 Even these minute details must be the Duke’s work. Because he was someone who knew how to most effectively intimidate others. 

 Her terrified sky-blue eyes remained fixed on the wooden ceiling as if nailed there. 

 ***

 Like many shops in the world, jewelers also had their ranks. Humingham, being the capital, simply had many people of various classes, and naturally, jewelers were ranked according to their main customers’ wealth. 

 The highest-ranked jewelers only visited specific nobles to sell their wares. The next rank down opened flashy shops in expensive locations to tempt customers who flocked like crows. 

 Usually, such customers who came and went were less picky as they entered half-impulsively. It was an everyday occurrence for them to browse around and order products as if enchanted. Therefore, the day’s sales depended on how well the owner catered to the customers’ tastes. 

 However, sometimes there were customers who were truly difficult to deal with. Whether due to personality, status, or just being difficult as a person. 

 Young Duke Izer Chesterfield was a prime example of the latter case. The jeweler broke out in a sweat. 

 “Um, customer. Are you looking for something for your fiancée……” 

 “No. Another woman.” 

 The jeweler’s owner quickly turned his thoughts. The engagement between Young Duke Chesterfield and Miss Montes was familiar to him who mainly served the upper-middle class and above. So he had thrown out the question about his fiancée, but the answer was ‘another woman.’ 

 ‘A mistress.’ 

 It was surprising that such a refined man had a mistress, but the owner hid his surprise and confidently pointed to one corner. 

 “Then I would like to recommend this section.” 

 What he showed were all flashy but strangely not elegant jewels. Any woman qualified to be someone’s proper wife would naturally recognize the value of jewels worn by a mistress. 

 While she might be upset at the fact that her husband gave jewelry as a gift, if that jewelry was only superficially impressive, it was human nature for the anger to subside somewhat. She could comfort herself by touching the jewelry around her own neck worth ten times as much. 

 In a world where mutilated bodies of mistresses who fell out of favor with proper wives were commonplace, he must have saved the lives of at least ten mistresses this way…… he was lost in self-admiration.