Right now, the best thing to do was to quickly leave this place. He didn’t want to leave Ansi in front of Kardian any longer.

“Let’s go.”

Damion roughly pulled Ansi.

Every time he thought about the deal Ansi and Kardian had made behind his back, he felt like he was going to go crazy.

No matter how great Ansi’s desire for revenge against Kardian was, the fact that this emotion was deeper and more intense than her affection for Damion put his understanding and patience to the test.

Fortunately, Ansi didn’t persist and turned to follow him. Damion left the cathedral without looking back.

Looking at Ansi’s back, Kardian raised an eyebrow. Dissatisfaction that the plan was taking a longer route than expected stirred inside him, but it wasn’t too bad of a situation.

As long as Kardian had Darryl de Rubella in his hands, Ansi would have no choice but to listen to him. Besides, judging from Ansi’s uneasy expression, it seemed like she would contact him soon.

“Kardian.”

Marianne called out to Kardian. Kardian hid his expression as if nothing had happened and answered as usual.

“Yes, Mother.”

“Since it’s the last time… why don’t you hold Bekishi’s hand?”

At Marianne’s words, Kardian stared intently at Bekishi. Her hands were neatly placed on her stomach. The white flowers they had placed crossed over her hands.

Even when she was in the hospital room living out her remaining life, it was so terrible that he was reluctant to touch her. How could he possibly want to touch Bekishi now that she was truly dead?

But it would also be awkward to refuse. Pretending to touch Bekishi, Kardian lightly brushed the flowers on her hands and spoke to her.

“Goodbye, Beki.”

Marianne observed Kardian’s hands. And in the end, seeing Kardian not touching Bekishi as if he found it unpleasant, she bit her lower lip.

Marianne ruminated on what her son had said in front of Bekishi’s operating room.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she was convinced that it was her son who had made Bekishi like this.

Marianne also knew that Kardian had some emotional deficiencies. She knew better than anyone how he had treated Damion when they were young.

But a long time had passed since the children were young, and now Kardian seemed to have no abnormalities. He was gentle and intelligent, truly befitting the next duke.

The relationship between Bekishi and Kardian was also good. At least from Marianne’s perspective, Bekishi was a flawless wife, and Kardian was an exceptionally affectionate husband.

Everything was perfect.

So the memories of what Kardian was like when he was young had somehow disappeared.

Memories of what he had done to Damion were especially hazy. Because of that, she was now annoyed by Damion, who was just acting rebellious. Now that everyone had become adults, she thought it was a waste to dwell on things from their immature days.

However, it was only when Bekishi was stabbed that Marianne realized Kardian had not changed.

Only then did Marianne start to feel afraid.

The sight of her son trying to take his younger brother’s wife was unfamiliar. At the same time, she was afraid of her son becoming a murderer who killed Bekishi.

Even if what he had done to Damion was a prank committed when he was immature, and his attraction to Ansi was in the realm of emotions and couldn’t be helped, killing someone was a different matter, wasn’t it?

Even if no one knows, God sees everything. So she didn’t want to make Kardian a murderer, at least in front of God. That was the only reason Marianne was doing this now.

“Let’s go to the cemetery, Marianne.”

“You two go ahead. I’ll watch the porters take Bekishi properly and then leave.”

Kardian and Basilov turned and headed for the cathedral door first. As the door closed, Marianne exhaled a trembling breath and approached the coffin, whispering to Bekishi, who had a pale complexion.

“I wish you weren’t dead. But… I also hope you never wake up.”

Marianne reached out and stroked the back of Bekishi’s hand. Feeling a faint warmth lingering, Marianne quietly instructed the servants.

“You know what to do, right?”

“Yes.”

The lid of Bekishi’s coffin was closed.

However, what the servants carried was not Bekishi’s coffin, but another coffin that had been prepared in the storage room next to the altar. Those carrying the fake coffin moved towards the main gate.

Soon, servants who had been hiding in the storage room came out and carried the real coffin of Bekishi.

“We’ll wait about an hour before leaving.”

At the servant’s words, Marianne nodded with a meaningful look and headed for the main gate of the cathedral.

Late at night, lying on her back in Damion’s arms, Ansi stared into the void for a long time.

Even while she was with Damion, she thought of Darryl every hour.

She should have said something to Kardian that day. In the end, using the excuse that Damion was watching, she couldn’t say anything and felt like a fool.

She felt like she was going crazy not knowing what kind of time Darryl was spending. She rationalized that Kardian wouldn’t be able to treat him recklessly, but she also knew it was a meaningless mental victory with no guarantees.

What if Kardian had already lost interest in her? What if he no longer had any meaning in using Darryl as a pawn?

As long as Damion’s gaze was on her, she couldn’t leave this house. She couldn’t contact Kardian or find out news about Darryl.

The anxiety amplified even more because she couldn’t know any of the situation.

She thought several times about confessing everything to Damion. That she had put him in danger to at least receive the body of her brother, who might be dead or alive.

But the conclusion was always silence.

Even if she said such things to Damion, he would not be able to understand her. No, expecting understanding from Damion was committing another sin against him.

Ansi gave up her revenge on Orpheus for Damion. But she couldn’t abandon Darryl.

All she could do now was pray that Darryl was safe. She herself didn’t know how much longer she could endure like this.

Ansi curled up her body. Her chest felt so stuffy she thought she would go crazy. But she couldn’t take a deep breath for fear of waking him up.

The breath caught in her throat seemed like the limit of what she could endure.

Damion, who was browsing documents in the study, raised his head. Ansi, sitting where his eyes were fixed, was quietly reading a book.

Even while bringing work to the mansion to handle, he felt anxious if he didn’t see her. So while he worked, he had her read books in the study.

Fortunately, it seemed that what she had said about liking books was not wrong, as she adapted well and opened a different book every day. It wasn’t bad to see her concentrating on reading a book without even raising her head.

Just then, the phone rang. Damion got up and answered the phone.

It was a call from the Orpheus elder, Duke Bellow. As expected, the content of the call was dissatisfaction with his recent actions.

− I heard you’ve been shut in at the company these days. I understand wanting to rest after going through a big event, but this is troubling if it continues like this.

“As I said before, I no longer intend to take Orpheus.”

− Are you really going to do this? Let’s meet and talk first.

“No. It’s hard for me to make time.”

− Are you originally such an irresponsible person? I misjudged you!

Damion smiled bitterly at Duke Bellow’s furious voice.

He felt sorry for the duke, but this was indeed the kind of person he was. An extremely personal and selfish bastard. That’s who he was. In the first place, his desire to have Orpheus was more for his personal well-being than out of tremendous ambition.

But the path he had walked for the goal of Orpheus was already cut off. Now that the end of that path had disappeared, he had no choice but to jump off here, even if it was irresponsible.

It’s not like I’m abandoning you the way you abandoned me.

Damion’s gaze turned to Ansi. Their eyes met. The woman, who had been burying her head in the book all along, was staring at him intently.

A feeling resembling satisfaction crept up Damion’s back.

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

Damion hung up the phone and approached Ansi.

“Did the sound of the call interfere with your concentration on the book?”

“Not really… don’t worry about it.”

Ansi lowered her gaze back to the book as if nothing had happened. The man in her gaze quickly disappeared.

Unrefined dissatisfaction squirmed inside Damion. Although he had spent all day, every day with Ansi for the past few days, it didn’t feel like she was close to him. It felt like he had an intangible illusion by his side.

Impulsively, he lifted Ansi’s chin.

Ansi’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Look at me, Ansi.”

“I am looking at you.”

“No, you’re not.”

He knew that even if her gaze was directed at him, her mind was full of other thoughts. He also knew that her blue eyes, which had sparkled like the sea, had sunk to a gray color.

Ansi raised her hand and removed Damion’s hand. She narrowed her brows and poured out her words.

“I’m here, Damion. I can’t do anything, and I’m just looking at you like this.”

Damion silently looked into her eyes.

The man reflected in Ansi’s pupils was staring at her with a distorted, fierce face.

Like a monster.