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Chapter 7
Under a huge crystal chandelier,
nobles dressed like peacocks showing off their feathers were chatting with each other.
Whether fake or sincere, everyone was laughing cheerfully.
And in one corner of the banquet hall, there was someone standing with a tense face.
It was Serena.
While nervously fiddling with her lace gloves, Serena recalled what happened just a few days ago.
“This is the only way to capture Marquis Berto.”
“…What?”
That day, Serena heard an unbelievable piece of advice from the Red Thread Information Guild.
“Did… did I hear wrong? What are you telling me to do to my body?”
As if she didn’t even see Serena’s stunned face, the guild master calmly said she had heard correctly.
Serena’s hands trembled in humiliation.
“Are you… are you joking with me?! How could I put something like that on my body…!”
“Didn’t you say you would do anything to have the Marquis?”
“That’s…!”
At the guild master’s serious voice, Serena bit her lower lip.
“No matter what… no matter what, this is….”
“If you don’t want to, you can stop. In the end, all decisions are yours.”
“……”
After leaving the guild, Serena thought no matter how she considered it, this was wrong.
Do you think I’m crazy enough to do that?
Absolutely not!
However, that determination didn’t last long.
After that, Marquis Berto’s interest in her sharply declined, and eventually he even refused to meet her.
Serena cried through the night.
I was so close.
What should I do now…
Naturally, she began to think about the guild’s advice again.
Unable to accept it, she found herself heading into the back alleys where commoners went.
As a result, Serena succeeded in winning back Marquis Berto’s heart.
He hugged her brightly, smiling as if he was extremely happy.
There were many things to worry about, like silencing the maids who attended her bath.
But when she saw Marquis Berto’s smile, none of that mattered.
And time passed.
Now—
Serena faced the biggest crisis of her life.
A red dress with a deeply exposed back.
She barely covered it with her long hair, but she felt anxious, not knowing when it would be discovered.
Why did the Marquis give me this kind of dress…
She regretted not refusing it.
But what could she do?
She couldn’t reject Marquis Berto, who handed it to her with such an excited smile.
“Serena.”
While she nervously bit her lips, Marquis Berto approached her with a group of nobles.
Among them were her friends.
“M-Marquis Berto.”
Serena’s lips trembled.
“My Serena. What were you doing here alone?”
“I was just….”
“My goodness. So the rumors were true.”
Before Serena could answer, the nobles began speaking one by one.
“When did you two become so close?”
“You look so good together.”
Serena awkwardly looked up at Marquis Berto, and he smiled.
His handsome face made her cheeks blush—
But then—
“More importantly, Serena.”
Marquis Berto gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
“How long will you keep disappointing me?”
“…My lord?”
Seeing his curved eyes, Serena felt a bad feeling.
“Are you ashamed of our mark?”
“What… n-no!”
But before she could react—
Berto brushed away the hair covering her back.
“Ah…!”
“Oh my…”
Serena hurriedly tried to cover her back with her hands.
But it was too late.
Everyone had already seen the name carved on her back:
‘Lucian Berto.’
“I clearly saw it just now…”
“I can’t believe it. That’s something only lowly slaves do…”
Even her friends began looking at her with disgust.
Serena stepped back, unable to breathe.
Her mother, who had been watching from afar, fainted.
Her father glared at her with a face about to explode.
“Ah… isn’t it lovely?”
Only Marquis Berto looked moved, his eyes slightly red.
“My Serena.”
* * *
“Now what do I do? What am I supposed to do?!”
Late at night.
Serena, who secretly came to the consultation shop, shouted almost like screaming.
Rosemary, as if expecting her, calmly asked:
“So, what seems to be the problem, customer?”
“What’s the problem? Are you seriously asking that?! I can’t even stay in the capital anymore! My father is about to disown me—forget the capital, I—!”
Serena bit her nails until they bled.
“I shouldn’t have listened to you. Because of you… because of you everything is ruined!!”
“Why is that my fault?”
“What… did you say?”
Serena slowly lifted her head.
She stared at the guild master’s hidden face.
But she could clearly see the curved lips.
“Did my advice not work on the Marquis?”
“What…?”
“That shouldn’t be the case. I remember you were very happy that your relationship improved.”
Serena blinked blankly.
“Does that even matter right now?”
“What else matters more than that?”
“You… didn’t you hear what I said? Because of you, I—!”
“Customer.”
Rosemary stepped closer and looked straight into her eyes.
Behind the silver mask were clear, sky-blue eyes.
For a moment, Serena felt like she recognized them.
“You got what you wanted—his love. Why are you blaming me for the rest?”
Rosemary smiled and stepped back.
Serena’s lips trembled.
“Wait. You… who are you?”
It felt familiar.
The atmosphere was completely different from someone she knew—but those eyes…
“You should only throw tantrums where they actually work.”
“What…?”
“You just don’t want to pay the remaining fee, right? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”
Whistle—
At Rosemary’s whistle, darkness filled the kitchen.
A black dog appeared, baring its sharp teeth and drooling.
“Grrr…”
“Eek!”
Serena screamed in fear.
“D-Don’t come near me! Go away!”
“We always consider our customers’ convenience. Even if you don’t have cash, you can pay in other ways.”
Rosemary’s gaze slowly scanned Serena’s earrings and necklace.
“Luckily, that should be enough.”
* * *
Bang, bang, bang—!
Adriel sat on the bed, focusing on the sound outside.
“That should do it, right, master?”
“Good job, Wit.”
Rosemary was praising the demon who fixed the door so it couldn’t be opened from inside.
Adriel stared at the door with cold eyes.
How long do I have to stay trapped here?
The temple must already be in chaos because he disappeared.
They might even think he ran away and expel him from the knight order.
“…Damn it.”
That must not happen.
He entered this place to kill the demon that murdered his beloved family.
That was his lifelong mission—something he must accomplish whether alive or dead.
But now he was wasting time trapped here.
That wicked woman.
Adriel frowned deeply, thinking of Rosemary Ferial.
He disliked everything about her.
Her obsessive gaze that clung to him,
the way she pretended coincidence and begged for his love—
He always thought her persistence would cause trouble someday.
But he never imagined this.
“Then I guess it’s time to prepare the meal.”
He heard Rosemary humming outside.
Adriel looked at the boarded-up window.
He couldn’t see outside, but the faint light told him whether it was day or night.
His expression hardened.
I need to escape without signing that contract.
The demon she contracted could be killed later.
While thinking of a way, an idea came to him.
What if I pretend?
Pretend to love her, gain her trust, then escape.
“……”
He shut his eyes tightly.
Just imagining saying love to her made him feel sick.
Even if it was fake—
It was unbearable.
But I have no choice.
It was the only way.
And Rosemary was clearly obsessed with him.
If he treated her a little kindly, she would fall for it easily.
Even though her attitude changed after kidnapping him, he believed it was just an act.
He had reason to think so.
“That holy knight belongs to me.”
Her voice echoed in his head.
He clenched his fist.
At first, he thought she was helping him.
But now—
It must have been her true intention.
That must be why his heart kept beating strangely.
“Master, it smells good!”
“Yeah. You can look forward to it today.”
The warm smell of food filled the air.
And again, those eyes came to his mind.
“Open your mouth properly.”
The way she looked at him like a beast ready to devour him—
That day his heart pounded.
It must have been from humiliation.
* * *
One day, news spread that Serena had been exiled to a nameless island.
“Hello, my friend?”
The second customer arrived.
“You can’t give someone a toy and then take it away.”
“……”
It was Lucian Berto—
with the same purple hair and eyes as the female lead.
…Damn it.
