“She can’t even walk without a cane. Do you really like a woman who can’t even use her legs properly?”

The last part was aimed squarely at the Duke of Kinanas.

Reina let out an awkward laugh.

“Zephion, that’s enough—”

“Or is that your thing?”

Zephion interrupted coldly.

“Does it turn you on—knowing she can’t walk?”

“…Zephion, was it?”

The duke’s voice, while still calm, had taken on a distinct edge.

“You’ll need to relearn how to speak to others.”

The duke’s expression hardened with clear displeasure.

Reina tried to wrench her hand free, but Zephion’s grip only tightened. She wanted to step away, yet her weakened leg made escape impossible.

“Zephion!”

He didn’t stop.

“Why? Am I wrong? If he didn’t have such filthy tastes, who else would want Reina?”

Her breath caught and her whole body shook. Instinctively, she raised her free hand, ready to hit him, then lowered it with a ragged exhale.

“Who taught you to speak to a lady that way?”

With the duke’s reprimand hanging in the air, Reina jerked her hand from Zephion’s grasp. She staggered, unable to keep her balance, and the duke stepped in swiftly to steady her.

“Here—take my arm.”

“Thank you.”

How embarrassing! The boy she had taken in was behaving so disgracefully — what would the Duke think? She had even ended up lying on the ground. Everything was a disaster.

Reina cast a sharp glance over her shoulder. Zephion was standing there, staring at her unblinkingly.

After excusing herself to change into a different dress, Reina returned to the drawing room, only to find Zephion standing guard at the door.

When she tried to walk past him without saying anything, he blocked her path instantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her anger flared.

“Move.”

“No.”

Reina glared at him. But Zephion didn’t budge. In fact, he scowled as if she were in the wrong and should back down.

She tightened her grip on her cane and tried to pass him. However, she hadn’t taken a single step before he seized her arm.

“Let go.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Pi Pi, I should be asking you that!”

Her voice rose. She tried to shake off his hands, but he was almost as strong as a grown man and she could not push him away. Even as she tried to twist away, Zephion held on tighter, refusing to let her go.

It was only then that she realised they were practically embracing. Her neatly brushed hair had come undone, strands falling messily around her face.

“Let. Go. Now!”

“Tell me you’re not going to marry him.”

“Let go!”

“Say it.”

“I’m doing this for you!”

Reina raised her voice, forgetting that someone inside might hear.

Zephion’s face twisted with emotion.

“For me? Don’t make me laugh.”

“You… you don’t understand.”

Reina was breathless. The more she tried to break free, the tighter his arms wrapped around her. It wasn’t until she was fully pulled into his embrace that she finally stopped struggling.

His arms around her slender body were so firm she couldn’t move an inch.

“Haah… haah…”

Her breath came in ragged gasps.

Zephion rested his forehead against her delicate shoulder, gently rubbing against it.

“If you really care about me… don’t marry him.”

The pleading whisper left her blinking in a daze.

As she stopped resisting, the tension in his embrace slowly began to ease.

Zephion then pressed a firm kiss to her cheek.

His breath was shaky—tinged with the sound of suppressed tears.

Reina tightened her grip on her cane, bit her lip, and raised her hand.

“You don’t understand—so stop this!”

She tried to push his shoulder away, but he grabbed her arm first. She tried to twist free, panting, but his large hand left her wrist flushed red.

“How long are you going to treat me like a child?”

“What do you even want from me?”

Reina cried back, the words tearing from her throat.

“I want everything of you!”

Zephion roared, refusing to back down. It was the first time he had stated his feelings so bluntly; a shock ran through her entire body.

He stared down at her—and suddenly his hand shot to her dress.

“Ah!”

The fabric covering her br*ast and collarbone tore beneath his forceful grip, revealing the gentle swell of her cleavage and the dark red marks scattered across her skin. The loose folds of thin fabric fluttered aside, exposing the gentle swell of her cleavage and the dark red marks scattered across her skin. Lower down, the shoulder where bite marks had been carefully concealed was now glaringly visible.

“W-what are you… doing…?”

She wanted to shout and lash out, but before she could, the door to the drawing room opened and the Duke of Kinanas appeared.

He was standing there, clearly having heard the commotion outside. He looked from Zephion to Reina, taking in the scene slowly.

“Your Grace…”

Reina quickly wrapped her arms around herself, trying to cover her half-exposed br*ast. But no matter how tightly she held the torn fabric, there was no hiding the marks scattered across her pale skin.

The duke’s eyes, visibly troubled, drifted from her flustered face downward, and she could feel them trace over the bite marks on her shoulder, the flushed red stains across her upper br*ast. One by one, he took them in.

“Th-this isn’t…”

She bit her lip hard.

It didn’t matter what excuse she gave—nothing would justify this.

Nobility might not place as much weight on chastity as commoners, but even so, to show up with the clear signs of another man’s touch—on the very day she was to meet a prospective husband—was an undeniable breach of etiquette.

And the vividness of the marks left no room for doubt: this hadn’t happened long ago. It was recent. Far too recent.

Reina parted her lips to explain, but in the end, lowered her head. Whatever she said now would only make it worse.

“…Is the boy your partner?”

The duke asked in a quiet, heavy voice.

“No, he’s not.”

She answered in a quivering voice, shaking her head with desperate insistence. She wished Zephion would deny it as well, but he only lowered his head in silence.

A heavy stillness settled over them.

How must this look? If the duke had overheard their argument at the door, it would be natural for him to assume that she and the boy were… involved. Reina raised the arm covering her br*ast a little higher, mortified and furious all at once.

“It truly isn’t so.”

She insisted again, eyes squeezed shut.

Would it be better to name the real man involved? No—she could not utter Kaelid’s name here. Even if they were not related by blood, what had happened between supposed siblings was far from normal.

Yet she could not use Yuta as a shield, either. Word of this would inevitably reach Kaelid’s ears; if she claimed it had been Yuta and Kaelid doubted her—as he surely would—she could lose Yuta for good.

The duke, face set but still impeccably polite, offered a formal bow. His farewell left no room for questions or doubt. Reina lowered her head in return.

“Your Grace…”

“It was a pleasure.”

He said, voice cool and final. The stock phrases rolled off his tongue—and that was the end of it. No promise of another meeting, not even the chance to plead her case.

Reina stood there, listening to the duke’s footsteps recede down the corridor. She squeezed her eyes shut. The only hope she had of escaping this mansion had vanished.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to Zephion—the boy who had ruined everything—only to find a look of grim satisfaction on his face.

Limping forward, she took a single step and, for the first time, slapped him hard across the face.

Crack!

The sound rang through the corridor.

Breathing raggedly, she clenched her teeth and raised her hand again.

Smack!

Another blow, then another, each sharp report echoing off the walls. His cheek bloomed red, but Zephion didn’t lift a finger to stop her. It was as if he meant to let her strike him until her fury burned out.

Unlike the silent boy, Reina’s shoulders trembled with every breath. Her palm stung from the blows, yet she still shoved her fist hard against his chest.

Zephion didn’t budge.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”