“It’s already been several days.”

The secretary let out a sigh as they flipped through the stack of documents in hand. The pile was quite thick, filled with various matters—contract agreements, project approvals, even upcoming proposals. All of them were essential to the progress of the estate’s affairs.

And yet, the one person who needed to review them all had shut himself inside the mansion, refusing to come out for nearly a week.

“It’s a relief that Her Ladyship has regained consciousness, but…”

Another sigh escaped.

When news first spread that the duke had lost his heir, the shock lingered for a long time. The child had lived for barely two months before passing away.

Those who had been waiting a long time for news of an heir were filled with grief and confusion. Needless to say, none of this could compare to the sorrow endured by the duke and his wife.

A week passed — perhaps two.

Overwhelmed by the loss, Her Ladyship withdrew completely into the mansion. There were quiet discussions about whether the child should be buried at all, but ultimately, the matter was resolved once the child had been laid to rest in the family burial grounds.

Little by little, life began to return to normal.

The Duke of Lukehardt seemed colder and more distant, but aside from that, there were no significant changes. The household accepted its new master and adapted to a new way of doing things. Everything gradually fell into place under the new lord.

And then—

Her Ladyship awoke.

It should have been a moment of celebration.

Although the loss of a child was indescribable, no one could be consumed by grief forever. The greater one’s authority, the more vital it was to have heirs — many heirs — to carry on the name and lead those who followed.

Silently, everyone wished for the same thing: that Her Ladyship would recover quickly and bear a new heir.

It was around that time—

— that the Duke of Lukehardt began to change.

At first, it was only for a day. With the lady of the house having regained consciousness, it was only natural for him to remain by her side.

Then one day became two. Two became three. And when it stretched beyond two weeks, whispers arose once more.

“Does he not realize how critical this time is?”

That same man, who had once been so cold and rational, was now acting this way over just one woman.

The secretary recalled the first time they had met Delphius. They say you can glimpse a person’s true nature in their expression. But Delphius had never been easy to read.

His face revealed nothing. His eyes seemed to analyze everything before him; they were sharp enough to cut through any pretense. There was something about him that made it feel as though nothing could escape his notice.

If anyone was born to stand at the very top, it was a man like him.

And the secretary’s instincts had been right.

Delphius’s calm, precise and logical approach to his work inspired unparalleled confidence in his subordinates.

He was the most deserving recipient of the name Lukehardt — the man meant to sit at its pinnacle.

Having decided to serve him alone, the secretary had followed him for years, steadily climbing to their current position. In all that time, they believed they had seen many sides of him.

And yet—

“I’ve never seen him like this before… especially someone who had no interest in social affairs…”

Had he ever shown such an irrational obsession before?

No.

The secretary shook their head firmly.

Delphius had always been very clear about what belonged to him and what did not. If something was his, he would claim it by any means necessary. But the moment he decided it was not his, he would not spare it a second glance.

Yet now, he was hesitating over something that was already firmly in his grasp, clinging to it as though he could not bring himself to let go. Even stranger, he clung to something that could never be taken by anyone else.

To say he had simply been bewitched by a woman seemed inadequate. From what the secretary had observed, Her Ladyship was not particularly beautiful. There was something clear and pure about her, but nothing more. This made it even harder to understand what truly lay in his lord’s mind.

He was not a man who failed to distinguish reason.

Eventually, he would come to his senses.

But when?

The secretary lowered their gaze to the stack of documents in their arms. Even the daily reports had piled up to this extent. Beyond these, there were countless other matters and urgent decisions that required immediate attention.

They could not rely on paperwork alone forever.

Some business partners had already begun to slip away, lured by competitors who were quick to seize the opportunity created by this silence.

At this rate, there would come a day when everything would be shaken to its core.

The secretary let out another deep sigh.

For now, all they could do was hope that their lord would regain his clarity of mind soon.

—

Delphius gently brushed his fingers along Ilenia’s cheek.

He tucked back her hair, strand by strand, but the distinction hardly mattered as she smiled softly, tickled by the touch.

“Mm… what time is it now?”

“Why are you curious about that?”

“You’re making me lose track of time. I can’t even tell if it’s day or night… not even what day it is anymore.”

“It’s not something that matters right now.”

Delphius traced her cheek again, his hand lingering. The slight softness he had carefully nurtured on her body under his constant care and watchful attention stirred faintly beneath his palm.

“But…”

“Are you worried about what’s outside?”

“Ah…!”

Ilenia trembled faintly. She could clearly feel him moving slowly inside her. With his body pressed between her damp thighs, she found the contrast between his gentle, teasing touch and the deliberate rhythm of his movements almost absurd, yet it was no longer unfamiliar to her.

“But we’ve been in the bedroom for too long.”

“Do you feel suffocated?”

“It’s not that, but…”

Who would feel confined in such a spacious room? It was larger than the home she had lived in for twenty years. Sunlight streamed through wide windows, and there was even a small terrace attached.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s just… other people…”

“What about them?”

“They’ll start talking. Saying we’ve been locked away in the bedroom for days.”

“You should be precise. It’s not like we’ve stayed only in the bedroom—we’ve been to the dining room and the bath as well.”

There was a trace of laughter in his voice.

“Strictly speaking, we’ve done everything necessary to live properly, so there’s nothing for anyone to criticize.”

“…Even in the dining room, and the bath… we ended up together anyway.”

“That was unavoidable.”

“In what way is that—”

“Your loveliness?”

Ilenia froze, her lips parting as she forgot how to respond. Whenever he spoke to her like that, so suddenly and directly, she could only stare at him in stunned silence.

She had heard those same words countless times from her parents.

And yet, why did they feel so different when they came from him?

Why did her chest tighten so painfully, as if something were gripping her heart?

This love was nothing like the love she had experienced with her mother and father. It unsettled her, stirring emotions she couldn’t understand, which rose and fell beyond her control.

And still—

— she didn’t hate this overwhelming feeling.

With his broad frame hovering above her, carefully braced on his arms so as not to crush her, she found something unexpectedly gentle in it — enough to make her smile without her realizing.

“See? You can’t smile like that and then ask me for a reason.”

“That’s not the answer I was hoping for—mm…!”

She gasped sharply as the sensation suddenly intensified. Any restraint he had previously displayed had disappeared, his movements becoming more deliberate and silencing her completely.

It almost felt as if he was doing it on purpose, silencing her completely.

Ilenia shot him a glare, but it quickly faded.

The strength of his hold and the intensity of his movements drew more than just her voice away from her. Her arms, now weak, trembled faintly in the air before falling, the last of her strength leaving her.

His firm thighs pressed against her legs, forcing them apart as he pulled her fully into him.

Reason had long since slipped away. Only instinct remained to guide them. Like creatures driven by something deeper than thought, they remained locked together, unable to separate.

Each time he moved without restraint, refusing even the slightest gap between them, the bed creaked beneath them. Its legs scraped faintly against the floor, and the quiet, intimate sounds only grew louder in the stillness.

“Ah…!”

The moment he cl*maxed inside her, Ilenia arched her back and let out a trembling cry. Time and again, a warmth spread through her — so many times that she lost count.

A soft, unrestrained sound escaped her lips as Delphius finally lifted himself away.

For a moment, it felt like the early days of their marriage again, when they would spend entire days like this, lost in each other and carefree.

It was as though they had returned to a time she had once longed for with all her heart.

And yet—

Something felt slightly off.

Even in that fullness, a faint, unshakable emptiness lingered beneath it all.

“……”

At a faint sound drifting from somewhere, Ilenia turned her head.

“What is it?”

“…Don’t you hear something strange?”

“What kind of sound?”

Instead of answering, she stared at the closed door for a long moment.

‘No… that can’t be.’

There was no way something like that could be here.

She slowly shook her head.

“…No. It’s nothing.”