The rainy season had come early.

Before the heat of summer had fully settled in, the rains began to pour—as if a hole had opened in the sky itself.

“It really doesn’t stop, does it?”

Marlenda glanced out the window, her voice tinged with exhaustion, remarking that even an umbrella was useless in such relentless rain.

“I heard you’re leaving on a trip today. With the rain falling like this… will you really be alright?”

“It’s fine. Just going is enough for me.”

Ilenia answered more readily than usual—quickly, and without hesitation.

“You said you’re going to Ouk, right?”

“Yes. It’s my first trip.”

“Your first trip, and it’s to the sea in the rain… how romantic.”

“Delphius was the one who suggested we go first. Ah—I didn’t even tell him that I like the sea, and yet he…”

The doctor looked at Ilenia with quiet fondness. The young lady, who could now talk about herself so freely and easily, was simply endearing.

When she first heard that her patient would be a noblewoman, she was so nervous that she could barely speak. And when she learned that the noblewoman was a very important one, she nearly said, ‘I can’t do this.’

Why would someone like that come to a small, insignificant place like this?

Since settling here, she had hardly practiced as a physician in any real sense. At most, she had helped village women with childbirth. As for consultations, she mostly listened to the quiet complaints of people with no one else to confide in.

Then, into Marlenda’s calm and uneventful life, the Duchess arrived like a storm.

It was the day she was practically forced to take on a patient by an overbearing subordinate.

The moment she first met Ilenia, Marlenda made her decision.

‘I have to help this person.’

Had it really been so long since then?

Not a day had passed without her coming to this house. The woman who had once sat in silence with her gaze lowered, unable to meet Marlenda’s eyes, was now looking at her. Sometimes she even smiled.

The more she opened her heart, the more her true nature was revealed.

Perhaps not quite like a noble, but undoubtedly someone who had been raised with kindness and quiet integrity.

Marlenda looked at Ilenia and smiled softly, hoping the smile she had returned would last a long time.

“When you watch the waves rolling in, it feels as though your heart is being cleansed without your realizing it. I hope you’ll find that beauty appealing too, milady.”

“Have you seen the sea before?”

“I have… when I went to see my son off.”

Ah.

Come to think of it, she was Raymond’s mother.

Only then did Ilenia recall his face—so strikingly similar—and quietly understood.

They ended the consultation a little earlier than usual to prepare for the trip. Along with a somewhat hopeful diagnosis—that her sleeping medication could now be reduced to every other day—Ilenia rose from her seat.

Just then, the sky rumbled.

“Oh my, it’s even thundering now…”

At Marlenda’s worried voice, Ilenia lifted her head. For a brief moment, it seemed as though a flicker of light shimmered through the dark, heavy clouds.

“It will stop raining by the time we leave.”

Marlenda forced a gentle smile.

Hoping the same, Ilenia nodded.

Before opening the door, Marlenda—holding the coat the maid had dried for her and an umbrella—turned her head to look at Ilenia.

“I hope you have a wonderful trip.”

“Thank you. I’ll be back safely.”

As soon as the door opened, fierce winds and heavy rain rushed in. Marlenda snapped open her umbrella and stepped out.

More slowly than usual.

As she watched her figure gradually disappear into the storm, she pressed a hand to her chest, overwhelmed by excitement.

Excitement. Anticipation.

Caught between these two emotions, her heart beat faster than it had in a long time.

That steady, pleasant rhythm caused her lips to soften into a faint smile.

How long had it been since she’d felt like this?

A small part of her wondered if it was all right to feel this way. But then she remembered the doctor’s advice: not to overthink it, but simply to allow herself to feel.

She shook her head.

Delphius would be here soon.

She couldn’t just sit and wait.

Ilenia stood up. Even though her bag was already packed, she felt the need to check it again.

But Delphius didn’t come.

The storm only grew worse.

The wind and rain were so violent that it was impossible to go outside.

“Oh my… just look at this rain.”

The maid, who had briefly gone out, returned completely soaked and shaking the water off in shock. She muttered in disbelief, saying that she had only gone as far as the chicken coop at the front of the house and hadn’t expected to get so wet.

“It’s pouring like this… it doesn’t look like it’ll stop anytime soon.”

Muttering to herself that she should check if any windows had been left open, the maid hurried off again.

Ilenia stared quietly at the door the maid had just come through.

“Will Delphius be able to make it here safely…?”

Outside, it was no longer a place where anyone could reasonably walk. Thick tree trunks bent violently under the force of the wind, as if they might snap at any moment.

The rattling windows clattered noisily.

Whoooosh—

The sound of wind and rain slipping through the gaps felt eerily desolate.

“Milady, it’s dangerous to stand too close to the window.”

After finishing her check of the second floor, the maid came down the stairs and spoke.

Despite her warning, however, Ilenia couldn’t bring herself to move away from the window.

There was still no sign of a carriage beyond the door.

No sign of Delphius either.

And yet, it was almost time for their appointment.

“Master won’t be able to come in weather like this either. It’s hard enough just to stand upright—no matter how sturdy a train may be, it won’t be able to push through such terrible conditions.”

As if she had read Ilenia’s thoughts, the maid gently tried to comfort her.

“Let’s wait until the weather clears.”

Muttering about the cold wind seeping through the cracks, the maid insisted on pulling Ilenia away from the window.

When the maid left to prepare some warm tea, the sound of the wind returned to fill her ears.

Whoooosh—

At times, it almost sounded like the cry of a child, unsettling her heart.

‘No’.

Ilenia shook her head firmly.

‘The weather is just too harsh. That’s why Delphius can’t come. Once the rain stops… he’ll come. When the thunder and lightning pass, he’ll come find me.’

Even if that happened, there would still be time to prepare for the trip again.

She could take the bag she had already packed and buy a new train ticket at the station. That would become a fond memory, too.

As for the ticket Delphius had bought in advance, she could keep that as a memento.

She could punch a small hole in it, tie a ribbon through and use it as a bookmark.

‘This is fine… isn’t it?’

Ilenia lifted her gaze towards the sky, as though searching for an answer. But the voice she used to comfort herself remained silent.

The next day—

And the day after that—

Delphius still did not come.

The rainy season came and went as it pleased, pouring down one moment and clearing the next as if nothing had happened. The heavy rains that had once made travel impossible were long gone.

On the third day, Ilenia tore her train ticket into pieces.

Even the fragments drifting to the floor irritated her. She stepped on them, crushing them beneath her feet.

But that didn’t last long.

Soon, she stopped.

None of it meant anything.

She tore a ticket that was already useless.

She was waiting for someone who would never come.

It was all just empty, pointless action after empty, pointless action.

This small house was no different.

She should have left it behind from the start.

And yet he had brought her here, to this quiet, comfortable town.

The lock, hidden behind reasonable words, had become another prison.

She had known it from the beginning.

She had always known that: That everything was decided by him.

By Delphius.

By his will. His desires.

On impulse, Ilenia rushed out of the house.

It didn’t matter that she was still wearing her indoor clothes.

“M-Milady! Where are you going all of a sudden?!”

The maid, who had been gathering the laundry, was startled and grabbed Ilenia’s arm. When Ilenia told her sharply to let go, the frightened maid immediately released her and lowered her head.

Ilenia kept her gaze fixed straight ahead.

For some reason, the clear blue sky felt unbearable that day.

The grass was thick and damp with moisture.

It was the quiet arrival of summer that she hadn’t even noticed.

She hated it all.

Everything before her repulsed her, so she walked without direction.

For a while, the noise of the village followed her.

But once she had left it behind, even that faded into silence.

Forward.

Just forward.

With no destination or purpose, she simply followed where her feet led her.

Eventually, she arrived at a hill that she had visited once before.

It was the place where, at sunset, she had stretched out her fingers towards the village below, amazed at how small it looked from above.

Back then, everything had seemed to shimmer.

Now—

—everything looked distant.

Blurred.

And out of reach.

‘Would it look different if I got a little closer?’

Like reaching for a jar of sweets placed just out of reach atop a high shelf. Ilenia stretched out her hand.

At that very moment—

“—!”

A sharp shout rang out, and someone seized her hand, yanking it back with force.