Evony closed her eyes and clenched her jaw out of habit. She curled her body as tightly as possible and lowered her head. That way, it would hurt just a bit less. She tried to protect her head with her arms and prayed that time go by quickly.

But the pain never came. He didn’t hit her.

Danté ’s hands stopped right above Evony's head as he reached for her. Looking at the curled up and trembling girl, his usually stern face was filled with anger.

“She has been through continuous beatings more vicious than we can ever imagine. Physical torture as well as mental. She doesn’t even know where and how her body is hurting. It seems like in places where the scars are deep, she doesn’t have any sensation,” the doctor had told him.

Rarely was the doctor an emotional woman. After treating Evony, she walked into Danté ’s office with bloodshot eyes and cried out.

“Your Excellency, Evony Vonieck’s guardian, you said. I am a mere servant, but I beg you to reconsider. How do you plan on becoming her guardian when you cannot understand the pain she has gone through? A lovely girl, a death-row convict, and the prison guards who rule the place like tyrants. What do you think has happened during her time there? Even as her doctor I could not ask!”

He knew. He knew in his head. After all, he did personally bathe her last night.

But he couldn’t say that he’d been able to truly fathom what she’d been through.

His glance went back and forth between his calloused palm and Evony's pathetically trembling body. Then he moved stiflingly slow, and placed one arm around her shoulders and one arm below her knee. He lifted her up.

“Oh? Oh… Uh…” Evony stuttered again. No matter how slowly and gently Danté moved, her rigid body refused to relax.

“I’m laying you down. Don’t be afraid.”

Danté carefully held her and slipped her body underneath the blanket. He pretended not to see her shaking hands as he pulled the blanket over her. With nowhere to look, Evony aimlessly gazed into the distance.

“I heard you were ill.”

Danté ’s words were short. Not knowing his intentions, Evony quickly shook her head. She could not be ill as she was receiving a more luxurious welcome than she could have ever imagined.

“You are ill.” After abruptly concluding with such a remark, Danté crossed his arms. Then with a rather stern face, he gave her a lecture.

“If you are in pain, say that you’re in pain. If you are hungry, say that you are hungry. If you are tired, say that you are tired. If you like something, say so. If you do not like something, say so as well. If you are uncomfortable or scared, say so.”

“Your Excellency…”

“You don’t have to call me that. At least in this castle, ‘Danté ’ will be enough.”

But she could never. For Evony to call the grand duke by such an intimate address would be inappropriate. This time, she didn’t nod her head nor say a word with her dry mouth.

“Seems like we could use some conversation,” he said.

Danté seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Frozen underneath the covers, She let out her breath while keeping her fists tightly curled. But she still wasn’t in a comfortable position.

“Let’s start with a self-introduction. You would have heard from Marsha, but my name is Danté Bord Schneider. I’m a collateral descendent of the royal family, so though it’s ridiculous, I bear the title of a grand duke. The reason I have not participated in political activities is because I had spent my days out of this kingdom for a long time. And now, I am your guardian.”

Danté spoke slowly. Because he was staring into her eyes, she had no choice but to listen carefully.

“Any questions?”

There was no chance she had questions. All Evony could do was listen to Danté ’s words.

“I introduced myself. Now let’s hear yours.”

This time the request was much more difficult. Evony squirmed her tightly sealed mouth as she debated what to say. A self-introduction? She had never done such a thing in all her life.

“No need to be afraid. Think of me as a twenty-year-old petty thief confined in the cell next door.”

There was no way she could think that way. For the longest time, she pondered what to say. But Danté seemed determined that he wouldn’t go away without an answer, so she started to stutter a few words.

“I am Evony… Evony Vonieck. I’m a death-row convict in the Spess prison. The day of execution is…”

He interrupted. “No, I don’t need those. How old you are, where you are from, and what you like. Things like that.”

“I am twenty-three. I have lived all my life in the capital city of Lansen. I like…”

What did she like? Evony lowered her head as she didn’t know what to say. There was nothing that she liked. She thought and thought, but could not come up with an answer. In prison, she liked the days with no beatings or forced labor. She liked summer more than the cold winter. She liked the wildflowers that bloomed by the river where she was allowed to wash herself once a month.

But the duke didn’t want answers like that.

“Fine. Let me ask you this. Evony Vonieck, what do you want the most right now?”

This time, Evony could respond without hesitation. Because she was curious about one thing.

“I want to know why you’re like this to me.”

“What?”

“Why… why are you being so kind to me? I want to know the reason.”

She really wanted to know. In her dark eyes was a veil of desperation. It still wasn’t the kind of answer Danté was looking for, but seeing her will behind the question, Danté narrowly gave her a passing mark.

His lips flexibly formed an arc.

“You want to know the reason?”

“Yes.”

Danté told Marsha numerous times that Evony Vonieck was an infamous murderer who had been shunned by everyone. The reason her execution had not been carried out was because Karcassian laws on capital punishment droned through tiresome court debates while the authority overturned the previous ones with completely different laws each time. If it weren’t for the changes in the law, Evony would have been executed at the square even before imprisonment.

Danté answered without so much of a pause.

“Regardless of the process, I am now your guardian and you are my responsibility.”

“Yes... that I am aware of.”

“Are you saying that this answer is not enough?”

Nod. Evony unconsciously agreed, which in turn made her jump and firmly shut her eyes before opening them again. But Danté still did not rebuke her; rather, he had on a relaxed smile and continued.

“Luckily, I have this big castle, the wealth, and a moderate status. It is more than enough to feed and care for an Evony Vonieck. Now this is the important part. As I see it, I think you need some help. It is actually not that big of a deal. Let us say that help just happened to be by me.”

Evony only understood half of what Danté said. This was because she couldn’t understand where he was going with this.

“Of course, there is the most important reason.”

“And what is that?”

“Evony.”

He uncrossed his arms and roughly patted Evony's wild hair. One of Danté ’s eyebrows sank, and the shape of his eyes became thinner. He made a face as though he was unsure of how to say this.

“Evony. This is a very important question. I hope you answer it honestly.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you feel… wronged?”

Evony's long dark eyelashes hid her pupils numerous times. Her already pale face became even paler. Like a lifeless doll, she even forgot to breathe.

If she were in her right mind – hunched up, tense, trying to read between the lines – she most definitely would have shaken her head. She would have answered that she did not think she was wrongly accused at all, that she committed a crime, and receiving punishment was only fitting.

But this was after a day where she had received the warm welcome of her dreams. And the grand duke in front of her only seemed like a figment of her imagination. Her mind became completely blank and she couldn’t think properly.

Maybe that was why. Evony suddenly started to cry. She didn’t weep like the night before. Without a warning, her eyes welled up, and in no time the tears spilled over.

“Now’s not the best time to cry.”

Danté let go of Evony's hair and reached for his pockets. “Now where did I put that handkerchief?” he mumbled.

But the handkerchief was nowhere to be found on his attire which he’d carelessly put on. After disheveling his own hair again, Danté jumped up and brought a towel from the bathroom. Then he scrubbed her eyes with it.

The new towel let off a nice sun-dried aroma. It also smelled of flower-scented soap. Danté ’s scrubbing did hurt, but she could not push him away.

“What I’m saying is this. The crime that you committed; did not a single person make an objection? It wasn’t a premeditated murder, you were clearly exposed to danger, and above all, it sounded closer to an accident.”

His voice rang in her ears. But her mind was louder.

“Was it not self-defense?” he asked.

She couldn’t believe it. Underneath the blanket, her fidgeting hands grasped the towel. As she tightly held on to it until it made her joints pale, her suppressed sobs escaped a little. She could not say those words, so all she did was shut them out.

There had not been a single objection.

There was not a single person who understood how unjust this all felt, not a single person who told her that it could have been self-defense.

They didn’t allow her to think for herself, so she’d brainwashed herself to believe that she was the devil. She couldn’t help but allow the tears flow. Something hot was struggling within her to try and jump out through her throat.

“This is going to be an exceedingly difficult task. For you, and for me,” he said.

He no longer expected an answer from Evony. All he did was reach out and take her in his arms. With the blanket still over her, she curled her small body in Danté ’s embrace. She clung to the towel, which was wet with tears.

“Go on, let the tears out. Once you’re done crying, you will be hungry. Make sure to eat.”

Funnily enough, the closer Danté pulled her, the more relaxed she became. Over her collapsed shoulder, a fierce cry was heard. Danté climbed up the bed and now used both his arms and legs to hold her.

It was not a tender, gentle hug. It was more of an action to calm a wounded animal.

“Cry even harder. They say it becomes an illness if you hold it in.”

The words he let out had a certain magic to them. Evony slowly started to weep louder. The sniffling became sobbing, and the sobbing became wailing.

“Yes, that’s it. Try screaming as well.”

Danté ’s odd message of support continued for some time. Only after being drained from all the screaming and crying was she allowed to leave his embrace.

With her hair tangled up and the towel drenched, she breathed raggedly, her face covered in her fluids.

Again, Danté lowered an eyebrow and formed an arc with his lips. “You’ve gotten uglier.”

Blink. Blink, blink. As Evony blinked a couple times more, the last teardrop fell. Just in time, there was a knock and the sound of Marsha’s voice at the door.

“Go. Go and eat up all the food here.” He spoke under his breath with a smile. Then he let go of her, got up, and exited the room.

What just happened?

She couldn’t explain anything to Marsha, who hurriedly examined her face as soon as she entered the room.