“Anyway, the place we were taken to was a narrow, filthy warehouse. There was a large ventilation shaft in one of the walls, with piles of straw stacked around it.”

Back then, Cadel and Violet were still children. They trembled as the sound of heavy rain pounded relentlessly against the windows outside.

After a while, voices drifted in from beyond the door — two men arguing in low, callous tones. One of the men suggested k*lling or selling the child who had been brought along, while keeping the young lord alive to offer up as a sacrifice.

Violet, who was four years older than Cadel, understood at once what that meant. She could be killed or sold into slavery in a foreign land. Shock shot through her, but instead of breaking down, she forced herself to think. Her eyes darted frantically around the warehouse, searching for something they could use.

“Just then, the men from the ducal castle who had been searching for her arrived near the warehouse. The moment she realized that help had arrived, Violet lifted me towards the ventilation shaft.”

She had matches in her pocket that day. The instant she sensed their allies were close, she lit one and set fire to the dry straw scattered across the floor. Smoke quickly began to rise. Then she climbed up after Cadel and waited breathlessly as the flames spread and the men inside panicked.

At last, the locked door was forced open.

Seizing the opportunity, she slipped out through the shaft and shouted at the top of her lungs to draw their attention.

At that, Jaina’s eyes widened slightly.

‘She escaped alone?’

This differed from what Adil had told her before.

He said that Violet had blocked the entrance to the shaft to protect Cadel until help arrived and that she had burned her back in the process. This was why she avoided wearing dresses that exposed her back.

“Thanks to Violet, the people searching for me found us quickly. We returned to the ducal castle, and everyone involved in my kidnapping was beheaded.”

“……”

“Afterward, while I was recovering physically and mentally, the rainy season came to the North.”

When he finished speaking, Cadel’s gaze turned to Violet.

“The first rainy night after we returned. I felt as though my body were being burned alive.”

His brows drew together, the memory clearly heavy.

“The pain was so severe I truly thought I might die. But the moment Violet entered the room, the pain vanished—like a lie.”

Violet offered him the faintest smile. She looked at him steadily, as if to remind him that she was his salvation.

“After that, it happened every time. On rainy nights in the North, I was tormented by unbearable pain. And each time, if Violet was by my side, it subsided.”

“……”

“So before our marriage, I told you about it.”

A year before he came of age, Cadel received a revelation from the Grand Temple instructing him to marry a saintess endowed with powerful divine strength.

He was deeply troubled by this command. This meant that he would have to ask his future wife to accept the unusual and painful truth that he would share a room with another woman on rainy nights.

However, the enormous sum required to secure her hand in marriage did not trouble him in the slightest.

What burdened him was something far heavier.

Fortunately, Jaina calmly said that none of it would be a problem for her, and so the marriage went ahead as arranged.

At the time, Cadel had quietly wondered whether he would ever be capable of living an ordinary married life. This was why her unquestioning acceptance filled him with gratitude and relief.

The divine oracle had commanded the marriage — refusal had never truly been an option. However, her willingness to accept him as he was made him feel, in a small but undeniable way, as if he had been saved.

“That’s all. For a while, I tried various methods to uncover the cause of the curse, but I never found the answer I wanted.”

When he finished, Cadel looked at Jaina.

“I feel as though I’ve just made a confession.”

“……”

“It’s not entirely unpleasant.”

He genuinely looked lighter. In fact, he looked refreshed. He said that he should have told Jaina about his past much sooner.

Jaina studied him quietly.

Tilting his head slightly, Cadel asked.

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“…No. Not for now.”

“I see. Then is it my turn?”

“My turn…?”

Jaina’s eyes widened in surprise.

But Cadel was no longer looking at her. His gaze shifted past her shoulder to Elysion.

“You’re the one who blocked all the roads in the North, aren’t you?”

At that, Elysion merely gave a faint snort instead of answering.

“What was your intention in tying my feet?”

“Intention?”

Elysion echoed lazily.

“That was not an act done without purpose. You must have had something in mind.”

“The spirit of light—”

“Violet, could you come with me for a moment?!”

Jaina suddenly cut in, raising her voice in haste.

“To speak of hidden darkness to a spirit of light… You truly are a foolish human.”

Elysion spoke without giving a moment’s thought to whether Violet was present.

Startled by the sudden sharpness in the air, Jaina quickly turned to look at her.

Violet flinched at the abrupt call of her name. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded.

“I think I’ll need a cup of warm tea before I can sleep.”

“Yes.”

As it happened, Violet also had questions she wished to ask Jaina.

And so, she chose to follow her.

“Where are you going?”

Cadel asked, looking at Jaina.

“I’m going to have some tea with Violet. You two continue your discussion.”

For a moment, it seemed as though he wanted to say more. His lips parted slightly, but he only let out a quiet sigh and nodded.

Jaina cast one last glance at him — and at Elysion — before leaving the room with Violet.

When she asked the guard in the corridor for some tea, he showed them to a room at the far end of the hall.

At first glance, it appeared to be a reception room. However, given its proximity to the Crown Prince’s bedroom, it was unlikely that guests were entertained there. Jaina assumed it was a private sitting room instead.

In any case, it was secluded and silent — an ideal place to speak with Violet without interruption.

The moment the attendant had set down the tea and biscuits and quietly left, Violet began to speak.

“Was it Your Grace who wanted everyone to sleep in the same room tonight?”

“No.”

Jaina lifted her teacup and took a measured sip before answering.

“Then… was it His Grace… the Grand Duke?”

“Yes. He wanted it.”

She put down her cup and looked at Violet. It seemed that Violet believed that Jaina had insisted they share a room. No wonder she was displeased.

Then again, Violet had loved a man who had suddenly acquired a wife. There was no reason for her to be kind to Jaina.

In hindsight, nearly everything Violet had ever done to Jaina had been motivated by jealousy.

“Violet.”

“Yes?”

“Do you love my husband?”

Violet’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden question. Jaina lowered her gaze to her teacup and asked quietly.

“Do you love him?”

Violet did not answer at once. She seemed to be considering something in her mind. Then, as if having made up her mind, she looked up and met Jaina’s gaze.

“Yes.”

“……”

“I was first. I loved His Grace long before Your Grace ever came to the ducal castle.”

Just speaking the words I love him made Violet’s eyes redden.

“I was the one who began first. And even now… I’m the one he needs.”

She pressed a hand to her chest and looked at Jaina with tear-filled eyes.

“Me.”

Jaina watched her quietly, saying nothing, as she noticed the hint of repressed anger on Violet’s face. If she were honest, and if their positions were reversed, she could not say that she would feel any differently.

Violet had devoted herself to a man who was completely dependent on her. As she was required to stay by his side every night, marriage had never been an option for her. Now, she was well past the customary marrying age, and still alone.

From what Jaina could tell, Cadel had never once considered Violet’s future.

After all, he was an indifferent man. It was entirely possible that such thoughts had never crossed his mind. Then again, perhaps he had come to see her as his possession and was unable to imagine her belonging to another man.

Either way, it would have wounded her deeply. For the first time, Jaina felt that she could understand Violet, at least a little.

In the past, jealousy had clouded her judgement. She had resented and envied Violet endlessly. But now, looking back, she realized that Violet may well have resented her just as much.

“I know.”

So she answered that she understood.

“I know that you’re the one he needs.”

She acknowledged it.

Until Cadel’s curse was broken, Violet was the one person he could not live without. She would never have admitted that before. But after being brought back from the dead, she could.

“So you don’t need to worry about me.”

“……”

“I have no intention of taking my husband away from you.”

At those words, Violet’s eyes slowly widened.