Reina’s lips trembled violently. Her body shuddered under his rough movements, unwanted sensations rising that she could no longer hold back. Yet there was no warmth, no love—only emptiness.

Now that she knew what love was, even the faint pleasure her body betrayed her with felt hollow.

Her breath grew ragged, her eyes blinking dazedly as the sound of each cruel movement echoed in the narrow house.

“Hhh—ahh!”

A broken cry slipped through her lips, stained with the taste of blood. Whether she wanted it or not, she could feel the edge of release drawing closer. She struggled, but she couldn’t escape.

‘Why… why does my body remember so easily?’

The shame of it tore at her. She could feel herself giving in, her trembling body betraying her in ways she couldn’t control.

“Ah… ngh…”

Her body jerked, her mind whitening in terror as she realized the moment she had feared was approaching. Sweat clung to her skin, making every touch feel more unbearable.

“About to give in, aren’t you?”

Kaelid chuckled darkly, seizing her swollen cheek and forcing her face toward Zephion. She squeezed her eyes shut, her chest heaving. The thought of reaching her breaking point here, before his eyes, hurt far more than the strike on her cheek ever had.

“Open your eyes.”

She pressed them shut even tighter.

“Stop… please… ahh—!”

His movements grew more violent, the sounds of violation filling the room. The overwhelming sensation pressed in, closer and closer. Reina’s nails scraped hard against the floor as she clenched her fists, fighting desperately against the wave threatening to consume her.

Kaelid’s voice lowered, disturbingly soft, his breath curling against her skin.

“I’ll make sure he sees exactly who it was that broke you, Reina.”

His quiet laugh crawled over her skin like ice.

Reina’s chest heaved as she shook, her eyes still shut tight, her body on the verge of shattering.

“Hhhk…”

Even the thought of resisting grew faint. At the breaking point, Kaelid’s ragged breath filled the air as he pushed her past the edge.

“Ah—ahhh…!”

Reina’s body convulsed violently, trembling as a wave she could no longer hold back tore through her. She bit down hard on her lips, desperate to smother the sounds escaping her, but her body betrayed her with every shudder.

Kaelid held her tightly, his movements unrelenting, as if to force her body to remember what she wished to forget.

Her trembling legs gave way beneath her, her skin burning where his hands had gripped too hard. The suffocating heat and shame left her shaking, her strength nearly gone.

“Please… stop…”

She tried to close her legs, but his hands pried them apart again.

“So he’ll know exactly who you belong to, Reina.”

Her lips quivered as tears streamed down her cheeks. She could feel a gaze on her—sharp, searing. Was it Zephion’s? The thought made her heart splinter. She bit down harder, holding back a sob.

Kaelid’s cruel laugh filled the narrow house. At last, he drew back, the weight of humiliation lingering heavier than the act itself.

“You understand now, don’t you? Whose mark you carry.”

Reina forced her broken body upright, trembling as the bitter scent of violation clung to her.

Kaelid smiled leisurely, drawing his sword once more. He tapped it against Zephion’s shoulder as though mocking him.

“Learn your place. Or have you forgotten? Your father, the Marquis of Baltgar, also lost his life for not knowing his place.”

The sound of teeth grinding split the silence.

‘What should I do?’

At this rate, Zephion would die. If not for her, he had more than enough strength to escape. The thought made a bitter smile curl her lips.

‘By now, he must not care about someone like me.’

Wasn’t she one of the Berend? Wasn’t it Reina who had made him live under their roof? She had deceived his love, given him nothing, kept everything from him. Reina’s hand clenched into a fist.

It was better this way. If he no longer cared whether she lived or died, then he could run. That alone was enough.

Her gaze shifted to Kaelid. He wore the smug leisure of a victor, just as he always had when mocking Zephion.

In a way, she was grateful for it.

With trembling arms braced against the floor, Reina forced herself upright. She had only one chance. He wasn’t even watching her.

Staggering forward, she threw her body at him with all her strength. Her hands struck his arm, and his sword slipped from his grasp as he fell.

Seizing it quickly, she swung the blade toward Zephion. Even if it wounded him, as long as she could cut through the ropes binding him, it would be enough.

“Reina!”

Kaelid’s furious shout rang out as Zephion tore through the half-severed rope and slammed into him with his entire weight. Kaelid grunted, calling for the men waiting outside.

In the next instant, Zephion’s hands were free. He snatched the fallen sword and cut the ropes at his ankles. But the door burst open, and Kaelid’s men flooded in.

“Ahh!”

Kaelid’s hand fisted in Reina’s hair at once. Zephion flinched, his eyes darting back to her.

“Go!”

She screamed the word.

“Did you really think I loved you?”

“Reina…”

“I didn’t care who it was—as long as he could take me away from that place.”

Her words spilled out like a confession, her voice breaking. Zephion’s golden eyes trembled violently.

“Shut up, Reina.”

His hand tightened cruelly in her hair. The pain was nothing. Reina gave a laugh that didn’t belong, a smile twisted in agony.

“If I’d known this is all you were capable of, I would’ve chosen a real man. Helping me, only for it to end like this—you’re a failure.”

Zephion’s face twisted in shock before he staggered back. Kaelid clenched his teeth, his voice sharp with threat.

“Stop. Or else—”

“Go! If you’re going to die, don’t let it be in front of me. I don’t want to see proof of my own failure.”

She cut him off, shouting again. Zephion never looked back. After swiftly cutting down more than a few men with ease, he burst out the door.

Reina, gasping for breath, stared blankly after him. Some of Kaelid’s men scrambled to chase, but it was clear they wouldn’t catch him.

“Ha… haha…”

A hollow laugh slipped from her lips.

Kaelid, face contorted in rage, struck her across the cheek with all his strength. The force sent her sprawling to the floor, consciousness slipping away.

‘You’re back.’

When Reina opened her eyes again, she found herself staring up at a ceiling she knew all too well. A long sigh escaped her lips.

The past three months felt like nothing more than a dream. Perhaps it had been an illusion of happiness—or perhaps that was reality, and this the nightmare. Wasn’t it unbearably cruel for such horror to be her reality?

She didn’t know how long had passed before the door creaked open.

“…You’re awake, my lady.”

It was Rose. Her voice was hoarse and strained. It was strange—Reina had seen that face every day, and yet after only a few months apart, the sight of her brought such unexpected relief. She felt a pang of guilt for leaving without a word, without even a sign.

‘So we meet again like this, after all.’

Reina gave a bitter smile.

Rose set down the box she carried, taking out a jar of medicine before sitting at the bedside. Without a word, she dipped her fingers and carefully began to apply it to Reina’s battered cheek.

“Ah…”

Pain flared sharply where she had been struck so brutally. Yet the expression on Rose’s face looked as though she might weep herself.

“You should have gone farther. Much farther away…”

The trembling whisper made Reina give a faint, bitter smile.

“I thought I had. But I guess… it wasn’t far enough.”

Rose bit down hard on her lip, closing her eyes tightly for a moment before forcing them open again. Gently, she closed the jar and lingered there, as if struggling with what to say.

“…What about Zephion?”

‘Zephion.’

She turned the name over in her mind. Could he still be alive? He had fled that place, and the fact that Kaelid hadn’t proudly displayed the boy’s severed head as a trophy suggested there was a good chance he had survived.

“He’s probably still alive.”

Though she didn’t know the full story, Rose’s faint look of relief said she guessed as much. Reina recalled the sight of his back as he ran without looking back, not even once.

‘If he’s had time to think, all that will remain is hatred.’