“You told me to leave her behind!”

“She’s your Empress. Whatever I said, you should have made the final decision.”

Naturally, Fabian shouted in protest, but he lowered his tail at the next words.

“Don’t worry, little brother. It seems Eva is holding out until the end even in front of that frightening man.”

“Holding out? The rumors……”

“Didn’t those rumors say you were dead? Since you’re perfectly alive like this, the claim that Eva has given in can’t be true either.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“If it were true, Eva wouldn’t have survived until now……”

“What?”

“Anyway, it’s something you can be certain about. What’s more important to you than whether Eva is alive or dead is this, isn’t it? Whether Eva has given herself to the Blue Wolf’s leader or not. I’m telling you she’s still holding out well, so rest assured.”

“Really……? That’s a relief……. No! No! Of course Eva’s life is more important than her body! How can you say……”

Fabian, who had visibly rejoiced at the words that Eva couldn’t have given herself to a man, immediately contradicted himself. Through this action, Fabian revealed that he considered Eva’s chastity as important as her life.

“Why did you tell me to leave her behind?”

“Because I thought it would be interesting.”

“What?”

“I was curious how Eva would react.”

“Why would you be curious about that…… Don’t call her Eva! Only I can call her by that name! She’s the Empress. Address her with proper respect!”

Fabian’s face reddened with anger, not at Joseph’s non-answer, but at how familiarly Joseph called Eva by name. But Joseph just laughed it off as if watching a child’s tantrum.

“If you’re dying to see Eva so badly, you should go get her.”

“What? If I enter Hael now……”

“So, little brother, if you risk your life to rescue her when getting discovered means death, wouldn’t Eva be touched?”

“Would she really? Then this time…… would Eva fall in love with me?”

Looking at Fabian whose eyes had brightened, the corners of Joseph’s mouth lifted high toward his cheekbones. It was an innocent smile, inappropriate for the current situation, like a child facing a toy.

* * *

As the wind grew stronger in the downpour, even the onlookers disappeared. When the chill had penetrated her entire body and her teeth were chattering from the trembling.

“Lady Eva!!”

Hannah came running out. Fortunately, it seemed Divlik had no intention of leaving Eva standing there all night.

As soon as she came inside, Eva threw off her clothes that were making her body even colder. Wrapped in a thick blanket while waiting for the bathtub to fill, Hannah brought her warm milk tea.

“Please drink this first, Lady Eva. It will warm you up a little inside.”

After that, sitting in the bath with water so hot it felt like it would burn her skin, her body quickly warmed up and she felt better.

“Hannah. I’d like to rest alone, could you step out for a moment?”

“Yes, Lady Eva. I’ll be right outside the door, so please call me anytime you need anything.”

It was ridiculous to feel better after escaping from such a brief period of cold, but Eva truly felt comfortable for the first time in a long while. With the gradually filling warmth, not only the cold but all the tension from before seemed to be released at once.

There was a time when she was grateful for such small and trivial things.

Though only five years had passed since she left, her past days in Florin felt as distant as eternity. Yet the memories that surfaced unconsciously became more vivid as time passed, probably because she missed those days so much.

—Listen carefully, Miss Eva, Young Master Leon. This is the last time. From the new year, you two must not bathe together.

—Why?

—Because you’re a girl, Miss, and Master Leon is a boy.

—Why? Why can’t girls and boys bathe together? We’re both small so there’s plenty of room in the tub for both of us. Using separate tubs is just a waste of water.

—You can waste as much water as you like. You’ll understand why when you’re older. And from the new year, sleeping in each other’s beds is also forbidden.

—Why? Leon is afraid to sleep alone. Right, Leon?

Eva reached out toward the vanishing image of eleven-year-old Leon, who had been nodding vigorously from the opposite side of the bathtub, reluctant to let the vision fade.

“Hannah?”

She had clearly said she wanted to be alone, but she heard the door opening behind her. Eva called for Hannah, but for some reason, Hannah didn’t answer.

From the heavy yet not clumsy footsteps approaching, Eva knew without turning her head that it was Divlik. After a few steps, Divlik came up behind Eva and abruptly reached out his hand to touch her forehead.

“This level of heat must be from the hot bathwater.”

Divlik’s large hand covered half of Eva’s face, including her forehead and eyes. When Eva flinched and curled her body, there was a thud as knees hit the floor, and Divlik’s breath came closer to the back of her neck.

“For someone who lies so well, you could have pretended to be sick in bed. You could have bought yourself a few more days. It seems your mind doesn’t work that far.”

Divlik rested one arm on the edge of the tub, leaned his cheek on it at an angle, and withdrew the hand that had been on her forehead. Then, seeing Eva’s clear shoulder before him, he raised his fingertips and slowly tapped her shoulder as if playing the piano.

“I’ve sent a subordinate to the Western Grand Duchy through this rain. If Joseph has any brains, he won’t simply ignore the warning I’m sending.”

Eva tensed up, stiffening her body at Divlik’s gesture that tickled her shoulder with touches that came and went. From that simple action, heat suddenly rose to her head, and feeling dizzy, Eva raised one hand to grip the edge of the tub.

“Did you feel any gratitude for the mercy I showed you?”

Even after Eva’s words fell, Divlik’s fingers, which had been circling her shoulder for a long time, slowly brushed her neck, passed her chin, and touched her lips. While she focused all her attention on Divlik’s touch that hovered over her lips, another hand had somehow entered the bathtub and reached the most intimate part between Eva’s thighs.

“Hah!”

At the vivid sensation, so different from what she had felt through the wet cloth before, Eva quickly held her breath and closed her mouth. Unlike before when he had just caressed between, Divlik’s rough and hot fingers were now digging into the soft mucous membrane, and though Eva closed her knees with all her might, it was useless.

“Is this place still unwilling to open even a little?”

Divlik’s fingers, which had instantly found the entrance between, kept poking at the hole as if trying to enter, and Eva swallowed a labored breath instead of answering.

“If the lower part is difficult for you, how about accepting through the upper part?”

This time, Divlik’s fingers that had been hovering over Eva’s lips pressed down hard, then opened her mouth and entered.

Even if she wanted to answer, her tongue was so pressed down that Eva couldn’t say anything. Instead, Eva looked at Divlik’s reflection dimly visible in the window across the bathtub.

“You don’t like that either?”

Though she could only see Divlik’s distorted face through the window streaked by the rain still beating against it, Eva could tell what shape his blue eyes were burning with.

I’ll devour you. Those eyes were clearly saying that.

That he wanted to swallow Eva whole, from head to toe, to the very crevice of her soul.

“I’m a person who can do more things than not, and I dislike using others’ hands for this…… Wouldn’t it be better to stop with just me than to fall among that pack of wolves? Stop here. I’m not a human with particularly strong patience.”

Eva tightly closed her eyes to avoid Divlik’s eyes blazing with desire. Just as Divlik’s fingers swirling inside Eva’s mouth went deeper, making it hard to breathe, the other fingers between her thighs began to dig deeper, like they’re about to open the hole and enter.

“Let me warn you in advance. When my patience runs out, you’ll have a hard time. My previous lover, even while she wanted me, struggled for quite a while until she got used to my thing. If a woman who liked me had such difficulty, it would be harder for you who hate me, wouldn’t it? But eventually, she came to love it ecstatically. If our tastes match, you can look forward to that much.”

Even now, Eva’s body was tightly closed as if unwilling to allow even one of Divlik’s fingers, so in the end nothing invaded inside, but Divlik’s hands simultaneously exploring her above and below showed no signs of stopping.

“Lady Eva!”

Just before the tightly closed space gave way under the pressure and lack of breath, Hannah, who had briefly left her post and returned to find the door open, caused Divlik’s hands to stop. Divlik immediately stood up and wiped his wet hands on a towel hanging at the end of the tub.

“The water seems to have cooled. Add more hot water. If the former Empress catches a cold because of this, I’ll hold you responsible.”

“Yes! Lord Divlik!”

Hannah closed the door and ran out with a voice that was about to break into tears.

“From tomorrow morning, eat in the dining room. How can someone who isn’t even an empress continue to receive meals in the bedroom?”

“I will do so.”

After this final exchange, Divlik also closed the door and disappeared.

Left alone again, Eva hugged her legs and tried to calm her trembling, but it was useless. Those fingers had only stopped there but could have pushed all the way in. And those words that she would have a hard time when Divlik’s patience ran out meant that the day his patience ended would not be the day she died, but the day she would be forcibly violated.