A low voice resonated a short distance from her ear. Rihanel snorted as if finding it absurd, and with his hand on the shelf, looked down.

“What are you expecting, Janet Wilton?”

Although as of today she was no longer Janet Wilton but Janet Reynes, he still called her Janet Wilton.

Even without seeing his face, she knew exactly what expression Rihanel would have while saying those words.

“Do you think I would want you?”

“……”

“Don’t misunderstand that we got married because we truly love each other.”

“…I never did.”

“Really? Then I’d also like you to understand that your shame in showing me that body is far less torturous than my disgust in seeing it.”

Janet tightened her grip on the front of her gown. As the strength in her hand increased, she hoped the emotion would disappear from her expression.

“I’m sorry, Janet. You have no duties as a duchess. It’s better to abandon both your petty thoughts of taking responsibility for the household and your meager hope of mixing your blood here by producing an heir.”

It wasn’t unexpected.

Just as Janet needed this marriage to deal with the Noble Special Law, Rihanel married her only for the purpose of inheritance.

So it was impossible for Rihanel to accept Janet as his spouse.

This marriage wasn’t his free will, and he would neither respect nor love Janet.

For life.

“Thank you for easing my burden. Now I can focus on my own affairs too.”

“What?”

“You know. I have just as clear a purpose for this marriage as you do.”

At Janet’s calm voice, Rihanel removed his hand from the shelf. Janet raised her head and looked straight into the eyes of Rihanel, who had taken a step back.

Rihanel stared silently at the woman before him.

His chest felt tight.

Abandoning Janet at the reception wasn’t entirely to spite her.

Whether she wandered the garden counting butterflies alone or lay quietly in an elaborate room feeling sorry for herself. Rihanel couldn’t stay beside Janet anymore because he couldn’t bring himself to care about her circumstances.

The uniquely soft fragrance emanating from her suffocated him. That terrible scent made it hard to breathe, as if someone had stuffed a water-soaked cloth into his throat.

But ridiculously.

Truly ridiculously and uncomfortably.

Even when she wasn’t beside him, that damn scent came to mind, bringing on a headache.

Even while clinking glasses with other guests, he found himself wondering if she had fallen asleep yet, if she had put away the plum-colored dress, or if she was still wearing it.

Rihanel sought out this room thinking that seeing this irritating woman, the source of his headache, just once might resolve it.

He had only intended to give this gift while he was here. He was merely curious about her expression when she checked the gift.

But… it seems that wasn’t enough.

“Yes, that’s right. There’s only one duty you need to fulfill in this marriage.”

Rihanel nodded toward the gift box in Janet’s hand.

“Open it now, Janet.”

“Later……”

“Now.”

His voice was firm. When Janet remained motionless, Rihanel roughly pulled open all the curtains. The light from the large moon filled the room.

“Open it.”

After staring silently at Rihanel, Janet wordlessly untied the ribbon on the box.

The red ribbon slipped down.

When she opened the box, the gift Rihanel had prepared gleamed in the moonlight.

Seeing it, Janet took a breath in and then exhaled.

“……A dagger.”

“Yes. It’s something you need today.”

Janet immediately understood what Rihanel meant. It wasn’t as shocking as expected. It was an issue she had been thinking about all along, even while hoping it wouldn’t come to this.

She had prepared herself mentally countless times. She had already thought about how to respond if he told her to wound herself.

So Janet could respond to Rihanel’s words without appearing foolishly flustered.

Janet calmly took the dagger from the box. After gently placing the box on the table, she drew the blade from its golden sheath adorned with jewels.

The well-honed blade gleamed menacingly in the moonlight.

“Where should I cut?”

The question was close to resignation.

Would Rihanel pity her if she showed shock, anger, sadness, or shed tears asking why he was doing this?

No.

Such emotional displays would be of no help in the current situation. Rather than dragging things out that way, it was much better to get it over with quickly.

There would be scars, but the pain would be momentary.

By the time scabs formed and scars remained, the physical pain would be gone.

The remaining pain wouldn’t be physical. It would only be the memory evoked by the visible wounds, the scars that would follow her from now on.

If that was the case.

She needed to suppress her emotions as much as possible, again and again.

So there would be no room for fear. So it wouldn’t remain as a painful memory when looking back.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of Janet’s thoughts, Rihanel’s eyebrow rose sharply at her calm voice.

Why is this woman so nonchalant about injuring her own body?

Shouldn’t she ask at least once if he’s crazy? Does she even understand that she has to cut her own body? Is she that detached from reality?

But contrary to his disgruntled concerns, Janet seemed to have grasped his intention precisely as she said.

“Since it was my right hand last time, should I do the left this time? Or I could cut one of my cheeks so you can enjoy it every time you look at me.”

Janet’s voice sounded so nonchalant as she moved the knife around that Rihanel wondered if he was dreaming. It almost sounded like she was mocking him.

Ah, that’s it.

This woman must still think Rihanel was making a cruel joke.

She was the woman who didn’t even know how easily the human body could be wounded, grabbing glass with her bare hands. That’s why she was putting on such a brave front with the knife.

“Anywhere.”

Rihanel folded his arms and leaned against the window. His voice was full of composure. He looked at her askew and nodded as if challenging her to try.

The provocation was just that. Surely she couldn’t actually bring herself to put a knife to her own body….

It happened in an instant—the knife in her left hand sliced downward from near her right collarbone, which had been hidden by her nightgown.

“……!”

The thin, eerie sound of flesh being cut sent chills down his spine.

His heart plummeted.

What? What did she just do?

He seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

His fingertips trembled finely.

Did he see wrong? Or did she just pretend to cut? Did she really cut her own body?

Rihanel stared at Janet’s wound with a distorted expression.

But it was neither pretense nor illusion. Below her neck, blood beaded up along the long diagonal wound, then began to flow from both ends and the middle.

As the metallic scent mixed with Janet’s fragrance enveloped him, his mind grew distant.

Realizing he hadn’t prepared any cloth for stopping the bleeding, fear rose within him.

Rihanel hurriedly searched his pockets. A handkerchief. Did he have a handkerchief?

“…Rihanel.”

At that moment, Janet called his name.

Hearing her voice slightly trembling as if suppressing pain, Rihanel met her eyes. Janet took a small deep breath and said,

“It doesn’t seem very deep. Is this enough?”

“…Not deep, you say.”

His voice escaped with difficulty, as if something was blocking it. Who cuts their throat when told to make a wound? Are you trying to die? Rihanel felt his head might explode with the countless confused thoughts rising within him.

“Not amusing enough?”

“What…?”

“You look that way.”

If anything, Janet seemed to be the one amused, even letting out a faint laugh.

“Do you have a handkerchief?”

“I don’t need it.”

Janet walked unsteadily toward the bed. It was strange seeing this woman who always walked with a perfectly straight back now moving with such a loose posture.

She sat on the bed, wiped the blood from her chest with her hand, and firmly pressed and rubbed it onto the clean white sheet.

Then she used the thick blanket to wipe her collarbone and the knife.

Why is she using that instead of a handkerchief? As he stared blankly at her actions…

“I’m sorry. Please at least allow rumors that we spent the night together.”

Only then did he understand the meaning behind her actions.

She’s thinking about such things even in this situation?

Rihanel felt pathetic for boldly telling her to make a wound and then becoming dazed. At the same time, he found this woman terrifying for remaining so detached after cutting her own body with a knife.

“You probably hate being with me, but please stay just a little longer before you go.”

Janet crawled into bed with a tired expression.

Apply medicine. Call a doctor to get treatment. Such words circled in Rihanel’s mouth.

Like giving medicine after causing illness, like a madman.

Janet Wilton wasn’t a child who couldn’t think of such things herself. In the end, Rihanel swallowed his words and stared blankly at her.

“Don’t worry about the clothes. I’ll burn them. I’ll change into different clothes after you leave.”

Janet spoke while lying curled up on her side with her eyes closed. She seemed certain that Rihanel would leave soon.

Of course, that had been his intention.

But…

He felt confused.

His heart still hadn’t found stability and was pounding.

Clearly her strategy was to shock him like this to make him stop.

This merchant woman. She thought it better to make one moderately large wound than ten small ones.

As he was thinking this, he heard steady breathing from the woman. She seemed to have fallen asleep. Her expression was furrowed, perhaps from the pain of the wound.

Janet Wilton.

Janet Reynes.

Rihanel, mouthing these names, carefully lay down beside her. Quietly, holding his breath so as not to wake Janet.

And he silently observed the sleeping woman.

Was it because of the moonlight? Her face, seen up close, looked pale.

The wound at her collarbone had already formed a clot on the surface. In the middle, blood that hadn’t yet congealed seemed about to flow down.

Rihanel brought his finger to wipe away that drop of blood.

The memory he glimpsed was of Janet taking a boat trip on an unfamiliar river.