Chapter 06
‘Honestly, she’s impossible to read.’
At times she behaved as if all paths were blocked. At other times she acted with a brazenness that went far beyond what could be considered tolerable. And then, at moments like this, she would shrink into a corner like a small animal that just wanted to hide.
Each trait, taken separately, would suggest a different person entirely—but all of them belonged to her.
“Did you injure your ears?”
The heavy silence split open.
Valderion did not bother hiding his question. In the first place, he saw no need to conceal his curiosity from this lowborn woman.
When his voice reached her, Lyrette’s hands paused briefly.
Even though she was only half-heartedly eating, her hands had still been moving diligently, though awkwardly. Valderion was not unaware that the injured fingers had increased from two to three.
“……”
Lyrette clearly heard the question.
She even showed a brief hesitation.
And yet, as if she had heard nothing at all, she resumed eating with clumsy movements. Valderion let out a dry laugh at her act of treating him as though he didn’t exist.
“Figured as much, but I’ll ask anyway just in case.”
“……”
“Was Dailen the cause?”
Lyrette stopped again.
Still, no answer came.
Once was enough for being ignored. Frankly, even allowing it once was already generous on Valderion’s part.
But the girl—who at times showed an untamed stubbornness—continued behaving as if she hadn’t noticed him at all.
Valderion tapped the crystal glass with the knife in his hand.
Clang—
The glass was empty, so the resonance rang sharply through its hollow interior.
Lyrette’s pale eyes snapped open. He twitched his brow as if urging a response. But her red lips showed no sign of opening, as if locked shut.
Instead, she frowned slightly, showing clear discomfort. It was closer to a flinch of revulsion.
The thick layer of disgust in it was not hard to read.
Valderion’s temper finally rose at her attitude, and he adjusted his grip on the knife. Then he began striking the glass in a steady, deliberate rhythm, as if drumming.
Her small, fragile body—so thin it looked like it might be consumed by the clothes she wore—shuddered like a torch before a sudden gust.
“Stop…”
Lyrette muttered faintly, but the scraping sound only grew louder.
Unable to endure it any longer, she shot up from her seat.
Her delicate features were contorted.
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“Why do you always make things difficult?”
With one last tap of the knife, the already-cracked glass finally shattered completely.
Valderion swept the fragments off with the flat of the blade, pushing them to the floor. The shards fell like glittering grains of sand catching the sunlight.
“All I asked was a simple answer. Is that so difficult?”
“I don’t want to answer.”
“Dailen clearly raised you wrong.”
Ignoring his remark, Lyrette walked toward the bed. Arms crossed, Valderion watched her retreating figure—so light it looked like it could be blown away by a passing breeze—and muttered,
“If you keep acting like a beast that can’t understand words, I might just start treating you like one.”
There was no reaction for a moment.
Then Lyrette’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Crying?
Valderion couldn’t tell whether he felt anticipation or irritation at the thought of her crying.
The girl, who had only shown the back of her head, slowly turned.
Her eyes were dry.
She was not crying. Instead, the corner of her mouth twisted into something like a distorted smile.
“Why are you smiling?”
The question slipped out before he could stop himself.
Lyrette’s expression reset instantly, as if she had never smiled at all, and she looked down.
“At this point… I don’t think you’re treating me like a human being either.”
“……”
“You lock me in this room, forbid me from leaving, force me to eat against my will… Can that really be called humane treatment?”
“Simple warnings are enough. The fact that you still don’t understand them shows my decision wasn’t wrong.”
From their brief exchanges, she had already grasped part of his personality.
He had a talent for dragging out every sentence, twisting it until it drained the other person completely.
With so many thoughts already circling her head like a migraine, arguing with him was exhausting her even further.
“I have no appetite. I’d like to stop eating, so please understand.”
As if granting a great mercy, Lyrette turned her back firmly.
Valderion watched her step away—and then stomped down on something with his foot.
The iron chain attached to Lyrette’s ankle.
He yanked it toward himself without hesitation. Lyrette lost her balance and staggered.
Fortunately, she was close to the bed and did not fall.
But the real danger came next.
“!”
A shadow loomed over her as the man rose from his chair. A chill crawled up her spine. She tried to turn, but pressure on her back came first.
“Hah—!”
Pinned down, she collapsed forward, her body pressed so low it was almost lying flat.
Above her, his shadow overlapped her.
A faint pressure—like a hand—pressed against her back.
“Understand this properly. You’re not the only one who finds this unpleasant.”
His voice, right by her ear, was quieter than before—dangerously so.
“As a matter of fact, I find it just as unpleasant. I don’t know why I have to be entangled with something like you.”
It was a hand.
Through the fabric of her clothes.
Then it shifted—fingers now, slowly roaming down her back, slipping between buttons.
It was nothing more than touch, yet in this position, with their bodies pressed together, every small movement was unbearable. Especially with the source of her Name lying just beneath.
“I hate that attitude of yours. I told you—know your place.”
“W-wait…!”
“You should be trying to figure out what kind of woman I prefer and mimicking her to throw yourself into my bed. Surely you understand that much?”
Her blood ran cold.
Lyrette knew what she needed to escape this cursed “Name.”
Because the Name bound its host like a curse, and the one who bore it became its salvation.
Only the owner of the Name could free them from it…
“That’s… not going to happen.”
And yet her resolve remained unbroken.
Of all people—it was Duke Eustutia.
The lineage of the one who had destroyed her family. The Empire’s proud executioner.
Even if she had to beg every other person in the world for her life, she would never bow to the imperial family or House Eustutia.
No matter how broken she had become, the handful of pride she held onto would never allow it.
A faint laugh fell behind her neck.
“Even if it gets you killed?”
Thud.
Her heart sank.
The memory of the endless white wasteland surfaced—cold so absolute it froze bone and nerve alike. Death had been so close then that even now it lingered in her as something lonely and merciless.
“Or perhaps you’d prefer suffering worse than death.”
Valderion understood exactly what awaited her.
Finally, Lyrette spoke in a trembling voice, her hand gripping the carpet.
“I’d rather… than put on such disgraceful flattery…”
The rest was left unsaid, but it was clear enough.
Valderion looked down at the frail figure trembling beneath him, yet still forcing out her words.
His fingers had already slipped between the buttons, resting against the fabric above the Name.
He curled them—and slowly rubbed.
“!”
For a moment, Lyrette felt as though her heart had stopped.
Her reaction was sharp—far more intense than before.
Valderion sensed the change and was struck by a strange feeling. Until moments ago she had only resisted weakly, but now—at the mere touch of the Name—she was losing composure entirely.
He was beginning to understand just how absolute its influence was over her.
Without hesitation, his hand moved again. The chemise she wore was thin enough that the black imprint of his Name faintly showed through.
He pressed it with a fingertip.
“D-don’t…!”
Lyrette trembled violently, her nerves sparking with strange electric sensation.
The parts of her body that had felt numb and foreign for days were now regaining sensation—sharp and intrusive.
Valderion ignored it and continued.
For him, it was only a small area of contact. Yet the atmosphere between them grew heavy, charged—as though something far more intimate were occurring.
Eventually, the rigidity broke.
Her fingers spread wildly, as though finally freed after a long confinement. She reached out, struggling.
She tried to crawl forward.
But in the next moment, Valderion’s hand slammed her back down.
“Don’t think I’m telling you to endure for long.”
“……”
“Just endure for a year.”
