🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 3
“Someone else you have feelings for… huh.”
For the first time, I truly felt that he was the real villain behind everything. His voice sounded like that of someone who had a screw loose.
More than anything, those red eyes that had always seemed cold before now looked even more chillingly calm.
He was exactly like how the novel had described him.
Even though I’d only read about it in words, facing that eerie presence in real life was much more terrifying.
I immediately regretted what I’d said. Maybe it would’ve been better if I had just kept my mouth shut.
As I unconsciously stepped back, trying to put distance between us, he gave a soft laugh.
To put it mildly, his expression was unpleasant. To be blunt, he looked downright vile.
“Yulia. That’s a really nasty lie.”
“It’s not a lie.”
I could feel a cold sweat trickling down my back.
“I know you don’t have a fiancé.”
The distance I had barely created between us disappeared in a single step.
He was now even closer than before, so close that all my effort had been pointless.
“So don’t think you can use some excuse like being engaged or having feelings for someone else to wriggle your way out of this.”
I instinctively stepped back again — only for my back to hit the wall. There was nowhere left to run.
His hand slowly traced down my cheek.
Was I wrong to think he had been angry or upset before?
“You’re right. I’m not engaged to that person.”
“……”
His hand froze, his expression hardening as he stared straight into my eyes.
I decided to just be honest.
Because I didn’t want a marriage without love.
And by love, I didn’t mean physical affection — I meant something deeper, something of the heart.
“…There’s someone I’ve been waiting for, for a very long time.”
The words left my mouth quietly and calmly.
Before I said them, my heart had been pounding with fear — but once I spoke them, I felt strangely relieved.
But his response was a sharp rejection of everything I’d just said.
“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“…Do I really look like someone who would lie about something like this?”
“Say it’s a lie!”
For the first time, he yelled at me.
Then, as if startled by his own outburst, he covered his face with both hands and spoke again, his voice a little calmer.
“Sorry… for shouting.”
“……”
“Yulia, does that mean you slept with me, yet your heart actually belongs to someone else?”
Why… why did he look hurt?
That look in his eyes — I almost felt guilty.
It didn’t suit him at all. The cold fury from before fit him much better than that wounded expression.
“Answer me, Yulia.”
“…Yes.”
I reluctantly replied — and it wasn’t entirely untrue.
Because I was still waiting for someone.
Someone I’d met when I was very young, a boy from long ago.
I didn’t remember his name, or even his face clearly anymore, but I still remembered how beautiful he looked when he cried.
I was sure that if I ever saw him again, I would recognize him instantly.
He’d been like a little puppy…
“Then forget about him.”
“What?”
I thought I heard his teeth grind. Maybe I’d said too much.
He caressed my cheek again.
“Ah — but I suppose there’s no need for that. I’ll just kill him instead.”
His eyes glinted with menace.
And the worst part? I knew he wasn’t the kind of man who said such things as empty threats. He was absolutely capable of doing it.
Regret flooded through me. I shouldn’t have said anything.
I lowered my gaze, afraid to meet his eyes.
“Yulia. Don’t look away.”
“…Okay.”
At his command, I immediately looked back up, meeting those red eyes head-on. My life was too precious to risk.
I knew very well — as a reader — just how cruel this man could be.
“Yulia. I’ll erase that person from your mind.”
My breath caught.
What did he mean? Was he talking about splitting my head open, or erasing that person from the world entirely?
Still… I hadn’t done anything that bad, had I?
If there was a “crime,” it was probably sleeping with the villain and then not even managing to run away before ending up in a second round with him in the morning.
“I plan to fill your mind completely with me from now on.”
He smiled languidly.
He didn’t seem intent on killing me, but that smile still made me feel deeply uneasy.
And whenever I had a bad feeling — it was always right.
His lips pressed against mine. His tongue slipped between my lips as they met.
He wrapped an arm tightly around my waist so I couldn’t even try to pull away.
When I was gasping for breath, he’d pull back just enough to let me breathe — only to capture me again the moment I exhaled.
My legs went weak under the heat of it all, and I collapsed. He drained my senses completely with just a kiss.
“Yulia.”
He pulled me into his arms as I sat on the floor.
Didn’t he say he was busy? He didn’t look busy at all.
Seeing how he lingered here, I started to suspect that “being busy” had just been a lie to make me drop my guard.
I wanted to escape, but the wall was behind me, and Chester was in front of me. There was nowhere to go.
He lowered his lips to my ear and growled softly, his tone a warning.
“Remember that I’m barely holding myself back from devouring you right here and now.”
“……”
“I’ll let you go this time… but next time, it won’t end like this.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“I’ll see you off. Don’t you dare meet another man, and behave yourself.”
“…Isn’t that my choice?”
“If you’d like to see me lose control and go insane, then by all means, meet someone else.”
That wicked smile of his made it clear — this was a warning.
If I ever got involved with another man, that poor guy might just end up dead.
“I don’t think I could bear to see another man by your side.”
“Chester…”
“I haven’t drawn my sword against anyone since the war, but it seems I might have to again soon.”
“……”
I fell silent. Saying anything more might mean I wouldn’t make it home alive.
Or even if I did make it home… it might not be alive.
“It would be best if we met again this week. I’ll match your schedule.”
“…And if I refuse?”
“Then try. I can’t guarantee what’ll happen.”
He said it with a smile — which somehow made it even scarier.
“I’ll send a letter once I’m back in the capital. Will that do?”
“Yes.”
My answer seemed to satisfy him, because he smiled warmly.
Then he helped me to my feet. It was a kind gesture — but I didn’t feel grateful.
“Yulia, can you walk down the stairs?”
“…I can.”
So he was planning something again, huh.
My body swayed a little, but I could still move just fine. I didn’t need his help.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Alright. Let’s go on a date sometime soon.”
“…I’ll think about it.”
He personally escorted me all the way to the carriage — an utterly unnecessary display of politeness.
Then, suddenly, he climbed into the carriage with me. The space between us disappeared.
“Yulia.”
His hand gently cupped my chin. I could already tell what would come next.
With a sigh of resignation, I closed my eyes.
As expected, his lips pressed against mine again.
“That’s eno—”
I thought it would be a brief goodbye kiss. It wasn’t. His tongue slipped between my lips once more.
I forgot how to breathe through my nose. His tongue wound around mine as if he refused to let even a breath escape.
In contrast, his hand tenderly stroked my hair — careful, gentle, as though I were a fragile porcelain doll.
By the time my lips went numb, he finally pulled away.
He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand and smiled lazily, as if completely satisfied, before stepping out of the carriage.
“See you again.”
I didn’t reply. No — I couldn’t.
I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, refusing to look in his direction until the carriage started moving.
Left alone, a complicated mix of emotions churned inside me.
“…What am I going to do now?”
On the way home, I had to think of an excuse.
The red marks on my neck that my dress couldn’t hide, and the faint bruises visible through the sleeve — they all told their own story. I needed a believable explanation.
Or maybe… I could just sneak in before my father or brother noticed.
“…What should I do?”
A heavy sigh escaped my lips.
What on earth was I supposed to do with this mess of a heart?
