Liana answered in a small voice. She was drained of strength from the intense intercourse and only panted heavily.

‘Was he really sick?’

Dain, who had been sick for several days, seemed to have recovered and was in a state overflowing with uncontrollable energy. Even with her fading consciousness, Liana had an ominous premonition that tonight would be harder than usual.

True to her premonition, his breathing felt on the nape of her neck became rough again. And her body was laid on its side.

“Ahhh, Dain……!”

Dain, who quickly got up and knelt between her legs, lifted one of Liana’s legs and inserted his lower c*ck into the hole. Then he continued the intense thrusting. The upper c*ck that had cl*maxed once also didn’t lose strength and was brushing against her white thigh. Liana, excited by pleasure, didn’t realize what was brushing against her leg.

Liana fell asleep like fainting when dawn broke after several intense rounds.

Dain gently stroked her hair with soft touches.

‘Oh my. Did you put on new clothes?’

‘Pretty. Very wonderful.’

Liana’s voice praising him in the greenhouse echoed in Dain’s ears. Dain looked at Liana sleeping in his arms and fell into thought.

‘She said I was wonderful? A snake?’

Don’t people hate snakes?

Among beast-humans, the snake clan particularly avoided having their identity discovered by people. Because people would be disgusted and hate them if they were snakes.

‘Come here. Don’t go near that.’

‘Why, Mom?’

‘It’s a snake.’

‘…… A snake?’

When he was young, he had once ridden a horse alone to the central area and experienced molting on a street where many people passed by. It was extremely painful, but no one helped him and instead ran away in horror. It was such a shocking event that he still remembered it.

Even in the ducal castle, only Philip, Aaron, and his personal physician knew he was from the snake clan.

But Liana, far from being afraid of a python several times bigger than her size, hugged it and said it was wonderful. The more he knew her, the more mysterious she was and the more she drew his heart.

‘I should give her a reward.’

He decided to give Liana regular holidays so she could rest comfortably.

* * *

A few days later, Philip stopped by the annex. He was carrying a book in his hand.

“Philip, what’s that book?”

“I brought it thinking it would be good for you to read, Lady. There will be a banquet at the ducal castle soon.”

“Really? I understand. I’ll read it.”

“His Grace said he won’t visit the annex every Monday, so rest comfortably. You may also attend to personal matters.”

“Oh my, really? Please tell His Grace I’m grateful.”

Liana answered with a bright face. Originally, Dain didn’t come to the annex every day, but she was happy to have an official holiday.

“Then I’ll leave the book here.”

“Yes.”

Philip placed the book on the small table in front of the fireplace and left.

“〈Etiquette Book for Noble Young Ladies〉?”

Liana, who sat in front of the table, read the book title aloud. It was exactly the book she needed. She knew almost nothing about noble etiquette.

She slowly flipped through the book. The book had colorful pictures drawn in it, and detailed explanations about etiquette were written below the pictures.

After a while, her hand turning the pages stopped.

There was a banquet scene drawn there. The noble ladies in beautiful dresses and noble men in splendid banquet attire caught Liana’s attention.

Liana envied the noble ladies attending the banquet. She didn’t envy their pretty dresses, jewels, or appearance.

She envied their position of being able to stand proudly next to Dain.

‘I wish I could stand proudly by his side like those women.’

Though she had become a noble young lady when Baron Brian recognized her as his legitimate child after being a commoner, she had nothing and was an illegitimate child. Moreover, she was in a position where she had debts to pay to the duke because of her swindler father.

She couldn’t remain the duke’s bedroom companion forever. Dain would take a wife, and when that happened, she would be driven out of the ducal castle.

‘I can’t live like this.’

Dain had never asked her to become his mistress, but she didn’t want to become a mistress, and she couldn’t live as a nighttime companion like this.

‘Right, I need to earn money. I should pay back at least part of Baron Brian’s debt and ask to be sent away from the ducal castle.’

At first the duke had only seemed scary, but from what she had experienced so far, she felt he wasn’t as evil as the rumors said. All the servants respected Dain and were loyal to him. If he were a person with a bad character, his subordinates wouldn’t trust and follow him like that.

Dain didn’t treat her as badly as she had expected either. Though he had acted roughly when they first spent the night together, he didn’t take the revenge she had feared, and he treated the swindler’s daughter better than expected.

He let her stay comfortably in the ducal castle and allowed her to freely walk around the castle. The words about him being a murderer and demon were surely exaggerated rumors.

* * *

“Head Butler, isn’t there any work I could do in the ducal castle?”

The next afternoon, Liana went to Philip’s office. His office was on the second floor of the main castle.

“Work, you say? His Grace told us to treat you as a guest, Lady. You just need to stay comfortably.”

Philip answered with a surprised expression to her unexpected words.

Right. Kelly also told me I was a guest…….

Liana was quite surprised inwardly by Philip’s words. To think Dain had told them to treat her as a guest. Originally she had been collateral for debt, but she felt her status had been elevated.

Come to think of it, the servants of the ducal castle had treated her politely from the beginning.

It was because of Dain’s orders.

Liana felt grateful to Dain. And simultaneously decided to give up looking for work in the ducal castle. They wouldn’t give work to a guest.

“Yes, I understand. I’m bored because I’m not doing anything.”

“I see. I’ll look into something you could do as a hobby.”

Philip said with a pitying expression.

“Yes, thank you.”

Working in the ducal castle won’t work. I’m young and healthy, so I can do any kind of work…….

Liana hid her disappointed expression, drank the tea a servant brought, then came out of the office. She had heard that Dain’s office was also on the second floor of the main castle, so she should quickly leave the main castle before encountering him.

Liana hurried down the stairs. Seeing how he had her eyes covered every night, he probably didn’t want to show his face, so if she happened to encounter the duke, they might both be embarrassed. He might even restrict her access to the main castle.

“Huh?”

While hurrying down to the first floor, she saw the white-haired man who had picked up the book for her last time walking by. She hadn’t thought about it then because she only saw him briefly, but now she could see he was very tall.

“Sir.”

Liana called the man. But the librarian seemed not to hear and was about to go outside the lobby.

“Sir!”

This time she called loudly. Her voice echoed throughout the entire main castle. She had a wide vocal range and a naturally loud voice. Even when doing theater, her singing voice could be heard outside the building, so she had to lower her voice.

The librarian stopped abruptly.

“Sir……”

Liana hurried down the remaining stairs and ran to him. Her steps were so fast that the back of her dress swept the stairs long. She was anxious that the librarian might just leave.

“……”

The librarian, who slowly turned around, looked down at her silently. It was the same handsome face she had seen that day.

“Sir, thank you for that time. I felt uneasy because I couldn’t properly greet you.”

At Liana’s words, the man’s red eyes shook left and right like an earthquake, then he nodded and tried to turn around.

“Sir, may I ask your name?”

The man turned toward her again at her question. He made a troubled expression, then shook his head. Then he walked out with long strides on his long legs.

“……?”

‘What? Why won’t he tell me his name? Could he not be able to speak?’

Anyway, it was fortunate that she had expressed her gratitude to him. She didn’t know when she would meet him again, but she thought she must find out his name next time.

Liana, who came out of the main castle, headed to the greenhouse to see Leomi.

“Leomi.”

When she opened the greenhouse door and entered, the white snake lifted its head like it had been waiting.

“You were waiting today?”

Liana, who petted the white snake’s head, held out the cookies she had brought in her pocket.

“They’re strawberry cookies. Eat them.”

Leomi swallowed the strawberry cookies in one gulp and looked at her. The snake’s red eyes were shaking slightly left and right.

“Cute.”

Liana petted the snake’s head again and gave it cookies. This time too, Leomi ate the cookies deliciously.

Leomi, who had played with her for a while, disappeared into the soil. Liana, left alone, looked at the flowers in the greenhouse and fell into thought.

Though there was risk of being discovered, she had to find work outside the ducal castle. She couldn’t stay doing nothing like this. To leave the ducal castle, she had to diligently save money.

‘What work can I do besides theater?’

She could work about once a week, so the pay had to be somewhat high. Liana began earnestly thinking about what work she could do.

* * *

On her holiday, one day a week off, Liana took a hired carriage to the pleasure district located a bit away from the center of the duchy. Because Dain had given permission to attend to personal matters on holidays, she could leave the ducal castle after telling Philip.

Numerous brothels stood lined up on the street. She entered a tavern with open doors among them.