“Let’s go, Celian.”

She could no longer pretend not to notice. Celian lowered her eyes and took her husband’s hand.

He was still intimidating. Perhaps because of his position as an officer, his commanding presence felt even more natural.

The atmosphere of the mansion had subtly changed.

All the dark-colored curtains had been changed to bright cream colors. Thanks to this, the mansion’s atmosphere was bright regardless of the weather. Some of the old furniture had been replaced with new ones. Instead of the remnants of the old-fashioned Chesterfield style, they followed the latest fashion designs.

But Celian couldn’t see it. With each step she took, her heart constricted.

This house was like hell to her. Though it was the house of the man she loved, it was a space where she shouldn’t stay.

As the woman walked, gritting her teeth, a familiar door appeared before her eyes. The light faded from her sky-blue eyes.

‘Here again……’

In this room, her unhappy but certain future had shattered.

The future she thought had disappeared appeared before her eyes again. Tears threatened to well up. Her hand covered her belly. Toward their child, the medium that had reversed the destroyed future, yet impossible to hate.

Seeing her trembling hands, Izer’s expression twisted. As he reached for the doorknob instead of Celian, unable to watch any longer,

The door opened by itself. While withdrawing his lost arm, Izer sighed.

“Percy, I wondered where you were, so you were here.”

The blonde child jumped up with sparkling eyes. If Izer hadn’t quickly blocked him, he would have hung from Celian’s neck.

“I wanted to surprise you!”

“You shouldn’t surprise sister-in-law for a while.”

Celian blankly opened her mouth. Her hands had long stopped trembling.

The Izer Chesterfield she remembered had treated Percy with something close to hatred. Though he hadn’t used harsh words or raised a hand against the child, she had thought that neglect was also a form of violence.

Such a man not only allowed Percy to enter their room but also didn’t get angry even when he was hiding?

Seeing her surprised expression, Izer smiled slightly. It was the first smile she’d seen since meeting him at Doctor Caleb’s ranch.

“You look surprised, Lian.”

“……”

“Try to understand my position too. The wife I thought was dead is alive and well. Can you imagine how beautiful the world has become?”

“……”

The man looking at her confused face lowered his head. The whisper brushing her ear was only loud enough for her to hear.

“I could forgive everything.”

“……”

Celian stepped into the room without responding. 

 * * *

 Celian sat on the bed with her legs neatly together.

Like the living room and hallway, the bedroom had changed too. The unfamiliar bed and bedding felt strange. Though the desk was still the same one as before, just the change in bed had significantly altered the room’s atmosphere.

Even as she sat crouched, time flowed endlessly. The footsteps of a maid walking down the hallway grew distant. Percy’s energetic voice saying goodnight to the maid who had prepared his bed could be heard.

“……”

Izer wasn’t there.

The stack of papers on the desk was smaller than usual. Since his work couldn’t have decreased, he seemed to be working in another room instead of the bedroom. It was too early to be certain whether this was consideration for her or punishment.

Her anxious gaze alternated between glancing at the door and dropping back to the bedding. The action that had been repeating at ten-minute intervals changed to five minutes, then three minutes, and finally to tens of seconds.

“……”

When would he come?

During the journey from the ranch to Humingham, Izer hadn’t brought up any of the most important questions.

These were the questions she had prepared for:

Why did you do it? Did you hate me so much you had to pretend to be dead? Is that child really mine? What exactly happened in Fairville? Why did you cut your hair? Who else knows you’re alive?

But Izer’s concerns were elsewhere.

Have you been sleeping well? Why have you lost so much weight? Didn’t Doctor Caleb feed you properly? What do you want to eat? Are the clothes uncomfortable? I’ll buy you new comfortable ones. If the carriage is difficult, tell me, we can take breaks. We can change the train tickets to the next one…….

It wasn’t like Izer Chesterfield. That point confused her.

Humingham and the palace already knew about her. It was physically impossible for Celian to escape him. So he could have just declared, as he had always done, that she must stay by his side and keep her under surveillance. Like someone who didn’t need her feelings.

Footsteps were heard and the doorknob turned. Behind the smoothly opened door, Izer entered without even looking at her. As if he had entertained guests after dinner, he was fully dressed including a brown vest like a businessman. The cufflinks on his wrist flashed.

A one-sided gaze followed him.

He acted as if Celian wasn’t in the room. He returned the papers he had brought in on his arm to their place and closed the wide-open window. From the lack of a clicking sound, it seemed he had left a small gap in the window.

He threw the jacket he had carried on his arm onto the sofa, and the unbuttoned vest overlapped it. After rolling up the tight cuffs, the next order of business was taking out a white medicine bottle from the side table. He still takes sleeping pills, Celian thought indifferently while watching the man’s Adam’s apple, now quite distant due to the changed furniture arrangement.

That’s when Izer cursed.

“Damn……”

Something must be getting on his nerves. She didn’t think she was the cause. After all, she was sitting very quietly, showing no signs of resistance or attempt to escape, waiting for his judgment.

Celian lowered her eyes with a start. It was a reflexive fear that arose when she felt his sideways glance as the man stood facing the moonlight.

The presence drew closer. The smell of alcohol wafted strongly.

Fingers touched under her chin, which had been looking down. It was an irresistibly strong force. Right in front of her forcibly raised eyes, Izer Chesterfield’s face came very close.

Their breaths overlapped. The hand that had been supporting her chin brushed the hair dangling around her neck and moved downward.

Unable to resist the weight that gently gripped both of her shoulders, her body retreated until her back reached the bed. Though she first thought it would be dangerous for the baby if he mounted her, Izer remained kneeling on the bed. His hands also stopped at her shoulders.

He seemed to focus solely on kissing. The tension drained from Celian’s body. Her trembling eyelids closed, and she placed her clenched fists neatly on her belly.

The alcohol scent she hadn’t smelled in a long time filled her mouth though she hadn’t drunk any. She felt like she was getting drunk along with it.

He was still very good at kissing. After moving her tongue following Izer’s subtle will for who knows how long, Celian opened her moistened eyes.

Izer was still holding her shoulders. Due to their size difference and the half-reclined angle, Izer was looking down at Celian diagonally.

Warm fingers brushed her lips. The chapped lip skin behind the gloss forcibly created by saliva troubled his sensitive fingertips.

Izer whispered.

“Celian, I was mad all this time.”

He had deliberately not spoken during the journey to Humingham. He was afraid the woman who couldn’t handle his love would run away. Fearing she might panic and jump off the train, that he might truly lose her that way, he had suppressed his surging feelings.

Even during dinner, and after sending her to the room first, he had pondered countless times. How to bring it up without frightening her. Whether she could understand being brought back to this house against her will…….

“How could you lie to me about being dead? Knowing who I’ve lost until now, how could you too tell me you were dead……”

“……”

“Throughout my time on the battlefield, I took comfort in knowing you were in Porchmen. It felt like somewhere I could rush to if needed.”

Strong emotions began to show gradually.

“At the very least, I thought I wouldn’t receive news about you late, like I did with my parents. But what happened?”

“……”

“The day I heard you had been taken, I thought about death for the first time. I would have thrown away military law and strategy, I would have done anything even if I became a prisoner, if only I could confirm whether you were alive or dead.”

But he couldn’t act. There was no guarantee he could meet Celian by going in, and he feared the enemy might kill her in front of him.

His best option was to wait while holding onto hope that she was alive. If something had happened to her, following her in death would be possible anytime.

“On the day you died, I really meant to follow you. Standing on the cliff where you fell, I hoped I could meet you if I fell here.”