I nodded as if possessed.
"... Yes. Never again."
Then I said what I should have said a long time ago.
"I will definitely repay the favor of saving me."
"Really? How will you repay me?"
Dante immediately caught my word. His eyes sparkled like a hunter who had found prey caught in a trap.
"..."
I was speechless for a moment. It was a difficult question. What should I give to satisfy that man who seemed to lack nothing?
"Is the answer difficult?"
Dante raised the corners of his mouth as if he had noticed my difficulty.
"You must repay a debt of life with your life."
He whispered in a kind voice as if telling me the right answer. Then he suddenly brought his head closer to me, whose eyes were wide open in a daze.
"You remember, what I said earlier."
Another voice from my memories played in my head.
"Once you've finished venting your anger about the past... you will have to realize. Your reality is here. Next to me, Dante Heigenberg."
"..."
"The counting between us will begin from then."
Dante whispered, recalling the deal back then. With a voice as captivating as a devil who charms people.
"Now, give me all your breath."
There was no time to reply. Our lips immediately overlapped and hot flesh surged in. I opened my trembling lips helplessly. If this was what was needed, I could have given it to him. But this man was trying to take out something deeper than that. Something more intangible than breath.
The moment I was betrayed by all the people I loved, I swore I would never give it to anyone again. My heart had been torn apart and crushed into a hateful mess.
But... My heart had been torn to shreds the day I died. And yet, the reason I could breathe was because I had patched up the fragments of my torn heart with revenge. If there were another crack in that imperfect heart... This time, it would shatter completely. Without a trace, miserably.
Even though instinctive fear shook my heart, there was nothing I could do. All I could do was be trapped in two strong arms, unable to move, and shake, unable to keep up with the passion the man In front of me was giving me.
"Ah..."
I barely held on to the sensations that were rushing in, trembling slightly. Dante grasped the back of my head tightly and explored the tender flesh inside my mouth without hesitation. Feelings I had never felt before dominated my mind.
More violent, rough, and... dangerous.
The man who wanted to take my breath instead pushed his hot breath into me without hesitation. How long had I been so helplessly swayed?
"Why are you trembling?"
Dante asked in a dry voice, his lips slightly parted.
"I'm not going to eat you, so relax."
Contrary to his words, the voice that flowed out while scratching his throat was rough, unlike his usual self. I answered with my lips moving.
"... I'm sorry."
I felt like I was barely holding on to my body in a storm that was sweeping me away.
"It's just, I feel so..."
It's scary, but I don't want to run away. This contradictory feeling was actually the most frightening. I thought I had already dipped my feet into the storm that would shake me without a trace.
"Too much?"
"Strange... Strange."
"Damn it."
Dante muttered a curse between his lips that had fallen off. A low, murky voice scratched my ear. His red eyes glared at my swollen lips as if they were going to pierce through them. His face, devoid of composure, was something I rarely saw.
"No matter what, a guy who hugs his wife for the first time in prison would be such a son of a bitch."
...Prison. The word hit my melted brain hard as it slurred. Only then did I realize where I was. The white-faced man I had seen the last time before I regained my memories, who had acted as a detonator, was nowhere to be seen.
However, the damp, cold air proved that I was still in an underground prison. While I was struggling in the flood of memories, Dante seemed to have transported me here.
That means... It meant that the cursed man with the white face was still nearby.
"...Duke."
"Yes. Ariana."
Dante said in a voice as sweet as melted chocolate.
"Shall we go home?"
"..."
I forgot what I was saying for a moment at the tone I heard for the first time. My cheeks suddenly turned red as if on fire, but my reasoning flashed and I raised my hand. Don't forget the purpose of my coming here.
"I, that's not it."
"... "
"I want to see the prisoner you were interrogating when I came here again."
Instead of answering, Dante slowly lowered his eyes.
"... Yes."
With a suppressed sigh, he let go of my neck.
"You must take revenge."
***
A moment later.
Bam!
With the most murderous face I've ever seen, Dante kicked open the cell door with his foot.
"Hic, hic."
The prisoner shivered in fear at the chill that seemed terrifying to me.
"My wife wants to talk to you in person. Listen politely and tell her the truth."
The prisoner turned to me with fearful eyes at the threat that sounded more like a vicious thug than a scheming man. I glared at him quietly.
"White face."
I glared at the man's pale face and his features that looked like holes in his skin. He wasn't as high above me as before, and he wasn't as big as a monster. I slowly walked toward him.
The closer I got, the more I could see what kind of man he was. He was just trembling miserably, ten years older, but no wisdom or maturity to be found even if I washed my eyes... He was just an ordinary person. A person who was everywhere.
The reality of the nightmare I faced in broad daylight with my mind was much more insignificant than the size of my fear.
"To this kind of person, my maternal grandfather and mother... They lost their life so miserably."
"What are you going to do?"
Dante's arms stretched out from behind me as if embracing me.
"If you want to kill him, then kill him."
He put the knife in my hand and whispered like a tempting devil.
"If you don't want to kill him right away, you can play with it as much as you want."
"Please, please..."
The white-faced man begged, trembling like an aspen tree. I looked down at his face and thought.
Edward, Elena, Lucas. I thought that revenge would be over if I got revenge on these three people. I had forgotten the truth that my real enemy was someone else.
'I'm sorry. Grandfather. Mother.'
But please don't worry. I whispered in my heart. I will get revenge on my real enemy from now on and close their eyes in peace.
"Please, please have mercy, Madam."
His white face trembled and sobbed. It was completely different from the image of him cruelly hunting me in my memories from ten years ago. It was such a disgusting sight that I wanted to stab him with my sword right away.
'But this guy is just a swordsman. The one who really wielded the sword was out there.'
I barely suppressed my emotions and looked back at Dante.
"Kill him, don't say such scary words, Your Highness."
Then he pretended not to know anything and smiled embarrassedly.
"Interrogating traitors is your job, Duke. I wouldn't be half as good as you are."
The white-faced man rolled his eyes and looked at me. His face seemed to be unsure of how much of that day I remembered or didn't remember.
'Yes. I'm confused.'
Memories of the future have been my greatest weapon so far. Memories of the past would be the same. There was no need to tell the enemy that I had come up with such a weapon.
'But how much does the Duke know?'
How was he Interrogating the white-faced man that even I had forgotten?
That was when. Clank, clank.
I could hear the sound of military boots coming down the stairs from above. The sound quickly approached me, and soon a soldier appeared beyond the open door.
"Hello, Your Excellency the Duke. The Duchess."
The eagle emblem engraved on his shoulder strap caught my eye. It meant that he was a soldier under the direct command of the royal family. I could see that he was checking our expressions as if he were not looking at us with the eyes of a soldier.
"I came to check if there was anything uncomfortable because I heard that you two visited."
If it had been before I recalled my memories, I might have believed those words at face value. However, this was not the case now.
'The Crown Prince sent you.'
As Dante was Interrogating that man, that white face, he must have been worried that the incident from that day ten years ago might be revealed. The Crown Prince probably didn't know that I was present at the scene of that 'accident' ten years ago. If he had known, he would have killed me a long time ago, just like my grandfather and mother. That meant that the man didn't report me to his client. The reason was obvious.
'Because he couldn't kill me then.'
I shouldn't have been there in the first place. Just as my grandfather and mother hadn't expected me to hide in the carriage. So instead of searching for my body that fell off the cliff, the man decided to just keep my existence a secret. That complacency was what saved me.
I stared blankly at the soldier, then suddenly turned my head to Dante.
"Let's go back now, Duke."
Dante's gaze turned to me. I smiled a little deeper and rested my cheek on his arm.
"You said you'd take care of me all day."
Like a spoiled, new bride in love. Then I looked up at Dante and whispered with my eyes slightly raised.
"When I woke up, you weren't here again, so I had to come looking for you."
As if that was the only reason I came to the prison. The problem was whether Dante would keep up with my acting. His red eyes were just lingering on me as if he wanted to watch me do my best. Feeling faintly impatient, I shook his arm as if urging him.
"So go back..."
As I licked my swollen lips, I felt Dante's gaze blatantly fixated on them.
"Please finish what you were doing a little while ago."
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