Chapter 2

I flopped down onto the sofa.

As I kicked my legs back and forth, my shoes flew off and landed somewhere across the room.

Ah, my feet finally felt free.

“Phew. Now I can breathe.”

It was absolutely not something a perfect, elegant noblewoman would ever do.

But who cared?

There was nobody here to see me.

Hooking my knees over the armrest, I swung my legs lazily and glanced toward the mirror.

Perhaps because it had gotten wet and then dried, the hair on the left side of my head had become especially curly.

No matter how much I tugged on it, it refused to return to the beautiful waves I’d spent hours creating.

Out of habit, I wrapped a lock of hair around my finger.

It only became curlier.

“I don’t want to go back to the ballroom looking like this.”

The imperfect reflection irritated me.

But leaving for home immediately felt rude after the Duchess had kindly lent me a dress.

As I wasted time debating what to do, a faint tapping sound came from the window.

At first it was barely audible.

Gradually, however, it grew louder.

Soon it filled the entire room.

Shhhhhh—

I rose and walked to the window.

Strong winds bent the grass nearly flat against the ground while the trees swayed violently.

A flash of lightning illuminated the sky.

At the same moment, inspiration struck.

“The weather suddenly turned terrible, so it can’t be helped!”

If the rain got any worse, traveling home might become impossible.

I’d politely excuse myself and leave early.

Not because I desperately wanted to escape the ballroom, of course.

Definitely not.

Absolutely.

* * *

The moment I stepped out of the carriage at the mansion, the butler approached me.

“Madam, did you enjoy the ball?”

I had been on the verge of enjoying it.

I nodded anyway.

“Yes. It was pleasant as usual. Though the mansion seems rather dark.”

“Master retired early, so the lights were not lit. If you wish, I can wake the servants immediately—”

The butler turned as though ready to summon them.

I hurriedly stopped him.

“No, don’t wake anyone! I’m going straight to bed myself. Ah! Could you ask Cindy to prepare a warm bath instead?”

“Certainly, Madam.”

After handing me a lantern, the butler departed.

As the light from his own lantern faded into the distance, darkness flooded in from every side.

Perhaps because thick clouds covered the moon, the mansion seemed unusually dark tonight.

Rain was falling.

The atmosphere felt strangely eerie.

Maybe I should’ve asked him to light the lamps after all.

No, better yet, I should’ve asked him to send Cindy here!

But it was too late now.

The servants used separate corridors.

Even if I waited, Cindy wouldn’t come this way.

Let’s just hurry.

Cindy will be in my room. It’ll feel less creepy once I see her.

I quickened my pace and entered the second floor.

Swish. Drag. Swish. Drag.

Even the sound of my dress brushing against the floor felt ominous.

For some reason, the corridor seemed much longer than usual tonight.

I was walking while taking calming breaths when suddenly—

I felt someone’s gaze.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

I stopped immediately.

Looking around, I saw no one.

Only darkness stretched endlessly through the hallway.

Maybe I imagined it.

Tilting my head, I started walking again.

Then—

Flash!

For a brief instant, lightning illuminated a pair of eyes.

And then they vanished.

Someone had been watching me through the gap of a partially opened door.

I froze.

So startled that I forgot how to breathe.

A moment later, the door slammed shut.

I almost screamed before realizing whose room it was.

“Shite?”

I cautiously called my husband’s name.

The closed door slowly creaked open again.

Through the narrow gap stood a hunched figure.

His posture made him look far shorter than he actually was.

Messy gray hair hung limply around his face.

Between the strands, I caught sight of his pale, exhausted complexion.

His lifeless eyes seemed even more unsettling than usual tonight.

He looked sick.

“Are you alright? You don’t look well.”

“Ah… I… it’s not… not that I’m sick. I just… haven’t slept much. I had some work to do. I’m… I’m fine.”

Shite answered awkwardly.

As always, his eyes flickered repeatedly over my face and body.

At first, that habit had bothered me.

Now I’d grown used to it.

He wasn’t doing anything malicious.

He simply seemed to have a habit of looking at people out of the corner of his eye.

What caught my attention instead was something else.

“Are you going out?”

Shite was wearing a cloak.

That alone was astonishing.

He was the kind of person who kept even his laboratory hidden inside his room and ate most meals there.

Almost nobody entered or left his room.

Occasionally the butler delivered something.

That was all.

Simply seeing him in the hallway was rare.

But now he was standing there wearing a traveling cloak.

On a rainy night.

At this hour.

Why?

Curiosity got the better of me, and I took a step closer.

Immediately, Shite retreated into his room and slammed the door shut.

The gust from the impact struck my face.

My hair lifted briefly before settling again.

Then came the distinct sound of a lock turning.

Click.

I’d just been shut out right in front of my nose.

How rude.

Was I really that frightening?

Still, we weren’t close enough for me to chase after him and complain.

Besides, I was tired.

Forget it. I’ll just go to bed.

Letting out a quiet sigh, I walked past his room.

The moment I entered my own room, my personal maid emerged from the bathroom.

“Miss— Ah! No, no. Madam, you’re back. I’ll help you with your bath.”

Cindy corrected herself hastily after accidentally using the title she’d called me before my marriage.

“Thank you, Cindy.”

The moment I sank into the warm, fragrant water, my tension melted away.

The unpleasant emotions and exhaustion disappeared almost instantly.

After finishing my bath, I threw myself onto the soft bed.

Cindy extinguished the lights and quietly left the room.

I thought I’d immediately fall asleep.

Instead, an old memory returned as a nightmare.

Mother! Father! Did you come back to celebrate my birthday? I happened to have a cake ready today—

We’re busy right now. We can talk later, Arphes.

My name isn’t Arphes…

Dear, is your name more important than family matters?

My parents coldly interrupted me.

Then they slowly turned and looked directly at me.

Or do you think the dead will remember your name?

The same name we never bothered to remember while alive?

How ridiculous.

We never loved you.

Their faces began to collapse.

Twisting.

Distorting.

Blood pouring down their bodies.

Just like the moment they died beneath the wreckage of a crashed carriage.

“Gasp!”

I jolted awake.

My heart pounded violently.

I ran both hands through my hair and rubbed my face, trying to calm myself.

It didn’t help.

Holding my trembling body, I checked the time.

Four in the morning.

Outside was still dark.

I should go back to sleep…

But there was no chance of that.

The more I tossed and turned, the more awake I became.

Eventually, I sat up.

Maybe I should take a walk.

Normally I would’ve gone horseback riding.

The weather made that impossible tonight.

I’d just wander the corridors for a bit and then try sleeping again.

I slipped on a silk robe and stepped outside.

Then—

Crash! Bang! Smash!

A heavy object toppled over.

Something shattered.

The sounds came from Shite’s room.

Did someone break in?

Or did something happen to Shite?

Quietly, I pressed my ear against his door.

The noise had vanished completely.

The room beyond was silent.

I listened for a long time.

Nothing.

Then I remembered his pale face from earlier.

What if he collapsed from anemia or something?

Worried, I knocked on the door.

“Shite. I heard a loud noise. Is everything alright?”

No answer.

That wasn’t unusual.

He rarely answered anyone.

Still, this time I had a bad feeling.

Before I could think it through, my hand moved first.

I expected the door to be locked.

Instead, the handle turned.

Creak.

A sharp scraping sound echoed as the door slowly opened.

A metallic scent immediately drifted out.

The smell of iron?

No…

It’s closer to blood.

At that exact moment, lightning split the sky.

Flash!

In that brief burst of light, I saw a man collapsed on the floor.

Covered in blood.

My husband.

Shite Hunniswald