Aiden was away on official business and would not be returning to the estate that night.

Alone in the vast bed, Sveta faced the darkness. Sleep would not come.

Alyona’s threats. The fear of the escape that loomed ahead. The punishment that might await her for daring to leave without permission.

Too many thoughts dragged her into a restless turmoil.

Pushing aside the fog-like weight of her anxiety, Sveta forced herself to focus on the few certainties she had.

“Clothes? Of course I can provide them—but why?”

“To flee on horseback, Viscount.”

“…You will require more than that, surely? You do not intend to exchange a mere set of clothes and the secret ledger, do you?”

“Of course not.”

The clothes she had been given were hidden at the back of her wardrobe.

They didn’t fit her perfectly, but fortunately, Henrik was slim. If she tightened the belt, they would do.

“…The clothes are ready.”

She had already prepared a sleeping draught. She had chosen the jewels she was going to take with her. She had even prepared for what might await her beyond the border.

Now, only one thing remained.

She had to ensure that Aiden’s feelings for her would not change.

And that she reached Levizan safely.

That was all.

***

Sveta lifted her teacup.

Sitting in the gazebo at the center of the maze garden, she waited for Aiden.

After judging the time, she turned to the head maid who was standing nearby.

“Has the Duke returned?”

“I will go and check.”

Meriette hurried away.

A damp wind pressed against the green walls of the maze garden as it swept through.

“They say the rainy season will begin soon.”

Sveta murmured softly to herself and lifted her teacup once more.

As if in response to an unspoken command, the nearby maids withdrew all at once, moving away in perfect silence.

A moment later, Aiden appeared at the far end of the garden. He walked towards her, his figure rippling faintly in the breeze that stirred the trees.

Her heart pounded hard against her ribs.

Just as she had known he would, he had come to find her the moment he returned.

“Your Grace.”

She had heard he scarcely had an hour to spare. Yet for some reason, he looked unhurried.

“Why did you go to the Matwood estate?”

His abrupt question confirmed it: he was indeed displeased by her brief outing yesterday.

Yet, as he spoke, he pressed his lips firmly to her forehead, rubbing them there with unmistakable tenderness.

Sveta slipped free from the arm that sought to pull her close and took two steps back.

Aiden’s gaze settled on the deep neckline of her dress.

“Are you angry?”

“……”

“I wish you wouldn’t be. Nothing particular happened. I only went to honor my mother’s request.”

“……”

“…Aiden.”

The complicated light in his eyes flashed sharply for an instant.

Sveta stepped closer and whispered.

“Aiden. From now on, I won’t go anywhere without your permission.”

“……”

His chest rose and fell slowly.

Sveta parted her lips and held out her hand towards him. Tension dried her tongue.

Sensing what would follow, she took a deep breath.

His crimson lips devoured hers.

Through the narrow space between her small fingers, his gloved black fingers intertwined with hers.

He filled every corner of her mouth with his breath.

Sveta lifted her gaze to the grey roof of the gazebo and beyond that, the sliver of sky visible through its opening.

“I wish… you would look at me.”

“……”

Their lips were still pressed together when Aiden whispered as though her gaze belonged to him, too.

Sveta closed her eyes.

The interrupted kiss deepened once more.

The humid air brushed her skin. The damp wind blew in. The faint scent that precedes a heavy downpour.

These fleeting sensations, destined to vanish like foam, felt perilously fragile.

***

“I heard the wedding will be held next spring.”

Aiden’s brows knit together.

“Did Lady Marchioness Matwood say that?”

Sveta nodded, watching his expression carefully.

Was it only Alyona Matwood who had said that? Certainly not. He could sense that they had exchanged harsher words.

“There is no need to pay heed to what the marchioness says.”

“Is that so?”

Sveta took a slow sip of the bitter herbal tea and lifted the corner of her lips into a faint smile.

It tasted as bitter as it looked.

Aiden’s gaze lingered on her full lips before drifting to the sky-blue dress that left her slender shoulders bare.

She must have chosen it to soften his temper.

He could read her intentions clearly.

And yet, he did not dislike it.

He should have felt irritated, or even manipulated, but he did not. In fact, the fact that she had chosen the dress with him in mind made her seem unexpectedly endearing.

Sveta briefly lifted her eyes to the sky.

Rather than looking at the gloomy sky, however, he kept his gaze fixed on her clear, luminous eyes.

“Sveta.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“……”

She corrected herself.

“Yes, Aiden. Please, go on.”

“…What are you thinking now?”

Her gaze, which had been wandering through the garden over his shoulder, returned to him.

At some point, she had started looking elsewhere. He disliked this unconscious habit of hers.

When he called her name, her eyes would always return, but with a lingering air of resignation. It unsettled him. Aiden released the breath he had been holding.

The silence that followed felt unbearably long.

“If you’re asking what I’m thinking… there’s too much to say. What are you thinking about, Your Grace?”

“What thoughts are you harboring inside.”

“…Do you think I’m entertaining other intentions?”

“Are you not?”

Her slender fingers trembled faintly as she wrapped them around her teacup.

She was shaken.

The reason for her trembling, pale hand was clear.

She was harboring a secret.

What could it be?

Aiden narrowed his eyes.

“And even if I were—what would that change? Rather than probing my heart, it would be wiser to turn your own.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you marry, you should be faithful to your wife.”

“……”

Sveta put down her teacup and folded her hands neatly over her knees.

She sat with a soft, composed posture.

However, the tension evident in her tightly pressed lips betrayed her dissatisfaction. She had tried to endure it quietly, but ultimately, her feelings came to the surface.

She was troubled by his engagement and impending marriage. At least, that was how Aiden understood it.

The reason seemed clear.

To her, marriage and love were one and the same.

“Did you just say I should be faithful to my wife?”

“Yes.”

“Wife…”

Rolling the word on his tongue, Aiden let out a faint scoff.

“I have never considered marriage to be a matter between a man and a woman.”

“…Is that so.”

“My father and mother were no different. Nor are nearly all the people I know.”

“……”

It was only natural.

Marriage was a matter of common sense — an unshakable rule.

In Aiden’s view, people who married for love alone were foolish.

This was why he had once found it laughable that the Duke of Baiton had stolen the Queen of Aetania and made her his duchess.

‘A matter to be resolved politically.’

Marriage was nothing more than that.

The woman you loved could simply remain your mistress.

Therefore, the idea that a man should be faithful to his wife after marriage was absurd.

The only person to whom he owed fidelity was Sveta.

‘But what if I made Sveta my wife?’

A long-held thought suddenly unfolded.

Aiden considered what would need to be resolved in order to make his partner a duchess.

Firstly, there was the contract with the House of Matwood and its many vested interests to consider.

Then there was the matter of royal permission for the marriage itself, which the Queen would not easily grant, even after a broken engagement.

The practical matters would not be easy to resolve.

“Do not forsake the easy road for a winding one.”

His father’s words were not without merit.

But why did he want to devote his life to this woman? Why did he want to become a fool, wholly dedicated to his wife?

Then so be it.

He would make it so.

Determination shone in Aiden’s green eyes.

“That is what I shall do, Sveta.”

“…Pardon?”

“Your words—that I should be faithful to my wife. I will be.”

“……”

Aiden smiled faintly.

As always, things would go his way.

The damp wind blew again. It brushed through his golden hair and lightly tangled in Sveta’s black locks.

She turned her head slightly to follow the soft ripple of her dark hair.

The resignation on her face deepened.

Aiden did not notice.

***

When Aiden returned to his study, the first person he summoned was the spy he had placed in the House of Matwood.

The man, who had pulled the cart loaded with money pouches, reported everything he had seen and heard in great detail.

As he spoke, Aiden drank his wine, his eyes cold and unreadable.

“…The young lady also asked where the annex was located.”

The motion of his tilting wineglass halted for a fraction of a second.

“…Is Henrik Mariner staying in the annex?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

So she had gone to meet that cowardly Prisa fool.

‘My woman.’

And once again, she had lied to him.

Yet Aiden had no intention of reprimanding her.

It all stemmed from Alyona, who had used Sveta’s foster mother to lure her in.

It all started with Henrik Mariner, who lured her to such a perilous place when she was still innocent.

Click.

His loyal spy placed two gold coins on the desk.

“What is this?”

“It is money the young lady gave me, saying it was for my trouble.”

“……”

“For the task of moving the luggage, it was far too large a sum. I could not accept it, so I brought it back.”

Aiden stared silently at the coins.

They were the coins that she had bent down to pick up before Alyona did.

Money she had earned after enduring vile insults. Yet she had handed it over to a servant without hesitation.

How could he possibly blame her?

She, who possessed not a shred of greed.

Aiden let out a low, humorless laugh and took out a sheet of paper.

“I will send a letter to Lady Marchioness Mattwood.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The sharp nib of his pen scraped mercilessly across the page.

[I have learned that you are making a gown for the wedding ceremony. Strilland will cover the cost. You may also choose a ruby necklace. The larger the stone, the better.]