At the rustle of fabric near her feet, Liane worried the man lying in the bed might wake, so she slipped off her slippers and set them down with painstaking slowness.

‘He didn’t stir when I locked the door just now… it should be fine.’

She told herself this to settle her nerves, then crept toward the bed with soundless steps.

It was a dark night thick with clouds, but her eyes had long since adjusted to the thin thread of moonlight filtering through the curtains, and she could make out the man’s face in clear detail.

‘Please… don’t push me away……’

She gazed down at his sculpted face for a moment, her heart full of desperate longing, and clutched the front of her nightgown tightly in one hand.

Then, as though she had made up her mind, she grabbed the ribbon tie with the hand she had been holding to her chest, pulled it loose, and slowly climbed onto the bed where the man lay.

He was asleep, but his breathing was ragged, as though something troubled him. Liane leaned in, reached out, and gently touched his dark black hair.

The moment her fingers brushed his forehead, the man slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes, unaccustomed to the dark, caught the silhouette of someone hovering close, and he slowly parted his lips.

“Ha… ah… who……”

Liane moved the hand that had been touching his hair, and slowly trailed it from his cheek down to his neck, then down to the center of his chest.

‘A woman…? Why is a woman in my bedchamber……’

The man’s mind began to clear as he woke, and he tried to push himself up with a flustered expression, but his breath escaping from his nose and mouth was unsteady, as though his body burned with fever.

“You’re suffering. I’ll make you comfortable soon.”

Liane pressed a finger to his lips as he tried to rise and spoke, then swung one leg over his stomach and settled on top of him.

“What are you—!”

When the man tried to sit up again, Liane slipped the nightgown off her shoulders where it had barely been clinging. The loose garment slid off her upper body at once and fell with a soft drop onto her thighs.

Just then, the clouds that had been covering the moon parted briefly, and the moonlight spilling in through the window laid bare the beautiful lines of Liane’s n*ked body.

Apart from his bewilderment, the man’s breathing was growing rougher.

“…What have you done to me?”

“The explanation can come later……”

Liane bent her head and pressed her lips to the man’s cheek.

The sweet, floral scent of a woman so close to him made it difficult for the man to keep his senses.

“Hold me tonight……”

“Ha… you… who are you……”

Liane kissed the lips of the man who had begun to breathe in ragged pulls.

The man wanted to resist the seduction of a woman he had never seen before, whose intentions he could not read, but with his body burning with fever, controlling his reason was no easy thing.

When Liane lifted her lips away, the man pulled her waist toward him with an expression that said he could no longer hold back, and began kissing her neck.

‘…Good. Just as I thought, the drug won’t let him refuse.’

“Ah……”

The man’s hands and breath reached her chest, and Liane’s thoughts came to a stop.

The arm the man had wrapped around her waist tightened, and in one swift motion he lifted her and laid her beneath him, planting his hands on either side of her as he shifted his position.

“Ah…! Wait—”

‘I was told it would be safer to stay on top if I wanted tonight to succeed……!’

Paying no mind to Liane’s flustered state, the man lifted her legs and pulled the nightgown that had been draped over her lower half free, setting it aside.

“Ha… You started this. You’re not thinking of running away now, are you.”

“That’s not it… ah… ah……”

The man’s mouth found her chest, and Liane flushed with embarrassment, her fingers tightening around his shoulders.

“No… don’t…!”

When the man’s hand found its way between her legs, Liane turned her head to the side at the unfamiliar sensation and the shame of it, clamping her mouth shut to keep from making a sound.

‘His hand… there… ugh……’

Tears pricked at the corners of Liane’s eyes from the humiliation and fear.

The man, his breath coming in rough bursts, bowed his head over her shoulder and lifted her legs.

“Ugh…!”

At the tight, pressing pain that pushed into her, Liane squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the pillowcase above her head.

‘It hurts… I have to bear it… I can’t tell him to stop……’

The man had been watching Liane’s pained expression up close, and when she cracked her eyes open for a moment and met his gaze, he kissed her lips.

Blink.

Liane opened her eyes and jolted upright.

‘I fell asleep! This is terrible.’

She quickly turned her head to look at the window behind her.

‘Thank goodness. The sun hasn’t risen yet.’

She let out a small breath of relief and looked down at the man sleeping right beside her.

The anguished expression she had seen when she first entered the bedchamber was gone. The man lay in deep, sound sleep, his face peaceful.

Liane forgot her own circumstances for a moment and studied his composed features beneath his disheveled hair.

‘Thank you. For holding me……’

With the same careful movements she had used when she first entered the bedchamber, Liane gently lifted the blanket covering her and slipped out of the bed.

Her waist and lower abdomen ached with a dull, heavy throb, and she wanted to curl up and stay still for a while, but she had no way of knowing when the sun would rise, and she could not afford to linger here any longer.

She picked up the nightgown from the floor, put it on, and crept back to the door with soundless steps. At the threshold, she turned and looked toward the bed. The man lay still and quiet, without so much as a stir.

Liane unlocked the door and slipped out of the bedchamber without a sound.

All the way down the corridor she kept her heart in her throat, dreading that she might run into someone. She exited through the building’s back door and walked without stopping until she reached the servants’ quarters. When she arrived, she went to the room at the far end and slowly opened the door.

“Miss Liane!”

Lucille, who had been waiting inside with a knot of anxiety in her chest, saw Liane’s face and rose from her chair with tears of relief springing to her eyes.

“How did it go?”

“Yes… it worked. He held me.”

“Sob… Miss Liane… you’ve been through so much. Come here. Let me clean you up.”

“No, Lucille. I’ll do it myself.”

Liane shook her head, dropping her gaze as she thought of the traces the encounter would have left on her body.

Lucille knelt down in front of her and looked up at her with a tear-streaked face.

“This Lucille, who has done this and that and everything for Miss Liane’s sake since we were children—please don’t turn me away. Miss Liane. Let me take care of you.”

“…Thank you, Lucille.”

Lucille moved with quiet efficiency, dampening a cloth with the warm water she had brought and wiping down Liane’s body with tender care.

Only then did Liane notice that her shoulders were trembling.

“It’s because the tension has left you. Once you sleep for a bit and wake up, you’ll feel better soon.”

Lucille seemed to read her thoughts. She stroked Liane’s hair and spoke in a warm voice.

“Yes… Lucille, I’m going to lie down for a little while.”

Liane climbed under the blanket, and Lucille stayed by her side, tucking the covers snugly around her and smoothing her hair.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Lucille……”

Listening to the soft, humming lullaby Lucille sang, Liane drifted off to sleep almost at once.

***

Father, please don’t leave me behind…. Father…….

Liane slowly opened her eyes.

She could see Lucille’s back, slumped over the desk beside the bed, asleep.

Through the window in front of the desk where Lucille lay, the pale light of early morning was filtering in. The brightness stung her eyes, and Liane squinted as she pushed herself up from the bed.

“Lucille, I think it’s time to get up.”

She went to Lucille, rubbed her back gently, and whispered. Lucille rubbed her eyes and sat up.

“Yes, you’re right. Miss… ugh……”

“I’m sorry. You couldn’t sleep properly because I took the bed.”

Liane apologized with genuine regret as she watched Lucille groan and stretch, and Lucille smiled with a look of mild protest.

“No, this much is nothing.”

The two of them quickly changed into the maid’s uniforms that had been folded on the chair. After helping Liane dress, Lucille took a dye from the drawer and carefully applied the brown solution over Liane’s blonde hair.

“We may still need to keep your appearance hidden for now. This should be the last day we need to apply it.”

“Right.”

Liane and Lucille straightened their clothes, took one last look at each other’s faces, and then cautiously left the room and made their way toward the kitchen used by the servants.

As they drew closer to the kitchen, sounds reached them that were different from usual—far more hurried and unsettled than the ordinary noise of a kitchen at work.

“Hey, you two. Get to the back courtyard quickly. The head lady’s maid has called everyone together in a rush.”

Lucille heard what the attendant said to them and asked with a puzzled look.

“What happened?”

“It seems someone tried to poison the master last night. Apparently someone put something in the duke’s drinking water. There’s quite an uproar over it right now.”

“What?!”

“If you don’t want to be suspected, get to the assembly point now.”

“Yes, yes……”

After the attendant who had told them this hurried off and disappeared, Liane and Lucille quickly ducked into a corner beneath the staircase.