“What?”

Elise’s brows briefly twisted with surprise, but she quickly regained her composure.

Aiden regarded her indifferently and placed weight on his final words.

“So do not mistake a mistress for someone dear to me, Mother.”

He knew exactly what would happen if he didn’t. His cruel mother would destroy Sveta simply for showing her any kind of affection, leaving nothing behind.

He nodded towards Sveta, silently ordering her to leave immediately. But she didn’t move. Instead, her eyelids drooped halfway.

Aiden understood what that meant. Whenever she felt wretched, she hid her eyes.

‘Did she take that one sentence to heart?’

Sveta bit her lip. She hadn’t realized that calling her nothing but a woman who warms the bed was his way of protecting her.

“Since we’re a nuisance, we’ll take our leave.”

Elise fixed her gaze on Sveta’s pale face. Her mocking eyes followed the rivulets of tea dripping down her chin, lingering on the stained fabric of her soaked dress.

“A nuisance? On the contrary—it’s a delightful sight.”

“And I, too, am pleased to see you still so elegant, Mother.”

“Isn’t that right? All thanks to Sveta! I feel great today. Did you hear about yesterday? Thanks to her, my shoulders haven’t ached at all this morning.”

Such petty provocations were beneath a response.

Aiden clicked his tongue sharply, seized Sveta by the arm, and dragged her out.

All the while, Elise’s elegant laughter scraped against their ears like claws on glass.

He now realized that his mistress was stubborn.

She resisted being dragged along, digging in her heels here and there. It was laughable and irritating in equal measure.

Eventually, Aiden slipped his hand behind her knees and lifted her into his arms.

“Put me down!”

Her flailing reminded him of an angry little puppy.

Only after they had cleared the corridor did he finally set her down. She had struggled until the very end and was so disorientated that she couldn’t find her footing. She fell back onto the floor, landing hard on her hips.

Her dress was rumpled and stained. It was stained with dark tea; it must once have been pale lemon.

Sveta forced a troubled expression.

“If you keep dragging me like this, what will happen in the future…?”

“It was you who begged me to protect you for a year.”

“I didn’t say that with your mother in mind.”

“She is the very person you must be most careful of. My mother.”

“……”

Her flushed lips parted wordlessly.

“She’ll use any means necessary to attack me.”

“……”

For a moment, she simply looked up at him in silence.

Realizing that she needed help to get up, Aiden slowly held out his hand.

His gaze lingered on the black leather glove covering his fingers.

This was perhaps the first time he had ever offered his hand to someone in this way.

“…Take it.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Oblivious to his thoughts, Sveta took his hand and got to her feet without hesitating. She was limping slightly; it looked like her ankle was injured.

Had she been hit? Considering his mother’s temper, it was hardly surprising.

Feigning ignorance, Aiden resumed walking at an unhurried pace. He cast a sidelong glance at her narrow shoulders, which dipped unevenly with each step. The sight displeased him.

It was the malice etched into her staggering gait that soured his mood, more precisely.

Finally, when they reached the main residence, he spoke.

“You’re Filthy.”

“…I know.”

“Go wash.”

“Yes.”

He heard her meek reply.

The thought of his mother enjoying such submission soured his mood further. Aiden’s brows furrowed. She closed her eyes against his stare and went into her room.

Sveta trudged weakly to the bath. She eased herself into the shallow tub and curled up.

Restlessly, she stirred the water around her calves until it splashed against the surface. Then she scrubbed furiously with a bar of lavender soap. Soon, the air was filled with the soft fragrance of jasmine.

“Filthy.”

It was her Ladyship who had humiliated her, so why did that single word hurt more than anything else?

Sveta scrubbed herself with a sponge over and over again until her fingers shriveled like dried fruit.

After a long time, she finally put on a thick robe and returned to her chamber, where the head maid Meriette was waiting for her.

“My lord asks you to come in.”

“……”

Sveta’s gaze drifted to the small door next to her room, which led to the duke’s chamber. It was slightly open.

It was always locked, as impenetrable as a wall.

Today, for the first time, that wall had been breached.

“I will help you change.”

“…Thank you.”

Still feeling dazed, she changed her clothes and took a few unsteady steps forward.

The moment she entered the duke’s chamber, the door clicked shut behind her.

As she drew nearer, Aiden’s shadow stretched out towards her, cast by the window behind him. The air itself seemed to grow dense, and Sveta’s breathing quickened.

“You called for me.”

She moved closer with faltering steps in response to his curt hand gesture.

Had he bathed, too? A few damp, golden strands clung to his forehead, casting shadows over his neat features.

When his gaze dropped to her ankle, he suddenly bit his lip. His dark eyebrows, which were usually so perfectly shaped, bent out of line sharply. Something had displeased him yet again.

“Do you enjoy this sort of thing?”

“…Pardon? What do you mean?”

“Do you enjoy being tormented? Or do you perhaps have a twisted desire to be rescued?”

It was unlike him to speak in such long sentences. Sveta could only stare, momentarily speechless.

“…”

Aiden rose slowly to his feet. She tilted her head upwards, following his movement until her gaze met his jawline.

“Answer.”

“……”

“You won’t even answer me now?”

“…Do you truly believe that? That I—”

Her throat burned with outrage, as though a glowing coal had become lodged inside it, setting every word ablaze and leaving her face hot and flushed.

“You should know that better than anyone.”

“Why would I ever?”

He pushed his hair back with a slow sweep of his hand. Such a small, trivial motion captured her gaze and her thoughts. With shameless disdain, he sneered.

“Well. How could I possibly know your heart?”

“…And you, my lord, have never cared to wonder.”

“You understand me well.”

His reply was like pouring oil on the fire within her. The faint spark of expectation, dignity and feeling towards him was extinguished in an instant.

Yet she refused to let tears fall. Though her eyes burned with heat, she held her chin high.

“Then I will say this much. I hate being tormented. I hate pain, and I hate cruel words.”

‘So I hate the way you treat me.’

She fixed her gaze on him, her eyes brimming with a stubborn strength.

Warm sky blue clashed with cold green as they folded over one another. His icy stare pierced her heart and shattered it.

His merciless voice rang out:

“Then behave properly.”

He was placing the blame squarely upon her.

“How… how have I misbehaved?”

“Why provoke my mother’s temper?”

His low, cutting voice sliced her words to ribbons.

“I did nothing—”

“You will not entertain another.”

“What? What does that have to do with today—”

“That is the rule you will obey from now on.”

His tone was pure command, nothing less. And yet, though meant to oppress her, the cadence of his words fell strangely pleasing to the ear.

Even now, her heart thundered. Blood surged so violently that her ears rang.

Sveta despised herself.

‘What is it about this man that I…’

She hated him. She wanted to carve him out of her heart entirely.

Turning her gaze away with effort, she forced a reply.

“I never entertained with—”

“Have you already forgotten the stable boy dismissed because of you?”

“I haven’t forgotten. My lord, Pablo truly did nothing wrong—”

“My decisions will not change.”

“……”

Her head fell, and all her will to argue drained away.

“…Much time has been wasted.”

With that muttered lament, he turned away. Moments later, the great oak door creaked open—then slammed shut.

Once again, Sveta felt her steadfast love crack and splinter, a piece of her heart breaking away with it.

◯◯◯

A full fortnight had passed since Elise Strilland last tormented his mistress.

Sveta Luce had kept to her chambers, rarely stepping beyond them, and so their paths had scarcely crossed. Aiden’s busy days went on well enough, all might have been tolerable, if not for those damned rumors.

“Your Grace, another letter of protest has arrived.”

Dennis held out the sealed letter, his face showing his unease.

Aiden checked only the crest stamped in sealing wax before issuing a flat order.

“Burn it.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

“……”

Knowing that his lord would never repeat himself, Dennis obeyed in silence.

Recently, there had been a lot of gossip among Renan’s nobles that his mistress was none other than Beth Gould, daughter of the barbarian chieftain. Once unleashed, the rumor spread like wildfire — and so it had done.

Now, letters poured in endlessly, filled with ‘advice’ and ‘moral appeals’ from nobles who had lost children on Bloody Saturday. Each letter demanded vengeance.

But would it be justice to take her life?

After all, Sveta had been nothing more than a newborn baby back then. Could her death ever equal revenge?

It was a question he had never once allowed himself to ask, yet it was growing inside him, becoming larger by the day. The iron wall of his certainty was beginning to crack. His long-nurtured hatred of her was crumbling, little by little.

His mouth felt dry, as if filled with grit. Aiden tilted back a glass of wine and glanced at Dennis.

“…Send a proper reply.”

“What shall I write, my lord?”

“Tell them this: do not dare provoke the Strillands over some trifling rumor.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Dennis bowed deeply. His diligent aide would take care of it within hours, choosing his words with the utmost care. Yet he knew it was only a temporary solution.

‘I must put out the bigger fire with my own hands.’

Aiden took out a sheet of glossy stationery, scribbled a few terse lines on it, and handed it over.

Dennis accepted it cautiously and asked,

“To whom shall this be sent?”