Its random release day! again! yay!

Crush.

The glass fell with a loud, high-pitched sound.

“My Lady”

Melissa’s eyes widened in surprise as she ran to the noise on her way back to her room.

‘Oh my god! My lady! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine.”

Rowena nodded blankly.

“I’ll get you some medicine while I-… Lady!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up.”

“No, it’s my job. One moment, please. I’ll get Joanne. Here’s your medicine.”

“…Thank you.”

Melissa handed over the sedatives and sleeping pills.

It was an everyday routine that lasted for five days, as she had been suffering from insomnia since the day she and Killian had gone boating. Rowena tried to hold out her right hand and felt a prick at the tip of her index finger. She could see blood on the cut, probably from the splinters. She clenched her right hand tightly and accepted the medicine with her left.

It was the middle of the night when she woke up from a deep sleep after taking medicine. Rowena opened her eyes to the hand that held hers. She met the icy iris of the man who was sitting by her bedside, looking down at her.

“…Are you awake?”

“My Lord.”

“You hurt your hand. I’ve applied some extra medicine. Have the doctor take a look at it just in case.”

It was the first time she had seen his face in five days since he had gone to the capital on urgent business. Rowena stared up at him.

―I sincerely hope that his highness and Miss Philone will be happy, but no relationship can be built on deception.

―Then why are you showing me this portrait…

―It was my desire to allow you to get as close to the truth as possible and to build a more genuine relationship.

Everything became vividly clear after hearing Benedict’s words. All the questions she had previously, well she was getting their answers now, one by one.

This affection was not hers, to begin with. She recalled the answer she had gotten when she had asked, ‘Why are you so kind?’

‘Because I need you.’

All he wanted was the shell of the girl he loved.

It was true what the servants had said about the duke’s deceased fiancée five years ago. She had no reason to be jealous of his ex-wife. Both she, and her were substitutes for the same person.

“Killian.”

She spent the next five days without him, crying and laughing under the covers for a long time.

Her heart had already been ripped apart five years ago, but five days ago, she realized that there was still a piece intact.

Her heart, which was finally healed and in the process of getting back into its proper shape, had already burned up, and there was not even ashes left.

If she could show it to him, she would have ripped open her chest and shown the ashes of her heart to this brutal man. Rowena wondered what kind of face he would have, what kind of words he would say, and what kind of eyes he would look at her with.

But it was impossible, so she had to do what she could.

Mistress. Toy. Substitute.

No matter what name they called her, it didn’t differ much. She could use this shell to seduce him, to make him lower his guard and that would enable her to escape.

“You know, I thought long and hard about this while you were gone. My heart….”

She reached out and pulled the back of the muscular man’s hand toward her. She placed his palm, cold and slippery like the scales of a snake, against her cheek.

“For the past five years…”

“…….”

“Has missed you so much…”

Tears streamed down the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t tell who the tense breathing belonged to.

“So much.”

He brought his face closer to hers, and Rowena welcomed him with open arms.

Now it was this man’s turn to bite the poisoned apple.

As she did eight years ago.