“How pitiful, Duke Sinaster. Clinging so desperately to nothing but an empty shell.”

Arthur could see it clearly.

No matter how calm and composed Rian tried to appear, he was more upset than anyone else.

If he could never have Dearlin himself, then he at least wanted to destroy any happiness she might find with Rian.

Seeing Rian so visibly unstable filled Arthur with satisfaction.

After all, what could be more agonizing than loving a woman who had betrayed you?

Every night, Rian would live in fear of being abandoned again.

Arthur could already picture Rian’s future: a life spent drowning in anxiety and suspicion, day after day.

“Do not mistake this for truly possessing Dearlin.”

“I told you to shut your mouth.”

“She already left you once! What makes you think she won’t leave you a second time?!”

Unable to contain his fury any longer, Rian thr*st his arm through the bars and seized Arthur by the collar.

Bang!

Arthur’s body slammed against the iron bars with a violent impact.

Despite the pain tearing through his body, Arthur refused to stop laughing.

“Ahahaha! How ridiculous. Truly ridiculous! To think the great Duke trembles in fear because a single woman abandoned him.”

Rian clenched his teeth so hard a chilling grinding sound echoed through the prison.

At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to drag Arthur out of the cell and k*ll him in front of everyone.

“Arthur von Orva. You should abandon any hope of dying peacefully.”

A murderous aura poured from Rian with such intensity that merely standing near him was enough to make one’s body tremble.

Yet Arthur continued shouting without fear.

“Don’t think killing me will end everything! In the end, Dearlin will abandon you again!”

Ignoring Arthur’s voice ringing behind him, Rian strode out of the underground prison without looking back.

“Your Grace…”

“We’re returning directly to the estate.”

Though Cain was worried by the sight of Rian looking as though he might k*ll someone at any moment, he wisely kept his mouth shut and followed behind him.

Once inside the carriage, Rian sat rigidly in silence, staring out the window without saying a word.

‘Dearlin will abandon me?’

Arthur’s final words continued echoing endlessly in his ears.

For perhaps the first time since entering the prison, Rian regretted it.

No matter whose order it had been, he should never have gone down there.

“Is Dearlin at the estate?”

“Yes. Designer Fleur is scheduled to visit today for the fitting of the wedding dress Lady Dearlin will wear at the ceremony. Judging by the time, she should already have arrived.”

Dearlin in a wedding dress.

Rian made no effort to suppress the image that formed naturally in his mind: Her skin was so pale and delicate that a pure white gown would suit her perfectly. Against the pristine fabric, her jet-black hair would stand out beautifully and draw every gaze in the room.

Even at her debut in high society, Dearlin had captivated countless noblemen.

If she were to appear in a wedding dress…

The thought of the attention she would receive gave him a headache.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t hold a wedding ceremony at all.”

Two conflicting desires coexisted within him.

One part of him wanted to announce to the world that he owned Dearlin. The other wanted to hide her away on the Grand Duke’s estate forever, so she could never escape.

***

It was early morning.

Dearlin had woken without the help of the maids and was sitting quietly on the edge of her bed when—

“Lady Dearlin.”

Sophie, who had never once come looking for her before, entered the room.

“What is it?”

Dearlin’s eyes were filled with caution as she watched Sophie approach with an unreadable expression.

“Designer Fleur will be visiting today to fit your wedding dress, my lady.”

“…A wedding dress.”

Only then did Dearlin truly realize that preparations for her marriage to Rian had begun in earnest.

“If you prepare yourself, I will inform you once Madame arrives.”

“Ah… understood.”

Having said everything she came to say, Sophie left the bedroom.

“There can’t possibly be another woman in this world preparing for marriage twice…”

The temple strictly forbade remarriage, even after the death of a spouse.

Throughout history, therefore, nobody had ever married twice.

In rare cases, someone might have had another partner following divorce or the death of their spouse, but they could never have had a wedding ceremony again.

The declaration of holy marriage — a vow of eternal love made before the Goddess — was considered sacred and unbreakable.

This meant that Dearlin would likely be the only person in history, past or future, to have stood through two wedding ceremonies.

What had it been like when she chose her first wedding dress?

Arthur wanted to control every aspect of Dearlin’s life.

Designers from countless bridal boutiques across the kingdom had brought their gowns to them personally, each hoping that their dress would be chosen for the future queen.

“Th-This one… I think I like this one…”

When Arthur told her to choose whichever dress she wanted, Dearlin simply pointed to the first one that caught her eye.

It wasn’t because the dress was particularly beautiful.

Nor was it because it was designed by a renowned designer.

There was no special reason behind her choice.

She just wanted to escape that suffocating place as quickly as possible.

It was only later that she learned that the designer of her chosen dress was the only man among all the other designers present.

“Wh-What is this…?”

Several days later, Dearlin read in the newspaper that the male designer who had made her wedding dress had been found dead.

The article claimed that it was s*icide.

However, due to the brutality with which the body had been treated, everyone believed that it had actually been murder.

“Surely… Your Majesty, was this your doing?”

Arthur himself had been the one to bring her that newspaper.

Standing beside him as she read the article, Dearlin had quietly asked the question after noticing the satisfied smile lingering on his face.

“Was he not an insolent man?”

“Your Majesty…!”

“To make the dress my queen would wear so vulgar.”

Arthur had not been in his right mind.

“You killed someone for such a reason…?”

By the time Dearlin regretted not choosing the dress more carefully, it was already too late.

Had she known that her thoughtless choice would cost someone their life, she never would have done it.

“I will choose your dress myself.”

“Do as you please…”

On that day, Arthur pressed a kiss against Dearlin’s long, soft hair as he whispered those words.

The scene was so tender that they could easily have been mistaken for an ordinary couple.

Dearlin shut her eyes tightly.

Knowing that even the slightest decision she made could cost someone their life was an almost unbearable burden. The guilt and pressure were so overwhelming that she sometimes thought it would be easier to die.

But whenever that thought surfaced, the faces of the innocent people who would die because of her appeared one after another in her mind.

Even more terrifying was the thought of failing to die properly and facing the hell that would follow.

After that day, she wore a wedding gown designed by an unknown female designer.

Its neckline rose all the way to her throat, leaving no hint of skin exposed.

The first time she wore it, she felt like an animal with a tight collar around its neck.

From the moment she put it on, she felt as though she could barely breathe due to a suffocating pressure closing in on her.

“You are so beautiful I can hardly bear to look at you, Dearlin.”

Even now, Arthur’s voice remained vivid in her ears as he looked at her deathly pale face, appraising her as though she were the greatest work of art he had ever created.

“Huu…”

Remembering the past she had desperately wished to forget, Dearlin trembled and wrapped both arms around herself.

Slowly, she inhaled and exhaled.

‘It’s all over now…’

Nothing like that would ever happen again.

Arthur and Rian were clearly very different.

No matter how much Rian hated her, she was sure that he would never torment her like Arthur did.

Arthur did not see her as his equal.

He saw her as his perfect creation, made solely for him.

She had never been truly free by his side.

“Rian isn’t like that. Rian isn’t that kind of person.”

As though trying to convince herself, Dearlin repeated the same words several times before getting out of bed and standing in front of the large, full-length mirror.

When she closed her eyes and opened them again, she saw Arthur’s reflection in the mirror behind her.

“Hhk—!”

She knew it was only an illusion.

“Dearlin, you can never escape me. I will always remain by your side.”

And yet it felt as though Arthur were still standing right beside her.

It was as though invisible chains had been wrapped around her that would last a lifetime.

Even if she were to witness Arthur’s death with her own eyes someday, Dearlin knew she would never truly be free from the shackles he had bound her with.

Slowly closing her eyes once more, she forced herself to think of Rian instead.

Right now, more than anything, she wanted to see Rian, with his brilliant, gleaming golden hair and eyes.