Liana froze where she stood.

“You… how are you here…?”

Her mind went blank. She had never revealed her destination—yet he had found her. In this distant place, in Brillon, of all places.

For a fleeting moment she prayed it was an illusion. But with every step he drew closer, his figure only grew sharper, more real.

She staggered back from him. She had to run. She could not let herself be caught.

Snapping out of her daze, her body moved on instinct. She turned and bolted, fleeing from the flames that threatened to swallow the harbor whole.

Shed’s eyes followed the small, desperate figure darting away.

“…Ha.”

He raked a hand through his hair, irritation flickering across his face. Even here, even after all this, she dared to think of escape.

Surely she knew a sprint like that could never get her away from him. And yet she still tried.

That sight—her frantic struggle to run from him—scraped at something deep within him.

‘Fine. Flail if you want.’

He covered the distance with ease, taking long, determined strides.

Liana ran with all her might. Her breath came in ragged gasps, and the acrid stench of smoke burned her lungs.

But he caught up with her in an instant.

“Enough wasting my time.”

A powerful hand seized her, wrenching her off balance. At the same moment, a sharp gust cut across her cheek.

Thwack!

The sound of a blade sinking into wood rang in her ear.

“Do not test my patience further.”

Shed loomed over her, cold eyes gleaming as he gripped the hilt of the dagger now embedded beside her face. The silver edge glinted cruelly in the firelight.

Liana gasped, her chest heaving, staring up at the man before her.

The air reeked of burning, heavy and suffocating, hot winds pressing in on her. Shouts from those struggling to fight the blaze carried faintly from afar.

It felt as though the very air around her had closed in, binding her in place.

Her pale lips quivered as she whispered.”

“…Why? Why are you doing this to me?”

She could not understand.

Liana was a fallen woman. To anyone’s eyes, she was nothing more than a wretched, pitiful creature. Left alone, she would have lived out a miserable and worthless life.

And yet—just to capture her, he had set every ship in the harbor aflame.

This was Marlheine territory, not even part of Shed Lester’s domain. The Marquis of Marlheine would never let such an act pass quietly. No sane man would dare.

But Shed gazed at her as if it were nothing at all.

“By setting fire to the rat’s hole, the little mouse came scurrying out herself.”

“You didn’t have to drag innocent people into this!”

Lana cried, pointing to the burning harbor.

The shipowners, the sailors readying for tomorrow’s departure, the fishermen, their families, because of her, they had lost everything.

Yet Shed looked down at her with a chilling indifference.

“Why? Do you pity them? Do you feel sorry for those who were dragged into this without even knowing why?”

His brows furrowed with irritation.

“Did you ever have compassion or conscience to begin with?”

He slammed her wrist against the wall, pinning her in place. Pain seared through her arm, as if her bones would shatter.

“You’re not the one who gets to say that. Are you?”

His words cut into her heart like a blade.

She had been running from the sins she herself had committed. Terrified of judgment, she had hidden her power; terrified of her past crimes, she had faked her death, changed her name, and lived in hiding.

And now—daring to confront him with cheap pity and guilt, as though Shed were the greater sinner,
when the one who had committed the far graver sin was none other than Luise Ideana herself.

“You will return to Ideana.”

Shed spoke as if delivering prophecy.

“Run again if you like. Next time, I’ll burn this entire land to the ground to find you.”

For a moment, madness flashed in his eyes, bright and dangerous like a fever. It was no empty threat. He was prepared to do whatever it took to drag her back, and each time Luise Ideana would be forced to add to the sins already on her name.

“When you walk through your darkest night… I’ll be there.”

He vowed it. In his gaze, Liana saw flames that threatened to consume everything. In that moment, she knew there was no escape. Now that Shed Lester knew she was alive, the relentless hunter would never stop until he had her in his grasp.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

“His Grace ran off before dawn yesterday, and he still hasn’t returned?”

Eclace frowned as he sipped his tea, scanning the daily report sent up from the trading post.

It had been decided the morning before—Shed Lester was supposed to depart for Ideana. But instead, he vanished like a ghost. An entire day passed, and he had yet to return.

“They say he went out searching for that maid?”

Eclace repeated the fact he had already confirmed several times.

“I hear he even crossed into Marlheine territory.”

His attendant reported.

“That lunatic… I’ve lived to see some absurd things.”

Eclace spat the curse into the empty air, as though Shed might hear.

“This isn’t like Shed Lester.”

“Certainly unusual, my lord.”

“I don’t like men without consistency…”

Eclace set the report down on the table and began to toy with the coin in his pocket, a habit that surfaced whenever he was deep in thought.

‘All of this began with the arrival of that maid.’

His mind drifted to the disheveled woman Shed had brought in on that first day. If he recalled correctly, Shed had even let her into his bedchamber that very night. From the looks of things, the outcome hadn’t been especially favorable.

“What was her name again? Liana, wasn’t it?”

“Liana Serpens.”

Bannern supplied dutifully.

Eclace pictured her face. It was a strange face—one that stirred the memory of someone else. Those delicate features, that pale beauty… and those green eyes, so faintly luminous.

‘She looked so much like Luise Ideana.’

He remembered the young lady he had met only once, long ago. And yet her face had never left him.

He was always good at remembering faces and the details that went with them, but Luise was different. Her beauty had been unforgettable. Besides, the day he met her was a day he could never erase from his life.

‘The day history itself changed.’

Eight years ago, he accompanied his father to the Ideana estate to negotiate a trade deal. It was the first and last time he saw Luise Ideana.

Much to his astonishment, the noble young lady herself had approached Vitel Trading with a proposal. The proposal was for a slave. Shed Lupus.

At the time, the Vitel family was just a merchant house, not a titled family. Willard Vitel, his father, now enjoyed a comfortable life in Sizzlon, having left all authority in Eclace’s hands. A brilliant businessman by nature, Willard was also a shrewd and calculating man.

For Eclace, a deal with the Ideana family — a house of prince-electors — was an opportunity that could not be ignored.

Eclace, who was only eighteen at the time, accompanied his father to learn about trade and establish connections with the nobility.

This was the first time Eclace had accompanied his father to the Ideana estate for a trade negotiation.

Count Felix Ideana was a dignified and refined nobleman. Yet something about him left Eclace feeling uneasy — a sense of unease that he could not quite name.

Years later, when news of the Count’s treason spread, Eclace finally understood the source of that strange, unpleasant feeling. At the time, however, no one could have imagined the Count capable of betrayal.

Eclace remembered how, as they left the negotiations, he and his father discussed the troubling terms.

“Will you continue doing business with the Rectars, Father?”

He asked in a low, anxious voice. Willard Vitel glanced around, raising his eyebrows slightly — a subtle reminder to be careful what they said while still within Ideana’s walls.

They had just taken a step towards the exit when someone suddenly blocked their path.

Luise Ideana, who was only fifteen at the time, stood before them. The small, frail girl faced them with a grave expression that seemed too heavy for her delicate frame.

“Lady Luise, how have you been?”

Willard Vitel, ever practiced in courtesy, offered the greeting first.

Luise lowered her eyes, dipped her head in acknowledgment, then spoke in a quiet but steady voice.

“…Vitel. Could you spare me a moment?”

Willard blinked, taken aback. Never before had Luise Ideana requested his time so directly.

“Of course.”

There was no reason to refuse, and curiosity stirred within him.

Eclace followed as his father walked behind her. Without further explanation, Luise led them down a corridor to a chamber guarded by Ideana knights.

She halted before a large wooden chest.

“I wish to sell this.”

Her pale hand indicated the chest.

“What is this…?”

Willard began to ask—

Thud!

The chest rattled violently. Startled, both father and son instinctively stepped back.

Luise bit her lip and gave a small nod to the knights. At her signal, they pried the lid open with a lever.

And inside—

“This is…”

The words died on Willard’s lips. Bound in heavy chains and smeared with blood, a lupus was crammed inside the chest.

The sight was so horrific that Eclace nearly gagged. Only then did he realise that the dark stain spreading across the floor beneath the chest was blood.

Clang!

The prisoner inside jerked violently as the lid was thrown back, straining against his shackles in raw defiance. From within rose a heady, almost sweet scent mingled with the sharp tang of blood.

It was the first time Eclace had ever laid eyes on him—the man who would one day become Duke Lester: Shed.