Dain had no idea that Liana had worked at the tavern to repay her debt and leave him. He simply thought she had worked because she needed dresses and jewels, so he sent jewels and gold coins through Aaron.

‘Give Liana plenty of money for maintaining her dignity. As payment for her nightly services.’

‘Yes, I understand.’

Aaron’s face brightened at the instruction Dain gave that morning.

He had always felt sorry for Liana, and when he learned she was singing at a tavern, he felt guilty. So the Duke’s decision was very welcome.

“The lady will receive ten million gold once a month as payment for serving His Grace in the bedroom. If you need jewels and dresses besides that, you can tell me anytime.”

“……Ten million gold?”

Liana’s mouth fell open.

Not ten thousand gold, but ten million gold. It was an enormous amount. She could never earn it singing at a tavern for a lifetime, or even by becoming the lead in a play.

If he gives this much to a woman who’s merely a bedroom companion, how much would he give to his wife?

She couldn’t imagine Dain’s wealth.

‘A Duke’s wife……’

Suddenly imagining a beautiful wife standing next to Dain made her chest ache like she’d been struck.

Why did her chest hurt so much when she had only imagined it?

“And there was an order to move the lady’s bedroom.”

Aaron continued.

“My bedroom? Where to?”

Liana’s light blue eyes grew large.

“He said to move you next to His Grace’s bedroom in the main castle. The servants will move your belongings, so you just need to go with your person, my lady.”

“……I understand.”

Now he seemed to plan to keep her right next to him for surveillance.

From that day, Liana came to stay in the bedroom next to Dain’s.

“Wow……”

That afternoon, while touring her new bedroom, Liana unconsciously let out an exclamation. The new bedroom was incomparably spacious and splendid compared to the annex bedroom.

‘Is it okay for me to stay here?’

Since it was the bedroom next to the Duke’s, it was probably originally intended to be used as the duchess’s bedroom. To let a mere nightly companion, not even a mistress, use the future duchess’s bedroom. His wife would be quite displeased if she found out later.

“Phew……”

She let out a long sigh. Neither receiving payment for nightly services nor moving to the bedroom next to the Duke’s made her feel comfortable.

But anyway, it was the Duke’s order, so she had no choice but to follow it.

Late that afternoon, Philip came to the main castle bedroom.

“Lady, are you alright now?”

Philip asked while examining her with a worried expression.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’ve recovered completely. I’m sorry for causing you worry.”

“Not at all. His Grace the Duke worried about you more than I did.”

Dain did? That couldn’t be.

Liana thought Philip was just making polite conversation without any particular meaning.

“His Grace the Duke has issued a ban on going outside. From now on, you cannot go outside the castle, but you can move freely within the ducal castle.”

Philip said with a regretful expression.

“I understand.”

Liana answered weakly. The ban on going outside was something she had expected. It was her own fault, so it couldn’t be helped.

That night, Liana bathed as usual, put on an eye mask, loosely tied her hands, and lay on the bed.

‘But why does he cover my eyes? There’s no reason not to show me……’

Liana tilted her head.

Dain was tall and really handsome like a sculpted beauty. Was it because of his white hair color? It was beautiful like snow had fallen.

His jewel-like shining red eyes were pretty too, his nose bridge was high, his jaw was slender, and his skin shone pure white. There wasn’t an unattractive part anywhere.

‘Why would such a person not want to show his appearance?’

Liana, who was thinking about Dain, dozed off.

Past midnight in the early dawn.

Dain opened the connecting door and entered. Dain’s and her bedroom were attached side by side, and there was a connecting door between the bedrooms.

Dain, who climbed onto the bed, quietly looked down at the deeply sleeping Liana. Her chest was rising and falling regularly.

Though she had made him angry with her foolish behavior, seeing her sleep with an innocent face made his anger melt away smoothly. Her sleeping face was cute and pretty like a forest fairy had been transplanted there.

He smiled with the corners of his mouth turned up, lay down next to Liana, and fiddled with her blonde hair. He hadn’t been able to sleep properly all this time, but lying next to Liana made his eyelids heavy.

‘This is nice too.’

Even just lying next to Liana without doing anything strangely gave him a sense of stability. He, who had been blinking slowly, pulled the blanket over Liana and quietly fell asleep next to her.

* * *

Spring was ripening in the ducal castle. Summer would soon come to the cold north too.

Liana couldn’t go outside the castle, but she could freely go to the greenhouse whenever she felt like it.

Whoooosh—

Coming out after touring the greenhouse, she heard the sound of tall trees swaying in the wind. It sounded like high waves were rolling in from far across the sea.

“Wow, it’s pretty.”

She gazed entranced at the trees swaying like waves. But as she kept watching, she glimpsed shining silver scales through the dense trees.

Looking closely, there seemed to be a lake behind the forest.

‘Should I go take a look?’

She was scared to go to a place she had never been before, but Liana gathered courage and tried walking along the forest path.

Perhaps because the frozen ground had melted, the dirt path under her feet was soft and squishy. Squelching sounds of moisture came from under her feet.

「A human is coming?」

「Should we eat her?」

The forest behind the ducal castle was a forest where low-level snake clan members who couldn’t transform into humans lived. They had awakened from winter sleep not long ago and were in a very hungry state, waiting for females to wake up for mating.

「Should we?」

「Wait. That woman smells like Kian?」

「What?」

Kian was a title for Dain, the king of the snake clan. The snakes trembled at the word Kian.

「She must be Kian’s woman. Let’s just let her pass.」

「Yeah, let’s do that.」

Liana arrived at the lake, walking through the narrow path between the trees without knowing anything.

“Oh my. There’s such a big lake here.”

There was a huge lake behind the forest. It seemed to have been hidden by the tall trees.

Liana looked around. The back of the main castle and the forest seemed to be off-limits, with no human shadows visible anywhere.

That moment, Dain, who was heading to the greenhouse, caught Liana’s scent on the path toward the forest.

‘She’s quite curious.’

The corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. The scent of his pheromones would be vibrating from her, so the low-level snake clan members wouldn’t dare attack her.

That’s why he had allowed access to the greenhouse, but the brave Liana seemed to have entered the forest. He turned his steps toward her.

Even though it was late spring, the temperature had dropped sharply in recent days, so the lake was frozen solid. Every time she exhaled, white breath came out of her mouth continuously. Looking at the vast silver ice sheet, it seemed like viewing an ice rink.

“Wow, it would be nice to skate here.”

Since she didn’t have skates, she stepped onto the lake wearing the shoes she had on.

La—, la—, la—.

Liana sang a cheerful song she had sung in a play while staggering and spinning around on the ice. It was a song she had sung when playing as a cat.

The skirt of the dress she was wearing spread wide, making her look like a butterfly flying around.

She was intoxicated by the dance and song. Though it was difficult to maintain balance because the ice was slippery, she lost track of time and continued singing performance songs while spinning around on the lake.

“You have no fear.”

When the song was ending, a heavy baritone voice echoed over the lake.

“Dain.”

Liana, who had been dancing without knowing anyone was coming, stopped. Her cheeks reddened with Dain’s appearance. It was partly because she was caught dancing, but lately she had become increasingly conscious of him.

She couldn’t understand him—he would treat her roughly then immediately become gentle. Yet when she was next to him, her heart kept pounding and her cheeks grew hot. She didn’t know why she felt this way.

“Pruis is a cold northern region, but it’s still spring now. No one can know how thick the ice is.”

He gave her a warning. In midwinter the ice thickness is several meters, but in spring when temperatures rise, it gradually becomes thinner.

“I see. I didn’t know.”

“You sing well.”

“Thank you.”

Liana’s expression brightened with Dain’s praise. Being recognized by someone was always a pleasant thing.

“Seeing you dance, you’ll need to learn properly.”

“I’ve never formally learned to dance.”

Since she was a commoner, she had no occasion to attend balls. So she hadn’t learned anything beyond simple dances for plays.

“You’ll need to practice to attend banquets.”

Dain’s gaze turned to her reddened cheeks.

“Banquets?”

Her light blue eyes grew large.

“Mm. A banquet will be held soon.”

“……”

I’m attending a banquet? She knew from Philip that a banquet would be held in the ducal castle, but she never thought she would attend.

“May I attend the banquet?”

Liana swallowed once and looked at Dain with a nervous expression.

“Of course. You’re my partner. You’re more than qualified.”

Dain’s partner…

Hearing him call her that, Liana kept looking at him in silence. Somehow, her status seemed to have shifted from guest to the Duke’s partner.

“Take my hand.”

Dain extended his left hand to her while she was lost in thought. When Liana extended her right hand, he lightly held her hand and back, moved, and took Liana’s left hand to place it on his shoulder.

The two spun around on the lake.