* * *

‘Because I’ve liked you for a long time. I wanted to live with the woman I like, so I married you.’

Even though all the lights were off and she was ready to sleep, sleep wouldn’t come. Satin got up from bed, fumbled with the curtains that Larie had neatly drawn, and opened the window. The air inside and outside mixed, changing the scent. It was quite cool. Facing the heavy night, Satin rested her elbows on the windowsill and leaned her head.

Rublier’s conclusion was clear. Because he liked her, he wanted to live with her. It was so simple and clear that it left her feeling awkward.

Her gaze wandered around the window frame. The frame, cleaned without a speck of dust, was covered in the dark shade of night. Satin tried to wipe the shade with her finger. Of course, it didn’t wipe away. Instead, the shadow settled on her finger.

The days with a set deadline were still steadily passing. She counted briefly. Less than two and a half months remained.

Though the time they spent apart was longer than the time they spent together, if she added up the days that had accumulated, the thin moon would have become full.

Was it unbearable to live through those days? Not really. Just… sometimes it was awkward, sometimes she was grateful, and she managed to get by. They weren’t as close as family, but accepting him as someone who lived in the same house like the servants made it somewhat tolerable.

Someone who lived in the same house…

Satin stared at the shadow flowing over the back of her hand. Even if it sounded dry, to her, a husband was indeed someone who lived in the same house. She had resolved to marry such a person.

Someone to share daily life with while living in the same house. Someone to raise the sails and row the boat together. Someone to have and raise the successor of Del Mare with. And someone trustworthy.

Could Rublier be that person?

Satin started to shake her head but stopped. She didn’t know. Because she didn’t know, she wanted to reserve judgment for now without hastily reaching a definitive conclusion.

But why couldn’t she bring herself to say the word ‘divorce,’ which she had previously mentioned without hesitation or guilt? What aspect of him had silenced her?

Lost in thought for a while, Satin lifted her head from the windowsill. As autumn set in, the night wind became cooler. The overgrown grass rustled.

Clearing her mind, she began to hear the surrounding sounds. She also recalled Larie’s nagging that people catch colds more easily during seasons with different winds in the morning and evening than during very hot or very cold seasons.

She decided to close the window and go to bed. As she reached out to close the window, she suddenly hesitated.

Something was staring at her.

It was so dark that at first, she thought she was seeing things. But people have instincts. Her spine tingled.

What is it? What’s out there?

She tried to see more clearly, but it was too dark. The faint light of the moon barely revealed any contours. Only the depth of the shadows subtly changed. Light. She needed to turn on the light, Satin thought to herself.

Maybe she was mistaken. It was so dark that she couldn’t see anything. Turning on the light would make things clear.

People often see things at night because their vision becomes poor. One reason for closing the window was to avoid such illusions. The cold air coming through the window could cause a cold, and the rustling curtains could be mistaken for something else, causing unnecessary fright.

Close the curtains, close the window, bring the light… Wait? No. Bring the light, close the curtains…

Her thoughts were jumbled. Her mind was busy, but her legs wouldn’t move an inch. She felt like an idiot.

There was definitely something. It was still there. Something lurking in that dense darkness, watching her…

Caught in a daze, Satin suddenly snapped to her senses.

Strange. If she couldn’t see anything, why did she feel watched? What if the darkness itself was ‘something’?

Was it intuition? A delusion? Night hides all colors. The darkness seemed to move. She couldn’t gauge the distance. Fear crept up her legs.

Maybe it’s far away.

Maybe it’s right in front of me.

Satin stiffened, staring outside the window. She thought she caught a faint, strange smell. A scent similar to iron, not fresh. Her breath rose and fell. Then she doubted if it was really her breath. The night seemed to breathe. It felt alive. It seemed to move.

Clunk.

Suddenly, the window shook. It was right next to her. The gleam of the night flashed. That’s the only way she could judge it. The breath of ‘it’ mingled with the air. The breath brushed the back of her neck. Goosebumps ran down her spine. That sensation triggered her. Her frozen limbs suddenly loosened. A tingling pain spread.

Satin ran out of the bedroom. Her scream followed.

“Ahhh!”

“Satin?”

Before she could knock on Rublier’s bedroom door, it swung open. Rublier caught her as she stumbled forward, nearly falling. Her legs gave out. She leaned against him and sank down.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Having just been about to fall asleep, he probably jumped up at her scream, not even properly tying his robe. Satin, not aware whether what she was touching was his robe or his bare skin, stammered.

“R-Rublier. There’s something… something near my bedroom.”

Satin’s speech habit, which only came out when she was flustered or upset, surfaced. Rublier looked towards Satin’s bedroom, where no light escaped. Like the hallway, it was pitch dark.

“Something is there?”

Rublier’s expression changed immediately.

“Madam, where are you?”

Servants, having heard Satin’s scream, rushed out. Some were carrying lights. The flickering light slowly pushed back the darkness. Relieved by the light that wasn’t there before, Satin didn’t even notice the glare and stared blankly. Her face, pale with fear, was clearly visible.

“Oh my, Madam. Are you alright? What happened?”

“Check Satin’s bedroom immediately.”

Rublier, lifting Satin who was sitting in her nightgown, gave instructions. The servants rushed to Satin’s bedroom. Satin panicked. The fear that had seemed ready to harm her was still vivid. She screamed again.

“No, it’s dangerous! Don’t go in!”

The servants paused at the bedroom door, puzzled.

“There’s nothing in the room, Madam.”

“Was it a thief?”

Guessing it might be a thief, a few brave servants peeked into the bedroom.

“Even if it were another house, in a house with a Paladin…”

One servant mumbled. Rublier didn’t think it was a thief either. In a house with a Paladin and several resident servants, it wasn’t an environment for a thief.

“Madam, why did you leave the window open? Did you see something in your sleep?”

Larie, peeking into the room, asked Satin.

“Don’t touch the window, Larie!”

“I’ve already closed it and drawn the curtains, Madam.”

Satin questioned.

“…There was nothing there?”

“Of course. Maybe you had sleep paralysis.”

Larie nodded. But Satin shook her head. She hadn’t been asleep. She was fully awake. Therefore, the sensation she felt of her heart freezing couldn’t be a lie.

“That can’t be. That can’t be true.”

Satin clung to Rublier, taking hesitant steps. Meanwhile, the servants were checking every piece of furniture and even under the bed, confirming there was no one in the room. Rublier comforted the pale Satin.

“Don’t worry. This house is safe. But what did you see, Satin?”

“…I don’t know.”

Satin bit her lip. It wasn’t a person or an animal. She couldn’t see it. Ultimately, she could only give the same answer again. The servants, who had been woken up and saw nothing, seemed to think she had seen an illusion after turning off the light.

She felt wronged and angry. She didn’t want to be misunderstood as having imagined it.

“I don’t know what it was! But something was definitely in front of me. It saw me, and it approached me. It tried to harm me. I didn’t see it wrong!”

“Alright. I’ll go check outside. Satin, stay here.”

Rublier tried to leave Satin. The warmth suddenly left her. Instinctively, she grabbed Rublier.

“Don’t go.”

“Satin. I need to see with my own eyes what it was.”

“No. Don’t go.”

“Why are you so scared all of a sudden?”

“The feeling… The feeling is strange.”

She kept shivering. Imagining someone from this house going out to check that part of the night made her feel suffocated. Even if it was Rublier, it was the same. She didn’t want to be apart from him.

Coldness crept up. As she burrowed into Rublier to escape the chill, Satin suddenly wondered.

Why did I come to Rublier?

The person she was closest to in this house was Larie, who had followed her from Del Mare. Yet, she hadn’t thought of Larie earlier. If she had rung the bell, Larie would have woken up and come running, but instead, she screamed and ran straight to Rublier’s bedroom.

“It’s late, so everyone should go back to rest.”

Half asleep and half murmuring, the servants gathered around were dismissed by Rublier with a gesture. As they left, the puzzled Larie stayed behind and asked worriedly.

“Shall I stay with Madam until she falls asleep?”

“There’s no need. I’ll stay with Satin.”

Rublier sent Larie away. Now, only Satin and Rublier were left in the room.

Satin alternated her gaze between the bed and the window beside the bed. She didn’t want to go near. The whole room felt unsettling. She would wake up startled at the slightest noise from the window.

She didn’t feel like she could sleep at all.

“I don’t think I can sleep.”

“Are you scared even with me here?”

“I’m scared of this room.”

Satin rubbed her cold neck. If she fell asleep here, that thing might reappear and breathe its cold breath on her. Despite everyone’s assurance that there was nothing and it was safe, she felt more anxious than reassured.

“…I’ll stay in the drawing room.”

Rublier, who had to go to work early the next morning, couldn’t stay up all night watching over her. It was better to sleep in the drawing room. Satin turned to leave the bedroom.

“Come here, Satin.”