* * *
“Sylvian?”
“Mmm…”
Whisen sighed, watching the duchess face-down on the bed in his new bedroom.
Ever since he declared he’d be sleeping separately from the duke, he’d been moping like this.
‘Why did he even insist on a separate room if this was going to be the result?’
Sylvian looked up at the sound of his name, tears brimming in his eyes.
“Come here.”
Whisen, clicking his tongue, helped tidy up Sylvian’s outfit.
He wasn’t even a maid, yet he found himself taking care of the duchess more often these days.
He dusted off the disheveled clothes.
“If you’re bored, why not ask the Duke for tea—”
Shake shake.
“No. I won’t. I can’t.”
Sylvian’s face turned ghostly pale in an instant.
“What happened?”
“N-no-nothing happened.”
With lips pressed tight and tears threatening to fall, he claimed that nothing had happened.
Whisen sighed and suggested they go for a walk.
He led Sylvian out into the garden.
Spring was already on its way.
The air was still cool, but the slowly warming breeze had begun to coax buds from the branches.
“It really does feel like spring’s almost here.”
A smile appeared on the duchess’s face as she walked through the still bleak garden.
Seeing the shadows under his eyes begin to lift, Whisen silently followed behind him.
“Can I ask you something I’ve been wondering about?”
“If it’s something I know, I’ll answer.”
“…How does a divorce between nobles work?”
“?!”
Beneath the grand fountain, now dormant, Sylvian opened his mouth, tears welling in his eyes.
This much would surely be reported straight to Zeroth.
He hadn’t gone all the way with Karl, but what should he do now that he believed his body was sullied?
This was practically a declaration of war against Zeroth.
Seeing Whisen visibly flustered, Sylvian burst into tears.
“D-di…vorce?”
Sniff.
“Yeah.”
Facing the panicked Whisen, Sylvian let his tears fall freely.
The cold breeze made his body shiver naturally.
“D-divorce between nobles isn’t easy.”
“Even though I… even though I did so much wrong? I… can’t?”
What wrong could a kidnapped duchess possibly have done?!
As Whisen faltered, Sylvian suddenly turned and grabbed his hand.
“Lord Sylvian. You didn’t do anything wrong. The ones at fault are the bad guys.”
Whisen did his best to comfort him, but Sylvian continued to sob, unfazed.
“You also need His Majesty’s approval, and the procedures are long and complicated. It might take y-years…”
“Then… I… can’t divorce?”
As the tears fell rapidly, Whisen hurried to wipe them from Sylvian’s cheeks.
“Why… do you want to divorce?”
“Because… I’m bad.”
Though it was frustrating to hear Sylvian repeat the same thing, all Whisen could do was gently wipe his twisted, tear-filled eyes.
He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but this definitely needed to be reported to the Duke.
‘Divorce, of all things.’
Impossible.
In the ducal family, divorce was forbidden unless one party died.
While there weren’t records of all cases, there were surely many duchesses who had met suspicious deaths.
Political marriages were common, and people often did everything they could to discard a partner who’d outlived their usefulness.
It wasn’t just the ducal family—tragedies caused by love triangles and political marriages still happened often.
Why was the duchess—who so clearly had learned to love the Duke and was in love with him—suddenly speaking of divorce?
“Did the marquis do something terrible to you?”
“……”
That bastard.
Looking into Sylvian’s trembling green eyes, Whisen clenched his fists tightly.
“We’ve walked long enough—let’s go back inside.”
Whisen pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Sylvian’s tear-streaked face.
‘He really is gentle…’
Leaning halfway on Whisen for support, Sylvian lost his strength before reaching the mansion and had to be carried in.
“What happened?”
Once he confirmed the duchess was sound asleep, Whisen went straight to the Duke.
“Are you sure Karl Rooster didn’t do anything to him?”
At Whisen’s sharp question, Zeroth’s eyebrow twitched.
“Lord Sylvian asked me about divorce between nobles.”
Crack.
As soon as Whisen explained why he had rushed in, a corner of the large office desk was ripped apart.
“What did you just say?”
“I asked what had happened, but he just cried without saying anything.”
Hearing that Sylvian cried, Zeroth let out a heavy sigh.
“I’ll go to the Marquis’ estate.”
Was he too quick to believe Karl when he said he hadn’t crossed the line?
Zeroth stood up, his face icy cold.
Whisen followed, offering to go with him.
“You stay and protect the duchess. Take Julian with you.”
Whisen wouldn’t be able to stop him.
After sending Whisen back to the bedroom, Zeroth summoned Julian.
“You’ve arrived—”
Smack.
“What did you do to Sylvian?!”
As soon as Zeroth arrived at the Marquis’ estate and saw Karl in the drawing room, he punched him squarely in the face.
“Ah…”
Karl stumbled from the force of the blow and clutched his mouth.
“I went too easy on you, didn’t I? Huh?”
Growling, Zeroth stared him down, and the Marquis gestured for Julian and the butler to leave the room.
“I told you, that wouldn’t be enough.”
When Karl’s jaw tensed, Zeroth struck him again in the face.
“Ghh.”
“Speak clearly.”
As Zeroth sat on the sofa, Karl hesitated before kneeling in front of him.
To them, he would always be a criminal.
He had no right to complain even if they treated him roughly.
“Do you remember that man?”
“Which man?”
“The one with Timothy’s face.”
Swallowing hard, the Marquis began.
Zeroth recalled the man who had tried to assault Sylvian in the carriage.
When Zeroth nodded slightly, Karl dropped his head low, face burning with shame.
“The duchess was drugged… Ugh… It wasn’t my order—”
Zeroth’s hand clamped tightly around Karl’s throat, causing him to choke.
“Kkk— I just wanted to scare him.”
No.
He couldn’t lie.
Karl, who had tried to pin everything on his subordinate, let out a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“I hated you. I wanted to destroy everything you had. That man gave him the drug, but I… I also wanted to hurt the duchess myself.”
“So?”
“I didn’t force him. At first, I planned to have someone else violate him by force…”
Before he could finish, another blow slammed into his face.
He should’ve confessed everything then.
Wanting to bury his past quickly and escape the misery, he had committed yet another crime.
Blood streamed freely from his nose as he clenched his teeth and continued.
“I… I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I tried to coax Lord Sylvian into bed.”
“What do you mean you ‘didn’t cross the line’?”
Gulp.
“Marquis… I really hope I don’t end up killing you.”
Zeroth’s pheromones weighed down so heavily on Karl that he couldn’t even lift his head.
“There was no… no penetration— Ghh.”
“I should’ve cut your arms and legs off from the start.”
Karl collapsed completely to the floor.
If he had actually made Sylvian his, Zeroth would’ve already taken his head.
Grrrk.
Zeroth’s pheromones sliced into Karl’s body like blades.
“Ghh… I-I’m sorry. I was wrong. Huhh…”
A horrific pain surged through his throat, as though his pheromone glands were being torn apart.
“Ugh.”
The pheromones of another Alpha—especially a dominant one—ravaged Karl’s body with a sensation beyond disgust.
Without lifting a finger, Zeroth pinned Karl down and brought his foot down—crack—breaking Karl’s fingers.
“Gkk.”
“Marquis. Don’t you think I’m the villain here now? But you’re the thief.”
“Hhh…”
Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, the Marquis said nothing.
“Did you do anything worse than that?”
“N-no…”
Zeroth retracted his pheromones and stood, seemingly satisfied with the desperate tone.
“I’ve got more to tell Charlian now.”
Flinch.
“How’s the wedding preparation going?”
“Cough, cough.”
Caught off guard, Karl burst into coughing.
He was already getting harassed by Charlian over the preparations.
“What power do I even have left? I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if I did the same thing to Charlian, would you?”
“…Please, don’t do this.”
The fingers that survived clung to Zeroth’s trouser hem.
Seeing that desperate face, Zeroth’s lips twisted.
This is why he was always cast as the villain.
* * *
