A man wearing a raven-black mask.

The instant Selina heard his voice, the vague silhouette behind the mask came into sharp focus. Her blood-red eyes ignited with a fierce light as she fixed them on the man before her.

“Didn’t you hear her tell you to leave?”

The room echoed with the sound of a razor-sharp voice. The chill in the already cold room intensified to such an extent that it felt as though their shoulders might freeze.

An ordinary man would have fled at once, but this one would not retreat so easily.

“…I heard it. But I cannot leave a lady alone in a place like this.”

The words seemed to strike a nerve. Behind the mask, the crimson eyes sank into a glacial calm.

“The right to decide that does not lie with you. It lies with the lady.”

The man in the black mask turned towards Selina, seemingly waiting for her response.

From his tone alone, it was clear that he wanted her to dismiss the man herself. However, she pressed her lips together and did not respond immediately.

‘I don’t want to face Calix right now.’

If the man in the grey mask left, too, then only Calix and Selina would remain in the room.

But what could they possibly say to each other, standing face to face like this? His words were already predictable.

‘Let’s pretend that night never happened. Or perhaps—let’s just enjoy ourselves casually, without attaching meaning to it….’

It would not be at all strange for Calix to change his attitude overnight, as though he had flipped a switch. From the outset, he had been Thalia’s son — a man who thought and acted exactly as he pleased.

But what about Selina?

To her, Calix was the sun around which her world revolved.

She had only ever briefly seen him surrounded by other women, and even that had made her feel uneasy. If he were to show even the slightest hint of distancing himself, she had no confidence that she could endure it.

“Thank you for your concern, but…”

Of course, that didn’t mean she could order Calix away. Instead, she turned to the man wearing a grey mask.

“Please go now.”

Hearing the firmness in her voice, the man could no longer refuse. Moments earlier, he had been extremely worried about the crying woman, but now it seemed as though she wanted the man in the black raven mask to stay instead of him.

“…Understood. If you need me, please call for me at any time.”

With that, the man left.

He left the room, still feeling regretful.

He was bothered by the fact that he hadn’t had the chance to introduce himself. Even more troubling was the fact that he still didn’t know who she was. Nevertheless, he had seen her face uncovered beneath the mask.

‘We’ll meet again.’

With that small hope in his heart, the famed libertine of Thalia—the genius physician Lucas—took his leave.

—

“It seems the party is more enjoyable than expected.”

Selina was met with a gaze as cold as frost settling at dawn in the depths of winter.

She shrank under the terrifying chill aimed at her, but a moment later she consciously straightened her posture.

She didn’t know what had made Calix angry, but that didn’t mean she had to respond in kind.

If anyone had the right to be angry here, it was her, not him.

Stubbornly biting her lip, she looked straight at him.

“Yes. I’m enjoying myself. I’m simply grateful to His Grace the Grand Duke for allowing me to attend a party like this.”

The crimson eyes hardened.

Her open sarcasm—and Selina’s direct return of it—made his already unsettled insides churn.

“Indeed. The one who granted permission is standing right here.”

He strode forward and seized her arm, pulling her toward him.

“So whom, exactly, is my wife expressing her gratitude to?”

That grey-masked stranger — a faceless man who dared to share a room with Selina, even when her husband appeared. An insolent bastard.

They were both wearing masks, so the man probably didn’t know Calix’s identity, but that was irrelevant.

“If you were truly grateful, you should have bowed your head to me.”

His voice was low and sounded like that of an enraged beast, barely restraining itself.

Usually, Selina would have been frightened by his open display of anger, but not this time. This time, she was just as resolute.

Shaking off his hand, she replied as if she had already decided to create distance between them.

“The person who allowed me to attend the party was His Grace the Grand Duke. He was far too busy to come here himself.”

She decided to pretend that she did not know him.

Yet there was a quiet reproach in her tone.

‘You were too busy to come with me, and yet here you are, enjoying yourself.’

The corner of Calix’s mouth lifted as though he were amused. His eyes narrowed at a sharp angle, brimming with restrained fury.

“And so you handed your wrist to another man—as if you’d been waiting for it?”

“Th-that….”

For the first time, clear agitation crossed Selina’s face. It was obvious what Calix was referring to: the moment the stranger touched her wrist and claimed he was going to check her pulse.

All she wanted was to find out how to treat the poison accumulating in her body, which he had instantly discerned.

‘But I can’t tell Calix that.’

Biting her lip, Selina chose silence.

“You were answering so clearly earlier. Why—have you suddenly run out of things to say?”

Under the gaze thick with anger, she slowly parted her lips.

“There was a reason.”

“A reason?” He let out a short laugh. “I’m curious what excuse you’ve come up with this time.”

He lifted her chin with his fingers.

“What—were you laying the groundwork for some other secret scheme again?”

“That’s—that’s not it!”

Amused by her sharp reaction, Calix’s hand slid lower. Just as he gripped her slender waist, about to provoke her further—

“D-don’t.”

Selina twisted and struggled to break free from his grip.

In that instant, the memory of that night came crashing down on her.

She hadn’t even realized when it had happened; everything had felt as natural as water as she had given herself to Calix. It had hurt. It had been overwhelming. Yet a pleasure far greater than the pain surged through her entire body. The way Calix had looked at her that night had been more intoxicating than the sensation itself — an expression he had shown only to her.

When he turned his beautiful face towards her and spoke her name.

When he told her that she was not a calamity and that she should stay by his side.

Without exaggeration, Selina believed that she had been given something more precious than the whole world.

But what had Calix been like afterwards?

He hadn’t come to see her once. In fact, he had sent her to this party, as though deliberately creating distance between them. And now, here he was, cornering her as though she were at fault, when she was barely holding herself together.

“Don’t touch me.”

Selina pulled away from him, bristling like a cat whose fur was standing on end. Adopting the posture of a creature that had been abandoned by its owner, she armed herself so that no one could come close again.

She resented Calix.

What had meant nothing to him had meant everything to her. To him, it had been no more than a passing whim. But to Selina, he had been her entire world.

If it was always going to end like this, with her being granted only a momentary pleasure before being pushed away again, it would have been better never to have experienced it at all.

It was like waking from a beautiful dream only to be confronted with an even more unbearable reality.

Selina no longer had the strength to endure any more sorrow.

“…It seems I…”

Calix, who had been staring blankly at the floor, suddenly tore off the mask that had been covering his face and threw it aside.

“I think I was mistaken.”

The mask hit the ground with a dull thud. He slowly lifted his head and looked at Selina.

His bare face, finally exposed, looked darker and heavier than usual. It was impossible to tell whether his mood had soured or if he had realized something new. Staring into the distance with an unreadable expression, Calix suddenly stepped towards Selina, lifting her into his arms.

“W-what are you doing? Put me down—now…!”

Caught off guard, Selina struggled in his grasp.

Fortunately, their destination was close. After only a few steps, Calix set her down atop a display cabinet.

“I’m changing the plan.”

Perched helplessly on the cabinet, she tried to get down, but his strong arms braced on either side of her, trapping her in place.

“From now on, I won’t be indulging your curiosity anymore.”

“What do you—ngh.”

His red tongue flicked out like a serpent’s, tracing the line of her neck. A sharp, electric sensation shot up her body from her toes and she struggled to stop herself from making a sound.

As if he had been waiting for it, Calix claimed her lips. When his hot tongue entered her mouth, her lips quickly became moist with saliva.

“L-let go….”

She tried to push him away, her voice already tinged with desire, but it was no use. Soon, his fingers slid up her pale leg, which was draped over the cabinet, and slipped beneath her dress.

‘No—this can’t happen. If this goes on, I’ll give in to Calix again.’

She bit down hard on her lip, summoning all her strength to stay silent. She didn’t want him to know how aroused she was. Most of all, she didn’t want to feel helpless and overwhelmed again, consumed by him as she had been that night.

“I don’t know what scheme you were plotting this time,”

Calix said, gripping her chin as she stubbornly twisted against him.

“But going to another man on a whim—”

His voice dropped, cold and absolute.

“That’s no longer an option.”