“Lady Larinne!”

At the sound of her name being called from somewhere far away, her consciousness was pulled back to reality.

With a breath that was nearly a scream, Larinne threw off the blanket and sat bolt upright.

Her back was drenched in sweat.

“Lady Larinne, please wake up!”

Even Chardi’s pleasant voice—light like the chirping of a small bird—did nothing to calm her racing heart.

Her head pounded as though someone were striking it repeatedly with a hammer.

‘Why on earth did I have that dream again?’

Her whole body ached, as if she had just woken up from sleep paralysis.

She felt as though she had just escaped the grip of the enormous snake that had appeared in her dream.

No, it must simply be the onset of a fever.

Amid her hazy thoughts, one thing remained vividly clear: his last words to her.

“You only need to remember clearly. These sensations… everything that is happening now.”

All she could recall was the dream.

Yet the memory of his breath had ignited a fire within her.

Starting at her earlobe — where she had surrendered to him — a slow, creeping warmth had risen through her body, making her feel as though her mind might melt away.

‘What in the world…?’

She could not understand what was happening to her body.

Each time he pressed his lips insistently against the back of her neck, the gradually building heat gathered into an unfamiliar sensation that sent shivers racing down her spine.

There were no marks left on her neck.

Yet the heat was undeniably real.

This swelling warmth filled her head, making her feel as though her mind had turned into water-soaked cotton.

A memory suddenly surfaced.

When she was about eleven, she once stepped forward to defend a child who was being punished too harshly. As a result, she had angered those in authority and been thrown into the Pakto River.

She shivered in the freezing water until dawn, when the temperature difference was at its worst. Afterwards, she had a terrible fever.

Now, her body felt just as heavy as it had back then.

“Tomorrow will mark one week since your first companion dream. You won’t be able to endure it any longer.”

Suddenly she remembered the dark voice he had pressed into her ears. And what had he said after that?

“Since I know you won’t grant me permission immediately, endure it for as long as you can. When you admit you’ve reached your limit… come to me.”

Yes, that was what he had said.

Although Larinne hadn’t understood every word he whispered to her in their shared dream, she had a vague sense of what he meant.

If she acknowledged that limit, she would have to act on it.

‘…That can’t happen.’

Larinne had no interest in such wanton acts.

Moreover, she had never even imagined becoming so close with a man before undergoing the coming-of-age ceremony.

…Wait.

Her hands, which had been rubbing her face dry, suddenly froze.

‘Come to think of it… why didn’t the curse activate?’

A crucial realization flashed through her mind.

Thanks to the Blessing of Water, her fiancé, notorious for his debauchery, had never been able to ass*ult her.

Yet in last night’s dream, Libehi Winterd had pressed his lips to her neck, and she had felt no distress.

He had called her fearless.

In truth, however, those were the very words she wanted to say to him.

It had been him who gazed boldly at her, his eyes burning with desire.

‘He looked as though he had no idea that the Blessing of Water would inflict a terrible curse.’

And yet—

Even when his lips lingered on her earlobe and slowly moved down to her collarbone, she did not utter a single groan of pain.

In fact, it was Larinne herself who had sensed something unusual in her body and let out an unusual sound.

‘Did something happen to the Blessing of Water?’

That seemed unlikely.

Not long ago, the blessing had almost activated when her fiancé looked at her with those filthy eyes.

‘Then is it because it happened inside a dream?’

It seemed like a somewhat reasonable guess.

‘Or… because he is the one who appeared in the companion dream?’

The more her thoughts branched outwards, the further she seemed to drift from any real answer.

A heavy headache pressed down on her.

Just as she clutched her throbbing forehead and tried to get up, Chardi burst into the bedroom, carrying Larinne’s formal attire, and let out a loud cry.

“Good heavens! You haven’t even washed yet?”

“Chardi… my head is pounding. If you’re going to talk, please keep your voice down.”

“There’s no time for that! At least put on a shawl. His Majesty has already arrived at the Western Palace.”

What is he planning to do this time?

Larinne frowned—but the answer came to her almost immediately.

‘Right. The welcoming banquet for the delegation is today.’

Her fiancé was someone obsessively devoted to imperial protocol.

No doubt he had spent the entire night buried in those insufferable etiquette manuals.

‘There must surely have been a line somewhere stating that the empress must accompany the emperor when hosting a banquet for foreign envoys.’

That was probably why he had come looking for her so early.

They hadn’t even held their official wedding yet, and yet whenever occasions like this arose, she was treated like an empress. The irony of it was laughable.

The more irritating thoughts that filled her mind, the worse her headache became.

“Lady Larinne!”

As Chardi draped an outing shawl over her shoulders, she quickly caught Larinne when she swayed.

The arm she grabbed was far hotter than usual. Only then did Chardi realize the condition of the person she served.

“My goodness, you’re burning up.”

“I’m fine.”

“Fine? You don’t look fine at all. Your complexion is terrible. Should I inform His Majesty?”

So that you can watch yourself suffer for it?

Larinne was about to answer no, but an unpleasant voice cut her off.

“So now you’re resorting to theatrics?”

Seidon Varbel entered the room, his entire body wrapped in cloth embroidered with hieroglyphs, a pharaoh’s headdress crowned with a golden serpent perched upon his head.

“Your Majesty, descendant of the great Sun God, I greet you.”

Frightened, Chardi dropped flat on the floor.

Without acknowledging the greeting, Seidon walked straight towards Larinne.

He knew perfectly well that if a superior did not return a greeting, the person who had bowed had no choice but to remain in that position.

“If you’re pretending to be sick just to embarrass me, you’d better stop now.”

“You need not worry. I will attend the banquet no matter what.”

In truth, she was in such a state that it would not have been unexpected for her to collapse at any moment. Yet Larinne refused to show any sign of weakness.

Above all, she refused to do so in front of Seidon.

“You had better. Otherwise, your limbs will pay the price.”

Larinne saw the filthy green gaze settle upon Chardi’s waist as the maid lay prostrate.

She bit down hard on her lip.

If she collapsed here, that fragile attendant would surely suffer a nightmare of a fate.

“That won’t happen.”

The words she forced out sounded like a vow to herself.

Chardi had remained by Larinne’s side for five years, despite being ostracized by the other maids simply for serving her.

She was timid and quick to burst into tears, but that was precisely what Larinne liked about her.

The tears she shed in Larinne’s stead, as her own had long since dried up, had provided a quiet comfort.

Seeing Chardi express her emotions so freely reminded Larinne of her former self.

‘I will protect her.’

Chardi was as precious to her as her own people.

“I need to change my clothes now. I ask that you leave.”

“You dare dismiss me?”

“If you are not afraid of the Blessing of Water, then by all means stay.”

As Larinne lowered her shawl slightly, the elegant curve of her shoulder and collarbone was revealed.

Her pale skin was as flawless as polished jade and tempting enough to stir desire in any man who saw it.

There was no need to read Seidon’s thoughts.

The moment his murky green eyes fell upon her, the Blessing of Water activated, seemingly in response to the impurities present.

“D*mn it all.”

Forgetting even his dignity, Seidon spat out a curse and turned away roughly.

“Get yourself together and come out. If you have even the slightest conscience to repay the kindness of being fed and sheltered.”

Only after delivering that final threat did he leave the bedroom.

“You may rise now, Chardi. We need to prepare quickly.”

Larinne helped Chardi to her feet. The maid had been bowing the entire time.
Afterward, Larinne pressed a hand to her dizzy forehead and leaned briefly against the wall.

“Are you really going to go?”

“You know what will happen if I stay behind just to make things easier for myself.”

“B-but… still.”

Chardi stomped her feet anxiously. She was close to tears, but couldn’t stop herself.

Of course, she was worried about the lady she served. But she was just a maid from a minority background, so there was little she could do.

“Then at least take some medicine to lower your fever before you go.”

“Yes. That would be wise.”

Larinne chewed and swallowed the medicine that Chardi had prepared for her.

She didn’t want anyone around her to die, get injured or suffer because of her.

So she clenched her teeth and endured.

“Chardi. If I lose consciousness during the banquet, call Duke Winterd.”

“Please don’t say such frightening things. Just imagining it scares me.”

“Don’t cry in fear. You must do exactly as I said. All right?”

“Yes… I will.”

All she had to do was endure it.

If she could grit her teeth and withstand it alone, she could prevent this girl’s misfortune.

For Larinne, fighting against misfortune was nothing new. It was her daily life.

***

He had expected her to appear before the sun reached its peak.

Yet as the hour crept closer to noon, Libehi let out a hollow laugh.

‘Is she dull… or simply stubborn?’

The aftereffects of the companion dream would surely have left her body in poor condition. And yet there had been no word from her until now.

Perhaps she truly intended to endure it.

“Are you really planning to attend the banquet looking like that?”

Harry asked crookedly, glancing at Libehi, who leaned against the sofa with sweat dampening his face.

“Harry, spare me the nagging. My head is already splitting.”

“I still think you should call for her and resolve the symptoms of the companion dream before you go.”

Libehi himself had not escaped the aftereffects of the companion dream.

Aside from the heat he felt at the back of his neck and the sweat forming on his forehead, he seemed normal enough.

But that was only because pain is relative.

Compared to the agony caused by the supreme curse embedded in his heart, the effects of the companion dream were negligible.

For Libehi, it was hardly worse than a mild, passing fever.

But for her, it would likely be far more troublesome.

‘So how long do you intend to endure it?’

The burning desire inside him continued to test his self-control.

Yet Libehi was a patient predator.

As bitter as patience might be, its rewards were sweet.

For now, he had to hide his fangs and wait for the right moment, like a venomous snake coiled and ready to strike.

“You haven’t forgotten what needs to be done at the banquet today, have you?”

“You clearly know there’s only one way to extinguish the heat burning through you. I don’t understand why you insist on choosing the more difficult path.”

“I told you already. I’ll wait until she wants it.”

Libehi rose slowly to his feet, fastening the long gold earring that hung from his ear, answering calmly.

“And in the meantime, you’ll torment me with all your groaning.”

“Exactly. So please live a long life, Harry.”

“That’s a disease, Your Grace.”

Perhaps Harry was right.

Even with his body in poor condition, the mere thought that she might be thinking of him made his spirits lift.

“Well, you might not die because of the curse anyway, Your Grace—but she might not be able to endure it.”

“If she reaches her limit, she’ll come to me.”

Harry let out a dry laugh, narrowing his eyes.

“Are you aware that you’re a truly vicious man?”

Call him whatever they liked.

As long as he could hear her voice—desperate, calling out for him from those lips—

that alone would be enough.