She bit down hard on Dain’s finger that was in her mouth because of the pain spreading between her legs. Blood seeped from his finger, but Dain didn’t react and kept moving relentlessly. Both of them had lost all sense.

Dain gripped Liana’s pelvis tightly with one hand and continued thrusting rapidly. Thwack thwack. The sound of wet flesh colliding echoed loudly inside the tower.

“Mmph, mmph.”

Liana kept her reddened cheek pressed against the bed and stayed that way. She could see Dain’s body if she turned around, but she didn’t want to do something he would hate.

Liana’s body kept being pushed forward by Dain’s strong lower body strength. Each time, strength entered his hand gripping her pelvis, turning her b*ttocks red.

After a while, the movement of the c*ck going back and forth inside her inner walls stopped, and viscous liquid sprayed deep inside her body.

“Haah……”

“Mmph…… mmph……”

Both of them breathed roughly like people who had just finished intense exercise. When Dain’s hand left her body, Liana straightened her bent knees and lay face down on the bed.

‘What did I do?’

Only then did Dain’s reason gradually return. The eyes that had burned like flames of anger also calmed down.

He, who had been standing motionless, left her lying face down on the bed, slammed the door shut, and left.

He left the drooping Liana alone in the tower and ran to the forest.

「Gasp.」

「What’s wrong with Kian at this hour?」

‘Kian’ meant king in the snakes’ language.

「Hide quickly.」

The low-level monsters living in the forest were startled by the sound of the Duke running and all hid under rocks.

Dain, who ran at invisible speed, jumped into the lake covered with thin ice. The ice cracked with a crunching sound.

He was so angry he couldn’t control himself. He was angrier at himself than at Liana.

To think he had made the woman who shared her body with him work in such a place because she needed money…….

He had even treated her roughly. Without even listening to her reasons.

Immersing his body in the cold lake water, he scooped up handfuls of broken ice and rubbed it on his head.

“Ugh……”

Meanwhile, Liana, who had been lying face down after Dain left, tried to put strength in her body to get up. But she couldn’t move because no strength entered her arms and legs.

Since she couldn’t stay like this forever, she took deep breaths for a while, then used all her strength to grip the bed and slowly got up.

When she felt around the floor under the bed with her hand, something caught in her grasp. It was her underwear. Next to the underwear was also her torn dress.

Unable to wear the torn clothes, she put on only her underwear and held the dress torn into several pieces in her hand.

‘I need to get into the bedroom before dawn breaks.’

If she stayed like this, someone would see her. Since it was still dawn, she planned to secretly enter the annex under the cover of darkness. She couldn’t show her disheveled appearance to others.

“Mmph.”

But the moment she took a step toward the door to go outside, her head suddenly spun and her vision blurred. She couldn’t breathe either.

“Ugh. Dain……”

Liana called for Dain and collapsed on the floor.

* * *

“Head Butler, the lady didn’t return last night.”

Early in the morning, Kelly ran to Philip with a pale face to report.

“What?”

Philip’s face also turned pale.

The lady was an essential person for His Grace. If pheromones accumulated beyond the limit, the Duke could lose his life. The fact that the lady who could soothe such a Duke hadn’t returned was a very serious matter.

Philip immediately went to Dain’s bedroom.

“Your Grace!”

But Dain’s bedroom was empty.

“His Grace the Duke went out last night and hasn’t returned.”

The guard watching the Duke’s bedroom reported.

“……?”

Yesterday was the lady’s holiday, so His Grace and the lady wouldn’t have gone out together…….

Philip, who was thinking deeply, went to the Duke’s office.

“Where is His Grace?”

“His Grace hasn’t come to the office yet.”

The attendant in charge of the office said. Finally, Philip went to the training ground.

“You were here.”

Dain was having sword practice with the knights.

“Everyone get up. Your skills are terrible. Don’t you practice properly?”

The Duke, who seemed very angry, shouted at the knights lying on the training ground floor. The knights already seemed to have had one round of practice with the Duke and couldn’t regain their energy.

Philip quickly approached Dain and whispered in his ear.

“Your Grace, the lady went to meet her friend yesterday but hasn’t returned yet.”

“……?”

Dain, who stiffened at Philip’s report, threw down his sword and began running toward the tower.

“Your Grace?”

Philip followed him with a confused expression.

Dain, who reached the bottom of the tower in an instant, climbed the stairs at high speed.

Why hasn’t Liana returned yet?

His face was colored with fear. It was a fear he had never felt even on bloody battlefields.

Surely not…….

There was no way she would still be in the tower. The tower was right next to the annex where she was staying. If she just came down the stairs, the building right next to it was the annex. The door wasn’t even locked.

Surely she just needed to come down from there…….

He, who reached the top, flung the door wide open.

“Liana!”

His movement stopped.

Liana was unconscious on the floor wearing only her underwear.

“Liana!”

He called her name once more. Still, she didn’t move.

Dain, who knelt on the floor, placed his hand on her neck. Her pulse was beating weakly but was barely perceptible, and her body temperature was cold like ice.

Dain took off his upper garment, wrapped Liana in it, lifted her in both arms, and ran down the spiral staircase. When he reached the tower entrance on the first floor, Philip came running in, panting.

“Your Grace, why the tower……? Lady?”

Philip, who discovered Liana in the Duke’s arms, shouted with a surprised face.

“Call the physician. Hurry!”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Dain, who ran to the annex carrying Liana, climbed the stairs at high speed.

“Lady?”

Kelly and the maids shouted in surprise seeing Liana in the Duke’s arms. Kelly, who ran into the bedroom following Dain, pulled back the blanket so Liana could be laid down.

“Goodness. Lady.”

Kelly and the maids began massaging Liana’s stiff arms and legs. Dain watched the scene with a blank expression.

He was in a state of severe shock. The situation unfolding before his eyes didn’t seem real.

‘Is Liana going to die? Because of my mistake?’

He could do nothing and couldn’t think of anything.

A moment later, Philip and the physician rushed to Liana’s bedroom.

“It’s hypothermia. She seems to have overworked herself and caught a severe cold.”

The physician, who had carefully examined Liana, told Dain.

“……”

Dain couldn’t give any response. He couldn’t think of what to say. His mind was still in a dazed state.

“She may develop a fever soon, so I’ll keep watch.”

The physician said.

“Do that.”

Dain, who barely uttered a word, left the bedroom and trudged to his office.

“Lady, are you feeling more alert now?”

“Oh, Kelly.”

Liana, who woke up after a day, answered with a hoarse voice. But her eyes were unfocused and blurry like she was looking at distant mountains.

“I’m glad you’re awake.”

The physician standing next to Kelly looked down at her. Liana’s gaze searched for someone. But Dain’s face was nowhere to be seen.

She hardened her expression with inexplicable disappointment.

Liana suffered from a cold for several days before recovering. Having regained her strength, she knelt on the floor in front of the fireplace and gazed at the logs burning in the fire.

The crackling sound of burning logs rang pleasantly. She rested her arms on the chair in front of the fireplace, leaned her upper body against it, and became lost in thought.

‘He must be very angry. Of course. Why would he like me? I’m the daughter of a swindler, so he must hate me. Now he’ll hate me even more.’

Since that day, Dain hadn’t looked for her for a while. The same was true during the several days she was sick. Seeing him not visit the annex even once, he seemed very angry about this incident.

That same time, Dain was also lost in thought while looking out the window at Liana’s bedroom balcony.

‘If she needed money, she should have asked for it. The ducal castle overflows with jewels and money.’

Jewels and money were unnecessary things to him. Why would Liana, who ate and slept in the ducal castle, need money?

He had ordered Philip to treat her as a guest. So there should be nothing lacking for her.

‘Is she really trying to collect money to repay her father’s debt?’

Liana had briefly mentioned working to repay debt, but singing at a tavern couldn’t possibly earn that much money, so it couldn’t be that. No matter how much he thought about it, it was difficult to grasp the real reason Liana wanted to collect money.

If she wanted money that much, Dain was quite willing to give it to her rather than watch her sing at a tavern. He really wanted to give her any amount.

But giving money recklessly without any reason was bothersome because of her father’s debt. It would seem appropriate to give it as payment for her nightly services.

Dain was greatly shocked by this incident. He had thought Liana was living well in the ducal castle without lacking anything, but she had actually been working at a tavern to earn money.

He keenly felt through this incident that he had been lacking in consideration for her.

* * *

Several days later, early in the morning, Aaron came to the annex with an unfamiliar box.

“What is this?”

“His Grace the Duke sent it. They’re jewels.”

“Jewels?”

Inside the box Aaron opened to show her were a diamond necklace and earrings, and a pouch full of gold coins.