86.

“……”

Dante was struck at his core.

He tightly sealed his lips.

His violet eyes held a cold glint as they stared at Dante.

“Do you have any sincerity towards the Marquis? Do you really love Lady Lepherian?”

“Of course…!”

Dante reflexively tried to respond but hesitated.

Countless words tangled messily inside his mouth.

Benedict didn’t miss that momentary hesitation.

“Why does it seem to me that you treat the lady as nothing more than a plaything?”

“……”

Once again, Dante couldn’t answer.

Benedict continued coolly, his burning red eyes like the sun.

“Marquis Offenheir, not everyone can live as freely as you do.”

“……”

“At least try to consider the lady’s perspective, can you do that?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Benedict was met with a punch.

Thud!

Benedict’s head jerked sharply to the side.

“……Ah.”

It seemed his lip was split.

The metallic taste of blood spread in his mouth.

Benedict, feeling the soft lining of his mouth with his tongue, looked up at Dante and sneered briefly.

“Isn’t this a bit too petty? Resorting to violence just because you have no words to defend yourself.”

“……”

Dante’s face twisted in anguish.

Though it was Dante who had struck and Benedict who had taken the hit, it looked as though Dante was the one cornered.

“……”

“……”

An icy silence settled.

Strength drained from Dante’s clenched fist.

Dante took a step back, gritting his teeth, and turned away.

As Benedict watched him retreat, he irritably adjusted the rumpled collar of his shirt.

[The Marquis does not love any woman.]

[So, it’s about time to end this charade.]

Elze’s resigned voice suddenly echoed in his ears.

“What? Doesn’t love her?”

Benedict chuckled briefly.

But only for a moment.

“……Damn.”

Honestly… this time, he had been petty.

The Second Prince had openly mocked Elze.

Unlike the enraged Dante, Benedict had done nothing.

It was because of this that Benedict had deliberately belittled Dante’s actions.

To make Dante’s attempt to help Elze seem insignificant.

To tell him not to act like a hypocrite.

So…

“Damn it. This feels terrible.”

Benedict muttered through gritted teeth.

* * *

Dante strode briskly across the long corridor, his footsteps echoing sharply.

He reached out and yanked roughly at the cravat wrapped around his neck.

Even though his neck was loosened, his chest still felt tight.

“Damn it.”

The moment he saw Elze and Benedict standing together, Dante understood what it felt like to see red.

So, as usual, he grabbed Benedict by the collar in his typical impulsive manner.

[Think about all the women you’ve discarded so far.]

[Is there any sincerity in you? Do you really love Lady Lepherian?]

[Why does it seem to me that you treat the lady like a toy?]

…In the end, he couldn’t refute those words.

Dante had never truly loved anyone before.

He only desired to be loved absolutely by others.

He always believed that loving someone was just giving himself another weakness.

Like how he had begged for his mother’s affection, only to be abandoned in the end.

But.

“I can’t stand it anymore.”

Dante muttered through gritted teeth.

This time, he was determined to keep Elze by his side for sure.

To do that…

“An engagement should do it, right?”

The south, where smugglers were rampant, was also famous for its ruby mines.

Thinking of those gemstones, which reminded him of Elze’s hair, Dante’s expression finally softened a bit.

* * *

Dante and I left the party early.

His expression was so fierce that I couldn’t even properly say goodbye to Brigitte.

‘Let’s keep in touch.’

I could only manage to send her a meaningful glance.

Once in the carriage, Dante immediately commanded the coachman.

“To the Offenheir townhouse.”

“Um, Marquis.”

I cautiously spoke up, watching Dante’s mood carefully.

“I think it would be better if I returned to the boarding school…”

“No.”

Dante cut me off sharply.

“Stay at my townhouse tonight.”

“…But.”

“Why, do you not want to?”

Dante asked with his characteristic crooked smile.

How could I react to that?

“Of course not.”

I could only shake my head with a forced smile.

Dante watched me with a complicated gaze for a long moment before calling me softly.

“Come here.”

I approached him cautiously.

He pulled me onto his lap, wrapping his strong arms around me in an instant.

Then he buried his face in my shoulder and fell silent.

‘What did he talk about with Benedict?’

I tilted my head in confusion.

Dante’s strange behavior continued.

After getting out of the carriage, he gripped my hand tightly and quickly led me through the townhouse garden.

It was an unusually hurried movement for him.

Like a child afraid of being abandoned by its mother.

I tried my best to match his stride, but…

“Ah.”

My high heels caused me to stumble.

Dante quickly turned around, his red eyes darkening.

“…Again.”

He muttered as if biting his words.

His handsome face was shadowed with deep self-reproach.

‘What does he mean by that?’

I was puzzled.

But the next moment, my mind went blank.

Dante lifted me into his arms.

“M-Marquis?!”

I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, calling out in a flustered voice.

“It’s okay, I can walk.”

It was just a brief stumble. I hadn’t twisted my ankle or anything.

But Dante held me tightly and strode into the townhouse.

The servants bowed their heads in shock.

“W-Welcome home, Marquis.”

“Yes.”

Dante nodded curtly and declared,

“She will stay at my townhouse for a while.”

“…”

“…”

The servants’ eyes widened in surprise.

But Dante’s shocking statements weren’t over yet.

“Make sure she doesn’t have to lift a finger.”

His sharp voice fell over me.

“You never know. She might become the mistress of this townhouse someday.”

…What was he saying?

I was silently horrified.

Meanwhile, as everyone else was thrown into confusion, Dante alone remained calm.

“So take good care of her. Understood?”

With that, Dante headed straight to the bedroom.

He laid me on the bed and immediately began to undress me in a rush.

“W-Wait, my dress will be ruined…”

I tried to stop him in a panic.

But he didn’t budge.

“So what?”

Dante lifted the hem of my voluminous dress in one swift motion and kissed my thigh through the thin silk stockings.

His muffled voice came through his pressed lips against my sensitive inner thigh.

“I’ll buy you a new one.”

“No, it’s not about wanting new clothes…”

“I want to buy them for you.”

With that, Dante continued to kiss my thigh.

“…Ugh.”

I barely suppressed a moan.

The sensation of his lips through the stockings was too intense.

My mouth went dry, and my nerves were on edge.

My whole body gradually heated up.

At the same time, Dante whispered softly.

“From head to toe, everything.”

A short kiss landed, and Dante slowly lifted his head.

In the darkened bedroom, his red eyes gazed up at me with an unusual anxiety.

“I want you to be adorned with the things I give you.”

“…Marquis.”

“I want the scent of the perfume I gift you to linger on your body.”

Dante rose and his shadow loomed over me.

With his back to the moonlight, his silhouette seemed even larger.

“I want the earrings I place on your earlobes to sparkle.”

His fingers lightly touched my ear.

As if handling the most precious thing in the world.

He caressed the round pearl adorning my ear and my plump earlobe before his hand moved downward.

“If I could.”

His fingertips landed on my shoulder.

The light material of my dress fell away with a simple gesture.