“Nothing.”

Despite his answer, her gaze lingered on him, unwavering.

He knew.

He knew exactly what kind of answer Ariella wanted.

He just didn’t feel like giving it so easily.

“…Fine. I suppose I should at least thank you for making things easier for me.”

“You’re welcome.”

Having finally gotten what she wanted, Ariella smiled with quiet satisfaction.

“You can be more grateful, you know. I’ll be keeping careful track of this debt.”

Debt.

Delphius let out a dry, hollow laugh.

“If we’re talking about settling accounts, shouldn’t we do it properly?”

“Settling accounts?”

“I hear you’ve been quite busy while I wasn’t looking, making quite a spectacle of things.”

“Ah, that? I wondered what you meant.”

Ariella waved it off as if it were nothing.

“What’s wrong with saying in advance what’s bound to happen anyway?”

“You’d better choose your words more carefully, Lady Calante. I have no intention of remarrying—nor of divorcing.”

Ariella’s lips curled into a pout.

What was there to like about that woman anyway?

She was completely incapable of standing on her own two feet. She might have seemed like she was trying and doing this and that, but ultimately she was still just a commoner.

Someone Ariella had despised since birth.

And that was exactly why she could never understand Delphius.

He had once been the Lukehardt family’s shame, yet now he was their duke. Given how hard he had tried to bury his past, it would have been only natural for him to distance himself from anything that reminded him of it.

And yet—

For some reason, whenever Delphius encountered something as fragile and helpless as his former self, he softened.

Like flowers.

Or his wife, Ilenia Hildebalt.

Ariella could not understand why he would give his heart to something so useless.

“…Well, do as you please. As of today, you owe me. And I fully intend to make use of that debt.”

“That was your own doing.”

“Are you going to keep acting like this?”

There was genuine frustration in Ariella’s voice now, her expression betraying it clearly—even without him trying to read her.

“Be honest—do you really believe I acted alone? Even among your own vassals, those who trust and support you, there were people who agreed to this. Or have you already forgotten that the most powerful figures in the Mateo Empire are watching you?”

“The fact that you desire me probably played the biggest role.”

“If not me, then who?!”

Ariella shot back sharply.

“Who else would put up with you? Who would tolerate someone as flawed as you, and still offer you unwavering support and protection?”

“And what—are you saying you didn’t benefit from any of this? That you only gave, without taking anything in return?”

Delphius suppressed a laugh.

It was obvious that Ariella had been the one leading it all from the front.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. My decision won’t change.”

“Delphi.”

“….”

“Delphius.”

Only then did his reluctant gaze shift towards her.

The plain look of displeasure he gave Ariella never changed.

It was the same look he gave strangers.

Delphius’s eyes had never changed since childhood.

‘How can he be so cold?’

No matter how much he insisted that he didn’t recognize someone, he could still tell who was standing before him.

Ariella finally understood why the former Lady of Lukehardt had once screamed that Delphius was a monster.

She understood why the former Lady of Lukehardt had screamed such a thing.

What must she have felt in that moment?

Because right now, she wanted to call him a monster, too.

She wanted to so much that she could hardly endure it.

“So don’t push it too far.”

“I am trying.”

“…Even now, with a single word from me, I could have those two thrown out of the territory for good.”

Only then did his expression begin to change.

Cracks slowly formed across the rigid mask he wore.

Watching this, Ariella’s face twisted as if she had swallowed something bitter.

Ultimately, even this reaction of his was tied to Ilenia.

Just because of her.

Her warped emotions coiled endlessly inside her.

“…Do you mean that?”

“Have you ever known me to say something I wouldn’t follow through with?”

No.

Delphius knew her well.

If she spoke like this, she would undoubtedly make it happen, no matter what it took.

Driving out two commoners from the territory would be effortless.

Lady Kurdy was still bedridden with a high fever.

Her husband was clearly in desperate need of rest, too.

“…Ha.”

Delphius exhaled sharply, running a hand roughly through his hair.

“What is it you want?”

“Just one thing.”

‘Look only at me.’

‘Abandon someone like Ilenia… and come back to me.’

“….”

She could barely stop herself from saying those words.

It was still too soon.

If she could just wait a little longer, all the obstacles would disappear.

When that moment came, Delphius would have no choice but to agree.

Delphius would have no choice but to see, to see who truly belonged at his side.

Biting down on the inside of her cheek, she endured in silence, waiting for the day he would finally return from his long detour.

“Come with me to the banquet in two days. You’re not allowed to leave midway. We enter together—and we leave together.”

Ariella added softly,

“That’s all I ask for.”

“You’d better keep your word.”

There was no reason why she wouldn’t.

After that, they would be together forever.

Ariella nodded.

The crescent marks on her palm throbbed inside her tightly clenched fist.

***

Contrary to his expectations, he did not find Ilenia anywhere upon arriving in Ouk.

She was small and quiet, not someone who would wander far.

Or so he had believed.

But that reasoning could only carry him so far.

As he failed to uncover even the faintest trace of her, a growing restlessness took hold of Delphius.

The only reason he had remained so composed after her disappearance was his overwhelming possessiveness. He had dismissed it as nothing more than a fleeting act of defiance.

After all, he believed that there was nowhere for Ilenia to go and that she could only return to his side.

He had believed it without question.

She would come back to him of her own accord.

It was a conviction he couldn’t fully explain — stubborn, absolute and unshakable.

But something was wrong.

No matter how many times he described Ilenia’s appearance, people only tilted their heads in confusion.

Most claimed they had never seen her. And even when someone thought they had, it always turned out to be a mistake.

‘This can’t go on like this…’

Just as his growing impatience began to give way to unease—

“Ah… could it be that person?”

At someone’s sudden remark, Delphius’s head snapped toward the voice.

The man scratched his head, trying to grasp at a hazy memory.

“You know—the one who’s been staying at the fish shop lately. I didn’t get a good look at her, so I can’t be sure… but the more I think about it, the more it feels like she might be that woman.”

“Ah, the one who’s always staring out at the sea?”

“She definitely looked like an outsider.”

It’s Ilenia.

A powerful certainty struck him.

Without even a moment to steady the surge of emotion crashing into him, Delphius grabbed the man by the shoulder.

“Where is this fish shop?”

***

“The departure has been moved up due to the worsening weather. If you want to leave, you must go now.”

At the sudden change of plans, Ilenia blinked.

Her grip loosened on the basket she had been holding with Delma, preparing for an early dinner.

“W-wait a moment…”

“If you miss this ship as well, I won’t be able to help you anymore.”

The man’s voice was firm.

Even so, as Ilenia hesitated, Delma stepped forward and gently reassured her.

“Don’t worry too much. From what I heard, it’s only the nearby waters that are rough. Once you set sail, it should calm down.”

Her hand—small yet steady—rested warmly against Ilenia’s back.

“That’s just how the sea is.”

Delma’s gaze drifted toward the ocean beyond the window.

“It may look peaceful, but it’s unpredictable… even temperamental. It gives generously, yet it’s not always kind.”

Most of the people in Ouk lived within the embrace of the sea.

Delma’s family was no different.

At times, nature turned fickle—but in the end, it still held and sustained those who lived within it.

Delma smiled gently at Ilenia.

“If fate allows, we’ll meet again.”

“…You’re leaving already?”

Following the tug on her skirt, Ilenia lowered her gaze.

A child was looking up at her, eyes brimming with tears.

“You said you’d stay for dinner… and sleep over.”

“…I was going to. But I have to leave now.”

“U…ugh…”

Was that one word—leaving—so painful?

The child couldn’t even form proper sentences before bursting into tears.

Sobbing with trembling shoulders and a runny nose, the child cried until, finally, nestled in Delma’s arms, the shaking slowly subsided.

“I’ll come visit again next time.”

“P-please… promise.”

“…I promise.”

It was a promise that might never come true.

As she stepped out of the house, the reddish glow of sunset washed over her. Even though she had only stayed a short while, the home she had grown attached to slowed her steps.

“It’s time to go.”

The man, who had seen Ilenia’s belongings before, picked up her neatly packed bag without a second thought.

Though Delma had tried to prepare more for her, the bag remained light in his hands.

After walking for a while, Ilenia instinctively brushed her hand—then froze.

“…Where is it?”

The ring that her mother, Lady Kurdy, had given her had disappeared.

She searched the pockets of all her outer clothing, but it was nowhere to be found.

After rummaging through her clothes several times, she gave up.

Only then did she remember.

Earlier, she had taken it out, hoping for good fortune, and must have left it on the table.

“Wait a moment. I’ll go get what I forgot.”

She turned on her heel and hurried back. She could abandon everything else, but she could not abandon her mother’s ring.

As she ran towards Delma’s house, she caught sight of someone.

She stopped.

First, her legs froze.

Then her gaze.

Finally, her breath.

The face of someone she could never forget stood right before her.