The Runaway Female Lead Doesn't Run Away

As the moonlight was obscured by clouds, the darkness around the two grew thicker.

Only the sound of wind rustling through branches and the occasional flap of birds' wings echoed faintly.

Clayton lifted his head.

Focus gradually returned to his eyes, and he realized that Dalia was limp in his arms. His body stiffened.

"...Dalia?"

It was clear at a glance that Dalia was in bad shape. Her dress was in tatters, and bloodstains spread below her neck.

She looked as if she had been attacked by a wild animal. Clayton's body began to tremble as he held her.

He had realized what he had just done to her.

Terrified, Clayton frantically checked her breathing. Her steady breaths tickled his fingertips.

"Hah."

Relieved that Dalia was unharmed, Clayton let out a sigh of relief.

His tense body relaxed, but he did not release his hold on Dalia.

As time passed, his foggy mind cleared, like a sky after a rainstorm.

One by one, the events that had occurred began to come back to him.

'I was overcome by thirst and came to the forest, and then…'

I met Dalia.

Without fear, Dalia had told him to drink her blood, saying it was fine and that he could.

Clayton could still taste Dalia's blood lingering in his mouth. It was incomparable to any blood he had ever consumed.

The sweetness, sharp enough to make his tongue sting, was one thing, but the changes in his body after drinking it were even more striking.

Clayton examined his other hand.

The pronounced veins and the vibrant skin glowing under the moonlight showed that his body was no longer the same as before.

'Why is Dalia's blood so different?'

There must be a clear connection between touching Dalia and his ability to function during the day.

Clayton gazed at Dalia's sleeping face. Did she even realize what she had done?

Blissfully unaware of the perilous ground she had stepped onto, she slept soundly, her innocent appearance leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

'She knew everything about me.'

When Clayton, overwhelmed by thirst, had been biting into his own arm, Dalia had appeared. She hadn't thought of running away; instead, she had offered her blood without hesitation.

That was the behavior of someone who already knew he was a monster who drank blood.

'Since when?'

When had she learned his secret? The excruciating thirst that had clouded his thoughts earlier now gave way to curiosity that began to surface.

Had she seen something in the past, perhaps at the cabin? Or maybe…

'It could be something Lloyd told her.'

Considering they had been meeting secretly without his knowledge, they might have shared their secrets with one another.

Perhaps Lloyd had revealed that the Duke of Sayre was a monster who needed human blood to survive—or maybe Dalia had confessed her own secret, that she was not truly a woman but a man.

"..."

Clayton reached out and gently stroked Dalia's cheek, which had grown cold in the night air.

"Dalia, tell me."

What is it that you're hiding from me?

He was afraid. Afraid that this mysterious woman, who was clearly hiding something, might vanish before his eyes like a mirage.

And so, even as he wanted to know her secret, part of him wished to remain ignorant and keep things as they were.

His fingers, which had been brushing her cheek, now lightly caressed her lips.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.

'Perhaps, instead of uncovering what you're hiding…'

It might be better to break your wings, to stop you from ever running away.

Clayton's gaze on Dalia's sleeping face grew darker.

* * *

A deep silence hung over the room.

With the faint rustle of movement, Dalia, lying motionless like a corpse on the bed, slowly opened her eyes.

She barely overcame the weight of her eyelids and looked around.

"Where… am I?"

Noticing that the familiar sights she always woke to were absent, Dalia realized this wasn't her room.

Yet, it didn't feel completely unfamiliar, as though she had seen it before. Perhaps it was just because she wasn't fully awake yet.

Dalia sat up, trying to gather her thoughts.

Just then, with a faint click, someone entered the room.

"Oh my, you're awake?"

It was Samantha. She greeted Dalia cheerfully, as if she had come to check on her.

Samantha strode in confidently and opened the curtains, moving with the ease of someone starting a normal day.

"This is the Duke's room."

"The Duke's room…?"

No wonder it felt familiar. After Samantha's words, Dalia nodded, realizing she had indeed been here before.

But her realization was fleeting. She tilted her head, questioning why she had woken up in this room.

"Last night, the Duke carried you here."

Samantha began recounting the events of the previous night, as if expecting Dalia to be curious.

She described how the Duke, after returning from the palace, had carried Dalia into the mansion and spent the night in the same room.

Samantha's face lit up, as if the retelling relieved all her past frustrations.

As Dalia quietly listened to the maid's words, she raised a hand to her neck.

Someone must have treated her during the night; she felt the texture of gauze against her fingertips.

It confirmed once again that the events of the previous night were not a dream but reality.

'I told Clayton to drink my blood…'

And then what happened? The sensation of her blood being drained had left her dazed, and she had eventually fallen asleep.

She couldn't recall how she had gotten here or what had happened to Clayton afterward.

The only thing she remembered was the vivid, alien sensation of her blood being drawn.

As Samantha observed Dalia lost in thought about the events of the previous night, she continued speaking.

"Now that I think about it, your dress was quite a mess when you arrived yesterday. Torn in several places. The Duke said he found you lost in the woods, and the wound on your neck happened then as well."

"…I see."

It seemed Clayton had come up with a plausible explanation.

After all, her dress had been in tatters the last she remembered. Simply saying she had fainted wouldn't explain her disheveled state, so there had been no choice.

As she tried to shake off her lingering grogginess and process the previous night's events, a thought struck her.

Her head shot up as if she had suddenly remembered something.

'Wait. If I was unconscious last night, did a doctor examine me?'

The bandage wrapped around her neck made it clear that someone had treated her.

There were only a few people in the estate who Clayton would have trusted enough to reveal her injury.

The thought sent a cold sweat down her spine.

"By chance, who treated me yesterday…?"

"Oh, it was the butler! You see, Dr. Selman was away on business, so the butler had to handle your treatment in a hurry."

Selman was the Sayre household's personal physician.

He was one of the few who knew of the Sayre family's curse, and she had heard that even the imperial court occasionally summoned him for his medical expertise.

It had been a dangerously close call; her pregnancy might have been discovered.

'I absolutely can't lose consciousness again.'

Until she had completely won Clayton's heart, her pregnancy must remain a secret.

Dalia exhaled sharply to calm her nerves, but Samantha misunderstood her reaction and responded.

"Don't worry. Dr. Selman will be back soon, so you can have a proper examination then…"

"No. I'm fine. I won't need an examination."

"Pardon?"

"So, could you let the butler know?"

"Oh, um, sure…"

Samantha found it strange that Dalia was refusing the doctor's examination, but she chose not to press further.

As Dalia tried to get up from her seat, Samantha stopped her.

"Where are you going? Wouldn't it be better to rest at least for today?"

"I'm going to my room. I can't stay here indefinitely."

"I don't think you should go to your room right now, ma'am…"

"Why?"

"People are going in and out, you see. They're completely redecorating your room."

What was this now? Redecorating her room? Changing the interior?

Seeing Dalia's confused expression, Samantha elaborated.

"They've brought in experts to completely refurbish your room. Honestly, it should have been done long ago, but it's good they're finally doing it now."

It was customary to redecorate a room when a new lady of the house arrived, but Dalia had been using the former duchess's room as it was.

Until now, there had been no mention of redecorating. Why was it suddenly happening?

Perplexed, Dalia asked again.

"Suddenly? Why?"

"Well, maybe the Duke is very concerned about what happened yesterday? Plus, you were injured at the palace, weren't you?"

At Samantha's cheerful response, Dalia scratched her head.

Well, she didn't know the exact reason, but it didn't seem to be a bad sign.

Glancing out the window, Dalia saw that, just as Samantha had said, the estate was bustling with unfamiliar people.

'It seems resting in my room is out of the question…'

The clear sky outside the window stood out to her.

"Maybe I'll go for a walk."