Chapter 9
Unlike his flat tone, the meaning behind his words carried weight.
I can’t afford to watch you become half-crippled from doing something stupid. If you die and your Name manifests on me within that year, then I’m doomed too.
So that was why.
Only now did Lilet understand why he was trying so hard to keep her alive.
“Let’s run a test first.”
Sitting on the sofa, he motioned for her to come closer.
Lilet hesitated warily, then remembered the shackle still fastened around her ankle and forced herself forward.
Valderion stared at her in disbelief.
She had stopped far enough away that another person could have comfortably fit between them.
His foot came down hard on the chain connecting to her shackle.
Then he pulled.
The frail woman—dry and light as kindling—couldn’t resist at all and was dragged forward.
By the time she realized what had happened—
She was standing between his legs.
Leaning back against the sofa, Valderion looked up at her quietly.
Rose quartz.
The gemstone nickname that used to follow the now-destroyed House Blewitt surfaced suddenly in his mind.
The reason was simple.
The bloodline of House Blewitt was known for their pink eyes.
Lilet possessed them too.
Something so rare was exactly the sort of thing Dailyn coveted.
Though that alone wasn’t why she survived.
Dailyn himself had once confessed the reason.
“You were too pretty.”
Her face had simply been too beautiful to kill immediately.
Simple.
Ignorant.
And therefore, entirely like Dailyn.
In fairness—
There was some truth to it.
Even when House Blewitt still stood proudly, Lilet had already gained notoriety.
She hadn’t even made her official debut in high society yet, but whispers about her beauty had spread among nobles regardless.
Those who saw her in person told others.
And those people told more.
Rumors gathered like clouds.
Had her father never committed treason—
Had she retained her status—
Then perhaps the one dominating society now wouldn’t have been Camille.
It might have been Lilet.
“Let’s start by holding hands.”
“Why our hands?”
Just standing this close already seemed difficult for Lilet.
Her reaction came instantly, sharp and defensive.
Like a kitten baring claws too small to threaten anyone.
“We need to determine how much your condition improves.”
He spoke matter-of-factly.
“We know touching the Name works. But if there’s a better method, wouldn’t it benefit both of us to find it?”
The memory resurfaced immediately.
That night.
Being forced face-down while his hands moved across her back.
Even remembering it made the tiny hairs on her skin rise.
The sensation had been strange.
Unsettling.
She didn’t want to experience it again.
Yet she was equally afraid of what this man might do.
Lilet hesitated.
Then she remembered seeing him walking through the garden with his fiancée earlier that day.
This isn’t emotional for him.
Of course it isn’t.
If anything… this is closer to treatment.
Once she framed it that way, the chaos in her head eased slightly.
Like someone stepping into unknown territory, Lilet slowly uncurled her fingers.
Valderion extended his palm as if inviting her to dance.
Her fingertips brushed against it several times.
Careful.
Tentative.
As though traces of hesitation still lingered.
Valderion watched those thin fingers.
Last night, when he lightly touched her Name, he had clearly seen her stiffness ease.
But only for a while.
Within days, her condition had reverted.
Looking at fingers that seemed fused together since birth stirred something irritating in him.
Acting on impulse—
He moved first.
His hand closed firmly around hers.
“—!”
Lilet stepped back in surprise.
Too late.
Valderion tightened his grip and interlocked their fingers.
His larger fingers forced themselves ruthlessly into every space.
The gaps that could still move were filled completely.
The stiffened ones that barely separated were pried open as much as possible.
There was nothing gentle about it.
As though determined to leave evidence of his existence behind.
It was only their hands touching.
Yet somewhere inside Lilet, nerves tightened painfully—
Then slowly loosened.
Her eyes blinked in confusion.
She instinctively tried to pull away.
Valderion immediately yanked their joined hands.
Without resistance, her slight body toppled toward him.
Naturally—
Valderion, built broad and strong by nature, caught her without so much as blinking.
“What are—!”
Lilet realized too late how twisted their position on the sofa had become.
She struggled desperately to free her hand.
Valderion ignored all of it.
He focused solely on her fingers.
As though surrendering under his relentless concentration, the rigid spaces between her fingers slowly began loosening.
Seeing that change—
He pressed further.
His fingers continuously pushed deeper between hers.
Persistent.
Stubborn.
Unwilling to stop.
Lilet’s long lashes trembled.
The fingers he had forced between spaces that had fused together rubbed against sensitive inner skin.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Eventually—
Three fingers that had once seemed permanently stuck together slowly separated and regained their original shape.
Valderion noticed it first through touch.
Then sight.
“It works.”
His voice stayed calm.
“But much slower than expected.”
Even after her fingers had relaxed completely, he continued moving their interlocked hands.
Testing.
Confirming.
Far more persistent than necessary.
Dizzy from the strange sensations, Lilet only recovered moments later.
She shoved against his chest and hurried upright.
The struggle had left her dress completely disheveled.
Valderion looked no different.
Especially because he had already loosened his cravat earlier.
The result made him appear far less composed than usual.
“Now that we know it works, that’s enough.”
Valderion slowly sat upright.
Even after fixing his posture, he still looked oddly untidy.
Perhaps because he was usually so immaculate.
The contrast felt unfamiliar.
“You don’t want to keep living like that either.”
Lilet immediately understood what he meant.
She remembered the way his hands had toyed with hers moments ago.
Rough.
Relentless.
Utterly lacking consideration.
The thought of repeating that every day filled her with instinctive resistance.
Then she remembered the shackle.
And swallowed her honesty.
Pressing her lips tightly together, she stayed silent.
“Thirty minutes a day.”
“……”
“That’s the maximum amount of time I can spare for you.”
He continued speaking as if her silence meant nothing.
“Daytime won’t work.”
His gaze settled on her.
“Night would be better.”
She hadn’t agreed to anything.
Yet he spoke as though she never had a choice.
“If you promise to cooperate quietly during that time…”
His eyes flicked briefly toward her ankle.
“I’ll remove the shackle.”
Of course.
Valderion offered freedom as bait.
No—
Not bait.
A condition.
Which meant—
It wasn’t a proposal.
It was an order.
Lilet lowered her gaze stubbornly to her feet.
She already knew she had no real choice.
The fact that the chain still bothered her, even now, made something ache painfully inside.
* * *
After that day, two things changed in Lilet’s room.
First—
The cold rattle of chains, so fitting for winter, disappeared.
Nothing inside the bedroom physically restrained her anymore.
Second—
A new object appeared in the center of the table.
An hourglass.
Not small enough to ignore.
The amount of sand inside measured exactly thirty minutes.
Whenever it was turned over, golden grains spilled endlessly through the narrow opening.
Falling.
And falling.
There were no exceptions.
No delays.
The hourglass guarded their time with solemn precision.
“Mm…”
Lilet shrank slightly as pressure pressed teasingly against her palm.
It made her want to snatch her hand away.
Hide somewhere.
Swallowing nervously, she straightened her back and tried relaxing her fingers.
Because holding hands wasn’t the real problem.
What came after was.
Unlike Lilet—who sat stiff with discomfort—Valderion lounged casually with one leg crossed.
His fingers curled lazily.
Their palms twisted together.
Naturally, their fingers intertwined like tangled threads.
He still behaved far too naturally.
Nothing about his face looked strained.
His posture remained the perfect image of nobility.
He looked so relaxed that holding a book or wineglass in his free hand wouldn’t have seemed strange.
“Relax.”
He noticed the stiffness immediately.
Not because of the Name.
Because she was tensing too much.
Lilet slowly exhaled.
Then carefully turned her head.
Toward the hourglass.
Desperately.
The amount of sand that had fallen, however—
Was pitifully small.
Not even ten minutes.
Probably not even five.
