“Not going back?”

“Yes. I……”

Annelie Heich, who swallowed once, slowly opened her eyes. The eyes that had been trembling just a moment ago were strangely deep and straight. Like someone who realized what to do while speaking.

“I think it’s better for me to… stay here. Back to how things were.”

“Back to how things were.”

“Yes. So, like before going to the townhouse……”

“Before you opened your body to me while crying, Miss Heich?”

“……”

“Opening your body immediately when touched, moaning with pleasure, opening your mouth saying it feels good when kissed.”

Though he thought he was going too far, his opened mouth wouldn’t stop.

“You want to go back to before we enjoyed ourselves together, clinging to each other?”

Annelie’s shoulders visibly flinched at the words, thrown out more roughly than before. The woman bit her lip hard. What angered him more was that Annelie Heich didn’t deny his words about wanting to go back to how things were before.

‘Say it.’

He hoped she would tell him even now that she didn’t mean to go that far. That she wasn’t really leaving. That she wasn’t trying to erase everything about their relationship.

If she said she needed time to think about their relationship, he was willing to reconsider that too. If only she promised not to leave.

But Nelie didn’t open her mouth until silence heavily pressed down on both of them. Seeing that, his mouth dried up.

“Do you really want to pretend everything never happened?”

Anger heated Elroy’s head.

‘Now you say you won’t stand by my side.’

After mixing bodies, lips, and gazes with him day and night during that time. Even when he reached out his hand, she didn’t refuse. Sometimes she even looked at him with shining eyes, facing him with a face that longed for his kisses.

And now she was going to act like this.

“I really don’t understand what’s unsatisfactory.”

“Your Grace.”

“Yes. Every time I gave you something, you always hesitated, Miss Heich. As if you didn’t want to accept something too extravagant for your status.”

Grind. Words were spat out precisely between the sound of grinding teeth. Even knowing these words would fly sharply and scratch the other’s heart, he couldn’t stop himself.

“But in the end, you accepted everything. Even though you could have refused by being stubborn.”

“That……”

“So didn’t you agree to it too?”

Finally, Annelie Heich’s eyes wavered at his words. A stinging sense of guilt and a bit of pleasure brushed Elroy’s nape.

“Agreed to……”

“You diligently received what I gave and gave your body to me.”

“That……”

“Are you sure you didn’t enjoy it yourself?”

At those words, Annelie sealed her lips even more firmly. He thought he would feel better if he made her close her mouth, but seeing her gaze quietly falling to the floor, unable to find words, he disliked it instead. Mixed feelings rose in Elroy’s chest — wishing she would boldly refute him like she usually did, yet also thinking it was better that she didn’t deny him instead of saying something. His malicious words continued.

“Then, would it be a problem to receive more now?”

“……”

“Others call you my mistress, and you accepted it while knowing deep down. Then.”

Annelie Heich quietly blinked. Elroy, thinking her eyes were scratching him, concluded his words.

“There’s no need to deny it. You’re definitely my mistress. Aren’t you?”

So saying you won’t go to the townhouse now doesn’t make sense. Because nothing has changed. Yes. Let’s just be brazen about it. You are indeed my mistress.

‘So you should be by my side.’

In today’s world, it wasn’t unheard of for mistresses to take the position of wives. Elroy had not infrequently met, conducted business with, and shared conversations and drinks with old nobles who, despite being criticized as foolish, stubbornly installed their mistresses as legitimate wives.

Even if the first button was fastened a bit wrongly, there was still a possibility. Elroy gripped Annelie’s hand as if to bind it.

“…Let go.”

The woman openly expressed her aversion, but he had no intention of stopping now.

“Since things have come to this, Annelie.”

Impatient hands randomly searched the pocket inside his formal attire. His fingertips caught a luxurious case made of satin. Immediately after, Annelie strongly tried to pull her hand away, perhaps sensing what he was about to do. Elroy restrained her again and took out the case.

It was the case containing the duchess’s ring.

“Just accept reality. You have nothing to lose.”

“……”

“Rather, from your perspective, I think it’s quite a stroke of luck, Miss Heich.”

“Your Grace, I……”

“What’s so difficult? Just accept what’s given and smile. Especially precious things like this.”

The moment the case opened, Annelie exhaled a long sigh. It was a sigh closer to despair than joy.

“Do I look like those foolish fellows who throw cheap things and make a show of it? You’ve misjudged me greatly, Annelie Heich.”

“Wait… a moment.”

“I can’t stand seeing my mistress wearing cheap things.”

The hand that had been trying to pull away multiple times was roughly held by the Duke. Soon, a ring was placed on Nelie’s left ring finger.

The ring that covered the faint bite mark remaining on her finger was visibly expensive.

Nelie stared at it blankly, having lost even the will to resist. Suddenly, she thought of the necklace she had discarded and the dress she had thrown off. Her heart felt more miserable. Wearing such things and appearing in such places, how could she have thought she wasn’t a mistress? Even knowing the existence of all those women the Duke had spread rumors about.

The ring, which would have brought joy if received at another time, now choked her with guilt toward herself. The guilt of doing something dishonorable. The guilt of having become a shameful person after coveting something beyond her means.

Elroy deliberately ignored Annelie’s eyes. What mattered was that he had put the ring on the woman’s finger. Even after he released Annelie’s hand, she didn’t remove the ring. She merely looked down at the ring on her finger several times with quiet, gloomy eyes.

The ring that had become a token of her status as a mistress.

He was at least hopeful at the fact that she didn’t immediately remove it. Worried about how this stubborn woman might react if he pushed further, Elroy deliberately took a step back.

“Don’t be so needlessly stubborn.”

“……”

“Two hours. I’ll wait until your head cools down.”

Elroy whispered firmly to Nelie, who wasn’t giving an answer.

“Answer wisely, Miss Heich. Consider which option is realistically better.”

His eyes coldly swept over the cramped storage room. Nelie quietly lowered her eyes under his gaze that seemed to ask why she would stay in a place like this when she had that nice townhouse.

Elroy resisted the urge to drag her out forcibly and turned his back. Two hours. That should be more than enough time for her to organize her thoughts.

In truth, he didn’t want to give her even that much time. But he didn’t want to pressure her. Thinking alone, she would realize this was the better option.

‘There won’t be any problems.’

Those who had insulted her would all trip over their own crimes and soon be publicly executed in the art newspaper, and people in the art world who had taken interest in Nelie would prove that her work was indeed valuable. Rumors about the Duke having a mistress would soon change to news that the Duke and his mistress were getting married.

So he could afford to be generous enough to give her time to think. Elroy deliberately pulled his reluctant feet away. He wouldn’t leave her alone for long. He just hoped she would reflect on her situation in this dark, narrow, cold place and realize that choosing him was better in many ways. Until dawn. Just for a few hours.

When her head cooled down, she would accept it like she always had. She had always been that kind of woman.

Tap.

Elroy closed the storage room door and began walking through the night streets. Walking in the cold air, he thought about moving the townhouse to a different location.

To a place bigger and better than before. A place where she could paint good pictures. A place that could be filled with the high-quality books he had kept only in the Duke’s mansion. A place where Annelie Heich might think that life as a mistress wasn’t so bad.

If she acknowledged herself as his mistress, he could give her many precious things he hadn’t been able to give her before. It was only natural for a mistress to receive such things.

‘This is actually better.’

Even knowing it wasn’t true, Elroy kept repeating this to himself while walking. It was for the best. When dawn broke, he would go to get Annelie Heich. Take the woman who had resigned herself and accepted reality back to their sanctuary……