Violet looked exactly as she had appeared in Jaina’s memories: radiant, composed, and effortlessly charming.

Her heart plummeted.

From somewhere deep within, an ugly, murky jealousy began to rise and coil around her like smoke.

She had sworn she would never be swayed by them again.

And yet…

Her memories remained.

Her emotions remained.

“Why are you here?”

Cadel’s voice was cool as he looked up at Violet, who stood above them with a faint curve to her lips.

Violet’s eyes softened immediately as she smiled.

“You asked for the bedroom on the third floor to be renovated.”

“I did not assign that task to you.”

“A new guest is arriving at the castle. I thought I should oversee it personally.”

There was a subtle suggestion in her tone, almost as though she were the mistress of the house. However, Cadel did not seem particularly bothered by this implication.

What appeared to irritate him was the fact that she had taken on a task he had not given her.

Jaina tried to shake off the bitter weight settling in her chest as she listened to their exchange.

But then—

“The rainy season begins again next week. Since we’re already repairing the bedroom, I thought it would be best to renovate our room as well.”

‘Our room.’

The words struck her like a blow.

Only then did the memory come rushing back, clear and merciless.

On rainy nights, her husband would abandon her and go to the bedroom where this woman was waiting for him.

The image brought back the jealousy she had tried so hard to bury, and it surged back to life.

‘Ah… I still…’

She had not rid herself of it at all.

Not even after she died.

Not even when she came back.

She still envied Violet.

“Is that necessary?”

Cadel’s reply was indifferent.

“You’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. It would be better to replace the bed with something more comfortable.”

Cadel gave a slow nod, his expression remaining impenetrable.

Then, he gently pressed his large hand against Jaina’s back, urging her forward once more. The moment his palm touched her, an indescribable sensation spread through her body and pierced her heart.

With her jealousy towards Violet still burning inside her, doubt surged unabated.

‘Can I truly live here again?’

The question wouldn’t leave her alone.

Desperate for an answer, she forced herself to think rationally.

Ultimately, she came to a conclusion: The Symbol of Binding was necessary.

Marriage could not be avoided. However, if she did not live in the Grand Ducal Castle itself, perhaps she might be able to endure it.

And then—

“I also bought chemises without lace, since you said the lace on mine bothered you, Lord Cadel.”

Her steps halted instantly.

‘Chemise.’

And—

‘Lord Cadel.’

Those two words alone were enough.

Her face hardened at once.

“Tch. Meaningless chatter.”

Cadel clicked his tongue in annoyance and nudged her forward again.

Jaina resumed climbing the stairs. But each step felt unbearably heavy. It was as though she had stones tied to her shoes. Her heart had already plummeted into an endless, lightless abyss.

‘Ah… I almost forgot this.’

It had been so long since she had felt this way that the realization hit her hard.

The suffocating anger.

The humiliating jealousy.

The fury she could barely contain.

She had foolishly believed that she had left those emotions behind.

The discomfort.

The humiliation.

All the despair she had endured within these walls came flooding back, as though her blood were flowing in reverse.

‘Ah…’

Her feet refused to move.

The realization that she had entered this h*ll once again made it difficult to breathe.

This place!

These people!

The man beside her.

The woman behind them.

They were the demons that had slowly eaten away at her sanity.

She had forgotten that.

Foolishly.

“Why.”

Cadel’s voice cut through her stillness as she stood frozen to the spot. Rather than answering, she lifted her gaze and looked coldly at the shameless man before her.

Then she turned her head and glanced down at Violet, who was standing not far below the stairs.

Violet was staring directly at her.

The moment their eyes met, Violet’s expression darkened.

The hostility that had been visible from the outset spread openly across her face.

‘Ah… so this woman…’

It was only then that Jaina understood.

Violet had disliked her from the outset. Since Jaina had felt the same way about Violet, she could hardly call it unfair. But to Violet, Jaina was someone she had only just met.

Glaring at a stranger so openly and chipping away at her pride with barely concealed hostility crossed a line.

Especially since Jaina was not just a guest, but Cadel’s fiancée.

Everyone in the castle knew that.

No matter how close Violet was to Cadel as the nurse’s daughter, she had no right to treat Jaina so brazenly.

Even if she believed she held Cadel’s heart.

The woman who would stand beside Cadel as his lawful wife was not Violet.

It was Jaina.

“It seems the servants of the Grand Ducal Castle address their master by name.”

She chose to highlight one of the two words that had bothered her. In the past, she would never have dared to speak up like this.

However, now that she had returned to the past, she no longer felt obligated to endure what was clearly wrong.

Endurance had never brought her recognition.

Nor had it ever changed anything.

Ironically, it was only after she had died that she realized it was always the person who endured in silence who ended up wounded.

It was true — she was not yet formally the Grand Duchess.

She did not have that authority.

However, she had been brought here personally by the master of this castle.

She was not an insignificant outsider.

For Violet to speak so boldly and disrespectfully in her presence was undeniably improper.

‘Does this foolish man truly not see that?’

‘Or does he see it—and simply allow it because she is the woman he favors?’

In the past, she would have remained silent out of a desperate desire to appear agreeable to Cadel. But she was no longer that woman.

She had no reason to put on a pleasant façade. Nor did she have any reason to tolerate rudeness from people who treated her badly.

“Violet is—”

Cadel began, his eyes shifting awkwardly as his voice trailed off.

When Jaina looked at him directly, silently urging him to continue, he exhaled and finished.

“As you know, Violet is my nurse’s daughter. She is… someone necessary to me.”

“And that grants her the right to address her master by name in front of the guest who arrived at his side?”

“Forgive me, Saintess.”

Before Cadel could respond, Violet bowed from the foot of the stairs, her apology swift and precise.

“I was foolish enough to show discourtesy to my lord’s guest. Please forgive me.”

Violet clasped her hands together and lowered her gaze, trying to look as pitiful as possible.

Jaina watched her, feeling anger rise once more from deep within her abdomen. To an outside observer, Violet was the victim and Jaina was the villain.

Violet was the gentle victim who had been wronged. Yet Jaina had only spoken the truth.

“There’s no need to nitpick something like that. We have more important matters to attend to, Jaina.”

And the foolish man was, as always, moving to shield the “kind” woman from the “cruel” one. A hollow laugh nearly escaped Jaina’s lips.

‘Yes. It was always like this.’

Whenever she mentioned Violet, he became irritated and told her not to speak nonsense or trouble herself over trivial matters.

Even after he returned to the past, that part of him had not changed.

There was no reason for it to change.

From the outset, he had never felt any obligation to explain anything about Violet. After they married, she learned from Adil why he went to Violet’s room whenever it rained.

That alone had been enough.

Cadel had always been sharp and almost defensive when it came to Violet.

Looking back now, Jaina wondered if that sharpness had been born of despair — the despair of loving a woman he could never marry openly.

No matter how much she was cherished, the nurse’s daughter could never become the Grand Duchess of the North.

No matter how deeply they loved each other, marriage between them would have been almost impossible.

So perhaps the answer had been simple: Install a Grand Duchess in name only.

Continue their love in secret.

A saint like her —

— would have been perfectly suited to the role.

Before they married, he had secured her quiet agreement to overlook his visits to Violet’s room. Ultimately, she was nothing more than a shield — someone meant to protect their secret love from the world.

‘And like a fool… I fell in love with him anyway.’

It was all her fault. She had fallen for a man who could never see her in that way.

Jaina clicked her tongue softly at her own foolishness. Now she had returned and knew everything, she would not make the same mistake again.

A quiet breath of relief escaped her.

“Let’s go.”

Hearing her long sigh, Cadel urged her on.

Jaina resumed climbing the stairs.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him gesture subtly towards Violet, indicating that she should leave.

If the conversation took an unfavorable turn, he would change the subject or end it altogether. Even after reprimanding Violet in front of a guest, he was quietly looking after her.

This only served to reinforce one thought in Jaina’s mind.

‘Yes. In the end, it was my stupidity.’

‘A man like you… I should never have loved you. Not even for a single day.’

All she had to do was refuse to lead such a foolish life again.

Her heart still throbbed with the remnants of unfinished affection. However, when she thought back to the days when the pain had become so intense that she had chosen death, even that lingering ache seemed repugnant.

‘No matter what happens, I will never repeat the same mistake.’

As she climbed toward the third-floor bedchamber, she repeated the vow over and over in her mind.

***

“You remember, I assume. On rainy days, I will be staying in Violet’s room.”

The moment they stepped inside the chamber that would now be hers, Cadel spoke.

Her heart, already cold after meeting Violet, froze at his words. She had known. Of course she had known. But hearing them directly from him made the reality hit home far harder.

“I would expect nothing less.”

The faint edge of sarcasm slipped out before she could stop herself.

Cadel’s expression hardened instantly.

“Jaina.”

“I know. I knew before, and I know now. So there’s no need to repeat it.”

Not wanting to start a fight, she quickly cut him off before he could give her a warning. It should have ended there. However, in an attempt to reassure her, the foolish man only made things worse.

“You also remember this—there is absolutely no need for you to concern yourself with Violet.”

‘Nonsense.’

Jaina fixed him with a cold stare.

“I cannot explain everything in detail, but Violet is someone I absolutely need—”

She had no desire to listen to more of this hollow justification.

So she cut him off.

“Let’s use separate rooms from the beginning.”