Ania emerged from her office, her body engulfed in heat, and slowly descended the tower’s stairs.

Her head was spinning.
A resounding, resonating thump seemed to shake her head as she held onto the wall and took slow steps.

Yet, her futile feet gave way, collapsing her body to the ground.

‘You’re a woman who doesn’t know what love is.’

A woman who doesn’t know love.

The reason why these words shattered Ania’s heart was beyond comprehension. She wished she couldn’t understand.

After Edward left, her life fell apart.

It felt like she couldn’t eat or sleep.
Everything seemed to collapse into an eternal abyss, and there was nowhere to step.

It was love.

No matter what anyone said, she felt love.

She desired it so much,

‘But, if this feeling wasn’t love, what was it, Edward?’

Ania swallowed the scream inside her and continued walking.

She couldn’t tell if her body was trembling or slipping down the stairs.

The dizziness that shook her head eventually caused Ania’s body to collapse.

As she slipped down the stairs, leaving a red mark on her delicate legs,

“It hurts….”

More than the swollen ankle,
Her heart hurt more.

As if wandering through a dream, she descended the stairs as it began to rain outside.

The courtyard was streaming raindrops like tears.

Ania saw the Bronte family’s car in the distance.

The chauffeur, obeying her father’s orders, stood by the driver’s door holding an umbrella.

If she were to get into that car, she would have to return to the Bronte family.
She had to endure hell.
A place without Edward, where they couldn’t meet again.

Ania took a breath, mixed with sobs.

‘I’ll run away.’

‘I’ll leave the Bronte family.’

If the name Bronte becomes a shackle around her ankle, she could let it go.
She was once too scared to let go, but now she could abandon it all.
There might be a thorny path ahead, but being hated by Edward hurt more.

So Ania, avoiding the butler’s eyes, walked around the tower and fled to a nearby thicket.

However, she soon realized she couldn’t escape.

Without the name Bronte, she was just a fragile woman.
Realizing this fact, heavy despair overwhelmed Ania’s shoulders.
In the end… Ania had nothing.

From the beginning,
Nothing was ever in Ania’s hands.

It was all just an illusion.

Her father’s love,
The person called mother,
Ricktman,
A grand mansion and the title of lady.

And… Edward Radner.

Ultimately, it was only with the name Bronte that she could have anything.

Realizing this, everything became meaningless.
Ania sank into the thicket.

She felt pathetic.
What she thought was love eventually tormented Edward.

If she had let go, she could have had it.
But now, thinking about the unattainable heart of the man she abandoned, a burning rage surged through her chest.

The rain grew stronger.
They began to soak Ania’s thin dress as they pattered down.

“Oh…”

Ania pressed her eyes shut against the sensation of heat building in her eyelids.
There was no point in shedding tears.
She promised herself she wouldn’t cry.
Yet, she couldn’t help but collect the overflowing tears.

She cried.
She cried her heart out.

No one was coming to save her.
No one loved her.

In the end… everyone had left her.
The nightmare she wanted to escape from had finally caught up with her.

Wanting to escape the fading world, Ania tucked her face between her knees, embracing them tightly.

Yet, the tears kept flowing.

Edward.
My Edward.

“Ania.”

That was the moment.
The gruff voice sounded like an echo.

Ania slowly raised her head.
A blurry figure of a man flickered before her eyes.

After blinking several times, the blurry silhouette turned into Edward’s figure.
Ania blinked again and again.

But he didn’t disappear.
He was still there.

“Edward…”

She felt ashamed.

‘What a pitiful appearance.’

But she thought it didn’t matter.
Since Edward wouldn’t look at her anyway.

Behind Edward, the cloudy sky slowly parted.
The rays of light shining through the gap gleamed like a halo.

***

It felt like time had stopped.
The air surrounding us seemed to settle quietly.

It was absurd.
Just moments ago, I was restless to depart,
But as soon as Ania Bronte appeared, the time wasted became irrelevant.

It was foolish and absurd.

Who would sympathize with the person who betrayed and abandoned them?

But even if I mock and chastise myself, I eventually realize again.

How deeply the time spent with this woman had ingrained itself in my life.
Her smile and tears.
She was like a drug to me.

But realizing that it was a drug, I had to break free.

“Take it.”
“Edward…”
“Quickly.”
“Why?”

Ania asked, but I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know the reason either.

Why did I offer a meager kindness to the woman who betrayed and abandoned me?
I didn’t know.
Actually, I wanted to know.

I opened the umbrella and leaned the umbrella against Ania’s shoulder.

“Take it as my consideration.”
“What?”
“A small gesture of kindness for someone crying in the rain.”

Noblesse oblige.
You are the daughter of a duke, and I am a viscount.
That’s what we decided.

“So I hope there’s no misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? What are you talking about?”
“The absurd misunderstanding that… I love you.”
“You know it’s the truth.”
“Believe what you want.”

As I turned to leave, my wrist was grabbed.
Again, by her soft hand.

I could have easily shaken it off with her feeble grip, but my steps weakly halted.

“Let go.”
“No.”
“I said let go.”
“If you wanted to leave, you would.”

Indeed.
It was a hand I could easily pull away from if I wanted to.

If the reason for offering the umbrella was consideration,
Then, what was the reason I couldn’t shake off this hand?

“You love me, Edward.”
“Why do you think so?”
“The umbrella…”
“I already told you to take it as my consideration for a noble.”
“Yeah.”

Ania’s body clung to mine.
Although my body didn’t get wet, a chill seeped into my back.

“Then is this also part of your consideration?”
“……”

Her hand slowly trailed over my body.
Starting from the waist, her touch descended like water trickling down a window, gradually moving downwards.

Her right hand, which lightly swept around my navel, reached around my pelvis,
While her left hand, which roamed over my upper abdomen, slowly reached near my chest.

Her cunning touch on my body was both tantalizing and inevitable.

I could walk away if I wanted to.
Yet, the intense desire within me prevented me from doing so.

Fine.
It’s not love but desire.

I don’t love Ania Bronte.
It’s just my intense desire inside me that refuses to let go of this woman.

Admitting it made me feel relieved.
It felt like the pent-up tension was washing away.

I immediately turned around, grabbed Ania’s wrists, and pushed her against the wall.

If that’s what you want, I’ll comply.
I’ll accompany you in this obsessive inferno if that’s all you desire.

“Edward…”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

I leaned in and lightly bit Ania’s neck.
Her small and delicate body trembled slightly.

“Is this not the love you know?”

My hand held her slender wrists, fragile enough to break with a touch, over her head.
And with the other hand, I lightly grabbed her waist.

My hand traced along her back, following the contours of her dress up to her shoulders and neck.
As my fingers teased her body, Ania’s body trembled, and warm breath escaped her lips.

“No.”

Small tears formed in the corners of Ania’s eyes.
The tear that clung without falling was pitiful.
But at the same time, it was ridiculous.

I didn’t know what was more absurd: my advance towards a woman who manipulated me or her inability to fight back as she was toyed with.

I just did what I had to do.
I caressed the soft parts of her upper arms and explored the sensitive areas of her waist.
Eventually, my hand slowly descended along Ania’s neck.

But as my hand reached her chest, it stopped.

I felt dirty.

Accepting the body of a woman who had betrayed me so easily… It sent shivers down my spine to an unpleasant degree.

After steadying my trembling heart, I released my grip on her wrists.
Ania’s body slid down the wall, falling softly.

“I’ll leave.”
“Don’t go.”

As I turned to walk away, I glanced back.

Drenched in the rain, resembling a drowned rat, yet… there was a strange allure in her gaze.
Once, I thought that allure belonged to me.
But it was just an illusion.
Merely a mirage encountered on a hot summer day.

I was just… slowly going mad.

Author’s Note:
I debated making this chapter for mature audiences, but I decided to keep it moderate.
See you in the next episode.