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Chapter 64
The trembling in his fingertips hadn’t subsided yet. His ragged breathing showed no signs of calming either.
Still, for now, comforting his fiancée in his arms took priority.
Kashian gently patted Damia’s dry back.
“……”
He brushed the hair clinging to her sweaty cheeks behind her ear, revealing her pale face.
Even though he saw her almost every day, today she seemed unfamiliar, as if he were seeing her for the first time.
His chest fluttered with an unsettling intensity.
“Damia.”
“Marquess…”
“Are you alright?”
Tears shimmered in Damia’s purple eyes.
“Why… why are you the one comforting me…?”
Kashian’s mind was in disarray. It was hard to fully understand what had just happened.
But some things were clear.
Damia had subdued whatever had tried to dominate him.
And, terrifyingly, he realized he had nearly harmed Damia—and everyone else—himself.
“Why do you look like that? Don’t tell me you’re still hearing that strange voice?”
Kashian remained silent, and Damia moved closer.
She pressed her hand against his forehead.
“You don’t have a fever anymore…”
They were so close that she could clearly see the tears clinging to the tips of her long eyelashes.
At that moment, a heavy thud vibrated through his chest.
“Marquess…?”
Damia looked up at him, puzzled.
Seeing her moist, trusting eyes, his throat tightened.
It felt as if someone was squeezing his heart.
But the sensation was completely different from the pain he had experienced earlier.
It was far sweeter, ticklish, and dangerously intoxicating.
Thump.
His normally unyielding heart began to race on its own.
“Seriously, are you still hearing that voice?”
“…No, no.”
All the strength in his body drained in an instant.
“Marquess, you can’t collapse!”
Damia held him as if supporting him, pressing herself tightly against him. Kashian bit his lip hard.
“Are you really alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really?”
“Mm. More importantly… I told you before, call me by my name.”
Damia, buried against his chest, couldn’t see his expression.
It was a relief. She didn’t need to know.
His face was obvious without looking.
Even Damia, who often missed subtle cues, would have immediately noticed his dazed expression.
“Eh? Don’t tell me you don’t remember what happened?”
“……”
“Marquess!”
“I said, call me by my name.”
“My goodness. You must’ve hit your head.”
Damia began chattering seriously, but he instinctively hugged her small head tightly.
“It’s suffocating. Let me go a bit!”
“……”
“Kashian!”
Finally, Damia shouted.
The moment she called his name, every muscle in Kashian’s body relaxed.
Not only his hands, but the muscles in his face felt completely disarmed.
Even in this serious situation, he buried his head in Damia’s shoulder to avoid showing his melted expression.
“Are you really alright?”
Damia misunderstood his reaction and hugged his back with trembling hands.
“I’m not fine. So stay still.”
“Are you still in pain?”
Damia stopped struggling and settled down.
Like soothing a patient, she carefully stroked his back.
Kashian closed his eyes, feeling the care of his responsible fiancée.
He wanted to keep indulging in this comfort a little longer.
“…I’m sorry.”
“That’s not something you need to apologize for.”
Damia seemed to already understand what had happened.
“It wasn’t my will, but if you hadn’t intervened, I might have done something irreversible.”
“Still…”
“Since leaving the Soro Marquisate, I’ve heard strange voices in my head. Not exactly hallucinations, but it felt like something deep inside me had awakened.”
“Has this happened before?”
“Rarely, but when I’m in a bad state, I become violent. They say I speak and act differently than usual.”
“…Really?”
“For a short while, I cause a scene, collapse, and when I wake up, I don’t remember any of it.”
He remembered the day his mother first told him this story.
Even recalling it made his mouth dry.
“I thought some days I was just too sick and irritable. Even until today.”
“……”
“I never imagined another being trying to take over my body…”
Kashian whispered lowly as he wiped his face.
“Today was different. It’s the first time I remember when my consciousness was taken.”
“…That being called itself the Radiant Dragon.”
Damia’s voice, trying to sound calm, trembled slightly.
“What could be the purpose of that curse? What if its goal isn’t just to make you a ticking time bomb?”
Even voicing that possibility made her shiver.
Her hand, still patting his back, tensed.
“At this point, it’s very possible.”
It wasn’t that Kashian wasn’t scared.
No, a fear he had never experienced ran down his spine.
Until now, he had thought death was the end—heart stops, nothing left behind.
He had already prepared how to handle it.
In the Sarkis family, collateral branches often had short lifespans, but if he searched well, there would be at least one competent, long-lived heir.
He planned to have that person take responsibility for the Dukedom.
He considered it for everyone’s sake.
No one could notice, but Kashian had always accepted the idea of his own death calmly.
But what if it wasn’t the end?
If his soul and will were gone but his body remained, turning into that horrifying monster like before?
‘It could destroy everything I’ve protected in my lifetime with my own hands.’
Countless retainers, the Sarkis family, his late father’s honor, his beloved mother’s safety, and…
His fiancée, Damia Fonti.
Thinking this far, his mind began to throb.
“……”
He gently lifted Damia from his arms and pressed his forehead against hers.
Damia flinched slightly in surprise but didn’t move, letting him comfort her.
Their breaths mingled in the close space. His reflection in her purple eyes was a mess.
“Don’t worry.”
Nothing.
Kashian repeated those words as if swearing a vow.
He carried the drowsy Damia to her bedroom.
After laying her down on the bed, Kashian dashed to his study.
‘I need to keep my distance from Damia.’
Now that he had regained reason, only that thought ruled his mind.
Damia had too many weapons that could provoke the dragon within him.
She was, in effect, the most dangerous adversary to the Radiant Dragon sleeping under the name of a curse in his heart.
“Marquess? You’re up early.”
How much time had passed?
An officer greeted him in the morning and was startled.
“Why does your usually perfect face look so haggard today? Didn’t you sleep?”
“…Maybe not.”
Kashian rubbed his stiff neck and looked out the window.
The sun had already risen.
He had spent the night worrying about his relationship with Damia.
“Listen carefully, Alec. Keep your distance from Damia.”
“Yes, sir.”
“…This time, it’s serious.”
“You didn’t mention it for a while. Is this because of that Rodion guy?”
“……”
Kashian was serious, but Alec seemed to barely be listening.
“You said Damia has been meddling with various things, right?”
“Yes. I wasn’t keen on investigating her, but the Marquess told me to handle the surrounding swindlers, so I’ve been observing.”
Kashian twirled a quill, lost in thought.
“Any unusual findings?”
Alec hesitated, clearly conflicted about how honest he should be.
“It seems the young lady doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Alec squeezed his eyes shut and spoke.
“Tell me. Everything, from one to ten.”
