Interlude: "……"
Uriel, riding in the carriage toward the academy, stuck her head out the window with a sullen expression.
Up ahead, she spotted the carriage carrying Euphemia and Ferzen.
She felt a twinge of irritation, but there was reason to accept the situation objectively.
Their lecture schedules weren't always aligned in the morning; sometimes they split between afternoon and morning slots, leading to different dismissal times and requiring two carriages.
Uriel had no desire to indulge in petty jealousy over something like that, so she shut the window.
Inside the sealed space, the subtle scent of her perfume—masking her body odor—wafted gently.
Her nose twitched at the fragrance as she propped her chin on her hand.
She had tried to forget during her time as Ferzen's concubine and their nights together, but...
Lizzy Paul Liana Claudia.
She had no idea how to face that girl, and it left her heart uneasy.
'Will she...'
resent me?
'Or...'
turn away like the cold, biting wind of midwinter, refusing even to meet my gaze?
'Really...'
Why did you, Ferzen, commit such a horrible act against her?
A sigh escaped her naturally.
'The you I imagined as a child...'
was a prince from a fairy tale.
But now, after all this time...
'You're unmistakably a villain.'
What's so appealing about such a you?
Yet her body and heart yearned for him so desperately.
'......'
Uriel had never read the ending for a heroine who didn't end up with the prince, so she didn't know it.
All she could do was fervently hope that this conclusion held happiness, not ruin.
Screech.
Early in the morning, Lizzy heard rumors she couldn't ignore.
Or rather, since the source was the capital's newspaper, calling it mere "rumor" felt inaccurate.
Still, she hoped it would prove to be just gossip.
With that mindset, she bought a copy of the capital's paper and gripped it in both hands.
Flip.
She quickly turned the pages, skimming the current events section.
"……"
Her eyes naturally fell on the unbelievable string of words.
"Lies..."
By the time she read that the partner was Ferzen von Schweig Brutein, Lizzy crumpled the newspaper in her fists.
Worried she might have misread, she tremblingly unfolded it again, but...
The report that Uriel had become that detestable man's concubine remained unchanged.
"……"
Lizzy froze in her wheelchair, staring blankly.
People around her went about their business, buying papers and leaving as usual.
In fact, the capital's newspaper was printed two or three days in advance for distribution on the day.
Given the quantities and the need for proofreading, it was only natural.
Thus, just one day after Uriel and Ferzen had left, the news of her becoming his concubine couldn't have made the current edition.
What made it possible was the sheer wealth of the Alfred family.
Yes, Coleone Wayne Barreta Alfred—that old monster—had bought up every existing copy at ten times the price the moment Uriel and Ferzen departed, then mobilized workers overnight to reprint it with the announcement for the next day's edition.
To proclaim to the world that Alfred blood had finally mingled with Brutein.
To etch it into official record.
Of course, it couldn't exclude Coleone's own pure delight.
But as one's joy often breeds another's despair...
This news delivered the greatest despair to one girl—no, now a full-fledged woman—Lizzy.
And rightly so, for her eldest brother Roer had endured disdain to marry into the Alfreds precisely to avoid being crushed by the weight of the Bruteins.
Screech!
Her corpse servant roughly propelled the wheelchair forward.
Even on the well-paved road, the speed made it shake unsteadily.
Returning to the academy, she headed straight for the main building.
Up to the fourth floor, the professors' offices.
Room 403.
The nameplate still read Uriel Wayne Daina Alfred.
She gripped the doorknob and—
Bang!
—threw it open without knocking.
"……"
There, gazing back at her.
With a mix of surprise and resignation, as if expecting this.
Her once-stalwart pillar of support—Uriel.
"You've come."
Her voice, now grating to even hear, made Lizzy grit her teeth as she wheeled forward.
Thwack!
She hurled the crumpled newspaper at her—so mangled it could be mistaken for trash.
"……"
Uriel picked it up meekly, without anger.
She had already heard from the other professors about the headline in today's paper.
"H-how..."
"……"
"How...!"
To me, to us.
How could you?
Lizzy clenched her small fists, wailing.
Uriel and Ferzen's marriage went beyond mere mingling of blood; it meant the Claudia family could no longer expect Alfred support against Ferzen.
Worse, if Ferzen moved decisively against them with justification, the Alfreds would back him without question.
Uriel knew this too, so she said nothing.
...She had nothing to say from the start.
"All those things you said to me... what were they? Was your hatred for that man just a blatant lie...? Were you just pitying me... playing along...?"
"No... that's not it."
It wasn't pretense.
Just that her feelings weren't pure hatred, but love-hate.
"What do you mean no... no...! No what—!"
"……"
"Feelings that change in just one day... how could they...!"
Uriel stood silently.
She hoped Lizzy would use her as an emotional dumping ground as much as she needed.
A child who stumbles during a dance, stepping on her partner's foot and spraining her ankle.
The price: one leg ruined, condemned to a wheelchair for life.
Plus severed ties from the stigma of offending the Bruteins.
The one who wove it all: her husband—Ferzen von Schweig Brutein.
And now she was his wife...
Bang.
"Ah..."
The door opened.
Click.
Ferzen entered with quiet steps, instantly crushing the room's gloomy atmosphere.
Lizzy flinched, turning her head.
Thankfully, Uriel was there, so her deeply etched trauma didn't erupt.
But Ferzen approached Uriel slowly, pushed her back, and issued a cruel order in an indifferent voice.
"Step out for a moment."
"You..."
"Go."
At his words, Lizzy trembled violently and grabbed Uriel's wrist as she passed.
Shiver...
Amid her pathetic shaking, her tear-streaked purple eyes looked up at Uriel.
"D-don't go..."
Chin.
But Ferzen pried it away ruthlessly, forcing Uriel out.
Soon...
Thud!
The door shut.
Click!
As the lock engaged, Lizzy hallucinated the brightly sunlit room plunging into darkness.
And in that void, the only clear figure in her vision: the demon.
Ferzen von Schweig Brutein.
"Ah, ah..."
Her erupting trauma dragged her into the abyss.
Her body stiffened like stone, unable to move, breath ragged with agony.
"You're a sly, wicked child."
"H-hic, h-hic...!"
"Do you think Uriel Wayne Daina Alfred became my wife of her own accord?"
Smoothing his rumpled sleeve, Ferzen approached and leaned down toward Lizzy.
"Deep down, you knew. You chose her as your emotional dumping ground because reality was inescapable."
"N-no... th-that's wrong..."
"Were you too scared to unload on me? Uriel became my wife by force because I wanted it. Truthfully... perhaps she should be the one using you as her emotional dumping ground."
He placed her reddened hair on his palm, stroking it gently.
"If it weren't for your Claudia family, Uriel wouldn't have become my wife either."
The incident's root was in the north, but he'd aimed for this too.
Now, he drove guilt into Lizzy's heart.
"She welcomed you so casually. Even after lying beneath me last night."
"Ah... ah..."
"Did you think just sitting there, growing your forces, would stop me from acting?"
He released her hair and caressed her cheek.
The chilling sensation felt like her lungs were collapsing.
"Even without justification. I can dismantle your walls, drive off your allies, strip your weapons and armor... anytime."
His whisper, mocking and derisive.
"And after I enter bloodlessly, will you still bare your fangs?"
His oppressive red eyes looked down as if from unimaginable heights.
Meeting them without flinching, Lizzy bit her lip until blood welled.
Then, with trembling hands, she reached out and gripped Ferzen's throat with hateful eyes.
"……"
But her shaking hands lacked strength, posing no threat.
Ferzen smirked crookedly and seized her left foot.
"Of course... you can't run, not sprinting or even walking. You're helpless."
Slide.
"Ah... aa... n-no, don't..."
He lifted her left foot, bringing her pale ankle to his lips and biting delicately.
The leg long shattered by him, unable to even walk.
His teeth sank into the white skin with a growl.
"Ah...! Hn... hng...!"
Finally, overwhelmed by terror, fear, despair, and defeat, Lizzy burst into tears.
Her hiked-up skirt from the raised leg revealed white panties, the tense folds burying her privates with a tiny slit.
Then, as Ferzen lifted her other intact leg too...
Like toying with a doll, he bit once more.
"Hng... h-hic...!"
Her white panties gradually stained with shameful wetness.
Even in this humiliating position, enduring degrading torment on her wheelchair.
She loathed her body for offering no resistance, the hatred searing to her bones.
But regardless of her will, it dutifully dribbled urine in pathetic spurts.
"Even bloodless entry leaves a scent."
His jeer seeped into her ears, shattering every shred of her self-esteem.
Yet Lizzy could do nothing.
Even after he released her legs, she could only hang her head like a limp doll, sobbing.
Ferzen reached out, wiping the tears from her eyes, and murmured cold reality.
"Among those who brace to lose everything, none regret it when they truly do."
Could you, who love your family so fiercely, truly be the exception?
He stepped back, then commanded her uncontrolled corpse servant to wheel her to the door.
"Lecture time approaches. Tardiness means penalty points without fail."
"……"
"If you're interested in the rewards I tied to your grades, you'd best wash up quickly."
Click.
Unlocking with her servant corpse, Ferzen courteously shoved her out and released control.
"Ah..."
Uriel, waiting outside, reached out pityingly at Lizzy's haggard state.
But Lizzy refused the hand.
Without a trace of resentment, though.
Rather...
"S-sorry..."
She uttered an apology and pitifully departed.
"……"
Watching her go, Uriel felt complex emotions.
"Ah...!"
But before she could compose herself, Ferzen pulled her back inside.
His displeased, angry expression made her shrink involuntarily.
"Uriel."
"Y-yeah...?"
"Why volunteer as her emotional dumping ground?"
"……"
"You have no reason for guilt. You had no say in becoming my concubine; I forced it."
"Still, I'm your wife..."
"Uriel."
"……"
"Don't overstep."
Gripping her chin to lift her face, Ferzen gazed down with his usual unyielding, oppressive eyes.
"I never begged for pity over the Claudia matter, asking to share the burden."
"……"
"I can bear it alone, so stay out. If you're my wife, as you say..."
No.
"If it's you... you should avoid what I dislike, right?"
Uriel flinched at his words.
Her concern for him had become something he hated.
"Answer."
"Yeah..."
She had no choice but to agree.
......And Ferzen smiled satisfactorily at her response.
If he couldn't bear it alone and sought pity, or couldn't endure the villain's yoke...
He wouldn't have killed Ciel Midford that night.
This karma was his alone to settle.
He wasn't soft enough to offload it.
How could one who can't bear evil be called a villain?
Gasp...
As Ferzen kissed her, Uriel cautiously pressed her body close.
Truthfully, he wasn't wrong.
She'd had no choice in becoming his concubine.
But she knew exactly what she'd choose if she did...
In the images flashing through her mind—Lizzy's figure, and her own craving his affection—
Uriel felt a lascivious pleasure sprouting from the seed of taboo.
