Hannah pushed past Antyone, her frustration evident.
"Why would I give you what isn't yours?" she said sharply.
Antyone, unwilling to concede gracefully, thrust the ring toward Hannah with all her remaining pride. But as Hannah reached for it, Antyone yanked her hand back, causing Hannah to stumble backward and fall hard on her buttocks.
"That's—!" Hannah started.
But Antyone was already walking away, still delivering mocking comments over her shoulder without raising her voice to shout.
Hannah sat there for a moment, catching her breath, watching the woman disappear down the corridor.
*It was her fault. All of it.*
Hannah recalled how Claudel had been melancholy after receiving no first-night gift. She remembered how tormented Claudel became when Kaian asked if she disliked his present—a gift she'd never actually received.
Hannah had made things worse with her own doubts.
*Could it be a trap?* she'd whispered. *What if he's trying to blame you for losing something precious?*
That seed of suspicion had only deepened Claudel's worry.
And it was all because of Antyone's lies.
"How was she even raised?" Hannah muttered, rising to her feet. "An unmarried woman who steals and deceives, sneaking into men's bedrooms..."
Hannah's jaw set with determination. There was one person who needed to know the truth.
She headed directly toward Kaian's office.
*He's not the kind of man who would be cruel to the Young Lady. Not anymore. If I tell him what happened, he'll listen.*
---
## Claudel
I entered that night consumed by nervous anticipation.
Kaian had the right to enter my bedroom whenever he wished. Yet after only two previous visits, he'd never come at night until now. The sudden command—*wait for me tonight*—had caught me completely off-guard.
When Hannah returned flushed from some errand, I confided in her about what he'd said.
"Ugh. Is that so?" she'd replied, seeming unsurprised.
I'd expected her to protest—to insist I shouldn't strain my recovering legs. But even Hannah saw nothing wrong with it.
*Of course Kaian can come. He's my husband.*
My overwhelming nervousness seemed rooted in something else entirely: my instinct to resist connecting more deeply with him.
I was living as a woman with a terminal illness, watching the end approach. When Kaian was involved, something dangerous stirred within me—something I was actively trying to organize and contain.
A sudden marriage. A sudden husband. The overwhelming pressure of that first night. Everything about him felt like too much.
Yet ironically, I took comfort in knowing that somewhere in this castle's basement, there would be a place for me to rest when I died. At least I wouldn't suffer Vermont's fate—being discarded like carrion.
The Duke of Vermont had often declared, "If I catch sight of that dark-haired Temnes bastard, I'll tear him limb from limb and throw him to the animals." That prejudice had colored my understanding of Kaian before we ever met.
---
Without knowing my turbulent thoughts, Hannah seemed to be in excellent spirits. After I'd washed, she sat me before the mirror, applied perfume to my hair, combed it carefully, and hummed contentedly.
"The Duke might be better than you think," she said cheerfully.
"You were the one who got angry when I suggested he wasn't what I'd assumed, Hannah."
"The jeweler he brought today is supposedly the most renowned in the South. People wait an entire year for their services."
"I suppose I looked quite pitiful. He probably felt obligated to gift me jewelry."
Hannah's reflection in the mirror gave me a pointed look. "What are you saying? Since our Young Lady is beautiful, of course he wanted to give you something that suits you."
"Hannah, did the Duke perhaps... pay you for something?"
Hannah's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you think I'm someone who changes her opinion for money?"
"No—but if someone did pay you, make sure it's a substantial amount. Don't accept anything meager."
"Haha." Hannah played with her fingers. "That way, if something happens to me, you'll be taken care of."
"Don't say such things. If you bear an heir, I'll raise your child. When that heir grows, finds a worthy partner, and becomes a great Lord, I'll live a thousand years raising the grandchildren of the new Lord's wife."
Hannah finished combing my hair and examined me in the mirror, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"There. Everything is perfect."
I blinked, looking at my reflection. "The nightgown doesn't look quite right."
"Exactly why we're changing it," Hannah said, hurrying to the closet.
She returned with different pajamas, and my heart sank immediately.
The garment I currently wore was a standard cotton nightgown, modestly buttoned from neck to hem. What Hannah held was something I'd worn only once—on that first night. It was dramatically thinner, nearly transparent, with the front tied at the sides with delicate strings.
"Why would I wear something like that?" I asked carefully.
"Do you know why such pajamas were created in this world?"
I shook my head.
Hannah, who had grown up differently than I had—experiencing the world rather than being confined to libraries and tutors—possessed knowledge I lacked.
"It's because many people find them appealing," she said simply.
I fell silent.
The image of Kaian's cold, intimidating gaze focused on such clothing terrified me. I nearly asked her to burn the garment immediately.
Powerless to resist, I nodded meekly. "Fine."
*I can change back into my proper nightgown after Hannah leaves,* I thought.
But the day had been chaotic—the jeweler's visit, Kaian's sudden appearance, the emotional intensity of it all. I'd been unable to nap, and my chronic insomnia made sleep elusive even now, despite the late hour.
*He said don't sleep and wait.*
Yet my exhausted body betrayed me.
---
*Creak.*
The bedroom door opened, and my eyes snapped awake.
"You came," I whispered.
"Were you sleeping?" Kaian stood in the doorway, still dressed formally in an embroidered black tunic with gold buttons and a white shirt beneath—clearly he'd come directly from some official duty.
*Oh. The pajamas.* I felt sudden embarrassment at wearing the thin garment while he remained so elegantly dressed.
But he didn't seem to notice. He simply wrapped me in the blanket from my bed and lifted me into his arms.
"Where are we going?" I asked, confused, as he carried me toward the door.
"To see the stars."
I wanted to protest further, but when he shifted his weight, I became anxious about falling and clung to the blanket instead.
After navigating the dark, quiet corridors for some time, he stopped before a large door carved with intricate patterns. He opened it familiarly and stepped inside.
The chamber was vast and decorated in an older style. Sparse furniture—notably, an enormous bed dominated the space.
He laid me carefully on it, checking my bandages with gentle care.
"Where am I?" I asked in confusion.
"My bedroom," he answered casually.
I widened my eyes in shock.
*Oh. When he said "look at the stars," did he mean...?*
I'd heard there were suggestive euphemisms between men and women, but the implications felt different here. While Kaian could visit my chamber, my entering his was transgressive—a crossing of boundaries that felt genuinely transgressive.
Kaian seemed unbothered by my hesitation. He moved confidently through the darkness and began manipulating something near the bed. A mechanical sound echoed through the chamber, followed by a strange creaking from overhead.
The ceiling—a domed structure divided into geometric panels—began to move.
The painted sections shifted and overlapped as a circular opening slowly appeared. Through the widening gap, stars emerged, densely packed in the black night sky.
When the ceiling had opened two-thirds of the way, Kaian settled beside me on the bed.
"How is it?" he asked.
I was speechless.
"This is the first time I've ever seen the night sky like this," I finally managed.
Life in the castle meant retiring at eight o'clock with the lights extinguished. Wandering at night was forbidden. I'd loved gazing at stars through windows, but experiencing them directly—feeling the night air on my skin, hearing the wind through distant forests—was entirely different.
"It was worth the trouble," he said.
I felt tears gathering and quickly wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
"Are you crying?" His voice held something almost like concern.
"No. It's just... so beautiful."
Even in summer's warmth, the night air caressed my skin. I could hear wind moving through the forests beyond, see the stars, and feel the vast openness of the sky.
"When someone dies," I said softly, "people say their soul rises to the sky and becomes a star."
I shared something I'd never told anyone. "When I was young, I kept looking at the stars, wondering if my parents were there. Now I wonder if there's at least one star that will be mine."
Kaian's response was characteristically blunt: "Even if I show you something wonderful, it still remains something good."
I smiled slightly at his harsh pragmatism. If he'd attempted comfort with gentler words, I might have broken down entirely.
When I coughed softly, Kaian lifted the blanket from his own bed and moved to drape it over me.
"Are you cold?"
"No, I'm not—"
*Tuk.*
The strap of my nightgown caught on a button of his tunic as he leaned down. The thin fabric slipped, exposing my shoulders.
Embarrassed, I tried to pull it back into place, but he caught my hand, stilling my movement.
When he spoke, his voice was low, as though something within him was barely contained.
"...Can I?"
---