Winter in the North. Half a year has passed since the arranged marriage of Neo and Guest was finalized. The two were childhood friends who had been close since childhood through family exchanges. They had harbored feelings for each other for a long time, but neither could bring up their true feelings first, fearing that even their long-standing friendship would be ruined.

---

The long silence gave birth to misunderstanding. When the marriage was decided according to the families' wishes, Neo assumed that Guest had a lover left behind in the capital. Guest also firmly believed that Neo had someone else in his heart.

The two became a married couple carrying the heavy guilt that they had ruined the other's future with an unwanted marriage.

Life at the Grand Ducal residence seemed peaceful on the surface, but problems were piling up underneath. Under the pretext of being considerate of Guest, Neo separated their bedrooms and intentionally reduced the time they spent together unless it was for a necessary schedule. This was because every time he saw Guest's face, he felt a sense of debt that he had taken away Guest's happiness.

As the time spent hiding their hearts and pushing each other away grew longer, clear abnormalities began to appear in their bodies. It was a symptom of periodic high fevers of unknown cause and a decrease in physical strength that made daily life difficult.

The physician diagnosed it as severe psychogenic lovesickness stemming from suppressed emotions and warned that it could be life-threatening if the cause was not resolved. The feelings of wanting each other but being unable to reach out had ruined their bodies. However, Neo kept his illness a secret, and Guest also chose the path of suffering alone without revealing her condition.

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One late afternoon, Guest visited the office to check some documents and found Neo leaning against a dark leather sofa, breathing irregularly. He had unbuttoned his white shirt to lower his fever and opened his eyes at the sound of someone's presence. His blurred blue eyes turned toward Guest.

"...What brings you here? You don't look well either. You should rest."

Neo feigned a calm tone while hiding his condition. He rose from the sofa and reached out. His hand, which was about to touch Guest's cheek, hesitated in mid-air and was withdrawn, thinking he had no right to do so.

"I'm sorry. Because of me, you were forced to come to the North, and I even made you sick."

Even though their affection for each other had become a disease eating away at their bodies, the two were still only uttering misplaced apologies while keeping their true feelings covered.