Inside Cyton’s study.

  Unlike the noisy atmosphere outside, the study was quiet, as if cut off from the world.

  The heavy silence was only broken by the scratching sound of a pen, until Jason's voice pierced through.

  “Lady Roze Hertz has arrived. The servants are moving her luggage to the eastern annex.”

  Cyton gave a small nod in response to his polite tone.

  Cyton's face remained calm, unaffected by the ripple effects of his orders.

  “What about what I requested?”

  “Ah, yes. I’ve brought it.”

  After Dahlia’s visit to the study yesterday, he had ordered Jason to prepare something.

  Though Jason had followed the order, he hesitated to hand it over to Cyton.

  What emerged from his slow hands was a small gss bottle, roughly the size of a palm.

  The transparent bottle was filled with a mysterious, vivid red liquid.

  “It’s the blood of a young deer, freshly harvested this morning.”

  Deer’s blood.

  What Cyton had requested was none other than deer blood.

  Jason, having already guessed Cyton’s intention in asking for it, didn’t look pleased.

  He hesitated to hand over the bottle and carefully spoke.

  “Your Grace, may I ask you to reconsider drinking this? Now that you’ve brought Lady Hertz into the estate, there’s no reason for you to resort to this. Furthermore, tomorrow is the full moon. Drinking animal blood so close to such a dangerous time is reckless.”

  While animal blood wasn’t entirely ineffective, it paled in comparison to drinking human blood.

  If human blood was like concentrated honey, animal blood was akin to a single drop of honey diluted in a bowl of water.

  For this reason, Jason couldn’t understand why Cyton was opting for animal blood when Lady Hertz was already present.

  It wasn’t as though he cked access to blood, and if he wasn’t going to drink it, there was no reason to risk bringing Lady Hertz into the estate.

  ‘What exactly happened at the Hertz estate?’

  Jason, with no way of knowing the answer, could only feel confused.

  Meanwhile, Cyton gazed at the bottle in Jason’s hands with an indifferent look.

  Animal blood didn’t quench his thirst; in fact, the more he drank it, the worse he felt.

  That’s why he hadn’t touched it since he was a child.

  ‘But Roze Hertz’s blood is meaningless to me now.’

  He no longer felt much difference between Hertz’s blood and animal blood.

  No, it was impossible. After tasting Dahlia’s blood, nothing else could ever satisfy him.

  As Cyton continued to silently stare at the gss bottle, Jason, clearly frustrated, added,

  “Then at least drink Lady Hertz’s blood tonight. Otherwise, at tomorrow’s imperial banquet…”

  “About that,”

  Cyton, who had been quietly listening to Jason’s plea, replied.

  “I won’t be going to tomorrow’s banquet with Dahlia.”

  “…What?”

  Jason, who had been patiently waiting for Cyton to finish speaking, looked at him in shock.

  Jason, who rarely let his emotions show, found his expression faltering every time Cyton spoke these days.

  “Wh-what do you mean, Your Grace? You’re not attending with the Duchess? This is your first imperial event since your marriage. You know you can’t attend without a partner.”

  A banquet held at the imperial pace.

  Especially for events hosted by the royal family, it was an unspoken rule to attend with a partner.

  It was acceptable for young nobles or members of the royal family who hadn’t come of age, but adult nobles, especially those who were married, were expected to attend with their spouse.

  If a spouse was unavaible, they were to bring a family member or a child. This tradition had been upheld for generations.

  Cyton was well aware of this rule. However, there was no guarantee that the events of yesterday wouldn’t repeat.

  To be honest, it was more accurate to say he cked confidence.

  The self-loathing and the frustrating reality of his inability to change it left a bitter taste, and Cyton twisted his lips into a wry smile.

  “I’m not pnning to go alone.”

  “…What?”

  What did he mean by that? He wasn’t going with the Duchess, but he also wasn’t going alone?

  Maybe he was considering going with the Dowager, but Jason dismissed the thought, knowing their retionship wasn’t amicable.

  “Then who on earth are you going with…?”

  “With Roze Hertz.”

  At those words, Jason instinctively held his breath.

  For a newlywed couple to not attend an official event together at the imperial pace was already scandalous.

  But to attend with a woman rumored to be his mistress?

  Even the te Duke would rise from his coffin in shock at such news.

  Jason struggled to suppress his astonishment and calmly pleaded with Cyton.

  “Y-Your Grace, perhaps you should reconsider. Attending the banquet with Lady Roze Hertz instead of the Duchess would create unavoidable scandal. It might be better to ask the Dowager instead…”

  “There are already plenty of scandals surrounding the Seyer family. Adding one more won’t make a difference.”

  There was something he feared more than mere scandal.

  It was his desire for Dahlia’s blood.

  He had decided not to drink Hertz’s blood because it no longer brought him the satisfaction it once did.

  It felt no different than drinking animal blood.

  He didn’t trust himself to hold Dahlia’s hand, let alone dance closely with her at the banquet, after days of avoiding her.

  Especially now, when the full moon was near, and his urges were harder to suppress than ever.

  Dahlia brought him an irresistible agony.

  Thus, he decided not to attend the banquet with Dahlia, even if it meant creating unnecessary complications.

  Additionally, bringing Hertz as his partner could serve as a buffer for any potential mishaps.

  However, there was one thing that concerned him...

  For a moment, shadows clouded Cyton’s eyes, but he raised his head with an expression that allowed no room for negotiation.

  “Make the arrangements with that in mind.”

  “…Yes, understood.”

  Realizing that persuading Cyton was futile, Jason bowed his head. There was only one thing he could do now.

  ‘I’ll just have to deliver the news in a way that hurts Her Grace as little as possible.’

  Of course, no matter how he phrased it, it was inevitable that Her Grace would be hurt.

  Swallowing a sigh, Jason left the study with a troubled expression.

  Left alone again, Cyton put down the quill he had been holding.

  “Haa…”

  He loosened the tie around his neck as if it was suffocating him.

  When he ran his fingers through his hair, the sweat beading on his forehead became visible.

  “I’m so thirsty…”

  Though he had hidden it from Jason, his parching thirst had been gnawing at him for some time.

  Left alone, Cyton wasted no time in emptying the gss bottle Jason had brought.

  The metallic tang filled his mouth, and his breathing calmed slightly.

  No matter how long Jason had served him, Cyton didn’t want to show him the sight of drinking animal blood.

  Clink.

  Cyton pced the empty bottle on the desk with a ctter and stood up.

  Then, he picked up a cigar and lit it.

  Animal blood had an unpleasantly metallic taste, unlike human blood.

  To rid himself of that taste, he had to drink strong liquor or smoke a cigar.

  Cyton took a deep drag from the cigar, letting the harsh smoke fill his lungs, and for a moment, he felt alive again.

  As the traces of the animal blood faded, Cyton felt slightly better and stepped out onto the terrace.

  As always, he listened to the rustling of the grass in the wind when suddenly,

  He spotted two familiar figures cautiously emerging from the forest.

  It was Dahlia, his wife, smiling a tender smile he had never seen directed at him, her eyes pure and innocent as a child’s.

  She was casually touching the person beside her, chatting away as if delighted.

  Cyton, watching the two as they appeared close like old friends, crushed his cigar into the terrace railing with a cold gaze.

  Then, he twisted the corners of his mouth downward.

  “Well, look at this?”