Valen said it first, unprompted, like an excuse. Yuria didn’t know what to say and only nodded. Duke and Duchess Castoria took their seats at either end of the table, and the food was brought out, but Valen didn’t take his eyes off Yuria.

“What?”

She finally asked, and Valen replied in an even tone.

“Why didn’t you come to the study?”

“Did you want me to?”

She asked back, doing her best to conceal her surprise.

“You went through every part of the manor. It’s strange that you skipped that one room.”

It almost sounded like… Valen had been waiting for her. That was probably just her imagination. He was simply stating a fact.

“I didn’t actually see everything today. It’s too large to cover all at once.”

“So you’ll come tomorrow, then?”

“Does it matter?”

Duchess Castoria watched the small back-and-forth between Valen and Yuria with quiet warmth. She drifted briefly into her own memories of her newlywed days.

Beatrice Castoria had been born a daughter of the distinguished Rizzo family. After her elder sister was chosen as the emperor’s consort, the responsibility of finding her a good match fell upon the family as well. The match they made was the eldest son of the wealthy Castoria ducal house: Leo Castoria.

Her first impression of the man who would become the Duke of Castoria, when she met him in society, had not been particularly good. He was quiet and blunt. But it was not long before his quiet courtship began to open her heart.

Valen had clearly inherited that from his father, and when it came to women, he was no doubt just as clumsy. Beatrice lifted her glass and silently hoped that Yuria would see through to what he was really feeling.

Noticing the Duchess’s gaze, Yuria turned to Valen, who was still saying things she couldn’t make sense of, and said:

“Stop fixating on strange things and eat your dinner properly.”

Valen quietly did as she said. Yuria glanced at him sideways and only then noticed his clothes. A shirt buttoned all the way to the wrist, and a collar turned up at an odd angle. It took her a beat to realize he was pretending to hide marks from the night before.

It was more likely that he simply didn’t want to be questioned by the servants than that he was doing it out of consideration for her. Either way, Yuria was genuinely grateful.

The awkward dinner came to an end, and the two of them made their way to the bedroom in silence, without a word to each other. The moment they arrived, Valen undid the buttons of his shirt as though he had been suffocating. He undressed to change, and Yuria thought about it for a moment before changing behind the screen in the corner of the room.

“Yuria.”

Startled by the sudden call of her name, Yuria turned to look at Valen.

“Was there anyone suspicious while you were going around the manor?”

“No. Why?”

After a few seconds of quiet, Valen spoke again.

“You’ve essentially walked into enemy territory. There are still plenty of people in the branch families who don’t take kindly to you.”

“Meaning…”

“Watch yourself.”

Yuria had anticipated as much. No matter that their marriage was something like a peace treaty, old feelings didn’t disappear easily. She had never expected the hostility that had persisted since the seven great houses first came into being to vanish like magic.

“I’ll be careful.”

But even if I die, it has nothing to do with you, does it. The words rose all the way to her lips, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them. Valen had often shown a dislike of Yuria precisely because of the rift between their two families, and now here he was expressing concern. It was entirely unlike him.

Changed into lighter clothes, Yuria climbed onto the bed with some awkwardness. There was nothing particularly embarrassing about sharing a bed with someone she had already been intimate with, and yet the strange feeling wouldn’t go away. Valen came and sat beside her, and she reflexively shifted a little away from him.

Those deep green eyes were on her again. She had so rarely had occasion to meet his gaze before that she hadn’t noticed, but they were eyes that were hard to read and yet easy to fall into. She doubted she would ever know what Valen was thinking when he stared at her like that.

“Am I still making you uncomfortable?”

Expressionless, Valen asked quietly. Yuria pressed her lower lip together and held her silence, then finally said:

“What if I said yes?”

“Then I won’t close the distance any further. As you said, this marriage is nothing but a transaction.”

She had thought he had been treating her with a fair amount of warmth by his standards, but the Valen saying this was firm and cold. Of course. There was no way he truly cared for her. She couldn’t let herself be fooled by his performance. She had always prided herself on being the greatest liar in the empire, but here was someone who outdid even her.

“Then we should draw a line. In public, we act like a devoted couple without any issues. But when it’s just the two of us, there will be no contact of any kind, including obligations. No objections?”

“None.”

The plan was moving along smoothly. She had never imagined Valen would agree so readily to playing the part of a happy couple. Things might go more easily than she had expected. The thought brought a small smile to the corner of her lips.

“There is one condition, though.”

Yuria looked at him, puzzled by the sudden addition.

“A condition?”

“You must never let it become real. Promise me you won’t fall in love with me, no matter what.”

Yuria had no idea how to take something so outrageously arrogant. Did he think she would fall in love with him while playing the part of a harmonious couple? She could swear on her life that would never happen.

“Trust me, I’m saying this for your sake.”

For my sake? What an insufferable man.

“Don’t worry. I don’t feel anything for you.”

She was too tired now to even ask about his strange demands. Yuria turned her back to him, moved to the far edge of the bed, and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

He must have a woman somewhere. That’s why he can’t have me falling for him. Her head quickly filled with a tangle of thoughts, while the very person responsible for the confusion was perfectly still and silent. In the end, Yuria had no choice but to squeeze her eyes shut and drive out the noise on her own before she could sleep.

* * *

“I truly cannot understand Valen.”

Yuria muttered, submerged up to her neck in the bath.

“Men are just like that, I suppose.”

“Do you know what he said to me this time? He told me not to fall in love with him.”

Anna’s expression stiffened sharply. Not long ago she had been over the moon thinking Valen had feelings for Yuria, and now this came out of nowhere like a bolt from the sky.

“I can’t make sense of the young lord either, my lady. Why would he say something like that?”

“He must have a woman hidden away somewhere.”

Anna drew a sharp breath. She didn’t know that what mattered to Yuria was the fact of the marriage itself rather than the relationship with her husband, so to her this was a serious matter indeed.

“Speaking of which, Anna. Could you look into his relationships with women?”

If it was just an ordinary affair, Yuria could live in peace without worrying. But if the woman was a noblewoman of good standing who had her eye on the position of young mistress, she couldn’t simply leave it alone.

“Of course, my lady. Just trust me.”

Anna said with a resolute expression. She would absolutely be of use to her lady and bring peace to their marriage. Anna had watched with her own eyes as Yuria was put through a grueling education in how to be a proper wife by the Duke and Duchess of Bellaris, from the time she was very young. Knowing how hard Yuria had worked to get here made her all the more determined to wish her happiness.

And all the while, the person in question was hoping her husband’s affair partner turned out to be an ordinary woman.

Yuria was still troubled by the change in Valen’s attitude since the wedding. She was nearly going mad with curiosity over what had prompted him to become cooperative about the marriage, and why he kept saying things she couldn’t make sense of.

Her thoughts growing too loud, Yuria dunked her head under the water. Life looks so simple and yet it’s so complicated. How wonderful it would be to live like a fish, without a care in the world.

“My lady!”

When she didn’t surface for quite some time, Anna yanked her out in a panic. Gasping and drawing air back into her lungs, Yuria let herself be wrapped in the towel the maid threw around her.

“I’m fine. I just had too much on my mind.”

“Don’t frighten me like that. Really, my lady.”