Chapter 7
His voice fell with decisive sharpness.
Like a blade.
And as though she had been stabbed clean through by it, Lirette’s resistance stopped.
Into that silence, Valderion’s low voice sank deeper, quieter, more intimate.
“You’re in no condition for reckless stunts right now. If you end up half-crippled—or worse, die—and your Name appears on me within the year, then I’m doomed too.”
“……”
“And that outcome doesn’t particularly appeal to me.”
Lirette’s restored fingers clawed at the carpet as if trying to crush something inside her grasp.
“If a year passes and your Name never appears on me, then I’ll let you go wherever you want.”
“……”
“Even if that place is hell, I won’t stop you.”
In a way, his certainty was almost cruel.
A dry, emotionless tone that made one thing clear:
This relationship had begun because of the Name.
And it would end because of the Name.
Yet Lirette felt neither resentment nor disappointment.
The promise that she would eventually be freed—
It dripped into her ears like honey.
But hope crumbled just as quickly.
Darkness rushed back into her thoughts.
Staring blankly ahead, she spoke with eyes already half broken.
“What if… a Name appears?”
“……”
“If my Name appears on you too…”
“We’ll think about that when it happens.”
He spoke lightly about something that could bind two people together forever.
Like spiritual chains.
Valderion lifted his hand from the floor and straightened.
Lirette also slowly unfolded herself and leaned back against the bed.
“So if you still have enough energy for this kind of behavior, use it to recover instead.”
The man neatly fixed the disorder left behind from their struggle.
With efficient movements devoid of waste, his sharp, arrogant features returned to perfect composure.
Lirette remained seated on the floor and looked up at him.
He parted his lips as though to say something—
Then changed his mind.
Instead, his gaze dropped to her fingers.
The fingers that moved properly now.
Soon, he turned without a word.
Lirette stayed where she was long after he left the room.
Only her fingers moved.
Curling and uncurling against her chest.
As though she still couldn’t believe they belonged to her.
* * *
For winter, the weather was unusually mild.
Valderion brushed back hair stirred by the breeze.
Everywhere he looked was surrounded by calm water.
It felt as though he had been dropped into the middle of the sea.
The water garden tucked within the palace grounds always inspired that same quiet feeling.
“You know, it would’ve been better if we’d taken the boat.”
Apparently misunderstanding his gaze, Dailan complained from across from him, sprawled lazily in his seat.
As always, the Crown Prince looked incapable of maturity.
His clothes hung half-open in careless disarray.
Reflected on the still water below, one figure was black.
The other white.
Together they occupied the same place while looking like complete opposites.
“There’s a pleasure boat from the Kingdom of Pontilly that arrived recently.”
Dailan stretched.
“It’s huge. Luxurious too.”
“It’s rather cold for boating.”
“You know nothing. Winter is the proper season for it.”
Chuckling to himself, Dailan pulled out a cigar.
Even before it was lit, Valderion already felt a headache coming.
“I hate boating.”
“As expected. You’re the type who understands absolutely nothing about romance.”
Romance.
Watching someone so vulgar speak of romance almost made Valderion laugh.
His bloodline really was impressive.
More accurately—
He didn’t hate boats.
He hated boating with Dailan.
If they boarded that ship and circled this enormous water garden, he would be trapped there long after business concluded.
A complete waste of time.
Which was why they were meeting here instead.
At a resting pavilion near the water.
“So?”
After yawning widely, Dailan asked lazily.
Valderion’s expression must have asked about what?
Because Dailan grinned.
“Lirette.”
“……”
“How’s she doing?”
Ironically, Lirette was the very reason Valderion had come.
He lowered his eyes, briefly reflecting on the last several days.
A sigh escaped him naturally.
Dailan burst into laughter.
“I figured as much.”
He grinned.
“She doesn’t exactly seem like the type to lose easily either.”
That much was true.
If the Name hadn’t held her body hostage—
The woman probably would have dragged long, ugly scratches across his face already.
Her weak body collapsed often.
But the stubborn light in her eyes never faded.
That alone proved it.
“She reacts strongly to sounds.”
Dailan widened his eyes.
Then he smiled slowly and crossed his legs.
Setting down his teacup, he tapped his ear.
“Ah.”
“I used to yell directly into them.”
“……”
“And I slapped her a few times too.”
He smiled casually.
“Burst her eardrums once or twice. That’s probably why.”
Valderion had expected violence.
But hearing such cruelty described with cheerful indifference left him briefly speechless.
Pure evil.
Sometimes that was the phrase that came to mind when he looked at the Crown Prince.
‘People don’t sleep with livestock.’
‘……’
‘That’s all I was to him.’
Was that what she meant?
Suppressing thoughts lingering like fog, Valderion took a sip of tea.
“You didn’t arrange this meeting just to ask something trivial.”
Dailan exhaled deeply and leaned forward.
“So.”
His tone turned quieter.
“What do you need?”
Perhaps it was the scent of the cigar.
Or perhaps not.
Meetings between the Imperial Family and House Eustutia had always been like this.
The Imperial Family—
The sun illuminating the Empire.
And House Eustutia—
The moon supporting that sun from unseen darkness.
Their relationship existed somewhere between those two celestial bodies.
Close.
Hidden.
Dangerously intertwined.
Their connection traced back to the founding emperor himself.
The first Emperor Arden, who had transformed barren lands into the Aleint Empire, had possessed a twin sister.
Very little was known about them.
Only one story remained.
The emperor had been obsessively attached to his sister.
Despite building a rapidly growing empire, he never married her away as political leverage.
Instead—
He kept her close.
He granted her a title of immense honor.
Built lands solely for her.
Even the four founding families who had established the empire beside him could not stop it.
Thus—
House Eustutia was born.
What began as obsession gradually became power.
The house stood among the nobility as its leader.
Shared imperial blood.
Shared authority.
Shared reverence.
An inseparable partnership.
Together—
The House of Arden and House Eustutia had ruled and protected the Empire for generations.
“Considering you told me to secretly remove that woman from the palace,” Valderion finally said, “you already understood something.”
“Hm?”
“That revealing her existence publicly offers me absolutely no benefit.”
Dailan slowly raised and lowered his brows.
Valderion stopped there.
Even someone as simple-minded as Dailan should understand the rest.
“Ahhh.”
“……”
“So you want me to keep quiet?”
“For now. One year.”
“One year?”
“They say that’s how long it takes to determine whether it becomes mutual.”
“Hmm.”
“……”
“I see.”
Dailan smiled.
“So if it stays one-sided, you’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”
Exactly.
If the Name remained only with Lirette—
Valderion had no intention of tying himself to her beyond that year.
And if things ended there—
Even if Lirette dragged her frail body straight into hell—
He wouldn’t stop her.
Because then—
He could return to being the perfect duke again.
Which meant revealing Lirette’s existence now offered him nothing.
So he intended to hide it.
More specifically—
Hide the fact that his Name had appeared.
And the first step was ensuring this loose-lipped prince stayed silent.
Most people would understand without explanation.
Dailan wasn’t most people.
When dealing with the Crown Prince, clarity was necessary.
“Well.”
Dailan shrugged.
“I can’t say I don’t understand.”
“If this irritating little problem hadn’t happened, you probably would’ve continued building the future you planned.”
“……”
“Including your engagement to House Floyden.”
