Startled while scratching without thinking, Delilah looked at the hand gripping her wrist.

“I told you not to scratch.”

The voice was low, hoarse, and tinged with irritation. Vicente propped himself up on his elbows, lifting his upper body.

“You… you’re awake…”

“You’re bleeding.”

Vicente looked at Delilah’s wrist and frowned. It wasn’t the kind of thing a man who had just been on death’s door should be saying. He wiped the blood with his thumb, then turned his gaze to the tearful Delilah. Seeing the resentment brimming in her eyes, he tilted his head.

“Why?”

“Why… why did you do it?”

Of all the things she wanted to say, this was the only one that came out.

“So I should have just watched you die in front of me again?”

“But to do that!”

“I wasn’t sure either. But it’s not like you would have listened if I’d just said ‘don’t eat that, it’s poisoned’.”

Vicente fiddled with her wrist. He was still short of breath, letting out small sighs between his words. The desperate Vicente from before was gone, replaced by a man so impassive it felt dreamlike.

“How did you even know…”

“From stalking you?”

At his playful remark, Delilah didn’t trust him. She shook off his hand and glared at him fiercely. She wanted to scream at him for making her heart ache like this and then making jokes. But strangely, the words wouldn’t come. It was as if the tension had drained away, leaving her mind a blank white slate.

“I… I still haven’t forgiven you. Just… just because you did that…”

Tears threatened to fall despite her efforts, so she rubbed her eyelids hard. It was more accurate to say she hated him even more now. How could he try to die right in front of her? The image refused to fade from her eyes. And right after he had so desperately begged for forgiveness. She never wanted to witness someone she loved trying to die ever again.

“Right. Don’t.”

Vicente leaned his head back against the headboard and smiled faintly.

“You should. So stay by my side. You have to make me regret it until the day I die.”

Speaking softly, Vicente reached out and gently wiped the corner of her eye. Carefully stroking her reddened eyes, he moved his crimson lips.

“Right?”

It was a face that could enchant anyone. Delilah, who had resolved not to cry, felt tears carving paths down her cheeks again. Each time, he would steal them away, again and again.

As he touched her endless tears, Vicente cupped the nape of her neck and carefully drew her toward him.

This time, she didn’t resist but came to him willingly. He pressed his lips to the corner of her eye and whispered quietly.

“Don’t cry anymore. I’ll cry for you instead.”

It was a whisper like that of a mesmerizing demon.

* * *

Delilah had briefly left the palace to see her brother and the child. In the meantime, Charlotte came to Vicente’s room. Seeing him looking somewhat better, she made a displeased face.

“So why did you take the poison? To shake Delilah up?”

“Do I really seem that arrogant to you?”

Sprawled on the sofa, Vicente put his feet up on the table and looked at Charlotte. When he jerked his chin as if to tell her to sit, an incredulous laugh burst from her. This was the palace, Charlotte’s space. Where did he get off acting like the host to the person who saved him? If it weren’t for Delilah, he was the last person she’d want to help.

“You have two maids, correct?”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“The one with black hair. She kept visiting Delilah.”

“Yes. I ordered her to deliver funds. Why?”

Vicente smiled crookedly and closed his eyes. That day, as he was heading to Delilah’s as usual, he recalled someone pouring something into the water pump. Seeing this, Vicente ran to catch the person, but they fled too quickly.

There wasn’t enough time to drain everything from the water pump. Moreover, if Delilah had already used the pump while he was chasing the person, draining it would be useless. So, without a moment’s thought, he headed for the small cottage from which the smell of food wafted. If it hadn’t been him, it would have been Delilah and Luan who ate that food. Or perhaps they had put it there knowing he would come. As the Princess’s maid, she would surely know he was visiting.

“Go ask the Princess yourself. Tell her I mentioned it.”

“…Are you mocking me right now?”

“Am I the sort of person to jest with you, Princess?”

Vicente gave a slight shake of his head as if to say he was done talking. Charlotte’s face darkened gradually before she abruptly stood up and hurriedly left the room. He wasn’t the type of man to joke about such things.

But did that mean Issis had done it? Charlotte’s steps quickened. She needed to find her and figure out what was going on.

“Issis!”

Charlotte called for her the moment she opened the door. Issis, as if she had been expecting it, knelt before Charlotte with a calm expression. Her immediate admission made Charlotte’s head spin. She had never imagined, even in her wildest dreams, that the woman she trusted so much would do something so reckless.

“I will accept any punishment.”

“Why did you do it? Give me an excuse, at least!”

Charlotte scolded her with a tearing voice, her tone full of disappointment in someone she had trusted. Unable to control her ragged breathing, Charlotte looked down at the woman kneeling before her.

“I was angered that the man and woman were disgracing you, Your Highness. I did it believing it would likely be discovered, so I will accept any punishment.”

Charlotte held her forehead at Issis’s frank confession. The shock was significant because Issis wasn’t the type to do foolish things.

“Was that for my sake?”

“I am sorry.”

Charlotte fell into thought, wondering how to handle this. It was an incident that could be covered up even if reported to the King, and Charlotte herself thought highly of Issis, making it hard to reach a clear judgment. Overwhelmed by disappointment, she first told Issis to withdraw and sank into anguish. She agonized over whether to cover it up herself or deal with it properly. After pacing her room for a long time, Charlotte had Catherine summon Delilah.

She thought she would never reach a decision by agonizing alone. Delilah, who seemed to have just returned from her outing, had cheeks reddened from the cold.

“Your Highness the Princess.”

“Delilah. I have something to tell you.”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“The reason the Crown Prince was poisoned was because of Issis.”

“…….”

“She says she did it for my sake.”

Hearing Charlotte’s full explanation, Delilah’s eyes widened. She knew Issis didn’t care for her, but she couldn’t believe she had tried to poison her. And she didn’t know what to say to Charlotte for telling her this. Delilah clenched her hands, which were growing cold.

“So, I’ll leave Issis’s punishment to you.”

“Why would you leave that punishment to me…?”

“Issis has been my maid since we were children. If I were to make the judgment, I fear I would let it slide. I simply cannot make a clear decision. Since you are the one who was harmed by her actions…”

Charlotte revealed her complicated feelings with a bitter expression. For Delilah, the story was too sudden, and she couldn’t form a clear judgment either.

Delilah nodded for the time being and left. She owed Charlotte many favors. However, the fact that Vicente and she had nearly died was shocking. The thought that Luan could have been a victim too sent a shiver down her spine.

Lost in thought, Delilah ran all the way back to the room where Vicente was resting.

“Why do you look so pale?”

“Ah…”

Vicente, sitting on the sofa, had been staring at the baby and now looked at Delilah at the sound of the door. She had left the baby in Vicente’s room briefly due to the Princess’s summons, and Vicente had been watching the child. Even though he was just looking and not really ‘caring’ for it, her heart stirred strangely.

Delilah fiddled with her face absentmindedly and snapped out of it. She was conflicted about whether to tell him what she’d heard from the Princess. She didn’t want to escalate things by speaking out of turn, but hiding the fact that he had nearly died didn’t feel right either. It was a matter too heavy to decide alone.

“I… I want to discuss something.”

At her courageous words, Vicente chuckled and gestured for her to come over. Plopping down beside him, Delilah hesitated for a long moment before finally relaying what the Princess had told her. Vicente listened patiently to her halting story while looking at the baby. Seeing Delilah ask for help for the first time, a smile never left Vicente’s lips.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“Pardon?”

Contrary to her expectation that he would show displeasure, Vicente remained impassive, playing with the baby. His long fingers moved back and forth above the baby’s face, making the child giggle.

Delilah, who had been agonizing seriously alone, fumbled to examine her own feelings in response to his reaction. She was also grateful for many things Issis had done. But she couldn’t forgive such a reckless act. Of course, Issis had also acted to protect her mistress. Yet, imagining that her brother Luan could have been harmed made her not want to forgive her.

Lost in conflicting emotions, Delilah bit her lip after a long pause and gave an ambiguous answer.

“I don’t know.”

“Do as your heart tells you. I’ll follow your lead.”

Vicente, who always provided the answers, was now asking for her opinion and saying he would follow it. She wondered if he was just passing the buck because it was troublesome, but there was no sign of that in his eyes. Staring intently at this unfamiliar Vicente who was listening to her opinion, Delilah bowed her head deeply.

After pondering for another long while, Delilah looked at Vicente with the child, and a thought flashed through her mind.

“Aren’t you… curious who the father is?”

“Yes.”

“Why… why?”

Only then did Vicente look away from the baby and at Delilah. Staring intently at her slightly trembling pupils, Vicente parted his lips slightly.

“It’s your child. That’s enough.”

His strange logic was still intact. What would he have done if it were truly another man’s child, to make such a reckless statement? Delilah let out a dry laugh and looked at Vicente and the nameless child. It was something that would naturally become clear with time. There was no benefit in shaking him with lies now.

“She’s your child.”

She let out a short sigh and told him the truth. Or perhaps he already knew, which was why he was so composed.

Even after hearing Delilah’s words, Vicente showed no surprise, just smiled and still didn’t take his eyes off the baby. There was a reason for his composure. It was because the red pupils were the spitting image of his own.

When he first heard the baby cry, it was so tightly swaddled that he lost his reason. But only today, properly facing the child, did Vicente feel something tightly blocked within him finally loosen.

“Let’s go back.”

Vicente’s head snapped up. His face showed shock again at her sudden words. He knew Delilah hadn’t forgiven him, but being separated from her again was something he couldn’t endure. Under normal circumstances, a refusal would have sprung from Vicente’s lips immediately, but he pressed them firmly shut. Seeing him holding back, Delilah gave a vague, awkward smile.

If they stayed in the kingdom, there was no telling when they might provoke Issis again. Next time, even Charlotte wouldn’t be able to forgive her. But going to another country… that wasn’t an easy decision either. Was it because of his desperate pleas? Delilah was certain she hadn’t forgiven him. But there was only one place to return to. For the child’s sake, and for her own.

“The four of us… should go back to where we originally belong.”

Delilah, still wearing an awkward smile, conveyed her complete feelings to Vicente. There were still many words that felt stiff and required much thought, tangled together like a skein of yarn. Things so tangled and knotted that they could never be unraveled alone.

Delilah felt keenly that if she left them tangled and kept them in her heart forever, only regret would grow. It was true now, and it was true on the day she ran away as a child, unable to convey her heart. She didn’t want to live carrying any more regrets.

Now, it was something she and Vicente had to unravel together. Even if she didn’t know how that tangled skein would end, she wanted to untangle all those knots with him.

It was finally the end of the unhappy days.