“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Theodore anxiously inquired about Vivianne’s condition. Despite escorting her all the way to her bedroom, she continued trembling, clearly still frightened.

“I’m fine…”

“Are you really okay? You’re still shaking.”

“Just a bit startled, that’s all. But what happened outside? Do you think he’s gone?”

Her anxious gaze kept darting toward the window. The incident clearly still weighed on her mind.

“There’s no need to worry. I’ll be guarding your door tonight,” Theodore reassured her. Noticing a teapot on the bedside table, he poured a glass of water and handed it to Vivianne.

“Thank you.”

After taking a few sips, Vivianne set down the cup and expressed her gratitude.

“How did you end up outside alone at this hour?”

“Well… I was looking out the window and accidentally dropped my hairpin. I went out to retrieve it, this one. Angela gave it to me as a gift.”

She opened her palm to present evidence. A simple hairpin rested in her hand.

“I see. You must have been frightened. In the future, please call for me if something like this happens. It’s dangerous to wander alone, especially at night.”

“Yes… I’m sorry for going out on my own.”

“I’ll leave once I see you fall asleep. Please lie down.”

Vivianne obediently lay down on the bed. Sleep apparently eluded her as she continuously shifted positions, turning from her back to her side.

“Um, Theo…”

“Yes?”

“That person earlier… he was Duke Larson, wasn’t he?”

Theodore hesitated to answer. Seeing that the woman who once knew only Kian had forgotten even his face made the reality of her memory loss hit home.

“Angela mentioned Duke Larson would be attending the dinner. She said he was very handsome, and I recognized him immediately. Now I understand why Angela likes him so much. She really wanted things to work out with him…”

Vivianne lowered her eyelashes hesitantly before adding, “Why did he suddenly embrace me? We’ve never met before. It’s strange.”

If she truly had lost her memory, her surprise was understandable. From her perspective, a complete stranger had suddenly embraced her, something anyone would find shocking.

“At first, he was just staring at me. I thought he might be lost since the mansion is so vast and complex. That’s why I approached to help him.”

Vivianne rolled her eyes back and forth, trying to vividly explain the situation.

“But then he called me Vivi. He kept saying ‘Vivianne, Vivi…’ while repeating my name. Do you think he already knows me?”

Despite her persistent questions, Theodore maintained his silence. Nevertheless, Vivianne continued to chatter, clearly perplexed by the encounter.

“He held me in his arms and said he missed me. He seemed like someone who had found a precious person they’d lost.”

When Theodore had reunited with Vivianne in Romaunt, he had wanted to do the same. He hated both Kian who could embrace her and himself who couldn’t.

“When I asked him to let me go, he said, ‘You’ll leave. You’ll disappear…’ He looked so anxious. The fact that he knows my name suggests it wasn’t just a mistake.”

Of course. The man’s beloved woman had jumped off a cliff before his eyes. After enduring countless hardships to find her again, how could he not be anxious?

In a situation where her survival wasn’t guaranteed, the only sliver of hope was the fact that she might be a mermaid. Because she was a mermaid, she couldn’t have died, she must be alive somewhere.

Theodore had desperately wanted to believe this, repeating it over and over. Kian must have felt the same way.

How poignant that must be. Theodore hated himself for understanding that feeling.

“His eyes looked so sad. It keeps bothering me. I want to hear what happened.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

“What?”

Vivianne asked in surprise.

The words had slipped out unintentionally. He felt resentful that Vivianne, now completely colored by Kian, talked only about him.

Though he knew it was petty, he wanted to tell her everything, that Kian von Larson was a selfish man who only cared about himself and had made her suffer. That he had suffocated her and caused her pain the entire time she was with him, all because he considered her his possession.

Yet he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how much she would suffer if she learned the truth.

“No, never mind. I misspoke.”

Perhaps it was purely selfish on his part. He feared revealing his own inadequate, ugly inability to protect her when he had wanted to. So he couldn’t bring himself to speak.

Theodore chose cowardice once more, as he always had.

“You seem quite shaken. Get some sleep. You’ll feel better after resting.”

“Alright.”

Vivianne squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the blanket over her head. Soon after, the sound of steady breathing filled the room.

Wondering if she might be uncomfortable, he pulled the blanket down slightly, revealing her round forehead and long eyelashes. Small, whispering breaths escaped through her plump lips.

It was a first for him, feeling the urge to kiss Vivianne. He had wanted to hold her, make her smile, protect her before.

Even when he heard her moaning with Kian at Larson, thinking he would treat her more preciously, he had never thought about kissing her.

‘What am I doing?’

Without realizing it, his face had drawn closer to hers. He hastily left the room, hating both the impulse he felt and his inability to act on it.

Theodore stood guard outside her door all night long.

* * *

“It seems the Duke overindulged last night.”

An uncomfortable atmosphere permeated the reception room. Marchioness Baldwin made no effort to hide her displeasure.

Having heard about the commotion caused by Duke Larson the previous night, and now facing his unannounced visit the next day, his rudeness had clearly crossed a line.

“Regardless of the circumstances, attempting to violate a defenseless woman… I must have misjudged your character completely.”

Without knowing the full story, it was natural for her to interpret it as drunken misconduct.

Kian von Larson was a hero who had received a medal for his successful pirate suppression operation. With little interest in social circles, no one could have imagined he would cause such a scandal.

The Marchioness found even facing him now unbearable.

“I apologize if I have offended you, my lady.”

Despite Kian’s respectful bow and apology, her expression remained stern.

“Your apology should be directed to that child, not me. She must have been terrified.”

“Is Vivianne… all right?”

When the name “Vivianne” left Kian’s lips, Marchioness Baldwin’s eyes widened.

“How do you know her name, Duke?”

“How could I not? She’s the woman I’m going to marry.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

Even while uttering such absurdities, Kian von Larson maintained unwavering eye contact.

This was beyond belief. Not only had he embraced her without warning, but now he claimed she was his bride-to-be without any context. He seemed completely out of his mind.

From her brief inquiries, the Marchioness had learned that his engagement with Steward had been broken off and that the Duke had a mistress who had run away, whom he had been desperately searching for.

Having been abroad, this was all news to Marchioness Baldwin.

“I lost her and have been searching desperately.”

From the situation, it appeared that Vivianne was that runaway mistress. But to call her the woman he would marry? Was he planning to formally adopt her into his family?

If he cherished her so much, why did she run away, and why was she found in such terrible condition? None of it made sense.

“Thank you for protecting Vivianne all this time. I’ll compensate you generously. I’ll take her back to Larson now.”

His stubbornness was maddening. He looked like a man who had lost his senses.

If Vivianne was indeed the mistress he had been desperately searching for, his sudden embrace yesterday and his insistence on taking her back now made sense.

However, returning Vivianne was a separate issue. This wasn’t like retrieving a runaway puppy. She was a woman who had nearly died.

The Marchioness didn’t even want to imagine the circumstances that led to a pregnant woman falling into the sea.

“No.”

At her flat refusal, a faint smile flickered across Kian’s lips.

“You seem to be under some misapprehension, my lady. Or perhaps I appeared too courteous?”

“What did you say?”

“I’m not asking for your permission to take her back, I’m informing you that I will.”

“Are you threatening me, Duke?”

“If necessary, I’m not above it. Don’t you agree?”

He didn’t care if he appeared brutish. Truth be told, he had wanted to take her away yesterday but restrained himself.

He had been drinking at the dinner party, and after discovering Vivianne, he had completely lost his composure.

It was true that he had forcibly embraced her, and he had witnessed her escape from his arms to hide behind Theodore. Even he didn’t know what he might have done had he stayed longer. 

That’s why he had waited until today to return.

It wasn’t out of concern for offending the Baldwins. It was entirely for Vivianne’s sake.

She wasn’t alone anymore. He didn’t want to corner and pressure a woman who had lost her memory again.

Hadn’t he lost her that way before? He never wanted to lose her from his sight again. That was all.

“You’re well aware that I’m not in my right mind after yesterday’s incident. Out of respect for your care, I’d prefer to remain courteous with you, so let’s not make this difficult.”

“Whatever your circumstances may be, Vivi is my lifesaver. She’s precious to me, so I cannot allow it.”

“She’s carrying my child. She’s the Duke’s woman, and Larson has succession issues, so with all due respect, this is not a matter for you to interfere with.”

“Not anymore.”

Marchioness Baldwin looked directly into Kian’s eyes.

“Vivianne had a miscarriage.”