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 - Visit of the Law — The Closed Gate and the Unreaching Words
The sound of the archive door closing still lingered deep in his ears.
Yuu made his way back to his room through the dark corridor, rubbing the arm Raven had grabbed. His footsteps alone echoed unnaturally loud. Along the walls, the gas lamps flickered with pale blue flames.
(Raven-san was angry.)
That sharp voice. A color of emotion he'd never seen before. And the left hand, trembling so faintly.
(What was on that shelf?)
The traces of a vanished contract. An old book lost along with its covenant seal. Raven had been terrified — abnormally so — of anyone touching it.
(For that person to panic like that...)
Yuu felt his heart still pounding fast. He'd been scared. But more than that, he wanted to touch whatever Raven was hiding.
(I want to know. More about that person.)
Back in his room, Yuu collapsed onto the bed. The feel of the thick blanket calmed him, just a little. The blanket Raven had silently added. The bed Raven had moved away from the window.
(That kindness couldn't have been a lie.)
Yuu closed his eyes. Behind his lids rose the image of Raven standing under the moonlight, cup in hand, motionless. That solitary back, never touching the blooddew to his lips.
(That person is holding something back.)
The thought sent a sharp, tight ache through his chest.
Yuu barely slept until dawn.
In the faint light, the world outside the window slowly stained blue. The eastern sky was beginning to change color.
(Morning.)
Yuu sat up. His head felt heavy. A dull throb pulsed behind his eyes.
He dressed and left his room. The corridor still held the night's chill. The stone walls were cold to the touch.
On his way to the dining hall, Yuu glanced out a corridor window.
Beyond the courtyard, in front of the estate's gate, an unfamiliar carriage was parked.
(Someone's here.)
It was a heavy black-lacquered carriage. Two men in black cloaks sat motionless on the driver's bench, faces blank. The horses had coats of pitch black.
(A guest?)
Yuu tilted his head. Who would come this early in the morning?
Just then, a voice called from behind him.
"Good morning, Yuu-sama."
He turned to find a girl with pale violet-silver hair standing there, smiling softly. A small ring of keys peeked from her apron pocket.
"Ah, Seraphy-san. Good morning."
Yuu hurried to return the greeting.
"Um, there's a carriage at the gate..."
Before he could finish, Seraphy's smile clouded over — just for an instant.
"...Yes. We have a guest today."
Her voice was a little lower than usual.
"It's Raven-sama's grandmother. Lady Olga Vesper. She is the head of this house."
(Raven-san's grandmother.)
Yuu felt something throb deep in his chest.
(The head of this house.)
The person who controlled Raven's household. Someone who valued contracts and law above all else, they said.
(Why would someone like that...)
A small unease took root in Yuu's heart.
Guided by Seraphy, Yuu headed for the reception room.
The room where he'd signed the contract yesterday. The black wooden desk and the two facing chairs. Old books lined the shelves along the wall.
Yuu stood before the door of that reception room.
Seraphy knocked softly.
"Lady Olga, I've brought Yuu-sama."
"Enter."
A low, heavy voice answered from beyond the door.
Seraphy slowly opened it.
Yuu caught his breath.
In the center of the reception room, in the chair across the desk, sat an old woman.
Her silver-white hair was pulled back tightly. Her gray eyes held no trace of emotion, fixed straight on him. She wore plain black clothing, and in her hand she gripped a cane whose ferrule was shaped like the family crest.
(So this is Olga Vesper.)
Yuu felt his body go rigid.
(What overwhelming pressure.)
Just by standing there, the old woman froze the air in the room. It was like an ancient stone chapel — cold and heavy. A pressure that would quietly crush anyone who defied her.
And beside her stood Raven.
In a black high-collared coat, expressionless, positioned at a diagonal behind his grandmother. His reddish eyes would not look at Yuu.
(Raven-san...)
Yuu stared at his profile.
The fierce emotion he'd shown in the archive last night was gone without a trace. Like a sculpture — silent and cold.
"So you're Yuu."
Olga's voice rang through the reception room.
Yuu's shoulders jerked.
"Y-yes. I'm Yuu."
His voice cracked.
Olga studied his face. As if appraising him. As if weighing his worth.
"Sit."
Yuu lowered himself into the chair on his side of the desk, as instructed.
Olga tapped the floor once with the ferrule of her cane.
"Raven."
"Yes."
Raven answered curtly.
"The contract."
Without a word, Raven spread a document across the desk.
The moment Yuu saw it, his breath nearly stopped.
(That contract.)
The pledge-engagement contract he'd sealed with his blood yesterday. Thick paper stamped with the crests of the Seven Blood Covenant families.
Olga glanced at it, then slowly spoke.
"The term of a pledge-engagement contract is set at three years. However, this contract contains an exception clause."
Her voice was flat, devoid of inflection.
"If it is determined that the contract harms the house's interests, the head of house may, by her authority, dissolve the contract and return the betrothed to their original family — so it states."
Yuu's eyes went wide.
(Dissolve the contract?)
(Send me back?)
Olga's words spun round and round in his head.
"You must have some idea what this is about."
Olga's gray eyes pierced through him.
"What... an idea about what...?"
Yuu's voice trembled.
"Last night, you entered this estate's archive without permission — is that not so?"
(The archive...!)
The blood drained from Yuu's face.
"That place is forbidden to all but members of this house. The contract also explicitly states that you are to abide by the estate's laws."
Olga traced a portion of the contract with a slender finger.
"I cannot keep a betrothed who has broken the law under this roof. Therefore, as of today, you will be transferred to another betrothed."
(Another betrothed...)
Yuu was speechless.
"Your destination is the house of an influential figure in the Covenant Audit Office. Their rank exceeds even this Nox Marchlands estate. For you, this should hardly be a bad arrangement."
Olga's voice was cold to the point of being businesslike.
(The Covenant Audit Office...)
Yuu felt he'd heard the name somewhere. The sanction-enforcement organization that made the Seven Blood Covenant families obey the law. A terrifying body that hunted down contract-breakers.
(An influential figure in a place like that...?)
Yuu's mind was going white with fear and confusion.
"W-wait, please...! I just got lost, that's all..."
Yuu forced the words out desperately.
"Please ask Raven-san! I didn't go in with any bad intent..."
Yuu looked at Raven.
Help me. He pleaded with his eyes.
But Raven did not look at him.
Expressionless, he simply stared straight ahead. His reddish eyes reflected nothing.
"Raven."
Olga called quietly.
"You tell this one as well."
Raven was silent for a moment.
Then, slowly, he turned toward Yuu.
His reddish eyes caught Yuu.
Those eyes were nothing like the fierce color he'd shown in the archive last night. They were emotionless — a deep, still lake.
"A contract is a contract."
Raven's voice was low and flat.
"Obey the house's law."
That was all.
Yuu felt his heart shatter with a sound.
(Raven-san...)
The words he'd tried to cling to died in his throat.
(No. That's not it. I just...)
There was so much he wanted to say.
He'd entered the archive because he got lost — he'd never meant to steal anything. He'd only been curious about the traces on that shelf; he'd never meant to expose Raven's secrets.
But before Raven's cold eyes, every word lost its meaning.
(Ah. I see.)
Yuu understood.
(This person was always like this.)
A contract partner. A blood-medium. Nothing more, nothing less.
The kindness of the added blanket, the consideration of moving the bed from the window — all of it had been for the contract.
(I was the one who misunderstood.)
The depths of his chest grew cold.
It felt as though warmth was being slowly drained from his fingertips, from the tips of his toes.
"That is all. Prepare yourself and wait in your room. You depart before dawn."
Olga tapped the floor with her cane.
"You may go."
Yuu stood.
His legs trembled.
With every step, the floor seemed to sway beneath him.
"Yuu-sama, this way."
Seraphy was suddenly beside him.
Her worried green eyes gazed at him.
"I'll escort you to your room."
Yuu gave a small nod.
As he left the reception room, he turned back.
Raven was still standing there.
Expressionless, watching Yuu.
What those eyes were thinking, Yuu could no longer tell.
Out in the corridor, Seraphy spoke softly.
"Yuu-sama, it's all right. I'm sure he has his reasons."
Her voice was kind.
But nothing reached Yuu's heart.
"...Thank you, Seraphy-san."
Yuu mustered his best smile.
But he couldn't tell if it looked like one.
"Raven-sama doesn't dislike you, Yuu-sama, not in the least..."
Seraphy started to say something.
But Yuu couldn't hear it to the end.
When they reached his door, Yuu turned his back to her.
"I'm sorry. Could you leave me alone?"
With that, he stepped inside.
He closed the door.
Seraphy seemed to want to say something more.
But Yuu didn't look back.
The sound of the door clicking shut echoed down the corridor.
The room was dead silent.
Yuu sank heavily onto the bed.
(A contract is a contract.)
Raven's voice repeated over and over deep in his ears.
(Obey the house's law.)
Such a cold, cold voice.
(To that person, I was just a contract partner.)
The feel of the blanket. The bed moved from the window.
(All of that was for the contract, too.)
(I was the one who got carried away.)
Yuu clutched at his chest.
(What an idiot.)
(Falling at first sight, thinking he was handsome, chasing after him.)
(But to that person, I was just a nuisance.)
Tears welled up.
His vision blurred.
(I only went into the archive because I wanted to know more about him.)
(But I didn't know that would mean breaking the law.)
(I didn't know.)
(I didn't know, and yet...)
Yuu cried, stifling his voice.
Shoulders shaking, he pressed soundless sobs into the blanket.
(No one will listen to me.)
(Raven-san, his grandmother, Seraphy-san.)
(Everyone talks only of contracts and laws.)
(No one will look at how I feel.)
Yuu curled up small on the bed.
Hugging his knees, burying his face.
The tears wouldn't stop.
How long had he been like that?
Suddenly, he heard noises outside his room.
A clatter — something being carried.
(Preparations for the contract dissolution...)
Yuu lifted his head.
Multiple footsteps were moving back and forth in the corridor.
(They're carrying out my things.)
(I'm really leaving.)
(This estate.)
(From Raven-san's side.)
His chest tightened.
(No.)
(I don't want to leave.)
(I don't want to be apart from Raven-san.)
Yuu climbed off the bed and walked to the window.
Beyond his tear-blurred vision lay the courtyard.
The sky had already gone completely dark.
(Night.)
(Departure before dawn.)
(There's so little time left.)
Yuu looked outside.
In a window of the distant wing, a single light was burning.
(That's...)
Yuu strained his eyes.
(Raven-san's room?)
A figure was visible at the window.
A man in a white shirt, black coat removed.
(Raven-san...)
Raven stood at the window, looking out.
A cup was gripped in his hand.
(Blooddew...)
Yuu caught his breath.
Raven hadn't touched the cup at all.
He simply stood there under the moonlight.
(Not drinking again.)
(Why...?)
A small doubt took root in Yuu's chest.
(Maybe Raven-san is carrying something too.)
(Maybe the contract, the archive — maybe it's all different from what it seems.)
(Maybe he's hiding something behind those cold words.)
Yuu touched the window glass.
Cold
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