“Get out, of here, now, leave!”

His pronunciation was completely slurred due to the blood that immediately pooled in his mouth again despite spitting it out. The taste of lust he had been frantically savoring was temporarily erased by the acrid smell of blood. Though staggering, the Duke forcibly grabbed Olivia’s arm and pulled her up. The crumpled dress hem flowed down, covering the messily wet area between her legs. The Duke pushed Olivia out the door as if throwing her out after dragging her along.

“This is an order. Lock the door, urgh, and return to your prison, where you belong.”

His nature, which he had momentarily pushed aside due to pain, began to consume him again with the power of the curse. He shook his head like he was having a seizure while pressing his forehead with his palm.

Olivia, sprawled in the corridor, also regained some of her senses from the dull impact. The key thrown by the Duke hit her leg and fell to the floor. The Duke, with a fiercely contorted expression, glared sharply at Olivia and then closed the door.

Rising unsteadily, Olivia locked the firmly closed door with her trembling hand. As soon as she locked it, something collapsed inside with a crash, falling to the floor and breaking. Though she tried to leave the room and tidy her disheveled clothes as the Duke had ordered, Olivia stopped abruptly at the sound from inside.

The medicine doesn’t seem to have any effect at all—is he going to be okay? Even in this situation, concern welled up, but remembering the Duke’s expression as he shouted for her to get out of the room almost like a wail, Olivia ran forward without looking back.

Passing through the corridor and climbing to the top of the tower, Olivia collapsed on the cold stone floor as if falling. Huff, huff. The rough breathing she had been holding back poured out all at once.

“……”

For a long time, she sat on the floor like a broken doll, pulling at her crumpled clothes and staring into space. Strangely, though she hadn’t been frightened or shocked while trapped by the Duke in the room, caught up in heightened s*xual sensations, now that she was alone, everything that had happened to her suddenly felt very unfamiliar.

It was shocking enough to learn that the beast she had thought was just an unidentifiable animal was actually the Duke, but also that the Duke had a mating season, that during mating season he transformed into a form that was neither human nor beast, like a chimera, and also, though she didn’t know why…….

“He was a complete human at the end.”

The fact that he could also become a completely normal person like herself was too overwhelming to accept all at once.

At that moment, a scream of agony echoed from far down the stairs. Perhaps because he now had the complete form of a human, it was no longer an animal’s cry but the scream of a mere human in agony, which made it more painful to hear. Olivia covered her ears with both hands and crawled into a corner of the room.

So the mating season isn’t completely over yet. Though she kept telling herself she was fine, she couldn’t help the instinctive fear that welled up. But one thing she could be relieved about was that she held the key to the room where the Duke was. The image of the Duke throwing the key with a savage face that looked ready to kill someone immediately left a deep impression in her mind.

“I’m the one who’s imprisoned, but he gives me the key to lock himself up, how does that work.”

Muttering, Olivia clutched the key tightly and pulled the blanket over her head. She wished she couldn’t hear the Duke suffering. Like the Duke who was going through hell, Olivia also found this moment more painful than expected, and for the first time, she closed her eyes, escaping from reality.

* * *

Is he better today? Olivia fingered the key in her hand, focusing on the sounds coming from down the stairs. The screams that had been heard day and night were no longer audible. But she couldn’t be certain whether the silence meant the mating season had ended or if he had injured his throat and could no longer make sounds, so she hesitated to move rashly.

Both for her own safety and to follow the Duke’s request—which was also an order to her. While nervously staring at the stairs and spinning the white key in her hand, a bird suddenly flew in through the window with a flutter.

“Piyo!”

— Piyoyoyo, am I the first one today?

“Is the Duke’s mating season over?”

Forgetting even to greet the bird, Olivia welcomed the yellow bird that had flown in with a brightened expression. Since the animals had started avoiding the mansion as the Duke’s mating season worsened, the return of an animal might mean the Duke’s mating season was ending, right? Pipi, who hesitated at the title “Duke,” nodded for now.

— It probably ended a few days ago? I just saw him through the window earlier, and he seemed quiet?

“Really?”

— Yes. I didn’t feel the curse’s energy either.

Olivia, who was about to run down the stairs at the news that he was better, quickly turned back to the bird at Pipi’s last words. Curse?

“Is the mating season related to the curse?”

— Hmm hmm. I don’t know anything.

After dropping such an important statement, Pipi suddenly clamped his beak shut. No matter how many times she asked, Pipi consistently claimed ignorance, and eventually, tired even of refusing, he fluttered his wings with a tearful expression.

— I really can’t say any more. If you’re curious, ask the Duke directly! Since he revealed that he’s the Duke, he might tell you.

Though the Duke’s identity wasn’t something he had revealed but rather what she had deduced, it seemed that Pipi’s confirmation meant that the beast was indeed the Duke. Having inadvertently leaked yet another secret to Olivia, Pipi scratched his head with his wing as if his back of the neck was itchy.

“Alright. I’ll ask him directly! Thank you!”

Watching Olivia quickly answer and run down the stairs, Pipi tilted his head after she disappeared and flew up onto the pile of boxes with a flutter.

— But why is that human so excited right now?

Though she hadn’t eaten properly or slept well for days, Olivia’s condition as she descended the stairs was the best it had been in recent days. She felt relieved, like putting down a stone that had been weighing on her heart, at the fact that she could finally return this burdensome key. Hurrying to reach the Duke’s bedroom with its decorative curtains, Olivia carefully knocked on the door.

“Um, Duke?”

When there was no answer, Olivia pressed her ear against the door to check what was happening inside. Pipi had definitely said he was quiet, but…? Certainly, there was no sound of things breaking, but it was so quiet that it seemed strange…….

“If you’ve come, open the door.”

Because she had her ear pressed tightly against the door, the muttering sound from just beyond the door sounded as loud as if it were spoken directly into her ear. Startled, Olivia backed away hurriedly and cleared her throat unnecessarily, trying to maintain a composed face as she opened the door she had locked. Click. With the sound of the latch opening from inside, the firmly closed door opened.

“Umm, good morning?”

Unsure whether to greet him as it had been a while or to ask if he was alright, Olivia hesitated before blankly offering a morning greeting at the sight of the peaceful room bathed in bright sunlight and the Duke who, unlike her last memory, appeared in his beast form just as before. Even though the sun was at its zenith.

The Duke, without any particular greeting, simply checked the door Olivia had opened and then turned his body back toward the room. The suffocating heat that had filled the space had certainly disappeared now that the mating season had ended. Of course, the rough marks of damage remaining on furniture here and there throughout the room testified that the recent mating season had not been a dream.

“Are you alright?”

 Though she had rushed over, simply wondering if he was safe, facing him now after what had happened, Olivia couldn’t properly meet his eyes due to an inexplicable embarrassment and instead stared at her hands, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes. Is it always this strange feeling? It was difficult to express her emotions in familiar words. She felt shy but also somewhat afraid, sometimes aggrieved but also relieved. Contradictorily, emotions that couldn’t be tied together into one emerged and mixed into a single blend.

“You kept the key and stayed. I thought you would run away, but you’re still in this mansion.”

“Well, my promise to stay here is separate from this key.”

Responding to his flat voice that showed no emotion, Olivia fiddled with the innocent key as she answered. Unlike herself, confused with complex emotions, the Duke’s voice showed no trace of even the slightest emotion. Though he had always been that way, still…….