🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 63
The strength drained from the man’s grasp.
The magic that had been strangling Damia’s heart gradually faded.
“‘Huh?’”
Damia gasped heavily and looked up at him.
The irrational killing intent that had gleamed in his red eyes was now tempered with reason.
“Ugh…”
A groan escaped Kashian’s lips.
“M-Marquess…”
With eyes trembling as if he couldn’t believe it, he glanced between Damia and himself.
“What have I done…?”
“Are you coming to your senses?”
“…I attacked you?”
His voice shook so unbearably that Damia couldn’t answer.
Kashian seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment.
But when he lifted his head again, he was perfectly composed.
“Damia, run immediately.”
“…What?”
“Get someone here and restrain me, quickly!”
“B-But…”
“Before I harm everyone in the mansion!”
He was right. Damia snapped back to reality.
If Kashian lost control again, no one would be safe.
“Alright. I’ll call the knights. Just hang on until then!”
Just as Damia was about to turn her body.
“Ugh!”
Kashian fell to the ground, clutching his head.
Veins bulged across his body, and the black aura began to pour out of him again.
“…D-Disgusting! Shut up!”
The room was deathly silent, yet Kashian screamed as if battling someone.
Damia recalled what had happened in the carriage—when he had been alert to sounds no one else could hear.
‘Could it be… he’s been hearing someone else’s voice all along?’
It was clear that the being who had called itself the Radiant Dragon was gnawing away at Kashian’s mind.
“Marquess, look at me! You have to come back to yourself!”
She was certain that if she left him like this, Kashian would never be recovered.
She couldn’t miss even the slightest moment when he still clung to reason.
“Please!”
Damia crawled forward and pressed her hand against his cheek.
When her bare skin touched him, Kashian’s body stiffened.
His bloodshot eyes, clouded by the blackness, pierced through her. For just a moment, they seemed to regain focus.
“Ugh…!”
But it wasn’t enough.
Pain seemed to devour the remainder of his reason, and Kashian collapsed.
“…Marquess?”
After a short while, his limp head twisted into an unnatural angle.
His unfocused eyes rolled toward Damia.
And a horrifyingly smooth smile spread across his face.
‘It’s too late.’
Instinctively, Damia ran toward the door.
But before she could take a single step, she was grabbed by the nape of her neck.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Damia barely managed to turn her head and meet the man’s eyes.
“Let… let go!”
“…”
“If anything happens to me like this, I’ll never forgive it. The Duchess is here too…”
“Haha, what a pathetic threat.”
The man threw Damia to the floor like a sack of luggage.
A shadow fell over her as she coughed.
“Ugh…!”
The shadow of the man was far too large to be considered human.
“Well, that was fun. Just now, because of you, he nearly woke up.”
The man nudged Damia with the tip of his foot.
“It was interesting enough, but not enough for me to spare your life.”
He lifted his foot to crush her.
‘No!’
Damia gathered all her strength, forcing herself up halfway, and grabbed his ankle tightly.
‘Please, let something work!’
She focused all her mental energy into her fingertips. The exertion made her feel nauseous.
At first, nothing happened.
“I told you it would be useless… ugh!”
Just as the man was about to sneer, a sizzling sound of burning flesh erupted where they were in contact.
Startled by the sudden pain, he hesitated, and Damia pushed him.
“You arrogant…!”
“Marquess! I know everything you’re hearing in there! Please, come to your senses!”
The man staggered but didn’t fall.
He glared at Damia as if he intended to tear her apart immediately.
She clung to his exposed ankle with all her might.
“How much will you regret this later?”
Every time he struggled, it felt as though her wrist might snap, but Damia was desperate.
‘Please, please!’
The man soon regained his composure, apparently unfazed by minor pain.
Damia, on the other hand, was on the brink of exhaustion.
“Marquess!”
She called him desperately.
She had resolved never to give up, but holding on was reaching its limit.
Just as she thought it was all over.
“Let go! His consciousness… ugh!”
It was as if two selves were colliding within him; ripples ran through his eyes.
Kashian’s entire body shook violently. Blood seeped from his clenched lips.
“Please, please!”
Damia threw herself onto him.
Their hearts were so close that they beat against each other.
“Kashian!”
Fear had vanished.
If she failed to stop him now, a truly terrible thing would happen.
She couldn’t allow the restored Kashian to live a lifetime in regret.
Of course, Damia had no intention of dying either. It was a gamble, a desperate move.
“…!”
At that moment, a blinding golden light erupted from where their chests met.
“Ugh…!”
The excruciating pain, like it was tearing her soul apart, engulfed Damia.
It felt as if her heart had stopped.
She couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened or the source of the pain.
“Let go! Let go now!”
Whether it was Kashian or the Radiant Dragon possessing him, the being tried to push her away.
Damia instinctively knew that letting go would relieve her.
“…No!”
Still, she refused. She gritted her teeth.
If she let go now, and Kashian’s consciousness was taken again…
For everyone’s sake, she could not give up.
“Let go!”
“Ugh… Kashian…”
She shook her head and hugged him tighter.
Kashian tried desperately to push her off, but she clung on.
Eventually, their exhausted bodies collapsed to the floor together.
Damia’s tears poured over his cheeks like rain.
As if signaled by her tears, the golden light radiating from her enveloped Kashian gently.
The sharp tension on his face slowly softened.
The vertically slit pupils and the deadly intent faded as if it had never existed.
The golden light soon filled the room.
Even the dying plants raised their heads when touched by its warmth.
It was as if life itself flowed throughout the room.
Kashian’s wandering gaze met Damia’s.
They stared at each other in silence for a long while.
His once-mussed black hair, face soaked in sweat and tears, now held a softened expression.
At last, his eyes were fully focused again.
“Damia.”
He whispered her name in a wet voice, as if swearing a vow.
Kashian stared at her as though witnessing a miracle for the first time in his life.
“Marquess…!”
Relieved, Damia broke into tears and buried herself in his embrace.
Kashian held her, seemingly entranced, gently patting her back.
It was a far cry from the awkward way he had comforted her when he had once saved her from being kidnapped.
This was desperate, tender, and heartfelt.
“I’m so glad… so glad…”
Damia rested her head on his shoulder. As her tension melted away, her whole body relaxed.
Her exhausted mind felt like it could snap at any moment.
Damia closed her eyes and took a deep breath in Kashian’s arms.
