Without hesitation, Kyron led the way. I had no choice but to follow where he pulled me.

Thanks to his unwavering steps, I didn’t feel inconvenienced by the crowd as we moved forward.

Just as we were leaving the bridge, there was a loud bang, followed by a bright light illuminating the sky above.

“Wow!”

Everyone around us gasped in awe. The fireworks had begun.

I glanced up at the sky.

Another bang sounded as fireworks exploded once more.

Kyron didn’t stop or even look up at the sky. He walked as if he couldn’t hear anything.

With each burst of fireworks, his back alternated between being lit up and cast in shadow.

This was the place where his parents had met, wasn’t it?

Despite already being married, they had secretly met here.

I had heard that the previous Duke’s first wife fell ill and passed away after discovering her husband’s affair.

Afterward, the previous Duke immediately brought in the woman he loved as his new wife. Naturally, the children of the first wife resented their stepmother, blaming her for their mother’s death.

That was the beginning of the bloodshed within the Duke’s family.

Kyron’s half-brother tormented young Kyron and eventually went so far as to kill their stepmother.

After losing his mother, young Kyron fled to the North, where he grew stronger before returning to take revenge. He killed his half-brother to avenge his mother.

Kyron lived his life as though it had only one purpose. Yet, he resented the love that had caused all this tragedy.

That misguided love had derailed his life from the very beginning.

To him, these fireworks must be a source of bitterness.

Having found me in this place… perhaps he wasn’t just angry but also feeling betrayed.

Kyron pushed through the crowd and left the bridge. He headed toward a hotel not far from the bridge.

“Welcome.”

Unlike the bustling outside, the hotel interior was quiet. I had expected it to be crowded due to the fireworks, but surprisingly, it wasn’t.

“This way, please.”

Without even asking, a staff member immediately began guiding us.

We followed the staff to a room on the fourth floor of the hotel.

Had Kyron rented out this entire hotel in such a short time?

Instead of worrying about Kyron’s anger, I found myself wondering how we had managed to get this place all to ourselves.

The room we were shown was a luxurious suite. Beyond the terrace with its stunning view, fireworks continued to light up the night sky.

“…The man I encountered earlier is someone I swear I don’t know. I didn’t come out to meet him.”

Now that the noise around us had subsided and it was just the two of us, I immediately explained the truth to Kyron. This was something he must not misunderstand.

“I’m sorry for leaving without telling you. It’s just… you were so against it…”

“I had already reserved this room.”

“…What?”

“You said you really wanted to see the fireworks.”

“Oh…”

So he had reserved this place to show me the fireworks? Coming from someone who had been so adamantly opposed to them, this was completely unexpected.

“You… did this for me?”

“Yes.”

Still holding my hand, Kyron stepped out onto the terrace.

Bang, bang—fireworks continued to explode in succession.

Even as I followed him, I couldn’t relax. He was clearly angry, yet he wasn’t yelling or lashing out, which made me even more nervous.

Kyron quietly watched the fireworks.

I almost wished he would question me about that man instead.

“…They say you can enjoy freedom while the fireworks are bursting.”

“.…”

“I wanted to ignore this event for the rest of my life.”

He muttered softly, almost like he was talking to himself.

It sounded like he had come here unwillingly because of me. As if I had reopened an old wound.

“I only planned to do what I needed to and leave.”

“.…”

Despite my repeated explanations, Kyron remained silent. That made me even more anxious.

I glanced at him cautiously, only for our eyes to meet when he suddenly looked at me. Startled, I quickly averted my gaze.

“I’ve never truly had you.”

His words made me look at him again.

“What do you mean…?”

“You don’t seem to know, and neither does the world, that you belong to me.”

“….”

As he drew closer, I felt an inexplicable sense of danger.

“W-Why are you acting like this?”

I couldn’t read his thoughts at all.

With each burst of fireworks, his face alternated between being illuminated and shrouded in darkness. His eyes seemed to gleam differently than usual.

Then, Kyron pulled me by the waist toward him. The sudden movement caught me off guard.

Before I knew it, his lips were close to mine.

“Remember this well. You belong to no one else but me.”

With a low whisper, he captured my lips. His lips pressed against mine, and his tongue intertwined with mine. At this moment, Kyron didn’t feel like the man I thought I knew.

He dug into me, his intensity stirring everything inside, as though he intended to devour me.

“…!”

I pushed his shoulders with both hands. His lips parted from mine.

“What on earth are you doing all of a sudden…!”

I wiped my lips with my hand and glared at Kyron. My heart pounded furiously, startled.

What had just happened?

I had never once imagined that such physical intimacy would occur between Kyron and me. That he would kiss me…

Kyron didn’t seem to care about my bewilderment. Instead, he looked angry that the kiss had been abruptly cut off, as though I had taken away his freedom.

“We’re married, so why are you looking at me like I’ve done something I shouldn’t?”

Was he saying that because we were married, he could kiss me or do anything he wanted?

Had he ever acted like a husband to me before? For a whole year after our marriage, he treated me like a stranger and left me alone. It wasn’t me who had been indifferent to our relationship—it was him.

“I…”

The words I wanted to hurl at him tangled in my mind.

I wanted to demand an explanation for his bewildering behavior, yet at the same time, I didn’t want to hear it. Fireworks continued to explode in the sky, my heart was still pounding wildly, and I couldn’t think straight.

“…I’m not someone you can take whenever you feel like it.”

I forced out the words, emphasizing each one. I worried that my voice might be drowned out by the bursting fireworks.

“Don’t turn me into that kind of woman.”

Using physical intimacy as a way to vent his anger was the worst. The fact that he had chosen a kiss as his weapon to punish me…

Enduring my husband’s indifference had been miserable enough, but this kind of physical intimacy wasn’t what I had wanted either.

Kyron knew too well how to make me suffer.

“Then when can I have you?”

Kyron pulled me tightly by the waist. His face drew closer. It felt as though his lips would meet mine again, so I turned my head to the side.

“Did you forget that we’re married?”

“Let go of me.”

“Why are you rejecting me?”

“If we’re married, do you love me?”

In the end, I blurted out the question I had always held back. All because of one kiss.