Today was the day before Avenne Valleris’s wedding ceremony.

After returning from a luncheon, Avenne discovered a letter lying on the table in her bedroom.

[Today is the last day I’ll get to spend with you, Sister! As soon as you read this letter, could you come to my room?]

[I prepared a surprise for you!]

The handwriting was neat, yet somewhat clumsy.

Although the sender had not written her name, it was undoubtedly from Avenne’s half-sister, Rubier.

‘How adorable.’

Avenne slowly ran her slender, white fingers over the paper.

The thought of her little sister carefully pressing down on the pen to form each letter naturally brought a smile to her lips.

No matter what anyone else said, Avenne genuinely cherished her half-sister, Rubier.

When Rubier, shunned for being an illegitimate child, was finally recognized as a young lady of House Valleris and made her debut into society, Avenne rejoiced more than anyone — as though it had been her own achievement.

After all, Rubier was so much more than just a younger sister to her.

On her way to her room, just as the letter had instructed, Avenne suddenly spotted a familiar carriage through one of the corridor windows.

It belonged to Victor Maimont, her fiancé and soon-to-be husband.

‘Could he be preparing a surprise party for me with Rubier?’

Victor was a very considerate man, so he must have come to check that his nervous fiancée was OK ahead of tomorrow’s wedding.

Victor and Rubier were quite close, so perhaps they had planned something together.

The thought of the two people she loved most planning a surprise for her brought a radiant smile to her face.

With her heart brimming with anticipation, she finally arrived at her destination.

She stopped in front of Rubier’s room, grasped the doorknob, and was about to turn it carefully when—

“You said you love me more than you love my sister anyway. Can’t you simply refuse to marry her?”

Rubier’s voice drifted through the door.

“I wish I could.”

A low, familiar voice followed soon afterward.

“But if I want to inherit House Valleris, marrying Avenne would be far more advantageous.”

It was Victor’s voice, the man who was supposed to be preparing a surprise party for her inside the room.

And yet, their conversation seemed to suggest that they were involved in a forbidden relationship….

Avenne froze where she stood, unable either to open the door or step away.

“But still…. I hate it. I’m jealous. The two of you are going to be husband and wife soon.”

Rubier’s petulant complaint was followed by—

“We’ll still see each other often, so don’t worry too much. You know you’re the woman I truly love.”

—Victor’s tender voice, as though he were soothing his lover.

The fingertips wrapped around the doorknob slowly stiffened until they turned deathly pale.

The affection she had believed belonged solely to her was being directed toward someone else.

And that person was the younger sister Avenne had loved and cherished more than anyone.

“And once I inherit the family, you’ll be the one standing beside me.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

An entirely different world was unfolding on the other side of a single door.

The sound of a brief kiss was soon followed by languid m*ans from inside.

Having suffered the cruelest betrayal imaginable, Avenne could only crumble.

***

What had once been an exciting day was now filled with nothing but despair and betrayal.

After sitting blankly on the edge of her bed for a while and struggling to steady her breathing, she finally rose to her feet, staggering as she did so.

When the night breeze from the terrace brushed against her cheeks, the cold reality of what had happened hit her with painful clarity.

‘…Did the two of them truly betray me?’

Victor’s carriage had already disappeared without a trace.

No miracle came in which they confessed that everything had merely been a prank devised to surprise the bride.

“Sister, it’s me.”

As she stood there in a daze, staring at the night sky, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind her.

Avenne slowly turned her head and found Rubier already inside the room, silently watching her as she stood on the terrace.

“…Rubier.”

Avenne forced her lips apart, but could not bring herself to finish what she was saying.

The sight of Rubier before her was far too distracting.

Her once neatly arranged golden hair was now disheveled, and smudged red lipstick stained the corners of her mouth. Scattered across her exposed skin were marks that had yet to fade, visible through the thin fabric of her negligée.

They were traces of a heated, passionate encounter that had taken place only moments earlier.

And now, Avenne knew exactly who that someone had been.

“Sister.”

Rubier smiled brightly before asking,

“Do you love Victor?”

She was asking whether Avenne loved Victor—her own fiancé.

“…Yes.”

Avenne saw no reason to deny something so obvious.

Victor Maimont was a kind and dignified gentleman, and she had never once doubted that a life with him would be peaceful and happy.

“I love him too.”

Yet Rubier, who could not possibly have been unaware of that fact, was confessing her own love for Victor.

“Perhaps even more than you love him.”

“….”

“And Victor undoubtedly loves me more than he loves you.”

Her red eyes, which had always sparkled so brightly, were now dull and devoid of light. Unmistakable malice flickered within the gaze she directed at Avenne.

“…What do you want, Rubier?”

Avenne finally asked.

She wanted to know why. Why had Rubier chosen the day before the wedding ceremony, of all days, to reveal their affair?

“Break off your engagement with him.”

“…What?”

“I’m going to marry him.”

Rubier answered without the slightest hesitation.

With the innocent, carefree expression of a three-year-old begging for candy, she asked her sister to give her the man who was Avenne’s fiancé—and who would become her husband tomorrow.

“I’m going to be dragged away to the monstrous duke. They’re making me marry him.”

Rubier, who had been smiling brightly as though she felt no guilt whatsoever, suddenly looked distressed and clasped Avenne’s hands.

“The only reason I was allowed to become a lady of House Valleris was because of a bargain Father made. He planned to have me recognized as a Valleris, then sell me off to the ducal family.”

The monstrous duke could only refer to Cassian Noctaven, the Duke of the North.

‘Rubier was acknowledged as a daughter of House Valleris because of a marriage arrangement with the duke?’

This was the first Avenne had heard of it.

“Are you really going to abandon your beloved sister to such a fate? You’ve heard the stories about the monstrous duke too. If I go there, I’ll surely die.”

“So that’s why you intend to marry Victor? You betrayed me for a reason as trivial as that…?”

However, no matter what the circumstances, Avenne could not forgive her sister for betraying her.

Her expression hardened as she freed her hands from Rubier’s grasp.

Compared to the many years they had spent together, her reason for holding a grudge seemed utterly trivial.

If Rubier had simply told her the truth and asked for help, Avenne would have done everything in her power to save her.

Even if it meant turning her back on their parents, she would have willingly endured the consequences.

That was how much she loved Rubier.

“…You.”

Avenne’s lips slowly parted.

“Did you ever love me? Even once?”

Her throat tightened painfully. The saliva she swallowed felt heavy on the way down, leaving a sharp ache in its wake.

She wanted Rubier to admit it.

Those words would mean little in these circumstances, but Avenne desperately hoped that Rubier’s affection had not been a lie.

After all, Rubier was her only sister, the friend she cherished with all her heart.

“Love?”

It took a long while for Rubier to answer.

Her brow twisted strangely at the question, and then she clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.

“As if I ever could.”

“….”

“From the moment I first saw you until this very day, I have never loved you — not even once. How could I possibly love someone who offered me their worthless pity while wearing a benevolent smile?”

Her icy voice struck with crushing force. Every word Rubier uttered was sharp enough to slice through flesh.

“Don’t you think it’s unfair, Sister? We both carry the blood of House Valleris, yet our fates could not be more different.”

Rubier slowly approached Avenne.

“We’re both just commodities of House Valleris, so why am I treated worse than you?”

“….”

“Why are you always the one everyone loves more?”

“….”

“Honor, love, good fortune – you have it all, Avenne Valleris! Why does it always seem to be you who shines so brightly?”

For the first time, Avenne saw the ugliness beneath the guise of Rubier’s loving younger sister.

She could not believe that the sister she had adored had harbored such resentment and hatred all these years.

“Still, I thought you might have enough of a conscience to yield to me, so I asked you for only one thing.”

Lowering her voice, Rubier slowly trailed her pale fingertips down Avenne’s chest. This unnaturally gentle touch made it feel all the more chilling.

She lowered her head and gazed over the edge of the terrace.

After a moment, she finally looked away.

“If you refuse, then I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll simply have to claim it for myself.”

As she met Avenne’s gaze once more, she felt the hand pressing against her chest begin to exert more force.

“…!”

Before Avenne could comprehend the meaning behind Rubier’s words, her body lurched backward.

“Goodbye, Sister.”

The moment she lost her balance and her body tipped into empty air, she was overcome by a dizzying sensation as though the ground had vanished beneath her feet.

With a thud, she hit the ground and lay completely motionless.

She tried to move her fingers and call for help, but she couldn’t make a sound.

‘It hurts…’

The agony was unlike anything she had ever experienced, leaving her unable to cry out.

As Avenne sank into the stillness of death, the last thing she saw was her beloved sister’s smile.