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Chapter 1
Prologue
A Lip Mark.
Zervant’s fingertip pressed firmly on the small mark just below Titian’s lips.
Her plump lips twitched at the touch. Even that tiny movement didn’t escape Zervant’s gaze.
His fingertip slowly pressed against her lower lip. Seeing the soft flesh spread slightly to the sides made Zervant’s Adam’s apple bob violently.
Just as he was about to intrude without her knowing through the slightly parted lips, Titian’s eyelids lifted, revealing clear sky-blue eyes.
Zervant frowned slightly, as if a little annoyed, but Titian welcomed him.
“Boss!”
“…Are you happy to see me?”
“Of course!”
Titian sprang up and grabbed his hand, shaking it up and down. The small corner of regret in Zervant’s heart melted away like ice under the sun.
“What brings you here? You left a note saying you’d leave soon after finishing your business. Didn’t you see it?”
Zervant’s brows furrowed sharply.
“I saw it. You left only that tiny note.”
His voice, barely restrained, spilled out from his throat.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you? To make sure I couldn’t follow you.”
Having nothing to say, Titian rolled her large eyes. Zervant grabbed her chin and turned her toward him.
“Look at me. You should look at me, Titia.”
“You’re going to scold me?”
He furrowed his brows as if he’d heard something he shouldn’t have.
“Why would I scold you? How could I?”
Zervant brushed his hand across his face and whispered softly.
“The promise that wherever you go, we’ll be together… that wasn’t a lie.”
“You can come out on your own now, even without me.”
That wasn’t what he meant.
Zervant pressed his lips boldly onto her palm. The scent of Titian’s flesh spread along his senses, and he breathed a little roughly.
“…If I become that idiot again, maybe I wouldn’t want to be apart from you for even a moment.”
“Why would you say such things!”
Titian pinched his cheek with all her strength in shock.
“It hurts.”
“After everything you’ve gone through, how can you talk about going back to that time?”
Zervant’s large hand swept across her back, soothing her as she pouted. The touch was filled with selfish longing.
Titian flinched as his fingers ran down her spine. When she released the hand that had pinched his cheek, he closed the distance.
“Then don’t go anywhere without me anymore.”
“….”
“I want you to have brought out the me who had given up everything and was hiding… and laid me beneath you.”
He didn’t hide the burning emotions within him; his fiery eyes fixed on her as he pressed a deep kiss on the back of her hand.
“You must take responsibility properly.”
The arm reaching out toward Titian became an inescapable trap.
Chapter 1: A Strange Question
One day, a man suddenly appeared wearing a hooded robe pulled low over his head…
“Are you funny?”
he asked.
So I closed the door.
What a strange person.
Bam. As soon as the door closed, he began pounding on it.
“I’m not a strange person! Well, not exactly… okay, I might be a little strange.”
What kind of person is this?
As I remained wary of the suspicious man, I remembered that a circus had come to the small town of Mouren, just below the village.
“Are you from the circus? I don’t know what you heard, but I’m not the type to make people laugh with my body. I also have no intention of showing my face in front of others.”
I tried to hint that he should leave, but he clapped his hands in admiration.
“Your answer alone is excellent.”
What on earth does that mean?
Feeling uneasy, I locked the door thoroughly and went back to preparing my sandwich.
I intentionally made loud noises while preparing food to show I wasn’t interested in talking, but the uninvited guest persisted, raising his voice.
“You must have been very surprised by my sudden question. I’m a suspicious… well, possibly suspicious… but not that kind of person.”
Because of his rambling, I sighed and stopped chopping.
“What exactly are you asking?”
The house was falling apart, so even a slightly raised voice carried outside.
Through the cracks in the door, his serious voice seeped in.
“I want to recruit you.”
I expected some grand speech after his persistence, but it was nothing remarkable.
I resumed chopping.
“I can’t make people laugh unless the stage is set. Look for someone else.”
This was the first time someone came claiming to recruit me. There were those who came because they liked my appearance, but never this.
“Do you know the Destain Duke family? If so, explain it.”
What? Provoking me?
I eagerly took the bait and explained in detail.
“Of course I know. It’s the title personally bestowed by His Majesty to Sir Zervant de Destain, one of the three heroes who sealed the ‘Demon of Serael.’”
Every citizen knew that.
He was a hero who had saved a world on the brink of destruction. Being given a duke title in recognition of that was natural, and no one objected.
“Then you know the Eclipse Guild too.”
I considered ignoring him, but that would only make him cling harder, so I answered.
“Of course. It’s the guild run by the Destain Duke even before he was given his title.”
Hearing the name and guild reminded me of a story I had read long ago. A romance fantasy set in this world.
“Zervant de Destain…”
The owner of the Eclipse Guild and the Destain Duke had been a villain in the novel I read, but thanks to the heroine, he reformed and became a popular secondary male lead character.
The name, once familiar, now felt strangely foreign.
“Knowing this, things will go quickly.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I mentioned the Destain Duke family and the Eclipse Guild because I serve Zervant de Destain.”
“An Eclipse Guild member in this remote village? You must be the world’s best belly-button hunter. That’s funny—please go back.”
I replied lightly, but I believed he really was an Eclipse Guild member.
No one dared to impersonate a member of the Eclipse Guild.
“Even if I reincarnated from a novel into this world, I’ve never interacted with the original characters before, so I’d forgotten.”
Why did he come?
Suddenly, a sense of foreboding ran down my spine.
“Could it be… William hired the Eclipse Guild?”
I shook my head. No, William doesn’t have that kind of money.
I tried to focus on food, although all sorts of ominous thoughts swirled in my mind.
I neatly placed grilled bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg on whole wheat bread and covered it with another slice.
As I cut it in half for easier eating, the man outside spoke seriously.
“Even in a short conversation, I can tell Miss Titian is delightful. You are exactly the person I’m looking for.”
“I need to eat breakfast. If I skip it, I get dizzy… but if I interfere with such an important time…”
I stabbed the knife into the cutting board, emphasizing that I couldn’t be swayed.
Cling!
The vibration echoed through the kitchen.
“You can’t predict my actions.”
Even if he was an elite Eclipse Guild member, I wanted him to see that I wouldn’t give in and hope he would leave quietly.
It went quiet outside. I thought he had gone, but suddenly his face appeared at the kitchen window.
“It has to be you!”
“Ah!”
I screamed in surprise, clutching the knife tightly.
“Hey! You can’t just pop up like that! I have a knife!”
If I threw it, he’d die, and I’d end up in jail!
“A knife? Please, I can dodge that easily. Don’t underestimate Eclipse.”
I never underestimated you.
I gently placed the knife on the board.
“Since you keep refusing, I have no choice.”
The man leaned close to the window and began listing my personal details.
“Your name is Titian Anghela. You’re twenty-one. Your only older half-brother inherited the Anghela Viscount family, and you were forced out. Or rather, to be truthful, you ran away because you didn’t want to marry him.”
“Didn’t that man have children of his own? Do you really think it’s right to marry someone like that?”
“I know you always do strange exercises under the moonlight before sleeping.”
How did he know that?!
“It’s a national exercise, but it’s strange… at night it makes you sleepy… wait, this is invasion of privacy.”
“We even know the emperor’s sleep talk!”
“That’s impressive.”
“If I list all your secrets and weaknesses…”
“Enough!”
I angrily swung open the door I had firmly locked. He confidently stepped in.
“I didn’t tell you to come in.”
“Oh, I see. Then here…”
Despite entering boldly, he performed a light moonwalk, folding his broad shoulders slightly, as if to face me from outside the door.
“Let me introduce myself first.”
He removed the hood covering his head.
Through translucent square glasses, I saw blue eyes. A delicate face and green hair tied down to his chest gave him a doll-like appearance. Something about him seemed familiar.
He opened his tightly closed lips and spoke his name.
“I am Veilt Ward.”
The moment I heard it, my eyebrows twitched. His sharp eyes immediately noticed.
“You know who I am. I’m quite famous.”
That shameless man was just as famous as Zervant. Founder of the Dukedom and Eclipse Guild, Zervant’s close friend, and the guild’s vice president.
I never expected a figure of this magnitude to come looking for me directly.
“Yes, so Mr. Veilt, what do you want to say?”
“Even knowing me, you boldly call me by the nickname I hate most… you serve your boss with such courage… how do you know that…”
No, I didn’t know.
