Raven Nox Margrave, head of a vampire margrave house, has spent eight years burying every emotion behind a mask of ice. To him, a fiancée is nothing more than a contract—a blood-sealed arrangement for the sake of the house, renewable every three years, dissolvable only by the council of the Seven Blood Covenant families. Love has no place in it.
But on the night he rides out to receive his bride-to-be, an ancient contract vanishes from the archive without a trace of tampering. A wolf howls from
Fiancé Before Dawn - The Distance of a Single Blanket — What Burns Behind the Expressionless Face
The carriage rolled through the stone gate.
The sound of the wheels shifted from dirt road to polished cobblestone. One heavy jolt, then only the smooth hum of rotation echoing through the depths of the night. Yuu looked out the window. Countless lights floated in the darkness. Every window of the estate glowed with a pale blue radiance.
(Amazing...)
He caught his breath. The lights alone were enough to faintly illuminate the night garden. Unthinkable for a human household. A vampire's mansion revealed its true face only at night. The scene he'd read about in books was now right before his eyes.
"We'll be arriving shortly."
A soft voice came from the seat across from him. The girl—silver hair with a faint violet tint, cut neatly at her shoulders—narrowed her green eyes and smiled. Seventeen, perhaps. A small ring of keys peeked from her apron pocket, jingling faintly with the sway of the carriage.
"Ah, yes."
Yuu hastily straightened his posture.
The girl who'd introduced herself as Seraphy was the night keeper who had greeted them at the estate's gate. When Raven stepped down from the carriage, she'd bowed deeply, then turned to Yuu with a warm smile.
"Master Yuu, welcome. Was the journey very tiring?"
She'd said this and helped carry the luggage. Small as she was, she moved briskly. She took the satchel from Yuu's hands, lifted it easily, and walked ahead.
(So she's a night keeper...)
Yuu watched Seraphy's back. Night keepers—human servants who attended vampire households. They handled night security, blood management, and the upkeep of the estate. The pay was twelve silver coins a month. There'd been a man in Yuu's neighborhood who worked as one. He'd leave only at night and come home near dawn with an exhausted face. Yuu had seen it many times.
But Seraphy was different. No trace of fatigue. If anything, she looked like she was enjoying herself.
"Um, Seraphy—have you worked here long?"
"Yes, five years now."
She answered without turning around.
"Five years! That's amazing. Then you must know Raven well, too."
"Fufu, well—reasonably so."
Her voice lifted just slightly.
"Lord Raven doesn't show it on his face, but he's a kind person. You'll see soon enough, Master Yuu."
Yuu's heart gave a thump.
(Kind, huh.)
He thought back to the moment in the carriage when the mist wolves attacked. Raven, expressionless, had shielded Yuu behind him and subdued five beasts in an instant with bloodline arts. That back had seemed so broad.
(Maybe he really is kind.)
Yuu stole a glance at Raven's profile as they walked side by side.
Raven said nothing. He adjusted the collar of his black high-collared coat and walked straight ahead, eyes fixed forward. He hadn't spoken a single word since leaving the carriage.
(But I still can't tell what he's thinking at all.)
That was what Yuu thought.
The estate's entrance hall was cold.
The stone walls held the night's chill. The moment Yuu stepped into the corridor, he couldn't help but shrink into himself. Colder than outside. The air clung to his skin like ice.
"This way."
Guided by Seraphy, Yuu proceeded deeper into the estate. Gas lamps lined both sides of the corridor at regular intervals. Pale blue flames cast wavering shadows across the polished stone floor.
Eventually, Seraphy stopped before a large door.
"The reception room. Lord Raven, the contract is prepared in here."
"Mm."
Raven gave a short nod. Seraphy bowed and quietly took her leave.
The reception room was larger than Yuu had expected.
A single black wooden desk in the center. Two chairs facing each other. Tall shelves lined the walls, holding old books and silver candlesticks. A small glass lamp hung from the ceiling.
Raven walked to the desk and drew a folded document from inside his coat. The same thick contract he'd shown in the carriage.
"Sit."
Yuu did as told and lowered himself into the chair.
Raven sat across from him. The contract was spread open on the desk. Dense lines of fine print filled the page, and in the margin, the crests of the Seven Blood Covenant families were stamped. Beside it sat a small silver tray. On the tray, a slender needle.
(Blood seal, then.)
Yuu looked at his own fingertips. He remembered the moment in the carriage when Raven had taken his hand—just once. Raven's fingers had been cold as ice.
"We will now conclude the betrothal contract. The term is three years. Renewal is possible."
Raven's voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
"You have duties as a blood medium. Regular blood offerings, and accompaniment to night social functions. For the duration of the contract, this house will provide you protection."
Yuu nodded.
"You have no objections."
"...No."
His voice trembled slightly.
Raven took the needle from the silver tray. He pressed it quietly against the tip of his left index finger. A bead of red blood welled up like a jewel.
(Ah...)
Yuu stared at that blood.
Raven pressed the bloodied finger to the designated spot on the contract. A red stain spread across the paper. Then he returned the needle to the tray and held it out toward Yuu.
"Your turn."
Yuu took the needle.
The silver needle was surprisingly heavy. His fingertips trembled faintly.
(It's fine. It's fine.)
He told himself so, silently.
Yuu pressed the needle into the pad of his left index finger.
A sharp prick of pain. Red blood beaded up.
(This seals the contract.)
Yuu pressed his blood to the contract. His blood overlapped beside Raven's. Two red stains, side by side.
(I'm going to be this person's betrothed.)
Something grew hot deep in his chest.
The moment the signing was done, Raven stood.
"I'll show you to your room. Follow me."
Yuu hurried up from his chair and followed.
The corridor was as cold as before. Yuu rubbed his arms and watched Raven's back. Broad shoulders. A perfectly straight spine. The hem of his black coat swayed quietly with each step.
(He really is so quiet.)
Even in the carriage, he'd barely spoken. After defeating the mist wolves, nothing. Even now, he walked with his eyes fixed only ahead.
(But it doesn't feel bad.)
If anything, that silence was strangely comforting.
"Um, Raven."
Before he knew it, he'd called out.
Raven answered without slowing his pace.
"What."
"Uh, well—the estate really is huge, isn't it."
Even he didn't know what he was saying. He'd just opened his mouth because the silence frightened him.
"It is."
That was all.
Yuu's shoulders sagged a little.
(Of course. It's not a conversation.)
But it was too early to give up. Yuu trotted up alongside Raven.
"Um, that thing earlier—bloodline arts, you called it? That was incredible! Your blood turned into chains and took down those wolves—"
"Mm."
"How do you do that? Do you have to practice?"
"...Even for those of the bloodline, training takes five years."
Raven added a few more words than before.
"Five years! That long! That really is amazing."
Yuu's voice echoed down the corridor.
Raven said nothing.
Eventually, Raven stopped before a door.
"This is your room."
When the door opened, cool air flowed out.
The room was sparser than Yuu had expected. A bed against the wall. A small desk and chair. One window. That was all. Beyond the window stretched the night garden.
"Wow..."
Yuu stepped inside.
Then Raven, without a word, walked to a cabinet in the corner of the room.
(? )
As Yuu wondered what he was doing, Raven pulled a thick blanket from the cabinet. And then, silently, he placed it on the bed.
(A blanket...?)
Yuu blinked.
Raven then put his hands on the bed itself. And he began pushing it—alone—from its spot by the window toward the back of the room.
A heavy grinding sound.
"Huh—wait, what are you—?"
Yuu couldn't help but exclaim.
Raven slid the bed all the way to the far wall, and only then let go.
"The dawn light will be harsh."
That was all he said, briefly.
"The dawn... light?"
"You're human. Morning light would warm your body. But this room's window faces east. The morning sun shines straight in."
Raven gazed at the darkness beyond the window.
"Direct sunlight is harmful to the skin. Better to keep the bed away from the window."
Yuu was speechless.
(This person—just now, he was thinking about me...)
A warmth spread slowly through his chest.
(He added the blanket too, so I wouldn't be cold.)
Raven, still expressionless, headed for the door.
"If anything happens, call. A night keeper is in the corridor."
"...Yes."
Yuu nodded faintly.
Raven left without looking back.
Once alone, the room fell utterly silent.
Yuu sat down on the bed.
(The blanket's so fluffy.)
The thick blanket felt good to the touch, faintly warm. Raven had gone out of his way to take it from the cabinet.
(The bed's away from the window, too.)
Outside, the moon was hidden behind thin clouds. The eastern sky was still wrapped in deep darkness.
(The dawn light will be harsh, huh.)
Yuu repeated Raven's words in his mind.
(He looks like that, but he really does see me properly.)
Not as a contract partner.
(As a person. He's trying to protect me.)
That made him impossibly happy.
Yuu pressed a hand to his chest. His heart was pounding fast—thump, thump, thump.
(What do I do?)
(He really is handsome.)
The heat he'd felt in the carriage came surging back.
(I shouldn't feel anything beyond the contract.)
His head knew that.
But his heart wouldn't stop.
Deep in the night, Yuu woke to a dry throat.
(Water...)
He rose from the bed. The room was cold and still.
(There should be a water station in the corridor.)
Yuu opened the door with the blanket still draped over his shoulders.
The corridor was lit by the pale blue glow of gas lamps. No one around. The night keepers must have retired by now.
Yuu walked on.
(It was this way, I think...)
Recalling the path Seraphy had shown him, he turned the corner.
That was when he noticed a door standing half-open.
(Hm?)
Yuu stopped.
(That room—it's...)
Raven's room.
Not far from Yuu's own. At the end of the corridor. A heavy oak door.
And now it was open, just a crack.
(I shouldn't look.)
His head knew that.
But his feet were already moving toward the door.
(Just a little. Just a little peek...)
Holding his breath, Yuu peered through the gap.
The room was bathed in moonlight.
Raven stood by the window.
He'd removed his black coat and wore only a white shirt. The moonlight traced his profile in pale blue.
(Ah...)
Yuu stopped breathing.
In Raven's hand was a goblet. Inside it, a red liquid.
(Blood dew...)
Vampire sustenance. A blood substitute refined from blood crystals.
Raven hadn't touched a single sip.
He simply stood there in the moonlight by the window.
(He's not drinking...?)
Yuu tilted his head.
Raven's profile was expressionless. But his eyes were looking somewhere far away. Out the window, into the darkness of the night.
(What is he thinking about?)
Yuu couldn't tell.
But the figure looked terribly lonely.
(Should I say something?)
Yuu hesitated.
(But if I speak now, would I be intruding?)
(Or would it be better to say something?)
He didn't know.
Yuu stood frozen in place.
Then one of the gas lamps in the corridor went out, soundlessly.
The light around him dropped a notch.
Yuu started and looked down at his feet.
(It went out...)
The gas lamp's flame had vanished without warning.
(Wind...?)
But the windows were closed. No breeze moved through the corridor.
A cold sensation ran down Yuu's spine.
(What was that just now?)
In the darkness, Yuu listened only to the sound of his own heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Unable to gauge what the silence beyond the door meant.
For a while, Yuu couldn't move from that spot.
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