On the day the Imperial Palace held its grand party—

Watching the rain pour down beyond the carriage window, Delia let out a quiet sigh.

She had felt aches throughout her body since morning and had expected some discomfort, but she had never imagined the rain would fall so heavily as to hinder their journey.

As the ride dragged on, Delia’s complexion grew pale.

Sitting across from her, Kallius asked in a voice laced with concern,

“My lady, are you unwell?”

“……I am fine. I have simply grown a little weary from riding in the carriage for so long.”

Years ago, when Delia had gone on a picnic with her family, their carriage had overturned.

Her parents died instantly in the accident. As the sole survivor, Delia found it difficult to endure long hours in a carriage.

When she began to draw ragged breaths, Kallius abruptly rose from his seat. He stepped toward her and wrapped his arms firmly around her shoulders.

“You need not be afraid.”

At his resolute tone, Delia’s shoulders trembled slightly. She slowly blinked her wide eyes and looked up at him.

The way he swept back his hair and the sharply tailored dark-gray coat that accentuated his broad shoulders suited him perfectly. The deep musk scent rising from his body only heightened his allure.

“As long as I am your husband, and you are my wife, there is no reason for you to tremble in fear.”

“Kallius…….”

Kallius smiled as he gently brushed a hand over Delia’s cheek. The tender expression he showed only to her soothed the fear that had tightened around her heart.

As Delia wrapped her arms around him and quietly closed her eyes, a booming voice rang out from beyond the carriage wall.

“Your Grace, we will be arriving shortly!”

Delia’s expression turned flustered.

She had known they were close, yet as the carriage neared the Imperial Palace’s grand hall, her heart began to pound with uneasy intensity.

Patting her back reassuringly, Kallius responded to the coachman outside.

“How much longer?”

“There are quite a number who arrived ahead of us, so entry has been delayed. By my estimate, we should be able to proceed in about ten minutes.”

Delia glanced out the window.

Just as the coachman had said, carriages of every color stood lined up in orderly rows. The sight made it feel as though the party had already begun.

Clasping her hands together, Delia swallowed.

After a short wait, they were finally granted entry into the palace.

As she stepped inside, Delia let out a tense breath. The burden of soon having to face so many people made her fingertips tremble faintly.

“It is time to attend the party.”

“We cannot remain here forever.”

Kallius answered in a firm voice. He stroked Delia’s hair before rising from his seat. They could delay no longer; it was time to step down from the carriage and enter the ballroom.

It was Delia’s slender fingers that caught hold of him.

“My dear… it will truly be all right, won’t it?”

“Yes. Do not worry. Since it has been some time since you have shown yourself, they will treat you all the more warmly.”

Delia nodded. It had indeed been a while since she had attended a party—perhaps people’s reactions would be different this time.

At last, she looked at Kallius with a resolute expression.

“You worry far too much.”

Kallius lifted the bonnet resting opposite him and placed it gently upon her head. As he tied the ribbon beneath her chin, he offered her a quiet word of reassurance.

“Stay as close to me as possible.”

“Yes. I will keep that firmly in mind.”

“Of course, it should not happen—but if any danger arises, call for me at once.”

In the brief moment Delia blinked, Kallius opened the carriage door and stepped down first. He then extended his right hand to help her descend.

His palm bore countless scars earned on the battlefield.

Delia gazed quietly at the marks—scars carved from the will to survive—before carefully placing her hand in his.

Together, they made their way toward the ballroom.

***

The moment Delia and Kallius entered the hall, the once-bustling crowd fell silent.

Just as Delia had long been absent from parties, Kallius too had rarely attended. The sight of them together left the guests staring in disbelief.

After a stunned pause, people quickly arranged smiles upon their faces and stepped forward. Their eyes brimmed with admiration directed solely at Kallius.

“Your Grace, Duke Kallius!”

“My goodness, it has been far too long.”

“How have you been all this time? I have regretted not having the opportunity to speak with you directly.”

Each person competed for his attention with eloquent words. Some praised his valor; others lauded his past achievements. Their desperation to earn even a glance from him was unmistakable.

Delia, who detested crowded places, carefully took a step back. Casting a subtle glance toward Kallius at the center of the throng, she quietly made her way toward the terrace.

Standing beneath the open sky, she released a breath as she gazed at the stars glittering in the night.

Seeing them shine so brightly—so unlike the heaviness in her heart—only deepened her gloom.

In the past, at the funeral held to honor her deceased parents, Delia had been pointed at and condemned as ‘a wretched, unfilial daughter who survived by abandoning her own parents.’

At the time, she had felt wronged beyond words. All she had wanted was to remain by her parents’ side. She had never imagined she would lose her family so suddenly.

And yet, as though the stigma alone were not enough, she had endured slander even at their funeral.

In the end, while Delia wept quietly in a corner of the chapel, she felt the heavy weight of a coat settle over her shoulders.

Startled, she began to lift her head—

—but the sound of someone kneeling on the floor reached her ears, followed by a voice so low it sent a chill down her spine.

“I have been watching for some time. You have done nothing wrong.”

Drawn by the voice, Delia raised her head.

Before her stood a man with hair as black as night, untouched by any hue, and eyes as blue as sapphire.

Balanced somewhere between boyhood and manhood, he looked toward the cross set within the church and said,

“So weep freely. That your parents may close their eyes in peace.”

“Ah……”

At those words, clear tears slipped from Delia’s eyes and fell, one by one.

Forgetting even to wipe them away, she looked up at the man—then burst into loud sobs.

That was the very day Kallius and Delia first held one another in their gaze.

From that encounter, their meetings grew beyond chance crossings, until at last they stood together at a wedding altar.

Gazing at the wedding ring on her left hand, Delia thought to herself—

Perhaps, if Kallius had not found her crying that day, they might have remained strangers for the rest of their lives.

Just as she sank into her thoughts, the terrace doors burst open with a sharp bang.

Believing Kallius had returned, Delia turned with a radiant smile—

Only to find a masked man rushing straight toward her.

In his hand gleamed a dagger with a razor-sharp edge.

‘What is this……?’

Her mind went blank.

Faced with a situation she had never once imagined, her entire body froze stiff.

With nowhere to flee on the terrace enclosed on all sides, Delia squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain she believed was about to come.

And yet…

Something was wrong.

Even as time passed, there was no pain—no sensation at all.

Just as Delia was about to lift her eyelids in confusion, a familiar scent brushed past her nose. It drew close and whispered low beside her ear.

“Delia, do not open your eyes.”

“……”

“You must not see anything. Call for someone at once and return to the estate.”

She could not speak.

His breathing was more ragged than usual. Beneath the familiar warmth of his scent lingered the sharp tang of blood.

Everything told her that something had happened to Kallius.

He gently stroked her cheek. In his gaze, fixed upon her, there flickered the faintest trace of guilt.

As he looked down at her in silence, Kallius suddenly staggered.

And in that instant, the masked man lunged once more and shoved him over the railing.

“N-No, Kallius—!”

Delia reached out in desperation—

—but she was too late.

As he fell, Kallius looked at her with a pained expression, his eyes filled with anguish.

Delia shook her head as she stared down at him, sprawled below in the garden.

Then, collapsing to her knees upon the cold stone floor, she spoke in a trembling voice.

“Kallius……”

But no answer came.

“Please… tell me this is a lie……”

At last, clear tears burst from her eyes.

As though echoing the anguish in her heart, heavy rain began to pour from the sky.

Watching as people rushed to gather around Kallius’s fallen form, Delia’s vision dimmed—

—and she lost consciousness.