Did he suddenly feel guilty? His pupils trembled slightly.
I twisted my lips into a smile, thinking that he was acting all coy when he had no intention of stopping anyway.
"Keep going. Force me, humiliate me, despise me until every last piece of my soul crumbles away. But it won't work."
This time, I straightened my upper body and approached his ear.
After that, I whispered quietly but firmly there.
"No matter what, I will never give in to you. Even if I get slapped in the face, even if I freeze in a cold bedroom, never."
After saying those last words, I lay down on the bed comfortably, my strength drained.
As I said just now, I never intended to bend my heart to Kishian.
That's all I can do.
If he wanted to hug me right now, there was no way I could stop him.
It would be wise to just pray that this time passes quickly.
So I decided to close my eyes and relax.
I vowed not to give in to the violent pleasure that would soon overtake my body.
But for some reason, no matter how long I waited, what I expected did not happen.
"...Kishian?"
I opened my eyes slightly, feeling puzzled, and saw him.
At some point, he had lowered his upper body away from me.
This time, he was covering his eyes with one hand as if he was overcome with a sense of inferiority.
Just as I was about to ask why he had stopped, he put on a robe that was lying around nearby.
There was no room to ask any more questions.
Before I could open my mouth, he disappeared out of the bedroom.
It was quite an embarrassing exit.
***
Leaving the Grand Duchess in his bedroom, Kishian strode down the hallway.
The only thought that dominated his mind was that he had to get as far away from the Grand Duchess and the bedroom where she was right now.
So he crossed the hallway and entered a small bedroom at the end of the second floor.
It wasn't until he reached the bathroom attached to the bedroom that his steps finally stopped.
"Ha..."
With a long sigh, he scooped up the cold water from the tub that had not been heated.
Afterward, he poured it all over his burning body.
"..."
The cold air made his head tingle, but he didn't stop.
A deeper cold was needed to cool down the foul heat that was burning his body.
So he poured water on himself, and only stopped when all the water in the tub was gone.
"Fuck..."
How on earth did it end up like this? Kishian tried to recall his memories with his cold head.
He couldn't come to his senses at dawn when he heard about the Grand Duchess's condition through Anne.
Even though he had decided that he didn't care what happened to that shameless woman, Kishian couldn't think of anything at that moment.
Except that, he felt like he had to bring her right away.
So, from that dawn, Kishian went to the northern annex to bring the Grand Duchess.
He didn't realize it was such a cold place.
The northern annex he visited in person looked like a castle made of ice.
The body of the Grand Duchess curled up inside also felt cold as if it had been carved from a pillar of ice.
His heart raced as he carried that thin, cold body to the main building.
Even when facing a monster, his heart, which had been calm, was shaken so much.
Fortunately, the Grand Duchess did not die, and Kishian stripped her of her clothes before it was too late.
Because first of all, he thought he should just focus on melting her body.
So he took off the Grand Duchess' clothes, then took off his own clothes as well, and warmed her small, cold body with his body heat.
Even though their skins were against each other, his lust did not rise.
He just wanted to save her.
So, Kishian held her body in his arms day and night.
He was so focused on saving lives that he skipped his duties as a Grand Duke and even his meals.
The Grand Duchess opened her eyes as if hia sincerity had paid off.
It was truly a strange thing. Rather than feeling relieved to see her barely alive, Kishian felt more angry.
"You don't want to hear any complaints from someone like me? To the point where you'd rather just stay out in the cold until you collapse from a fever?"
He's angry.
If only she had just asked for help, she wouldn't have ended up like that.
Although she was a woman who betrayed him and hurt him deeply after they had decided to become a couple, he was still willing to help her if she got down on her knees and asked for help.
Because that was the way of being human.
But she endured it for the simple reason that she didn't want to feel sorry for her husband.
Would it have been different if the opponent had been the Duke of Herssen?
Then would she have asked for help without hesitation?
When Kishian thought about it that way, she felt an unbearable feeling of horror.
So much so that he wanted to physically show that woman who her real husband was.
"No matter what, I will never give in to you. Even if I get slapped in the face, even if I freeze in a cold bedroom, never."
The words that came out colder than her frozen body came to mind.
"..."
Why is it so empty?
Why, even though he survived everything and finally had her?
Kishian sat on the edge of the marble bathtub, endlessly asking himself questions that had no answers.
Drops of water fell from his wet hair for a while.
***
After Kishian got angry and disappeared without a trace, I fell into a deep sleep again.
It must have been because my body hadn't recovered properly, briefly, and then fell asleep again, repeating the same pattern.
Whenever I woke up like that, the fireplace was always burning warmly.
I didn't feel as cold as I did when I was in the annex.
Thanks to that, after three days, I was able to come to my senses.
"Your Highness!"
As I sat up, the child who was putting firewood in the fireplace hurriedly came towards me.
It was a child whose face I remembered because she had served me on the way to the Grand Palace.
"Anne?"
"Yes. Your Highness! Do you recognize me?"
After nodding shallowly, she asked again.
"Why are you here?"
"Until now, I, Madame Bianca, and Sister Frida took care of Your Highness. We will continue to take care of Your Highness in the future."
I don't remember Madame Bianca, Anne, and Frida very well, but they were all there to serve me on my way to the Grand Duke's residence.
At that point, I couldn't help but ask.
"Are all three of you going to follow me to the annex and stay there? Instead of staying in the main building?"
"No. Your Highness will be staying here in the main building. The Grand Duke himself said so. He also told me to move all of Your Highness's belongings to this room."
I was puzzled by the words that this was something that Kishian had instructed.
Because the words I spat out at that man were never pleasant to hear.
Didn't you say you wouldn't give in? Well, since you shot me something like that, I thought you'd be so annoyed that I'd throw you in a corner and put you in a cold place.
But I have to stay in the main building...
'Are you saying you will spare my life?'
After all, if he had kept me in the annex and died early, it would have been a waste for him.
Because there would be no way to release the resentment that had built up inside him.
I nodded toward Anne, guessing roughly as I did so.
"Yes, I see. I can ask the Grand Duke directly for more details. So where is he now?"
It's not that difficult of a question.
For some reason, a somewhat embarrassed look appeared on Anne's face.
When I saw Anne looking so embarrassed, I also became anxious.
Why can't you answer the question of where he is?
Did he go on a faraway trip because he hated seeing me?
Perhaps because my health had not yet fully recovered, such vain thoughts kept coming to my mind.
After staring at Anne as if urging her to answer, I was finally able to hear his whereabouts.
"His Highness the Grand Duke... is in the dungeon."
"Dungeon? What's going on?"
"He was there the whole time to interrogate the prisoners. He was there the whole time while Your Highness was asleep."
"What kind of prisoner is he that he took such great pains to interrogate him..."
"Madam Croy."
Anne brought up the name in a slightly subdued voice.
But even if I heard it, I couldn't tell who it was.
Could this be one of the servants of this mansion?
I had no way of knowing since I had never been properly introduced to the employees.
Fortunately, Anne followed up with the information.
"She may have been a maid once, but now she is a prisoner."
"The maid? Is the one being interrogated... the maid who used to stay in the annex?"
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