"Matthias?"
"Do you know— hic—how long I've been looking for you?"
The stench of alcohol rolled off him; Matthias reeked of drink.
"Why are you looking for me?"
"Because you! wouldn't see me! So I came to find you myself."
Annoying.
Matthias muttered irritably.
"You've got money, right?"
"..."
"Hand it over."
"I don't. Why would I be carrying money right now?"
"What? Hic! How could you not? You throw it around every day."
Estelle's eyes flicked toward his hand.
The wine bottle he clutched looked menacing.
"If you'd just given me half the money you spend, I wouldn't have had to come chasing after you like this."
It seemed her father, furious at being ignored, had sent Matthias.
And to run into him when she was alone—what awful timing.
"Are you even listening to me? Ha! You're ignoring me too, aren't you?"
Matthias grabbed Estelle by the shoulder and shook her.
He had once fainted at the sight of her wielding demonic energy, but it looked as if that memory had been washed away with alcohol.
"Don't lay a hand on me."
"I told you, just give me money and it'll all be fine."
"My position as the Duchess keeps me from moving freely. Wait until the divorce."
"Wait months more? I'd rather force you into being cast aside sooner! Once you're divorced, all that money will be mine anyway."
"Stop this nonsense and go back. I'll speak to Father myself."
After coming this far, Matthias couldn't return empty-handed.
"I wasn't going to go this far, but… I'll tell Duke Winteren you've been unfaithful."
"Unfaithful?"
"You were just with that blond man! I—I saw it myself!"
It seemed Matthias didn't realize that man was Helios.
If so, then he hadn't overheard their conversation.
"Fine, tell him all you want."
"What?"
"I said go ahead and tell him. I don't care."
Why was she so confident?
Matthias, who had been certain he'd caught her with a fatal weakness, faltered.
"Don't come crying later! Right now you might feel like somebody, being called the Duke's wife, but in the end you're just a filthy commoner."
"That's right. I was born a commoner. Then what does that make you, coming to beg from someone like me? A beggar."
"I—I need money for a new business venture!"
He declared it as though it were some noble purpose.
"Oh really? And here I thought it was just another way for you to throw money straight into the gutter."
Matthias's face flushed red, then pale, then red again.
"You think you can flap your lips about men's business just because you've got a pretty face?"
"I've got eyes, don't I? Even Father has no expectations left for you. Isn't that why he's not leaving you a single coin?"
"…!"
"Pathetic…"
"You—you wretch! You're looking down on me?!"
Matthias raised the bottle threateningly.
Startled, Estelle reflexively stumbled back—
"Now."
A low, chilling voice rumbled, making the air around them turn cold.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"My lord Duke…"
Lennox looked at Matthias with detached indifference.
"I asked you what you were doing to my wife."
In that instant, Matthias understood on a bone-deep level why his father never dared raise his voice before this man.
Is… is he even human?
It felt as though he were standing before a colossal monster that could snap his neck at any moment.
"Ah—ah! Duke, I… I am Matthias Bellonsa. Estelle's brother."
He tried to stress their family connection.
Yet even so, Lennox's brow twitched in clear displeasure.
A foreboding sign.
Gulp.
Matthias swallowed hard.
"M-my lord Duke, I have something important to tell you!"
At this point, he had no choice but to play his final card.
"Just now—it was because my sister was having an affair!"
"An affair?"
"Y-yes! With a blond man! I saw it with my own eyes, the two of them alone together in such a secluded place!"
Matthias, excited, blurted it all out.
"As her brother, I couldn't just stand by, so I was trying to admonish her—"
Thud!
Before his excuse could end, Lennox's fist struck.
"Ugh!"
"Disgusting."
The blow landed squarely on his face, sending Matthias sprawling to the floor, rolling helplessly.
Lennox looked down at him with eyes full of contempt—a quiet, simmering fury.
"If you want to be heard, then speak like a human."
As Matthias tried to push himself up, Lennox casually pressed his hand down with his boot.
Crunch.
"A—aaagh!"
The motion of his foot was light, but the force behind it was merciless.
Pain so overwhelming crashed down on him that he couldn't even beg for mercy.
Tears and snot burst from him at once as Matthias screamed.
"I don't understand a word you're saying."
Even watching an insect squirm would have been treated with more compassion.
"Get lost."
Only after rendering Matthias's left hand completely useless did Lennox lift his foot.
"Y-yes!"
"If you ever appear before me again, know that next time it won't be your wrist I break—it'll be your neck."
"Y-yes… yes!"
Terrified, Matthias scrambled away almost on all fours, like a frightened beast, as if afraid Lennox might catch him again.
Lennox ground his teeth as he glared at the pitiful retreating figure.
Even after completely crushing the man's hand, his anger still hadn't abated.
"Thank you."
"…What?"
At that single phrase, Lennox's fury evaporated in an instant.
His eyes widened as he turned to Estelle
"Say that again."
"I said thank you."
Thinking he simply hadn't heard her, Estelle repeated it louder than before.
I thought she'd scold me for striking her brother, at least out of familial obligation.
Could it be… she isn't close with him?
Estelle's expression looked utterly weary—almost resigned.
Lennox couldn't shake the feeling that what he had just witnessed was not unusual for her, that she had been subjected to scenes like this many times before.
Why? The Count cherishes Estelle.
Estelle and the Bellonsa family were one and the same.
The proof was in her repeated marriages.
Some might think the Count didn't care for her, forcing her into political marriages.
But five times? That changed the story.
It would be impossible unless she herself consented. That means the Count understood her wishes. Then why does Estelle…
Had she given up?
A chilling possibility flickered through Lennox's mind—
Estelle was being exploited by the Bellonsa family.
Reaching the conclusion he had long denied, Lennox went rigid.
Then Estelle's voice broke the silence.
"In the future, if something like this happens again, please pretend you didn't see it."
"Pretend I didn't see it? How could—!"
His voice rose sharply, but hearing his own outburst made him regain control.
He spoke again, calmer this time.
"How can you ask me to ignore such a sight?"
"Because it has nothing to do with you, my lord. Especially matters of family… Even my father knows this marriage is just a contract. You don't need to keep up the act in front of them."
"An act?"
"Yes. Just now, you were only pretending we were an ordinary married couple."
Lennox was struck speechless.
Just now—she thought he was acting?
That the emotions he felt now were nothing but falsehood?
"Where's Duren? Let's go home."
Lennox pressed his lips together and glared at Estelle.
But she paid him no mind and tried to walk past.
"It wasn't an act."
Estelle turned her head.
She met his crimson eyes, blazing with unmistakable anger.
"I did it because I wanted to."
"..."
"If something like this happens again, I'll act the same way I did just now. No matter who the one trying to harm you may be."
Ha.
At his words, Estelle suddenly laughed softly, the sound clear and bright.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I didn't mean it to offend you. I just feel relieved, knowing I have such a reliable ally on my side."
"..."
"When this contract ends… I might regret it. No, I think I surely will."
Estelle muttered almost like talking to herself.
"Ah! Don't worry—it's not that I've developed any feelings for you, my lord."
She quickly waved her hands, afraid Lennox might get the wrong idea.
It was a desperate gesture, meant to emphasize that she held not a shred of romantic sentiment for him.
In that moment, Lennox felt something like a wound to his heart.
Even when the true relic had declared that she didn't love him, he had been fine.
But now… for some reason, hearing it directly from her left him unsettled.
His expression tightened faintly, clouded by a displeasure he couldn't even explain to himself.
***
The next day.
"Sister."
"..."
Lennox called out to Glesia.
But Glesia only pulled the blanket over her head, ignoring him completely.
Her posture all but shouted: Don't talk to me.
"If I were to have an affair, Sister…?"
"Are you insane?"
Glesia shot upright.
Finally, they could have a conversation.
Before his sister, whose hands were quicker than her words, could strike him, Lennox hurried to finish.
"If I were to have an affair, what would you do?"
"I'd kill you."
"Who?"
"You, of course! How is that even a question?"
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