“Lord Cadel! What are you doing?!”

The moment Violet heard that Cadel had returned, she ran downstairs to the lobby. But before she could step outside, she saw him standing motionless in the rain, allowing it to drench him completely. Startled, she ran towards him at once.

He stood there as if stunned, his gaze unfocused.

“Lord Cadel! What are you doing? Why are you leaving His Grace out here like this?!”

When she grabbed his arm and tried to pull him inside, he didn’t move. She turned and shouted at the guards standing by the entrance who looked helpless.

They hurried forward and guided Cadel indoors. Only then did he seem to come back to himself. Slowly but firmly, he pulled his arm from Violet’s grasp.

The butler rushed over with a large towel. Ignoring it completely, Cadel spoke in a low voice.

“Where is Adil?”

“He is still in the study, Your Grace.”

Cadel climbed the stairs, completely soaked, without so much as glancing at the towel.

Violet snatched the towel from the butler and followed him.

“At least wash up and change your clothes. You’ll catch a cold at this rate.”

She reached out to wipe the rain from his face, but Cadel brushed her hand away and continued up the stairs in silence.

Yet Violet did not give up.

“You can’t even endure it for long anyway. Just wash up tonight and get some proper rest—”

At that moment, Cadel stopped abruptly. He slowly turned his head to look at her. His long lashes, heavy with rain, glimmered faintly in the light. Violet forgot to breathe for a moment, struck by the sorrowful beauty of his soaked form.

But the gaze he cast upon her was cold. He had always looked at her like this to some extent, but today it felt sharper and colder than ever.

A familiar ache rose in Violet’s chest at the sight of his unchanging expression.

Nevertheless, she forced a small smile onto her lips and asked lightly.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Lord Cadel?”

“The title.”

“…Your Grace.”

Cadel turned around sharply and continued walking towards the study. Violet followed him, her expression stiff. When he reached the floor on which the study was located, she could go no further. She stopped in her tracks. As though she no longer existed, Cadel strode straight to the study and pushed the door open.

“Adil. Open the teleportation stone.”

“…What?!”

Adil leapt to his feet at the sight of his superior—drenched to the bone like a soaked rat—bursting into the room.

“What happened?”

“Open the teleportation stone. Now.”

At Cadel’s firm command, Adil swiftly opened a drawer and retrieved the transfer stone. But its light had gone out again.

He checked the others as well. They were all the same.

“This is a disaster…!”

Adil muttered under his breath, his brows drawn tightly together.

Cadel crossed the room in a few swift strides and looked down at the lifeless stones. His own brows instantly furrowed.

“D*mn it!”

“It responded earlier, so if we wait a bit, it may activate again. But why the teleportation stone? It’s nearly nightfall—you won’t even be able to cross over now.”

Adil tried to calm the agitated man, studying his face carefully.

Cadel stared at the darkened stone for a long moment before letting out a deep breath and lifting his gaze.

“Jaina is about to spend the night alone in the same room with another man.”

“…Pardon?”

Adil’s eyes widened to an almost comical degree.

“This—”

Cadel broke off, unable to finish. He exhaled sharply and dragged a hand over his face.

“This is…”

“…What on earth happened to you?”

At Adil’s question, Cadel lowered his hand. His expression was stricken—twisted as though he could scarcely contain the surge of emotion inside him.

“I want to seize that gold-plated b*stard and kill him right now, Adil.”

“Gold-plated b*stard…?”

Adil blinked repeatedly, utterly unable to grasp what his superior was talking about.

Cadel glared at the unresponsive teleportation stone for a moment before turning away sharply and clenching his jaw.

“D*mn it!”

Startled by the sudden outburst, Adil flinched and hurried toward him.

“Who is this ‘gold-plated b*stard’? Why are you so furious? And why are you drenched like this—?”

Cadel sank heavily into his chair and let his head fall back, fixing his gaze on the relentless rain beyond the window.

For some reason, he felt as though this wretched turmoil stemmed from the rain itself.

A surge of anger flared in his chest, threatening to consume him. Yet that was nothing compared to the agony of his body burning beneath the downpour.

Above all, he wanted to go to Jaina at once. But as the sky darkened, his body stiffened with fear and his nerves were drawn tight with anticipation.

Cadel swallowed hard as the familiar pain slowly spread, compounding his misery. If he did not go to Violet soon, the storm of torment would descend upon him without mercy. His body was already trembling at the thought.

Assessing how much longer he could endure it, Cadel finally spoke.

“The Grand Hierophant has attached himself to Jaina.”

He could not reveal the spirit’s true nature. So he used the title the spirit had planted into the Empire’s memory.

“The Grand Hierophant? Ah—so Her Grace is with him right now?”

When Cadel nodded, Adil spoke with evident relief.

“Then that is even better, isn’t it? I was uneasy about you returning alone, Your Grace. I even thought of asking you to come back with me in the morning—but I worried it might trouble you too much.”

“That damned gold-plated b*stard said he would share a room with Jaina.”

“…Pardon? Ah, is that so?”

“‘Is that so?’”

Cadel arched a brow and shot him a look of clear displeasure.

Adil tilted his head, puzzled by the reaction.

“Is that not fortunate? In an Empire where danger could arise at any moment, if a capable Grand Hierophant is guarding Her Grace’s side—”

“What capability does he even have? At most, some trivial blessing—”

Cadel nearly uttered “a spirit’s blessing” and snapped his mouth shut.

Fortunately, Adil seemed not to have caught it.

“Even though they lack the holy power of the saintesses, it is said that priests possess a special strength that protects them. The Grand Hierophant is said to be the strongest of all in the Grand Sanctuary. If such a person were to guard Her Grace, would that not allow you to rest more easily?”

“He’s a man.”

Cadel’s voice hardened.

“Human, beast, spirit—whatever he is. He’s a man.”

“……”

“You’re telling me my wife will spend the night with another man, and you expect me to sleep in peace?”

Cadel snapped sharply.

Adil stared at him, his expression odd.

Cadel frowned deeply in response.

“What.”

Adil remained silent for a long moment before finally speaking.

“How is it any different from Your Grace?”

Cadel’s face twisted instantly.

“What?”

“Is it not so? Your Grace returns here every night because you must share a room with Lady Violet.”

“That’s because it rains—!”

“And does Her Grace not have her own reasons? Surely it is less dangerous for her to remain with the Grand Hierophant. And less frightening as well.”

“…!”

“Should Your Grace not feel relieved instead? While it rains in the North, you cannot protect Her Grace. So why are you this angry?”

Each carefully reasoned point hit the mark.

Cadel’s expression slowly stiffened.

Objectively speaking, his situation was no different.

He needed Violet to stop the rainy nights tormenting him.

In a dangerous place, Jaina needed someone who could protect her. In that sense, having that damned spirit with her was undoubtedly safer.

Logically, he knew that having someone to protect Jaina would be a comfort. But his emotions refused to accept it.

“If it were me, I would be grateful. Of course, from Your Grace’s position, it may not be easy to accept your wife spending the night with another man.”

“……”

“But does Her Grace not endure a similar matter for your sake? Then I believe Your Grace must learn to accept this as well.”

“……”

“Frankly, it’s fortunate that your marriage was arranged and that you haven’t got to know each other properly yet. If Her Grace loved you deeply, could she bear to see you spending the night with Lady Violet?”

The words struck Cadel like a blunt blow to the head.

Cadel felt as though something heavy had hit him. His heart dropped, plunging into an abyss.

“Well, even without love, no one could easily accept their spouse sleeping with someone else. I have told you this before.”

“……”

Jaina loved him.

And he loved her.

Perhaps it was precisely because of his love for her that the spirit standing beside her felt so unbearable and impossible to accept.

She had probably endured the situation with Violet out of necessity. And perhaps—no, certainly—she had spent those long nights in anguish equal to, if not greater than, his own.

A sharp pain pierced his already throbbing heart. His breathing became shallow and strained by the ache. His face twisted with pain.

What had he been doing to Jaina all this time?

He had brought back the same woman who had once been hurt and reduced to tears by his selfishness, only to put her through the same torment again.

‘What kind of fool am I….’

Cadel’s face twisted in agony.