105

“…”

Liam stared at me for a moment, then skillfully hid his sympathy and began to speak.

“These are the financial records of the Offenheir Marquisate.”

He stacked the documents neatly.

“This is a list of businesses the Marquis manages and the organizational structure… and here are the lower-level organizations…”

“…”

Naturally, I listened to his explanations with one ear and let them out the other.

After a while, Liam sighed deeply.

“You’re not interested at all, are you?”

“Of course not.”

I replied coldly.

“I have no desire to know any of this.”

After all, the only reason Dante was so fixated on me now was because I had tried to escape, showing that I had a will of my own. To him, I was still someone disposable, a toy he could toss aside at any moment.

Learning these secrets would only put my life in greater danger.

‘If Dante ever gets tired of me again…’

I would end up in the same position I was back at the boarding school.

If I knew too much, it would be more efficient to silence me permanently.

“Honestly… I can’t say I don’t understand how difficult it must have been for you, Lady Elze, being by the Marquis’s side.”

Liam said cautiously, casting me a sympathetic look.

“But running away like that wasn’t the right choice.”

“…”

“When you left, the Marquis was deeply distressed. So…”

I cut him off with a sharp glare.

I hadn’t planned on caring about what Liam was saying, but his words hit a nerve.

“Distressed?”

At my pointed reaction, Liam flinched.

I scoffed.

“Liam, you’ve served the Marquis for a long time, but it seems you still don’t know him at all.”

“Lady Elze…”

“The Marquis isn’t someone who gets distressed over someone like me.”

I spoke firmly.

“No one in this world… holds any meaning for him.”

“…”

Liam’s expression grew complicated.

He opened his mouth as if to say something several times but then shook his head.

“I’ll visit again, Lady Elze.”

“…”

No, I’d rather not see you again.

I swallowed the bitter retort that rose to the back of my throat.

* * *

The room was dark, with heavy curtains drawn over the windows.

The air was thick with cigarette smoke.

In the center of the room, Dante sat slumped on a large sofa.

He held a cigarette in his hand, and the table beside him was littered with a pile of cigarette ashes and a half-empty bottle of whiskey.

‘…This is getting out of hand.’

Liam, watching Dante with a worried look, finally spoke up.

“Marquis.”

Instead of replying, Dante exhaled a long stream of smoke, his red eyes glowing ominously in the darkness.

“You’ve been drinking and smoking far too much lately. What will you do if this ends up seriously affecting your health?”

Dante let out a short laugh.

“Is that all you’ve got to say after so long? Give it a rest.”

“Marquis.”

“That’s enough.”

Dante waved a hand dismissively, cutting off Liam’s scolding, before suddenly asking a question.

“How is she?”

“…”

There was still a flicker of hope in those red eyes, faint as it was.

Liam found himself at a loss for words.

“She seems to need a bit more time.”

“…Is that so?”

The light in Dante’s eyes dimmed.

He tried to act indifferent, but it was clear he wasn’t as unaffected as he wanted to appear.

Though he forced a facade of calm and control in front of Elze, Dante’s mental state was far from stable.

‘Recently… he’s been plagued by nightmares.’

It had been almost three years since Elze left.

Liam had come to understand Dante better during that time, including the terrible nightmares that had haunted him for so long.

The problem now was that Dante couldn’t sleep properly without alcohol.

‘It’s a vicious cycle.’

Even if he drank himself to sleep, he would wake up screaming from nightmares.

But he needed at least some sleep, so he kept drinking…

Liam, unable to watch any longer, had once suggested that Dante consider taking a sedative or sleep medication.

[What? Over something as trivial as missing a bit of sleep, you think I need medication?]

That was Dante’s dismissive reply.

“Why don’t you give Lady Elze a bit of time?”

Liam suggested cautiously.

“Time?”

“Yes. This is just my opinion, but I don’t think pushing her too hard will help.”

Liam hesitated but continued.

“Besides, with our people guarding the estate, perhaps allowing her to go for a walk wouldn’t be too much of a risk…”

“No.”

Dante rejected the idea immediately.

“What if she tries to escape again?”

“…”

Liam was frustrated.

Recently, Dante had been acting as if he were suffering from some kind of obsession.

‘No, he might actually have developed an obsessive disorder.’

He simply refused to acknowledge it.

Realistically, there was no way Elze could escape, yet Dante clung to her with a blind intensity.

This was more than just an obsession—it was madness.

“You can leave now.”

But Dante showed no interest in continuing the conversation.

“…Rest well, Marquis.”

Liam knew better than to argue further.

Click.

The door closed, leaving Dante’s exhausted figure behind.

* * *

A man’s face suddenly appeared in my vision.

‘…Who is that?’

It took me a moment to recognize him.

It was Dante.

“Darling.”

Dante looked down at me with a sharp smile.

“Are you trying to starve yourself to death this time?”

“…”

I didn’t even have the energy to respond to him.

I slowly closed my eyes.

‘Starve… to death?’

Now that I think about it, I can’t even remember when I last ate.

It wasn’t that I was trying to threaten Dante; I simply had no appetite.

My nerves had been so on edge that my body just wouldn’t accept food.

At first, I forced myself to eat, thinking that if my health deteriorated, it would hinder my escape.

[Ugh!]

But after vomiting everything up, I gave up on that too.

I figured it was better to save my energy than to waste it on throwing up.

“It’s been five days already.”

Dante spat at me, gritting his teeth.

“Enough is enough, alright?”

“…”

Ever since I stopped eating, Dante had been pleading, getting angry, and trying to coax me multiple times a day.

Honestly, I felt somewhat unfairly blamed.

It wasn’t like I was deliberately refusing food; my body just rejected it. What was I supposed to do?

Besides.

‘Even if I conserve my strength, it’s not like I can escape anyway.’

That sense of defeat and helplessness was hard to shake.

Ironically, it was only now that I began to understand how Lucian had felt.

Back when he had been brought to the boarding school, Lucian must have felt the same way.

‘Back then… I was driven to the brink watching Lucian refuse to eat.’

I thought numbly.

‘I shouldn’t have pushed him so hard.’

It’s only after experiencing someone else’s situation firsthand that you truly understand. I had been rather insensitive back then.

“How long are you going to just lie there?”

A sharp voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Get up.”

Dante gritted his teeth, urging me.

“I said, get up!”

“…”

I didn’t have the energy to even open my mouth, so I chose to remain silent.

I was so tired.

Lately, sleep had been my only refuge.

It helped me conserve energy, and when I slept, it was easier not to confront the reality of my situation.

Most importantly, I didn’t have to see Dante’s face.

But then.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, my world spun as I was pulled upright.

Dante had forcibly lifted me.

A cup touched my dry lips.

It was lukewarm sugar water.

“Drink.”

“…”

I shot Dante a look of irritation.

But he just stared back at me with a fierce expression.

‘Well, I don’t really want to die just yet.’

Rather than waste energy fighting with Dante, it seemed better to pretend to drink.

I obediently took a sip of the sugar water.

And then.

“…Ugh!”

I immediately gagged, clamping my hand over my mouth.

“Darling!”

Dante quickly supported me, startled.

“Haa, haa…”

I panted, barely managing to calm my stomach.

At least I hadn’t vomited. If I had, only stomach acid would have come up since I hadn’t eaten anything, but vomiting still felt disgusting.

“Stop…”

“…”

“Stop, please.”

Leaning heavily against the headboard, I whispered weakly.

Even saying that one sentence drained me of energy.

Dante, who had been staring down at me, bit his lip until it bled.

“…Do I just need to let you go?”

For a moment, I thought I misheard him.