Lucifer strode up the stairs with purposeful steps. His face still carried that icy chill.

What did I do wrong to make him so angry?

Terseon seemed to share my feelings. He flinched even more visibly than I did as he waited for Lucifer to approach. As his superior drew closer, he transformed into a stiff, formal knight.

“You’ve arrived, Duke.”

“Why are you here at this hour?”

“My mother had something she wanted me to deliver to grandmother.”

“Then why are you dallying with the princess?”

“I wasn’t dallying. The princess still struggles with climbing stairs, so I was escorting her.”

Terseon calmly explained the situation to his superior. But Lucifer’s displeased frown showed no signs of relaxing.

“So you abandoned your duties? The commander of the Duke’s knights must have too much free time if I’ve been too lenient.”

“N-no, that’s not it.”

“Who’s responsible for training the troops being stationed in Belial?”

“I’ve finished my business. I’ll be going now.”

Under Lucifer’s pressure, Terseon quickly descended the stairs. He only had time to return my basket before leaving without even saying goodbye.

Poor thing.

But I was in no position to worry about others. Lucifer’s eyes were filled with irritation. His fierce glare was so intense that at a glance, he might have looked like a jealous lover who had come to fight after seeing me with Terseon.

“Princess.”

When Terseon called me princess, it didn’t bother me at all. But strangely, my insides boiled when Lucifer addressed me that way.

“I’m… no longer a princess.”

“Not a princess?”

“Yes. The Duchy of Belial has already fallen and disappeared, so how could I still be a princess?”

“I see.”

“So please call me by my name. I have a precious name, Lea.”

Lucifer’s right eyebrow rose slightly before falling again.

“Fine, Leitria.”

His deliberate choice to use that name was truly infuriating.

“What did you want to say?”

“Why did you go down to the first floor when you can barely walk on your own?”

“I came down by myself. And I could have climbed back up perfectly well on my own, but Sir Terseon helped because his grandmother was worried.”

“You met the old woman?”

“Yes. She was kind. The only warm person in this mansion.”

I immediately regretted my words. What if they sounded like criticism of him?

I glanced at him nervously, worried about his reaction. But fortunately, Lucifer didn’t seem to care at all.

“If you’re done with your business, go back to your room.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Let me remind you again, don’t go beyond the designated areas and don’t try to do anything.”

I stood there blankly without responding to his reaction.

He came from a commoner background and climbed an impossible mountain to become a duke. Yet he’s telling a slave from war captivity not to dream of anything and just stay put?

Doesn’t this man realize how cruel that sounds to someone like me who doesn’t have much life left after the Emperor’s purification?

Since I had the chance to meet him, I decided to say what I had intended.

“Could I work like the other maids? I can clean. Or I could do chores in the stable, or draw water, things like that.”

“You don’t need to do such things. If you’re bored, just read books in your room or do some embroidery.”

“Why? I’m a slave, aren’t I? It’s ridiculous for a slave to sit around doing elegant embroidery.”

“I’m offering you a comfortable life, and you insist on living like a slave?”

His tone suggested he found me pathetic. I even heard him click his tongue slightly.

As a slave rather than a maid, I wouldn’t earn money for working. So everyone would probably mock me like Lucifer if I made such requests.

Still, I wanted to do something. I didn’t want to just eat my fill and sleep in a soft bed in the house Lucifer provided without doing anything in return.

It was my last shred of dignity. I’m not a doll.

“Yes. I must be useful for something.”

“Why do you think I confined you to the annex and separated you from other men?”

Lucifer’s cold question sounded a bit strange. Especially the latter part.

When I just stared at him with wide eyes without answering, Lucifer sighed, seemingly a bit disgusted.

“I don’t want a repeat of what happened on your way to the Empire.”

I frowned momentarily at his absurd statement. But I vaguely recalled something.

“You said His Majesty purified me. He said that once I received purification, those shadow-like incidents wouldn’t happen again.”

When I argued logically, Lucifer’s frown deepened.

“And if you’re afraid of that, you shouldn’t be here either. If I were to enchant you and you went berserk, no one would be able to stop you.”

I shot back at him with an angry face.

I must have touched a nerve. He smiled coldly and took another step toward me. As he approached, I stepped backward. But with nowhere to go once I hit the railing, I ended up trapped by Lucifer’s arms.

With his arms on the railing and his body leaning in, his face came very close. A strong citrus scent wafted from him. He must have bathed recently.

Thump, thump. My heart began to pound because of the man who had come too close.

“Do you think I was driven by dirty desires back then? Want me to show you? If I go all the way and prove I’m still in control, will you stop wagging that impudent tongue?”

Lucifer’s parted lips and tongue seemed unusually red. Perhaps because spring had arrived, his breath felt particularly thick and hot as it circled around my face.

It brought back the burning memories from that cold barracks. Neither then nor now did I want to voluntarily fall into this man’s arms.

Though I was a powerless slave who couldn’t resist if he took me by force.

“That’s enough. Unless you want the monster from the lake to actually appear in the Empire, stop making such jokes.”

I pushed his chest with my arm. But he had no intention of yielding this time either, standing firm. Then he tilted his head.

If he forces another kiss on me, I’ll bite him.

Despite my firm resolution, I squeezed my eyes shut. I also tightly closed my lips, determined not to part them.

“Hah!”

The moist touch landed on my neck. A soft tongue licking my neck sent shivers through me. My skin, which should have felt creepy at the unfamiliar sensation, strangely grew hot instead.

Thankfully, his tongue withdrew quickly. Instead, hot breath rushed against my ear.

“Let me say it again, your amateur provocations don’t work. Don’t even think about it.”

“I wasn’t.”

Who would throw themselves at a cold man like you? Still squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to force down the heat by clenching my fists. Then I thought I heard a faint laugh near my ear.

Indignantly, I opened my eyes wide to find Lucifer’s cold face right in front of me. His characteristic colorless eyes were calm, suggesting that what had just happened was nothing at all.

“There’s something unsettling about Belial’s movements. There’s only one reason they’re acting so frantically.”

I knew what it was without him saying it.

Me. What they wanted was a living sacrifice. A scapegoat to throw away for their happiness.

“So if you disobey me and meet with the knights, causing problems, I’ll believe that all your behavior until now has been a lie.”

The cold-faced man finally moved away from me.

I looked at him with a slightly indignant expression. If that was the reason, he could have just said so from the beginning. No need to toy with me.

I quickly wiped his saliva from my neck with one hand. I wanted to pretend that our recent physical contact was nothing special too.

“I don’t want to be grabbed by someone enchanted by shadows and suffer either, so don’t worry.”

I meant it sincerely. Above all, the actions of that black shadow weren’t simply those of someone trying to kidnap me to make me a sacrifice…

I shuddered briefly as I recalled Kires showing his dark desire to violate me.

“Can I still meet with your grandmother?”

“As long as you’re not planning to use her to meet Terseon separately.”

“Yes, I understand.”

I bowed politely to Lucifer, then walked briskly through the gap he had created. Walking while leaning on the low railing took much more effort than relying on a person. The posture was uncomfortable too.

Above all, the man watching from behind bothered me. Thinking he might be laughing at me trembling as I climbed, my legs moved hastily, unsuited to my body’s condition.

Eventually, embarrassingly, my weakened foot missed a step midway.

“Kyaak!”

Still, I managed to grab the railing and avoid tumbling down the stairs. I stood up again, holding the railing. Now I was slightly afraid to move. But Lucifer clearly had no intention of escorting me.

In the end, I stood there in the middle of the staircase for a long time, unable to move in either direction.

How much time passed like that? Thinking I might never get back to my room at this rate, I tried to take another step.

Suddenly, my field of vision changed.

“Wha…!”

“You truly continue to be such a handful.”

Lucifer’s strong thighs and arms completed the remaining dozens of stairs at the speed it would have taken me to climb just three steps.

How humiliating. But no matter how much I disliked it and flailed my limbs, he didn’t allow me any other choice.

* * *

“Ho ho ho ho.”

“Why are you laughing?”

The next morning at breakfast time, I barely managed to come down to the dining room. Grandmother Fabella kept laughing after hearing what had happened to me yesterday.

“Because the Duke is so cute.”

“…”

In what way? I couldn’t bring myself to speak my true thoughts and just pushed out my lips while taking a big spoonful of oatmeal soup.

Grandmother cut some bacon and placed it on my spoon.

“To think he would be jealous of my grandson, what an honor for Terseon.”

“What jealousy are you talking about?”

“The Duke must have envied how you’re intimidated in front of him but get along well with my grandson.”

No matter how I heard it, it made no sense. But since Grandmother kept smiling happily with wrinkles forming around her eyes, I didn’t bother to point it out.

“It’s truly spring weather today. The bluebells will bloom soon.”

“Bluebells?”

“Yes, I planted many in the annex garden. The buds are already coming up.”

I was curious about these flowers I had never seen before. And I needed to walk more for exercise anyway.

With a slightly shy face, I suggested to Grandmother:

“Then would you like to take a walk in the garden with me today?”

“Hmm. That’s not a very good idea.”

“Why…?”

My lips drooped with disappointment. Grandmother stroked my head with her wrinkled hand.

“The Imperial Princess is coming to the mansion today, so it would be better for you to stay hidden.”