But she couldn’t leave the ducal castle more often than now. If Dain found out she left the ducal castle even on non-holidays, it wouldn’t take long for him to discover she was working at the tavern.

“I’ll double your daily wage, so really, won’t it work?”

“It won’t work.”

Liana, who rejected Rick’s repeated proposal, left his disappointed face behind and came out of the office to prepare to sing. It wasn’t that she didn’t want the daily wage, but it was extremely fortunate that she hadn’t been discovered by Dain so far. Therefore, leaving the castle more often was dangerous.

Ah—, ah—, ah—, ah—, ah—.

The sound of her warming up her voice echoed inside the store.

And there was someone secretly watching that scene. He pulled his robe deeper and slipped out of the store, then headed straight to the ducal castle.

“The lady is singing at a tavern.”

Aaron, who had followed Liana and returned, reported to Dain with a serious expression.

“What?”

Dain doubted his own ears.

“Right now at a tavern called Ripley on the pleasure district, she’s singing……”

Before Aaron could finish speaking, Dain jumped up and went outside.

“Your Grace, where are you going? Your Grace.”

Aaron called from behind, but it didn’t reach his ears. Dain rode his horse and rushed to the tavern at full speed.

‘My woman is singing at a tavern?’

Dain was so excited that he didn’t even realize he was thinking of Liana as his woman. Anger rose to the top of his head and he wasn’t in his right mind.

The time when thick darkness fell over the pleasure district, flashy lights to entice customers hung at the entrance of each store.

A tall man stood firmly at the entrance of one shabby tavern among them. His red eyes gleamed frighteningly in the darkness.

A singing voice echoed from inside the store. It was a beautiful voice that stirred the heart.

‘Liana sings in a place like this?’

Before entering inside, Dain looked over the tavern building. The old building had one side of its sign dented, and next to the building, various garbage was piled up, vibrating with a rotten smell.

“Welcome.”

When he entered the tavern, an employee greeted him loudly.

“There are no seats available, Sir. You’ll have to stand and watch……”

Dain raised one hand to stop the employee’s words. Andy, overwhelmed by his intense charisma, closed his mouth.

The narrow tavern inside was full of people. There were more people standing than sitting, and they were all looking in one direction.

He looked at the small stage where people’s gazes were directed. A woman with wavy blonde hair reaching her waist and heavy makeup was singing.

Though she had put on heavy makeup to avoid being recognized, the woman singing was definitely Liana. Dain could recognize her immediately.

He stood at the entrance with his arms crossed, glaring at Liana with a gaze like a sharp blade.

The interior of the store was quiet, unlike a tavern. No one was chatting, and everyone was concentrating on the song like they were enchanted. Some people were shedding tears at the beautiful song that touched the listeners’ heartstrings.

Liana’s gaze, who was singing, fixed on one spot. The song came out without interruption, but her light blue eyes lost their center and shook rapidly.

A man with red eyes stood at the tavern entrance. He was the man she knew as the librarian.

Liana closed her eyes and opened them again. It wasn’t an illusion but really that man.

‘Why is the librarian here?’

His red eyes and her light blue ones met. But she felt a different atmosphere from him, whom she had thought was a kind librarian.

His red eyes were swirling and burning with flames. His gaze seemed like it would tear her to pieces. She had never seen such eyes before.

Liana’s gaze, which had lost its destination, looked at the other customers. They were all deeply absorbed in the song, looking at her with moved eyes.

Liana’s heart began pounding wildly. She could instinctively know in that moment.

‘…… That man isn’t the librarian.’

“Isn’t that gentleman the Duke?”

“What?”

“I mean His Grace, Duke Pruis.”

“Hey, stop joking. Just listen to the song.”

Murmuring voices came from near the stage. Though it was a small sound, it was clearly audible to Liana, whose nerves had become sensitive.

The singing voice suddenly stopped at that moment.

“Why isn’t she singing?”

People murmured, but she couldn’t hear any of it.

‘…… That person is Dain?’

Shocked by Dain’s sudden appearance, Liana couldn’t do anything and just stood still on the stage.

Dain, who strode into the tavern hall, grabbed her wrist without warning.

“Ahhh!”

Liana screamed involuntarily because her grabbed wrist hurt too much.

“Sir, you can’t do this. Sir!”

Rick and Andy came and tried to stop him, but it was useless.

Liana urgently gestured to them not to come closer. Because she could feel Dain’s anger on her skin.

Fortunately, everyone hesitated and stepped back from Dain’s fierce momentum. Liana didn’t resist and was dragged out obediently. Not provoking him was the best strategy.

“Oh my, must be her husband.”

“Really? He’s tall and handsome.”

“She worked here without her husband knowing? She has no fear.”

The customers standing packed inside the store murmured and opened a path for the two people to pass through.

Dain, who roughly dragged Liana out, rode his horse at high speed with her seated in front.

“But that man earlier. Wasn’t he Duke Pruis by any chance?”

After all the customers had left, Rick carefully brought up the topic. It was behavior completely opposite to his usual personality of not caring about anyone’s opinion.

“What did you say? No way.”

Andy waved his hands and denied his words.

“He had white hair and red eyes, right? Among young people living in the duchy, is there anyone else like that besides Duke Pruis?”

“…… That’s true.”

The two people, frozen like ice in that spot, began trembling. They had only heard about Duke Pruis by word but had never actually seen him.

The duke was a frightening figure just by hearing his name.

“It couldn’t be, right?”

Rick said again with a trembling voice.

“It…… wouldn’t be.”

Andy’s voice was also trembling.

* * *

Dain, who arrived at the ducal castle, dragged Liana up to the tower next to the annex.

That place had formerly been used to confine and punish nobles from the direct or collateral lines of the Pruis ducal family who had committed wrongs, but it wasn’t being used now. The tower stairs, which seemed somehow eerie, were thickly covered with dust from not being used.

“Dain! Dain!”

Liana shouted and called him, but he didn’t even pretend to listen and dragged her up. After climbing the spiral staircase for a long time, there was a small room at the top of the tower they reached.

Dain, who entered the room, slammed the door shut.

It was a dark room without even one candle lit. It smelled of musty dust like it hadn’t been used for a long time.

Only the moonlight seeping through the small window without glass dimly illuminated them. There was a small bed in the middle of the room and a desk under the window.

“Dain, listen to me. Dain.”

Without answering, Dain roughly pushed her back toward the bed. He kept his lips tightly shut without saying a word.

“Ahhh!”

Liana screamed briefly and fell face down on the bed. This was the first time she had seen him this angry.

“Dain. I was wrong.”

Dain exhaled rough breaths with an angry face. His broad chest rose and fell greatly.

Dain had a constitution that released more pheromones when angry. Right now his pheromone levels were at a dangerous level even by his own perception.

“Did you forget the reason you came to the ducal castle? You came to serve my nights, yet you sing in front of other people?”

Dain said in a low, suppressed voice.

“I wanted to work and repay even a little of the debt.”

“You wanted to repay the debt? Why?”

“Because everyone treats me like a guest, not collateral.”

“It wouldn’t be an amount you could repay with money earned from singing, would it?”

Dain said mockingly.

“……”

Liana kept her mouth shut and stayed still, letting him do what he wanted to avoid provoking him further. That was when it happened.

Riiip.

Dain violently tore her backless dress.

“Ahhh……! Not the clothes.”

Liana tried to stop him, but she was instantly left wearing only her underwear. Dain stripped off Liana’s underwear with an angry expression. Her round b*ttocks gleamed white before his eyes. His hand gripped her buttock flesh tightly until blood formed.

“Did you want to dress like a wh*re and sing in front of men?”

“Dain. That’s not it.”

“Then did you want to enchant the men? That must have been nice. All the men gathered there were drooling?”

Meanwhile, the hand that had moved below her lower abdomen groped her p*ssy, then found her cl*toris and rubbed it with urgent touches.

“Mmph, Dain.”

Long fingers entered the hole. When the fingers moved back and forth, hot love juices gushed out from the hole.

“I wonder if the men gathered there know that you’re a woman who’s dripping wet like this.”

Liana bit her lips until they bled and squeezed her eyes shut tightly from Dain’s words. She was ashamed of herself for gushing out love juices even in this situation.

“You can’t bite your lips. My collateral will be damaged.”

Before she knew it, Dain inserted his finger between her lips from behind.

“Mmph, mmph.”

She bit his finger in her flustered state, but he didn’t pull his finger out.

Without time to prepare mentally, a thick c*ck entered between her thighs. Dain, who grabbed Liana’s b*ttocks and pushed his gl*ns into the hole, thrust his hips violently.

With his pheromone levels surging to the limit from anger, he had lost his reason. His pupils lengthened vertically.

“Mmph, mmph, mmph.”

The c*ck that urgently thrust in stabbed fiercely at the inner walls that weren’t fully loosened yet, causing painful moans to flow from Liana’s mouth.