Jingle jingle!

A clear chime rang out from the entrance to the Count’s mansion.

A bright, hopeful sound announcing the master’s return.

But for some, it was nothing more than the metallic toll of impending torment.

Lying in bed, Regina looked out of the window with a pale face.

Even the doctor, who had examined her with such care, as if she might shatter at a touch or vanish with a breath, averted his eyes.

“It seems the Count of Cabil has returned.”

“Yes.”

It had been a year since his last return.

Regina watched a carriage glide smoothly down the perfectly straight drive, as if measured by a ruler.

But the moment the carriage door opened, she looked away, casting her darkened gaze downward.

The doctor, on the other hand, pressed eagerly to the window, his eyes sparkling.

It was a chance to see the young count who had become the talk of high society.

“He really is a handsome gentleman! He’s been away from the manor for quite a while this time, hasn’t he? I think it was something to do with work…”

“The harbour expansion project.”

The words slipped from her cracked lips, sounding pathetic – just like the excuse for why he had left his comatose wife for the past year.

“You must not speak yet, madam. You must rest your voice!”

The doctor held out a cloth soaked in herbal water.

“Have you been eating properly?”

Instead of answering with her mouth – as tightly shut as her heart – Regina gave a small nod.

“That must be why you’re recovering so well! I was truly surprised to hear you’d started walking again. After being confined to bed for so long… it’s amazing what strength youth can bring.”

“…”

“The timing of your husband’s return is perfect. Being close to each other is said to be emotionally stabilising for couples.”

The doctor’s words, too naive for his age, only worried Regina more.

Stabilising? She stifled a bitter laugh and shifted uncomfortably.

Noticing her struggle, the doctor looked apologetic.

“You’re still in pain, aren’t you? I must have overstayed my welcome.”

He must leave now. Regina felt a wave of relief.

The doctor was passionate about her profession and undoubtedly competent – but that passion often led her to ask difficult, uncomfortable questions.

Do you remember why you collapsed?

How much do you remember?

Do you remember what you took?

Faced with such questions, Regina couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth.

That she had tried to kill herself.

“Please make sure you get plenty of rest and continue with your recovery. The best thing would be to start walking.”

To put her words into action, Regina accompanied her to the bedroom door. Needless to say, the doctor was deeply moved.

“I know it’s hard to accept the year that’s slipped away, but don’t worry – better days are surely waiting for you!”

She patted Regina’s bony hand gently before leaving.

As if trying to feel the warmth she had left behind, Regina stared down at her own hand.

To think that the first warm human touch she’d felt in a year had come from a handshake with a doctor.

It was ridiculous – but she couldn’t even bring herself to laugh.

The suffocating silence in the corridor weighed on her like a crushing presence.

Just as she turned to go back to bed, her weakened legs suddenly gave out.

Before she could cry out, her body crumpled forward.

Her knees hit the marble floor with a painful thud and stars burst before her eyes.

The damp cloth she had been holding rolled away, and her own moans of pain rang in her ears.

“Ugh…!”

Even she was startled by the sound, like a wounded animal.

No, maybe it was her.

Look at her, crawling on the floor, unable to even stand on two feet.

On a normal day, there would have been at least one maid around.

But today the manor was eerily empty – everyone had gone out to greet the returning lord.

In a way, it was a relief.

As the already ignored mistress of the house, to be seen in this state would have only invited ridicule.

Grasping the cold wall, Regina struggled to rise.

But her limbs, still without strength, felt frighteningly alien, as if they no longer belonged to her.

She writhed on the floor like a boneless creature.

Then a pair of black leather shoes stepped towards her – sharp, polished and unmistakably male.

“Are you all right?”

At the soft, elegant voice, her heart dropped with a thud.

Regina couldn’t even lift her head, just staring at the shoes in front of her.

“Regina.”

The shoes retreated slightly – just enough to reveal the firm thigh and knee of a man.

He had dropped to one knee to be at her eye level.

There was nowhere to run.

Desperately trying to suppress the occasional shiver that ran through her body, Regina looked up at him.

What she saw was a shockingly beautiful face, so close she could count the lashes on his eyes.

A smooth forehead, refined yet masculine eyebrows, vivid navy blue eyes beneath silver lashes, and a nose as if drawn by a master’s hand – each of his features came together in a harmony that surpassed perfection.

Even if his face was smeared with soot and he wore rags, everyone would recognise how extraordinary he was.

Only one detail of his elegant, graceful face stood out – his lips.

They were unusually full and tinted a deep red, evoking the image of a noble beast.

“Do you need help?”

Regina, momentarily blinded by those lips, took a few seconds to register what he had said.

Before she did, she shook her head.

It was a refusal that bordered on stubbornness – there for all to see.

Perhaps that was why, despite her obvious need for help, the man didn’t lift her up or even try to support her.

“I understand.”

A smile, like a cold winter moon, touched his lips.

“I’ve missed you… my lady.”

Regina’s eyes widened.

It was because he had taken her chin and kissed her – casually, as if merely greeting his wife upon her return after an absence.

The kiss was short and sharp, leaving a sting like static electricity.

As he slowly pulled away, the smile still on his face hit her like a slap.

How can you act as if nothing has happened in the past year?

You haven’t come to see me once.

“It’s late. You should rest now.”

As if brushing an insect from his knee, he stood up and said goodbye.

Before the shoes in front of her could turn away, Regina reached out impulsively.

“Wait.”

Like a scream torn from the throat when a blade sinks into flesh, her words burst out.

The cold indifference of the man she had once loved cut deeper than she could bear—she had to say something, anything.

“Don’t you… have anything to say to me?”

“…”

“About what, exactly?”

So that’s it.

Even this—I have to spell it out for you.

“Why I ended up like this. Why I was in a coma… Whether I’m even all right now. Things like that.”

Just the kind of ordinary conversation any couple would’ve had, over and over.

I love you like any normal wife would.

So why can’t we be normal?

“It’s been a year since we last saw each other…”

He said nothing.

He seemed to be trying to make sense of her words, but something had clearly been lost in translation – as it always had been in their marriage.

“If you really want to talk, go ahead.”

She’d expected a response like that.

Still, the sudden rush of tears took her by surprise – a painful reminder of her own foolish hopes.

“Never mind. I must have bothered you for nothing.”

“I’ve been keeping up with your condition through the reports.”

A rare thing – an attempt at an excuse.

And like most excuses, it would have been better left unsaid.

“I’m fine. Just… go.”

“…”

“Please.”

His footsteps echoed down the corridor, graceful and measured – cruel in their elegance.

Left alone, Regina lowered her forehead to the icy floor and let out a bitter, breathless laugh.

She rubbed her lips over and over with trembling fingers, desperate to erase the trace of his touch, the lingering warmth.

‘He’ll never change.’

Then I must.

I won’t live like I used to, like a dog trailing after him, begging for scraps of affection.

She remembered the vow she had endlessly repeated to herself as she lay motionless in bed, staring at the blinding white ceiling until her sanity frayed.

But perhaps… her love for him had lasted even longer than her suffering.

For the moment she saw Grey Cabil again, her foolish heart had betrayed her – and welcomed him anyway.

‘Grey Cabil.’

If only I had never loved you.