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Chapter 62
“Well, Damia…”
The man tilted his head at an odd angle and stared straight at Damia.
Her heart felt like it was curling up from the intensity of his gaze.
“It’s been quite a while since we last met, hasn’t it?”
“…Yes, that’s true.”
“I guess I missed you too much. That’s why I came here in the middle of the night.”
“……”
“If it was rude, forgive me. But you’re glad to see me too, right?”
He closed his eyes gently. It wasn’t the gesture of someone truly apologetic.
“Don’t lie. This isn’t like you, Marquis.”
“Hmm… not like me? Why do you think so?”
“You value your privacy, don’t you? You wouldn’t just barge into my room like this.”
“Hmm… did I do that?”
He chuckled lightly, as if he had no idea what she was talking about.
“Maybe I wanted to see you so badly that rational judgment was impossible.”
“…What?”
“They say rumors spread like wildfire in the West.”
Even though his voice was identical to Kashian’s, the way he twisted his words was completely opposite.
“H-Have you spoken with your mother since returning?”
Damia tried to divert the topic, suppressing the rising anxiety.
“Hmm… is that really important right now?”
“What do you mean, Marquis? You’ve returned after a long time. Your mother must have been waiting anxiously.”
“Mother… that’s disgusting. Forget it.”
“…Excuse me? What did you just say?”
Cold sweat ran down the back of her neck.
“Haha, I’m getting tired of pretending to be your fiancé too.”
“…What?”
“This damned body still feels unfamiliar.”
He shrugged as if to ease the stiffness in his shoulders.
“You’re not exactly a master of acting either. I could see you were suspicious from the start.”
“W-What are you saying?”
“Well, why not give your so-called fiancé a proper farewell?”
Damia’s purple eyes shook violently.
“From today onward, this body belongs to me, and you will die here.”
A warning alarm rang wildly in her head.
Damia tried to rise to escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The man pressed her shoulder firmly, throwing her back onto the bed.
“Stay still. You won’t get far anyway, and you’ll just be caught again.”
“Who… who are you? How did you take Marquis Kashian’s body…?”
“With the Dragon-Slaying Herb, and an unknown ability… for a mere human, you’ve been quite a nuisance for a long time.”
His fingers traced along Damia’s cheek.
She twisted her body, trying to avoid the touch, but it only earned her his mocking laugh.
“I thought about letting you be, but it seems that won’t work.”
“What are you… trying to do!”
“Shh. Stay still. I’ve just reached a conclusion.”
“Let me go!”
“It’s better to root out a problem immediately than to leave it lingering.”
Kashian—or rather, the creature possessing Kashian’s body—smiled chillingly.
“Stop! Ugh!”
Damia struggled with all her limbs, but he didn’t budge.
“If I were you, I’d have lived quietly, unnoticed, my whole life.”
“L-Let go!”
At first, she thought he would strangle her immediately.
But he just stared at her for a long while.
Eventually, his red pupils slit vertically.
And then…
“…Ugh!”
A black aura explosively erupted.
Even without moving a muscle, the sheer killing intent pressed down on Damia so heavily she could barely breathe.
It felt as if every vein in her body screamed in agony.
“Ah… ugh!”
She remembered the dawn when she woke from a nightmare, and the night when she faced the cursed Kashian.
It was a similar suffocating heat.
Though, now, the pain was far greater.
‘A dragon… no, could it be a true dragon?’
They said even a pure dragon could kill a human with just its aura.
Her skin burned as if scorched; tears streamed down her face.
This kind of power didn’t seem like an ordinary dragon.
It might even be the same man who had disguised himself as a carriage driver to kidnap her.
“How about begging for your life? I might just show mercy.”
“…Let go!”
“Though it would only make your death slightly more comfortable.”
“You… are you the one who tried to kidnap me disguised as the carriage driver?”
“What? Hahaha…”
Damia froze at his brazen laughter.
“That can’t be…”
“…Don’t lie.”
“Haha, foolish girl.”
Surprisingly, he seemed serious.
“That was just one of my incompetent subordinates.”
“Ugh… Then, you are…!”
No matter who he truly was, she couldn’t just stay passive.
She stared intently at his exposed wrist, planning to make contact somehow.
If she could use the moment when he was in pain to escape and alert everyone in the mansion…
‘Even if I wake everyone up, is there any hope?’
A chilling realization hit her.
Who could attack someone in the Marquis’s body at Sarkis’ estate?
And unless it was Kashian himself, no one could oppose a dragon emitting such a deadly aura.
‘No. Don’t falter.’
Damia steeled herself. Now was not the time to weaken.
She had to defeat him first, then think about everything else.
For that, she needed to…
“You’re quite persistent, still trying to survive.”
“…Let go!”
“Believing that a creature like you could really attack me is extremely naive.”
The man seemed to read Damia’s intentions, smiling coldly.
“….”
Damia hesitated for a moment.
Even if her mind had been invaded by something else, this body still belonged to Kashian.
She couldn’t predict whether he would interpret her contact as an attack.
“Whatever amusement you had with my kin, it’s useless.”
The man remained perched on the bed, restraining Damia with one hand.
“I am the primordial being that your bloodline believed had slain me.”
“…A radiant dragon?”
She whispered, testing the name. The man chuckled lowly.
‘Really a radiant dragon?’
Her entire body went cold. She couldn’t even blink.
“You are perceptive.”
He leaned toward her, inhaling slowly.
“Indeed… too vile a scent to leave alive. Killing you felt wasteful.”
At that moment, he unleashed the black aura explosively once more.
“Die.”
“Ugh…!”
The black aura crushed Damia. This time, the quantity was far greater than before.
Her bones felt as if they were shattering. Tears poured from her purple eyes.
“Ah… please, wake up… Marquis…”
Damia grabbed his sleeve, pulling him toward herself.
The man brushed her off lightly, as if shaking off dust.
As she staggered, tears scattered into the air.
A cold wetness splashed onto the man’s cheek.
“….”
He raised his hand, as if to wipe away the filth, but froze mid-motion.
A strange light flickered briefly in his empty eyes.
‘Now.’
Seizing the very brief hesitation, Damia instinctively acted.
She didn’t even have time to rise fully. She lunged at Kashian, falling onto him.
“Marquis, please…”
Damia clung tightly to his firm waist.
“Let… go of me!”
“Kashian!”
At her shout, the man’s body froze.
Damia hugged him as tightly as if she would never let go again.
