It was probably blood.

Grrrr-

As the beast-like growl sounded, Elisia unconsciously stroked his cheek gently.

She couldn’t understand why she did it, but one thing was certain…

‘This man looks somewhat pitiful.’

When she twisted her arm to pull it free, she escaped from Derick’s grasp surprisingly easily. She stared at him as he moved compliantly according to her will.

It was strange. How had Derick, consumed by madness, regained his senses? If her guess was correct…

Eventually, Elisia stretched out both arms and pulled Derick into a tight embrace.

She recalled the moment earlier when Derick had briefly regained his senses. The instant he grabbed her wrist, he had clearly regained consciousness momentarily.

Since he found even the slightest physical contact with her extremely repulsive, she thought embracing him might help him regain his senses faster.

“Haa. What is this…!”

“Ah, it really worked.”

Surprisingly, Elisia’s theory was spot on.

Derick’s voice was clearer than before. His breathing had become calmer. His cold hands pushed against her shoulders. Only then did Elisia release her arms.

Surprisingly, they were close enough to feel each other’s breath on their noses. Startled, Derick remained on top of Elisia, still looking down at her.

“Hey, are you back to your senses?”

“What did you do?”

“Now that you’re back to normal, would you mind getting off me? You’re a bit heavy.”

“…What did you do to me?”

This man isn’t listening to a word I’m saying. Elisia continued with a sigh.

“Nothing. You saw it. I just hugged you, that’s all.”

How much did he hate her that a single embrace could completely subdue his madness?

The current Derick was different from before, no longer showing that menacing gaze. He had the same cold red eyes she had been seeing since her possession.

Only his handsome eyebrows were deeply furrowed.

“Really.”

His suspicious gaze, wondering what Elisia had done, remained unchanged.

Trying to avoid Derick’s eyes, she caught a glimpse of his bare chest through his open shirt. Feeling somewhat embarrassed and shy, she bit her lip slightly.

After glaring at her for a long while, Derick stood up. With a deep sigh, he looked around, slowly assessing the damage he had caused.

The walls were precariously cracked as if they might collapse at any moment, and debris was scattered everywhere.

Clicking his tongue at the devastating sight of the mansion, Derick roughly brushed back his hair with an irritated expression.

Elisia, who had been staring at his firmly set shoulders, shifted her gaze to the ceiling.

‘Will he continue to lose himself like this from time to time?’

Once again, she felt the urge to leave the mansion quickly.

Thinking that divorce was indeed the answer, she pressed her lips together. Just then, something was abruptly extended before her eyes.

“…?”

Thick fingers with calluses here and there, proof of a man who had wielded a sword on battlefields. It was Derick’s hand.

‘What does he want me to do?’

Is he telling me to get lost quickly?

She blinked and looked up. At that moment, her gaze met Derick’s in mid-air.

While she hesitated, unable to find words, he spoke coldly with an indifferent face.

“I know nothing suits you better than the floor. But that’s enough, so why don’t you get up now?”

Since the day of her possession, he had always thrown such cold remarks at her. Sharp and cutting, as if the slightest touch would slice you.

If she were the original Elisia from the novel, not Yura, she would have been constantly wounded.

‘Why does he have to say such a long sentence just to help me up?’

But for Yura, who had experienced every hardship life could offer, this was nothing.

She deliberately smiled brightly and took Derick’s hand.

“My body feels weak, and it was hard to get up. Thank you.”

When Elisia actually took his hand, Derick’s expression became strangely distorted. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he pressed his lips firmly shut and applied strength.

After standing up, Elisia dusted off her clothes and looked around at the ruined surroundings. Then, in a deliberately cheerful voice, she said:

“You’ll be busy repairing the mansion for a while.”

“…”

“You’ll take care of this, right? I don’t know anything, so I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“…”

“Your Grace?”

Derick was silently staring at his own hand. Elisia, who had tidied up her disheveled hair, tilted her head.

“Your Grace?”

She called him again.

But he ultimately didn’t answer and disappeared in the opposite direction from Elisia.

“What’s with him?”

It was baffling. She stared at the place where Derick had vanished for a long time.

She came to her senses only when Eva, her assigned maid, came looking for her.

***

Leaving behind the traces of his rampage, Derick’s expression hardened terrifyingly.

In Derick’s life, being dominated by madness and temporarily losing consciousness had happened exactly twice.

‘All because of that woman.’

The first time was on their wedding night.

He had drunk from the wine glass Elisia offered without suspicion, only to have his entire body paralyzed and be forced into a blood contract with her.

Even while paralyzed, his anger had made his blood boil, causing him to be dominated by madness.

And the second time was today.

‘Does she really not remember anything?’

Exactly two weeks ago, Elisia had once again staged a s*icide attempt to get his attention. This was already the fourth time.

She had thrown herself into the lake behind the mansion and, as always, survived.

He thought it was just another one of her usual antics. That’s why he didn’t pay any attention when she claimed to have lost her memory.

But Elisia Adelheit had, shamelessly, truly forgotten all her past actions.

Even his life, which was mortgaged to her.

“Haa…”

He thought it was a lie. She had never shown any genuine side of herself.

But it seemed to have bothered him somewhat. Those irritating eyes, the woman’s attitude treating him like a stranger.

Moreover, he had recently developed a tolerance to the deadly poison that suppressed his madness, making him even more on edge. Perhaps that’s why. He couldn’t help but be engulfed by the frantically conflicting blood within him.

“This can’t be happening.”

But now, something astonishing had occurred.

That worst woman had instantly calmed Derick’s madness.

Elisia Adelheit.

She was like a beautiful flower harboring poison. She was rumored to be the most beautiful not only in the Carden Empire but also in Minotas, the demon realm.

But her cruelty matched her beauty.

When she first confessed to Derick and said she would become his wife, he hadn’t thought much of it.

He merely considered her a useful card for the war, being a woman cherished by Lilith, the Demon Queen who was at war with humans.

‘That still holds true now.’

Back then, that was the extent of his impression.

But when she became frighteningly obsessed with him and craved his affection to the point of doing things she shouldn’t, everything became horrific.

After the first night when he gave his life to her, Derick began to hate and loathe Elisia.

Even staying in the same mansion was terrible. If their clothes so much as brushed against each other, he would burn that garment.

“Am I going crazy?”

But the moment their skin first touched, his madness disappeared. His dizzy mind instantly cleared.

Derick thought he had imagined it.

He had deliberately extended his hand to her, pretending to be considerate, just to dispel his doubts.

“D*mn it.”

But the moment he held Elisia’s hand again, the two conflicting bloods within him became docile.

The sharp nerves from the terrible pain subsided in an instant. The sensitive emotions that had been jutting out were immediately settled.

It was like a confirmation kill.

Elisia possessed the power to calm Derick’s madness.

“Your Grace! Are you alright?”

As he burst into laughter out of frustration, his strict and taciturn aide, Kevin Leonard, who looked remarkably like him, came running.

“I apologize for being late.”

Though not the first time his lord had gone berserk, it was still unfamiliar and shocking. However, Kevin merely swallowed his sigh inwardly, showing no outward signs.

“Fortunately… the damage doesn’t seem too severe.”

“Kevin.”

“Yes.”

“Check the extent of damage to the mansion.”

“Understood.”

“And.”

Derick, who had been heading toward the relatively intact annex, turned his steps toward the main mansion. His gaze was directed at someone who would be inside.

“Investigate Elisia Adelheit.”

“…The lady?”

Elisia had stayed at the Grand Duke’s residence for a total of 3 years.

During that long time, Derick had thoroughly investigated her only once. That was when Elisia first came to the Grand Duke’s residence.

Even then, nothing special had come up, so suddenly ordering an investigation was puzzling to Kevin.

“Again, everything from the beginning.”