Valetta pulled the white sheet around her, trying to cover her body. Leonard looked down at her struggle, waiting for her to speak through her trembling lips.

“Why are you doing this to me…?”

Valetta didn’t feel sorry for slapping him. There wasn’t even a mark on his face. And frankly, he deserved it. Violence could never be justified – but in Valetta’s eyes, Leonard was an exception.

“This isn’t right.”

At her words, Leonard’s eyes narrowed. The light in them dimmed, grew heavy. Through clenched teeth he asked.

“This isn’t right?”

Leonard’s grip tightened around Valetta’s waist, making her jerk in pain. His eyes burned with anger.

Valetta couldn’t understand why he was angry. She was the one who had every right to be angry. She was the one who had been wronged. She was the one in pain.

“Yes. This is wrong.”

These words provoked Leonard. Something inside him, tightly wound and piled high in his chest, suddenly snapped and collapsed.

He tore away the sheet Valetta had wrapped around her. She slipped from her grasp without a struggle.

“Ah…”

Before she could even gasp in surprise, Leonard gave a sharp command.

“Spread.”

“…What?”

His eyes brimmed with anger. There wasn’t the slightest hint that he intended to take the situation lightly. Without repeating himself, Leonard moved forcefully down between her legs.

“W-what are you… Aagh!”

Without hesitation, he grabbed Valetta’s knees and pulled them apart. Valetta’s face flushed with shame as her g*nitals, which she had never seen before, were exposed. Leonard didn’t care about her reaction, which was as red as a tomato, and buried his face in her most vulnerable part.

“Ha, don’t do that! Don’t do that! I told you not to do that!”

Valetta struggled with her legs, but Leonard’s grip was so tight that she couldn’t move her knees even a little.

“Ugh! What the hell are you doing… Don’t do that!”

Leonard’s tongue touched her where it had never touched her before.

It was soft and wet, licking her g*nitals. Before she felt any sensation there, she was afraid of the unprepared situation.

Finally, tears welled up in Valetta’s eyes. She covered her face with both palms and begged, swallowing her tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for hitting you. So please stop. Ugh…….”

“……”

Valetta’s soft sobs brought Leonard back to his senses. The burning madness in his golden eyes faded and the rough movements that had invaded her delicate body came to a halt.

His hands, which had gripped her legs tightly, only tightened further, causing her to moan in pain.

Realising what he had done, Leonard clenched his teeth in frustration. His hands fell off her.

As he straightened up, he could see the marks he’d left. The bruises on her pale skin weren’t from the fever.

They were from his own hands – his grip on her wrists, her waist, her knees. Dark bruises stained her white flesh.

Leonard’s jaw tightened. His eyes, clouded with desire a moment ago, now fell on Valetta, who was crying uncontrollably.

A pained expression crossed his face as he pressed a hand to his eyes and rose from the bed. Even then, even in his shame, he wanted to touch her, to breathe her scent, to hear the sounds she made as she moaned.

“Get some rest.”

He picked up his clothes from the floor and left without another word. Valetta’s sobs followed him as he closed the door behind him.

And as he stood in the silence beyond, the sound pulled him back into a memory from the past.

***

He remembered that day well – their first meeting, her white ribbon of hair flying through the air like a dandelion seed, her golden hair shimmering in the bright sunlight.

As her hair fluttered, a pleasant scent subtly tickled his nose. Her shyly sparkling blue eyes and the smile that lingered at the corners of her lips were beautiful.

Even as he reflexively caught the ribbon in the air, Leonard thought he might forget how to breathe.

“Um… thank you for catching my ribbon.”

She spoke in a low voice on the way to the Mannheim 30-ro. Leonard, trying to hide the pounding of his heart, craned his neck and replied bluntly.

“It’s nothing.”

Valetta’s subtle gaze lingered on Leonard for a moment before moving away. Walking beside her, Daniel turned to her and asked.

“Miss, isn’t that basket heavy? I’d be happy to carry it for you.”

“Oh… no, that’s OK.”

She lifted the basket into her arms, as if drawing a line in the sand. To say it wasn’t heavy would be a lie, but Valetta wasn’t the kind of person to entrust her belongings to a man she’d just met.

“By the way, why are you looking for Mannheim 30-ro?”

It was Leonard who answered her question.

“We came to meet a colleague.”

“A colleague?”

“A guy who was recently suspended for causing some trouble. We came to tell him that the suspension had been lifted. Originally, Leonard here was going to come alone, but since the guy moved, I got curious and decided to come along.”

Leonard’s expression hardened at Daniel’s explanation. Their colleague had once beaten up a civilian and had almost been tried, but his past merits had earned him leniency.

Still, the man had shown no interest in returning to the field and was wasting his time elsewhere.

“Could you give me your colleague’s address? Since 30-ro is close to my home, I could show you the way.”

“Oh, thank you. He lives in the 13th house.”

Valetta stopped in her tracks at Leonard’s reply. Beside her, Daniel muttered with casual annoyance.

“Now that I think about it – what on earth is Friedrich doing these days? Sure, he’s been suspended, but he hasn’t shown his face at all.”

Valetta’s head turned slowly, almost creaking. There was a strange expression on her face.

“Friedrich… Irpmann? Friedrich was… suspended?”

“You know Friedrich?”

One of Leonard’s eyebrows lifted. Valetta, her face now pale, replied softly.

“Of course I do.”

Bathed in sunlight, her face had a soft, pearly glow. Pale yet radiant, she looked beautiful. Her deep blue eyes revealed her delicate nature, and her trembling voice was filled with innocence.

“He’s my older brother.”

It was only then that Leonard realised how much she resembled Friedrich. That rare, flawless blonde hair and those vivid blue eyes were also unmistakably his features.

Leonard, now aware that Valetta was Friedrich Irpman’s sister, also came to a halt. No wonder – Friedrich had been on several missions with them, practically like a brother.

But never once had he mentioned that he had a sister.

With a tense expression on her face, Valetta led Leonard and Daniel into her house.

After placing her shopping basket in the kitchen, she brought them both a cup of warm tea. Leonard’s eyes went to Valetta’s hands. They were trembling slightly, over and over again.

“Friedrich… has been suspended?”

“You didn’t know?”

Daniel’s eyes met Leonard’s. Friedrich was the kind of man who treated his colleagues like family, but rarely talked about himself.

They had known him for six years, but none of them had ever heard him mention that he had a sister. And now to find out that he had even hidden his suspension from her?

Leonard swallowed a sigh and replied.

“He hit a civilian. He’s currently suspended for two months.”

“For hitting a civilian? W-Wait… is this because of the assault charge two and a half months ago?”

“That’s right.”

Valetta staggered. Leonard and Daniel both reacted immediately. She clung to the edge of the table, barely keeping her balance.

Tears welled up in her large eyes and she began to sob. It hurt her to know that Friedrich had kept his suspension a secret, pretending to go to work every day just so she wouldn’t find out.

Even worse, she knew without a doubt that he’d been suspended because of her.

“It was because of me.”

“Sorry? What do you mean…?”

Valetta burst into tears at Daniel’s question. If he had been suspended for two months, then all that time he had been leaving the house pretending to go to work… what was it all about?

Valetta couldn’t bear it – to know that Friedrich had been suspended and that he had pretended to go to work for her sake. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart.

“Jack tried to kiss me forcibly, and Friedrich beat him to a pulp for it… He said that if people found out, rumours would spread about me, so he insisted on saying that he had attacked for no reason…”

Leonard’s brow twitched at her confession. Daniel, scowling, gave Leonard a light tap on the arm to stop him.

“He could have claimed self-defence, but he didn’t. I didn’t know it would get him suspended…”

Her tears fell like large raindrops on the wooden floor. Valetta couldn’t stop crying. The fear she had felt when someone she barely knew tried to kiss her had been soothed by Friedrich’s help. But the injustice Friedrich had suffered because of her was something she couldn’t get over so easily.

“Friedrich has done nothing wrong. What should I do…”

Leonard, who had no immunity to women crying, was visibly upset. It was Daniel who stepped in to calm Valetta.

He handed her a handkerchief and stroked her back gently.

“Don’t cry. It’s all right. You know what kind of man Friedrich is. He’s a hero of the Empire, remember?”

Despite his comforting words, Valetta couldn’t stop sobbing. Just as she began to cry like a child, the door burst open and Friedrich appeared.

He had gone to the capital to discuss his reinstatement, but when he realised how much he missed his colleagues, he hurried back home.

“Valetta!”

His blonde hair was damp with sweat from running. Striding quickly over to them, Friedrich sharply slapped away Daniel’s hand that was patting Valetta’s back. His blue eyes glared fiercely.