She almost reached out without thinking.

Even among the crowd, he stood out too clearly.

That was why her gaze was drawn to him so easily.

Her steps came to a halt, and Ilenia simply stared.

Delphius looked… hurried.

After giving orders to the one attending him, he fixed his gaze forward again. Even in the thick crowd, he moved with minimal motion, slipping smoothly between people.

It didn’t seem like he even considered the possibility that Ilenia might be here.

Even after leaving the platform, he took out his pocket watch, clicking it open as he checked the time with visible impatience.

It was then that their eyes met.

Just for a fleeting moment.

But she was certain.

Those sharp, golden eyes had swept over her—from head to toe.

Across the street, their gazes crossed.

For a brief instant, a thought flickered through her mind.

‘What if everything Ariella said… was a lie?’

What if it had all been fabricated, a desperate attempt to create a connection with Delphius?

A lie, twisted and shaped to deceive someone who knew nothing?

Delphius had looked at her.

Even Ilenia, dull as she was, could tell that much, that in that brief moment, his gaze had passed over her.

‘Please…Let it all be a lie.’

But what if that arrogant daughter of Calante, who already had everything, had simply made it all up to get her hands on Delphius? She was the kind of person who would greedily take what belonged to others.

If only—

“……”

Ilenia stared blankly ahead.

It lasted only a moment.

A black carriage stopped briefly in front of Delphius and just as quickly, it was gone.

In that short span of time he had disappeared.

‘Our eyes met. He saw me. He looked right at me.’

She wasn’t surprised.

And yet, the emptiness in her chest remained, unfilled.

“…He really can’t see.”

Ariella hadn’t been lying.

It was true—

Delphius couldn’t recognize faces.

“Milady, I’ve called the carriage.”

At the maid’s voice, Ilenia nodded.

A moment later, her carriage set off, just a step behind his.

Leaving the paved road behind, it rolled onto the dirt path.

The moment she stepped inside, her arm was seized.

“Where did you go?”

There was no need to lift her head.

Ilenia brushed aside the hair that had fallen over her face with her free hand.

“I had something to take care of, so I stepped out for a bit.”

“Something? What kind of business?”

“I went to send some letters.”

“Ah. Letters.”

He muttered, recalling the sheets of paper he had seen scattered around the bedroom.

“There’s no one for you to write to, is there?”

“I sent one to my mother. There’s something I needed to ask.”

“And me?”

Only then did Ilenia lift her gaze.

“Is there nothing you’re curious about—when it comes to me?”

There was so much.

Far too much she wanted to ask him.

How he had come to lose the ability to recognize faces. Why he never told her, even as her reputation in the capital crumbled because of it. Whether it was true—that he was already moving forward with remarriage to Ariella without even divorcing her.

Why…why he had never told her the truth.

“…No.”

Her voice was calm.

“We live together. What would there be to be curious about?”

“Even if you don’t have any… I do.”

“……”

“What you ate today. Whether you slept well. What you did after waking up. Why you suddenly decided to write letters.”

Slowly releasing her arm, he lifted her as if picking her up.

“Ilenia. When it comes to you, I’m curious about every little thing. And yet… you have nothing?”

“…Nothing.”

“I see.”

He accepted it without even saying he was hurt.

Gently, he set her back down.

Pressing a brief kiss to her exposed forehead, he reminded her that next time, she should send someone to deliver her letters.

As he lightly smoothed out her clothes, Ilenia felt something unfamiliar stir within her.

His face—always striking, no matter how many times she saw it—filled her vision.

It had been one of the few things that had remained unchanged from the very beginning.

Once, even looking directly at that face had been difficult.

She still remembered their first night, how awkward it had felt to be with him, how she had drunk again and again just to endure it.

But now, it was different.

Being close to him felt as natural as breathing.

Being with him no longer felt unfamiliar.

Only then did she realize, she had spent more time with him than with her own parents, more than with most of her school friends.

‘I won’t be able to see this face anymore, will I…’

With the little time she had left, she didn’t want to argue with him anymore.

Just as she had suffered, he had also suffered in his own way.

“I did think of you… sometimes.”

At her quiet words, Delphius’s head snapped toward her.

“What do you mean? Who else?”

“Who else would I have, other than you?”

“There are too many things you love for me to count.”

“It’s not like that.”

Ilenia stepped closer to him.

The two words written so plainly across his face—unexpected and surprised—were strangely amusing.

“I’m sorry for making you uneasy.”

“…So Lady Calante did say something to you.”

Just as she had expected, Delphius already knew that Ariella had come to this small house.

Ilenia answered as if it were nothing.

“Of course not. She didn’t say much.”

“Ariella would never move without a purpose.”

“She said she simply needed someone to talk to. That there was no one else she could speak with about you, Delphius.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

Most of what Ariella had said had been about a future with Delphius in it.

“And besides, I’ve been away from home for a long time, haven’t I? I was curious about what had been happening.”

“You said before that you didn’t want to go.”

“Maybe I just wanted to be capricious for once.”

“And what else did you talk about?”

“Nothing much. Half of it was trivial conversation, and the other half was about you, Delphius.”

Even after her answer, Delphius still didn’t look fully convinced.

Again and again, his fingers brushed over her cheek.

Ilenia knew, it was something he did whenever there was something he wanted to ask.

“If that’s all, then fine.”

But instead of asking the question, Delphius gave an answer.

And because he clearly wanted to keep things hidden, Ilenia chose not to press him either.

“Did you come early because of Lady Calante?”

“I can’t exactly say no.”

A hollow laugh spread through the sitting room.

“Weren’t you old friends?”

“Delphius.”

His voice, laced with restrained irritation, came closer to her face.

“If even you say something like that… I’d be hurt.”

“Try to get along with her. Relationships like that aren’t easy to come by…”

Before she could finish, his lips crashed against hers, stealing her breath.

Their tongues tangled, the familiar sensation of him overwhelming her.

As if accepting him entirely, Ilenia rose onto her toes.

Their lips parted only briefly, shallow breaths slipping between them as he drew her lower lip into his mouth. The hand that had been tangled in her hair drifted to her ear, gently toying with it.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as I have you, that’s enough.”

Without realizing it, Ilenia let out a small laugh.

Because it was the one thing that could never come true.

That was why she laughed.

When he remarked that she seemed to be in a good mood today, she simply smiled again.

Perhaps… her illness had improved.

If Marlenda knew, she would be so happy.

Unlike before, when she couldn’t even recall the past, her mind was now clear.

And so, it was easy for Ilenia to play the role of his obedient wife.

“Mmm…”

Thinking that this would be the last time, everything felt easier.

It almost felt like a lie that she had once been afraid of even being close to him.

This time, she was the one who stepped forward, opening her arms to him.

These lips, the arms that held her so warmly, the broad embrace that sheltered her. Knowing it might be the last time, she wanted to feel it all the more.

Perhaps it was nothing more than a pitiful kind of jealousy, the fear that it would soon be taken away from her.

Afterward, they took a walk in the garden. It was almost laughably small to be called a garden, but neither of them seemed to mind.

He found her little vegetable patch fascinating. He knew that crops grew—but watching the process itself seemed unfamiliar to him.

Growing slightly animated, Ilenia explained everything with care.

“This one is cabbage, and this one—I planted it just recently…”

Even as she spoke, she knew—that throughout it all, Delphius was only looking at her face.

Still, she continued earnestly.

It wasn’t such a bad time.

Maybe it was because she didn’t have to worry about how others saw her.

Their conversation flowed more easily than she expected.

‘If only there had been more moments like this…’

She didn’t say it.

Instead of voicing such clumsy thoughts. Ilenia showed it through her actions.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

At his third question, Ilenia gave her fourth answer—that she was fine.

She said she liked it here, and told him to finish his work quickly and come back to her.

“We’ve been sent by the Marquis of Calante.”

And so, when everything had finally been prepared, Ilenia was able to leave—light and unburdened.