Not even a breeze stirred in the windowless basement.

In a space where time seemed to have stopped, Dante watched the woman before him without looking away. He watched her the way a man watches when he believes his gaze alone is enough to make her rise.

A few minutes later, the woman, whose arms were bound behind her back, gave a small twitch and slowly opened her eyes.

Given her position, the first thing her eyes likely landed on was not the warm, familiar face of her husband but the gleaming tips of his shoes. The man’s face was sharp, like a well-honed blade, and bore none of the smooth, easy expression he usually wore in front of his wife. That much, at least, was a mercy.

“……What?”

A ragged voice slipped through cracked lips.

Dante smiled, as though the expression had been painted on. The woman’s reaction had not deviated in the slightest from what he had expected. This was far better than the alternative, where she didn’t move at all.

“Lionette.”

“D, Dante?”

She recognized the voice the moment her name left his lips. She lifted her head immediately. Quietly pleased by that, he gave a small nod.

“That’s right. Your husband.”

“How did you…….”

The dazed look on her face hardened. Lionette reflexively tried to push herself upright, then realized her arms were bound to something and let out a sharp breath.

Fear flooded her eyes in an instant as she looked up at him. Dante smiled down at those olive eyes. Lionette glanced around warily and twisted her arms, trying to work free of her restraints, but he neither released her nor stopped her.

That was because what bound her slender wrists was not the rope used on criminals but soft cloth. No matter how much she struggled, it would not hurt her wrists. Dante could not have allowed that.

Still, watching Lionette strain against the cloth, he thought she truly didn’t understand yet. There was no way he would ever harm her.

You’ve been acting since the very beginning like I married you out of charity. I should have corrected that notion long ago.

“Wh, where is…….”

“The basement. The only key belongs to you and me.”

“……Why?”

“‘Why’ is exactly what I want to ask. The agreed period is up, and now you’re thinking of asking for a divorce.”

Lionette’s eyes lurched violently for a moment. Dante clicked his tongue.

“Dante, I, I never said anything like…….”

“Too bad. I have no intention of respecting your choice.”

Dante finished speaking and drew her hand toward him, lowering his lips gently to the back of it. He kept his head bowed, but his gaze fixed on Lionette was sharp.

“You will remain a Siegfried until the day you die, my lady.”

“That’s not it, I…….”

“Have you forgotten every vow you made with your lips before the High Priest?”

Well, it didn’t really matter whether Lionette had actually forgotten those vows or not. He had known in advance that she was planning to run. Even so, he couldn’t help the resentment that rose in him, and Dante struggled to hold back the urge to tighten his grip.

“Lionette.”

He called her name in a hard voice, and her eyes, which had been darting around in a panic, looked up at him.

“Do you really think I’d let you go that easily?”

Dante clicked his tongue and draped a blanket over the woman’s trembling shoulders.

Looking at her face, filled with despair, he found himself thinking back to the very first time he had ever met her eyes.