* * *

D*mn it! What the hell was I supposed to do, stuck here like this?

I turned my back on the meal Kairos had prepared for me, unable to comprehend it. When I was captured by him again, I was so terrified that he was going to kill me that I couldn’t think straight. Still, he said he didn’t intend to kill me, and even though we’d both revealed our true selves, he still had no intention of divorcing me.

What kind of nonsense was this?

I couldn’t escape on my own since Annie, Edmond, and Ginger were all being held captive. If I thought I could get away with it, I would have already taken action and wouldn’t be sitting here like this.

“Ugh…”

I let out a sigh and collapsed onto the bed. I hadn’t eaten anything since I’d been protesting, so my stomach was growling, and I felt utterly drained.

I lay down on my side, my face expressionless.

“It was so lovingly decorated.”

I had grown fond of the new house I’d found.

It wasn’t too big or too small, and it was perfect for inviting the three of them over for a party. I only needed to hire two or three servants, and if I took a short carriage ride, I could see the ocean. It was only supposed to be a temporary residence until I could finalize my decision to emigrate, but I had grown quite attached to it.

“It was nice, it was nice!”

It was like the feeling I had when I first arrived in Ferrarium. Why couldn’t I have that?

I was lonely by myself, though I didn’t completely hate it. It would be nice to have someone by my side, but I also liked being free. I hadn’t shown it to Annie, though I had begun to feel his absence less and less. I was getting used to eating other people’s food instead of the meals he made, and I didn’t mind skipping meals when I was busy.

I had gotten used to sleeping alone for about a week now, and although I had three particularly bad nightmares, I didn’t feel embarrassed because there was no one there to see. Even those nightmares would quickly pass if I just covered my head with the blanket and breathed slowly for a while.

I thought that if I could just endure this loneliness for a few more months, I would be able to return to my old self. I was feeling so confident about it.

But then, out of nowhere, he found me.

I thought I had erased all traces of myself, so how did he find me? First, I had to get the three of them, the three of them, to safety…

I covered my face with both hands and let out a frustrated groan.

* * *

“Please don’t hurt Edmond, Ginger, or Annie. They only did what I told them to do.”

I said, looking at the thinly sliced steak.

He looked puzzled and took my plate of steak, cutting it into bite-sized pieces and offering it to me, but I had no intention of taking a single bite. The only reason I had come down to the dining room was to negotiate for the safety of Annie, Ginger, and Edmond.

“They’ll be safe as long as you don’t run away.”

“…And don’t send Edmond back to the Colosseum.”

Kairos’s eyes narrowed at that.

“Why did you go to that dangerous place in the first place? Do you know what could have happened to you?”

When I flinched involuntarily at the sight of his menacing red eyes, Kairos’s gaze dropped to the floor.

I reached for my water glass to quench my dry throat.

“I can take care of myself, but please don’t send him back to the Colosseum.”

“Don’t go near the Colosseum again.”

The most dangerous place wasn’t the Colosseum, but next to this man, although he seemed to be the only one who didn’t realize it.

“If you don’t send Edmond away.”

“I won’t, so don’t go.”

“….”

The table was elegantly set, but apart from the movement of the graceful knife that had cut my steak, there was no sound. The dining room was deathly quiet, and the servants were holding their breath.

Kairos let out a low sigh.

“Tell them to prepare something else.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“There are other ways to protest. Why do you always choose the ones that will get you hurt?”

“It’s my choice.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“Then, I want a divo—”

“Not a divorce. I told you not to think about leaving me.”

What else was I supposed to say?! I glared at him again.

“If you don’t want to eat with me, I’ll get up.”

“….”

Kairos pushed his chair back and stood up. It was the first time he had gotten up before I did during a meal, but I tried my best not to react.

“I’ll have them make something my wife will want to eat. If my wife doesn’t eat a single bite of dinner tonight, I will hold everyone here responsible.”

And with that, he left the dining room.

“Kairos!”

I jumped up and called out to him, but he ignored me and continued on his way. Dumbfounded, I merely stared at the door until the trembling chef approached me belatedly.

“M-M-Ma-Madam. I-I-If you d-d-don’t like t-the f-food I’ve m-made, I w-will m-make it again. So, p-please…”

The chef’s head turned on its own. The attendants standing behind him, their faces pale, were waiting for my answer. This was nothing short of blackmail. If I refused to eat, it was as good as slitting their throats. What the hell!

Swallowing my curses, I sat back down.

“…I’ll eat it.”

And so, I picked up my fork, stabbed a piece of meat, and put it in my mouth.

“Seriously, what a pain…”

He was blackmailing me with this? How infuriating.

In the end, I ate the entire steak that had been cut for me. Thanks to that, I was able to save the lives of the attendants in the dining room, but my mood had hit rock bottom.

The moment I finished emptying my plate, I went up to my office and shut myself in. I wasn’t in the mood to negotiate any further today, so I didn’t go to his room, intending not to talk to him. While it would be pointless, I even went so far as to bolt the door to my office shut.

Fine, let’s see how this turned out. I would figure out a way to deal with this myself.

* * *

That night, Kairos didn’t return to his room until very late. The reason he stopped himself from heading to the bedroom several times was because of Hazel, who was banging on the wall all day long, mustering all her remaining strength to fight him.

“Madam has finished dinner and retired to her office.”

“She instructed us not to let anyone in, so we haven’t been in since we served her tea after dinner.”

Kairos sank deeply into his chair and rested his forehead on his hand. It felt like the stuffiness might ease if he could just take a deep drag from a cigar. There had been times when he’d suffered from such a bad headache that he’d constantly bitten down on one.

He’d stopped after he saw Hazel’s brow crease slightly as she sat close to him on their first meeting after he’d chased her to Ferrarium. He’d said he wouldn’t kill her, and he’d said he wouldn’t harm his captive, though she anger showed no signs of abating.

The starting point of the hopelessly tangled thread seemed to be nowhere to be found, and there was no sign of it ever revealing itself.

His gaze flickered over to the letters that had been haphazardly thrown on his desk. There were also imperial letters that he’d had to bring back to the mansion because he had something to think about.

“….”

Tap, tap.

Before he knew it, he was holding the imperial letters in his hand. The edges of the sharply folded envelope were crumpled, indicating that he’d been lost in thought for quite some time.

One in the morning.

Kairos left his office. A long while later, he went to the bedroom with his hair still wet. He hesitated for a long time in front of the door before entering, but the bedroom was empty.

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Two in the morning.

It was proof that Hazel was still in her office.

His eyebrows twitched.

“….”

The office he went to was locked. He knocked on the door.

“Hazel.”

There was no answer from within. Was she sleeping?

In that instant, Kairos felt a chill in his heart, and his eyes flashed. He knew Hazel’s temperament well enough to have taken her friends captive, though what if she’d given up and decided to run away?

His jaw clenched. At the same time, he turned the handle.

Clank, thud!

The metal groaned, the surrounding wood shattered, and the handle fell off powerlessly. He opened the door and stepped inside rather hastily.

The office was shrouded in darkness because the lights weren’t on, and Kairos’ gaze went straight to the window. It was closed. The lock on the inside was engaged. He was relieved as soon as he checked, but his gaze quickly swept over the empty office.

The tea on the table had yet to be touched.

His gaze flowed smoothly over to the sofa. The inside couldn’t be seen because it was hidden by the back of the sofa. Kairos walked over and finally let out a breath when he saw Hazel lying on the sofa, fast asleep.

“…Ha.”

Exhausted from everything that had happened, Hazel was sleeping as if she had fainted, her hands folded together and her head resting on them, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The moonlight streaming in through the window highlighted her pale cheeks.

She hadn’t run away, so he could rest easy.

Kairos roughly ran his hand through his wet hair.

—