This time of night, when the moonlight grew sharp and clear, always brought back memories of that day. That night, Leonard had said to Friedrich, “We’ll make it back alive.”

He had believed that once the dragon was slain, they would be safe, no matter what danger followed.

But that had been his arrogance. In the moonlight, Leonard’s shadow stretching across the ground looked like a monster to him.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Was it the influence of the cursed dragon, said to be driven mad by the moonlight?

Leonard felt something boiling in the depths of his chest. It was more than anger. If he had to find the right word for it, it could only be described as madness – the raging instincts of a mad beast.

‘I must get hold of myself’

Leonard walked along the castle walls, hoping that the cold winds of the Carnies estate would bring him back to his senses.

He felt lost, confused by the gradual fading of human morality and emotion brought on by the curse.

Day by day, the beast within him became more defined. What kept him grounded were the countless memories and experiences of the past – the emotions he once felt, the judgments he once made – serving as the last fragments of his human reason.

And of all these memories, the one that stood out the most was Friedrich.

His comrade, his brother – someone he could never bury in the past. Friedrich Irpman. And the sister he had loved more than anything: Valetta…

‘Friedrich. I’m going to die and fall into hell.’

If anything, Leonard should have treated the sister Friedrich left behind with the deepest care and respect.

But instead, he had forced her into marriage.

His heart was caught in a painful struggle—torn between the longing to treasure her as a person and the cursed, overwhelming instinct to treat her with the cold brutality of a beast.

It had all started with a change in appearance, but now his mind was slowly being consumed by the madness of the mad dragon.

And at the end of this curse is death. He wasn’t afraid of dying. What frightened him was the thought of dying without his revenge.

In the end, he closed his eyes tightly in agony.

‘I’m sorry, Friedrich.”

He knew he would never go to heaven. No, even the burning fires of hell would be a mercy to him. For now, breaking this curse was his first priority.

***

“What do you mean?”

Valetta’s hand trembled as she turned pale. The steward, Paul, who was in his seventies, spoke in a hoarse voice.

“I do apologise, my lady. There was no word from His Grace about bringing a bride back from the capital, so no room was prepared.”

“It’s all right. I don’t care if it hasn’t been cleaned or if it’s in a bad location. I’m not picky – just give me any room.”

“How can we give the Grand Duchess just any room? If you wait a few days, we’ll prepare the most beautiful room in the castle for you.

“Then I will take the best room – but later. Right now I just need a room to stay in temporarily.”

Paul blinked his dull eyes. His hearing had deteriorated with age, so he tried to guess what Valetta was saying. Frustrated by his reaction, Valetta repeated herself.

“I will not share a room with him! So please, just give me any room. A storeroom is fine, a maid’s room is fine!”

“My lady, you only have to share with His Grace for a week.”

Valetta didn’t want to be in the same room with Leonard for seven minutes, let alone seven days. Her chest tightened and she pressed her fingers to her forehead.

On the estate of the Count de Dampierré, she had lived in a room converted from a storeroom. So she really believed she could adapt to any room.

She wasn’t sure if the old steward really didn’t understand her, or if he was just pretending not to. But he kept insisting that it wasn’t possible.

“It’s impossible for a castle of this size not to have a single room available. Mr Bloomberg, I…”

“My lady, I’m Paul. Just Paul is fine.”

“Right… Paul. I… Leonard Carnies. If I have to share a room with him, then…”

The words that followed were too harsh for her to say out loud. Valetta stopped herself, and Paul’s expression darkened as he slowly began to confess.

“The truth is… all the unused rooms in the castle are locked. And I… I have misplaced the key ring. We’re looking for it urgently, but if we don’t find it soon, we’ll have to call in a locksmith…”

At Paul’s confession, Valetta let out a shuddering breath. Her knees almost gave out and she braced herself against the nearby wall, squeezing her eyes shut.

In the darkness behind her eyelids, she thought she could see Leonard’s golden eyes – those beastly, gleaming eyes, and the sensation of his touch on her skin.

The overwhelming confusion of that moment washed over her again.

“My lady, are you all right?”

“I’m not your lady!”

On edge, Valetta snapped sharply, her voice breaking as if she were about to cry.

“You don’t look well. Please go inside and rest. I’ll show you to your room.”

Without waiting for her to answer, Paul turned and began to lead the way. Her head throbbed with nerves and her body shivered with cold. She realised she couldn’t stand in the freezing corridor any longer.

Following the now distant Paul, Valetta returned to Leonard’s room. As soon as she opened the door, his scent hit her like a wave.

The room was saturated with traces of Leonard, and the familiarity of it all made her thoughts spin even more. She still couldn’t believe how things had turned out.

‘This isn’t what I wanted…’

Once she had dreamed of a sweet, gentle marriage.

Once she had wished for true love.

Once she had longed for a warm, happy home.

But all those dreams ended the moment Friedrich died – because of Leonard.

Life without Friedrich was like life without solid ground beneath her feet. And Leonard, the man who had killed her brother, was an unforgivable enemy.

If he had only destroyed her life, maybe she wouldn’t have hated him so much.

‘It would have been better if I’d died instead.’

A vain wish she had repeated countless times. Valetta shook her head, trying to push the thoughts away. As she did so, Paul turned and bowed politely.

“You must be tired after such a long journey. Please rest well.”

Paul stroked his white beard as he left the room. As he closed the door behind him, Valetta locked it from the inside. If Leonard’s room was the only option, then she would use it alone. And if that wasn’t possible…

“Valetta Irpman. You must be strong.”

She whispered to herself as she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on the desk by the window. There she found a fountain pen with a sharp nib.

Valetta gripped the pen tightly. If it came to it, she intended to stab Leonard with it. Of course, Leonard was a dragon slayer, someone whose physical prowess was at the height of human limits.

There was no way she could defeat someone like that. But she had no intention of being as helpless as she had been that day.

This was the land of the Northern Carnies – unfamiliar and full of strangers. There was no one she could rely on.

There was Laura, but their relationship was worse than having no one at all, so she didn’t count.

That meant Valetta had to protect herself by any means necessary.

‘I can do this.’

Her fingertips trembled at the thought of actually attacking someone, but she checked the sharp tip of the pen again and tucked it into her clothing.

Her chest felt tight. Before she could fully steel herself, she heard the sound of someone turning the doorknob from outside.

Clank. Clank.

The sound made her heart sink. Pressed against the wall, Valetta stared at the rattling door. Soon the handle broke in half and the door swung wide open.

Leonard entered the room. As he closed the door behind him, he spoke with a warning.

“You shouldn’t lock the door like that. The North has a high suicide rate, so if someone locks themselves in a room alone, we break down the door to check. If you don’t want that to happen, make it clear that you’re still alive in there.”

“Get out.”

Valetta swallowed hard. Faced with Leonard, who was built like a fortress, the thought of defying him began to shrink to nothing.

“This is my room, you know.”

“I don’t care whose room it is. Get out. Sharing a room with you? That’s absolutely out of the question.”

Leonard’s eyebrows twitched slightly at Valetta’s words. Valetta ignored the pounding in her chest and subtly checked the shape of the cold ballpoint hidden in her clothing.

“Why do you find this so absurd?”

“You call that reasonable?”

Leonard took a step towards Valetta. Just one step away from his massive frame was enough to double the intensity of his overwhelming presence. He replied in a cold, dry voice.

“We are husband and wife. It’s only natural for a married couple to share the same bed under the same blanket.”

At the word husband and wife, Valetta’s face flushed red as if it might burst.

Tears welled up in her eyes in an instant – it was a deep wound, being tricked into a fraudulent marriage.

But she bit down hard on the inside of her cheek and held back her sobs. Then, her voice shaking, she snapped back at him.

“I never swore to be your wife. I never agreed to take you as my husband! How can you say we’re married?”

Leonard saw the tears in Valetta’s eyes and the way her pale hands were clenched so tightly they looked bloodless.

Then his gaze fell on her shoulders, which trembled slightly, and at that moment his mind went blank – so blank that it felt as if something inside him was being ripped open mercilessly.

“…Haa.”