It was a much more intense kiss than before. Dizziness washed over her from the strange sensation felt through their touching lips.
The sound of wet flesh continued. A peculiar warmth built up inside her.
“Uh.”
A moan escaped her without her realizing. Dietrian’s gaze changed.
“Ha.”
Eventually, the strength left her arms that were propping her up on the bed. He, as if he had been waiting, pulled her waist towards him and embraced her.
“Ha, ha.”
She gasped for breath, and he briefly let her go before diving in again.
Before she knew it, she was lying on the bed, receiving his kisses.
Looking up at him with heaving chest, her face flushed with emotion was reflected in his black eyes.
“How was it this time?”
She had no idea what to say. Everything was overwhelming. It felt like sugar dissolving in water, completely melting away without a trace.
“Li, like.”
“Yes?”
“Dissolving, like sugar.”
“Sugar?”
He tilted his head, then whispered as if to tempt.
“Don’t think too complicatedly.”
“Ha, ha.”
“While kissing me, you could forget all the bad thoughts. The nightmare completely lost its power, and no more tears came out. Right?”
“That’s, true but.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Something was off.
Despite his usual tender smile, it somehow felt dangerously alluring.
It was like being a herbivore in front of a predator. Leticia involuntarily trembled.
“Just remember one thing. When you’re with me, you can forget the nightmares.”
“Ha, ha.”
“When you kiss me, the nightmares can never consume you. Just remember that.”
Everything was dizzying.
The sensation of being engulfed by him was frightening, yet she wanted to become one with him. She was bewildered, like fireworks bursting in her mind.
Yet one thing was certain.
Just as he said, in his arms just now, she could forget everything. The intense sorrow, the fear of death. At some moment, she had forgotten it all.
Leticia couldn’t give up that comfort. So, she clutched at the hem of his clothes.
“I’ll remember, so.”
She whispered pleadingly, with eyes brimming with tears.
“Please kiss me once more, Your Highness…….”
* * *
Dietrian quietly observed her as she lay in his arms, asleep.
After tidying her disheveled clothes, he carefully covered her with a blanket without waking her. Then, he endlessly gazed at her.
Her smooth forehead, long eyelashes, prominent nose, and rosy cheeks.
[Once more, please…….]
Even the memory of her begging for another kiss while clinging to him.
Everything about her was painfully adorable.
So, he couldn’t believe this reality.
She was alive, so vividly alive.
But she was to die in six months?
He carefully embraced her shoulder. The sensation of his warm breath made him feel like crying.
He closed his eyes. Clear tears silently wet his face.
[Because of mother’s curse…….]
After learning that Leticia would die in six months, he had been half out of his mind.
His heart was uncontrollably raging. At first, he wanted to return to the imperial capital and kill Josephina.
He couldn’t let the demon who dared to do such a thing to Leticia live.
But he knew that killing her wouldn’t help break the curse, so he barely managed to suppress his anger.
A curse is an invisible force that tightens around the soul of its victim. Just as a rope tied by someone doesn’t disappear when they die, killing Josephina wouldn’t make the curse go away.
In fact, her death could make it impossible to lift the curse.
A rope needs to be cut with scissors. Similarly, there must be conditions to break a curse.
That was the only way to save her.
Leticia hadn’t told him that much. She only said she was cursed to die in six months before falling asleep again.
That made him even more desperate.
Asking her directly would be pointless.
She was a woman who had accepted her lone death by promising to divorce in six months.
Given her personality, if she realized he knew about the curse, she would run away.
So, he forced himself to calm down.
Pretend not to know and watch. There was still time, so he decided to look for clues while staying by her side.
However, his effort was in vain as his anger surged to unbearable levels. He killed Josephina in his mind several times.
In the most brutal, horrific ways possible.
Then it was an endless cycle.
Lost in the tidal wave of these terrible emotions, he felt he might act out if he stayed by her side, so he stepped outside the room.
Though still seething, it was slightly better with her out of sight. That helped him come to a conclusion.
‘Comfort Leticia and find out about the curse. Let’s talk about breaking it together.’
Deciding this, he heard a sound from the room. A muffled cry.
“Ugh…”
She was crying alone again.
At that moment, his rationality snapped.
Before he knew it, he was standing in front of her. Seeing her face drenched in tears felt like his heart was tearing apart.
On one hand, it was miserably pathetic. Leticia was still the same. Even while crying so painfully, she tried to make excuses for her tears.
[I had a dream, a nightmare.]
He was still an ‘outsider’ to her.
It meant he hadn’t become someone she could rely on.
How despairing that fact was. He even started to resent the woman before him.
I’m tormented because of you. You’ve turned my life upside down. Why do you stand so far away?
His tender love twisted into a mess. The rosy emotions felt like they were trampled in the mud.
So, he made a decision.
Never to consider her feelings again. If she does as she pleases, so will I.
Just as you’ve deceived me, I’ll deceive you.
That was his resolution.
[Please kiss me once more, Your Highness……]
After that, everything whirled like a storm.
He never held back in any precarious moment, having resolved not to show consideration, especially since she seemed to want it.
Blaming everything on her, even knowing she wasn’t in a state to make proper judgments, he kissed her. He embraced her several times.
Morning came. Unlike the fiery gaze of the previous night, his eyes had settled.
Ironically, it was the woman before him who had quenched that flame.
With her frail body, she had withstood his fierce advances.
Once the anger was gone, all that was left were bitter regrets and pity for her.
His eyes reddened. Silent tears wet his cheeks. It just hurt too much. Everything about her was too painful.
He carefully embraced her sleeping shoulder and wept quietly.
He prayed to all the gods in the world.
Please, anything. If there’s any way to save this woman, let me know.
I’ll do anything, he prayed fervently.
And at that moment, everything before him turned pitch black.
Despite his eyes being open, he couldn’t see anything in front of him.
Startled, he instinctively pulled Leticia close.
‘What’s this?’
Only his eyes moved in the darkness.
‘A dream?’
Everything felt too vivid for a dream, except for the sight. The softness of the bed, the warm body temperature his hand felt, even the warm breath on his nape.
Amid everything being so clear.
No longer… can… bear… the cause…
A voice was heard.
Already at the limit… this time… the last… you must realize… the only way…
The voice was filled with static, as if interrupted.
‘Who are you?’
He couldn’t sense malice in the voice, but he couldn’t shake off his concern.
Leticia was by his side. If something transcendent was after her, he was powerless.
There was only one thing he could do.
He wrapped her in his arms as if to protect her.
Then, the voice softened, as if soothing a child.
Don’t be scared… won’t attack… only this time… showing… in exchange…
The voice gradually faded. Simultaneously, a faint light formed in the center of his vision.
The light spread out in concentric circles, eventually erasing the darkness completely.
And what appeared before him was.
‘Where is this?’
A place he had seen once before.
No, a place he knew better than anyone.
The royal castle of the Principality of Zenos.
But it was different from the castle he knew. Signs of a terrible battle were everywhere.
‘I saw this in a dream before…’
The dream he had after Leticia fell into a deep sleep. That exact scene.
‘Am I continuing the dream?’
Unlike the previous dream, the battle seemed almost over.
Buildings that were intact were now destroyed, and the courtyard was filled with bodies.
Most of the corpses wore the armor of the Principality’s knights, with a few imperial knights mixed in.
Then, a familiar face appeared.
Yulken.
He was lying on the ground.
Surrounded by blood, pale and motionless.
Dietrian realized.
‘Yulken is dead.’
The vision was so vivid. Despite knowing it wasn’t real, he felt suffocated.
He staggered forward. And at that moment, it was as if lightning struck.
A terrible pain surged from his side. Reflexively looking down, he clenched his teeth. A wound, its origin unknown, was there.
The wound was too deep to be covered by his hand. With trembling hands, he pressed on the wound. Hot blood gushed out, soaking his hands.
“Ugh.”
Dizziness from the blood loss hit him. He tried to keep walking but eventually, his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground.
Barely on one knee, he gasped for breath.
Then, a familiar voice was heard right in front of him.
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