"... Don't go."
Dante's eyes widened. I took a deep breath. I didn't know exactly what I was trying to say. However, one thing was clear: I didn't want to lie alone in this vast bed today.
If he was being considerate of me because of Lucas, Dante was mistaken. In fact, it was the opposite. The reason I wasn't having any nightmares today was that I had been holding that man's body temperature like a shield while I was sleeping.
"I don't want to spend the night alone. So..."
So. I finally finished my words, moving my lips slightly.
"Please stay next to me."
Lucas's breath was disgusting and disgusting just by touching him. It felt like countless insect legs were crawling on my skin. But Dante was different. He wasn't like Lucas, no. He wasn't like anyone else. The sensation of being so distant that I couldn't think of anything else just by touching and brushing against him was something only he could give me. That's why I needed Dante today. I needed no one else, only him.
"Please let me forget... all other memories."
I could see his throat moving up and down greatly. Dante stared at me with dark, sunken eyes. His voice warned me softly.
"... If you're going to run away."
I met his gaze, feeling the tension stiffening down to my fingertips.
"This is your last chance, Ariana."
I nodded very slightly, so tiny that it was invisible. As if that was enough, he gritted his teeth and poured down on me again. The bed sank, and my heart swelled along with it. I took in the body temperature rushing in like a tidal wave.
***
The bright light stabbed my eyelids. I tried to open my eyes, but they were so swollen that they wouldn't open properly. There was nothing I could do. I had no choice but to sleep a little longer until my eyes opened. It was a thought I rarely had, but my body was melting with fatigue, so I wanted to be lazy today.
The moment I moved my body to burrow into the blanket, I froze.
"Ugh."
The pain between my thighs was unfamiliar. The pain gave me a sudden realization.
Ah. That's right. Me, last night.
I let out a sigh as my whole body creaked. All sorts of memories came rushing back as if they had been waiting for me. My whole face suddenly felt hot.
"Ugh, ugh..."
Like an animal that couldn't speak human language, I buried my head in the blanket and groaned. Every time the memories of last night came back vividly, the motion of rubbing my forehead against the blanket became rougher. Every scene and sensation was so vivid that it was painful. By the time dawn broke, even the crying and pleading came back vividly. At the time, I was so out of it that I couldn't even tell what was going on, but I couldn't understand why I could remember everything so clearly now...
What should I do?
I thought, chewing the flesh inside my mouth. That was my biggest worry. How would I ever see that person's face again?
The more I recalled the memories of dawn, the hotter my face became. I was definitely the one who pulled Dante away as he was trying to leave, but I swear I didn't know that such nights would continue. Of course, I did know what men and women do at night. However, everything was completely different from the nights I had endured when I was the Marchioness of Pedigreen.
"Ha."
I let out a deep sigh and slowly raised my upper body. I was the only one in the wide bed. It was as if the memories of us being together all night were just my own dreams.
"Yes. Of course."
I accepted Dante's absence as a given. He must have been busy. He must have been busy with work now that the sun was fully up. I ignored the strangely empty feeling in my heart, but then I heard a restrained knock.
My heart sank to the tips of my toes.
"Ariana."
At the low voice, I looked down at my body. Before I knew it, I was wearing a negligee again. It was a different kind of thing than what I had been wearing last night. Now that I thought it was such a pointless thing, I hurriedly wrapped myself in the blanket.
Then I said in a slightly new voice.
"Yes, come in."
"Are you awake already?"
I looked at Dante as he came in, feeling a little dazed. His face was as beautiful as ever. It was so perfect, without a single puffiness, that I couldn't believe it was morning.
'But he's always like that... Did he even glow?'
I knew he was handsome, but today he looked even more different than usual. His skin, which was originally so smooth that it was hard to believe he was a man, was shining brightly.
'Is it because he's smiling?'
Now that I think about it, the faint smile hanging on his lips was different from usual. It wasn't the sneer or empty laughter he often made, but a gentle smile like a saint. He came up to me with a radiance.
"How's your body?"
I didn't feel well. Unlike Dante, who was shining brightly as if he had swallowed the sun, I was sure that I looked like a sick person right now.
"Lie down until you feel like it. If you want to eat, you can do it in bed."
He seemed to realize that he had pushed me too hard.
"I'm going out. I'll be back on time."
I blinked a few times as I looked up at Dante. Now that I thought about it, he was perfectly dressed in his military uniform.
'Is that what you came to say?'
Dante waited for my answer in silence. As if it was natural for him to report to me before going out. As if... as if we were really a normal couple. I moistened the Inside of my strangely dry mouth with my tongue and asked.
"Where are you going?"
"To the palace."
"... The palace?"
He nodded.
"I'm going to see His Majesty."
His lips, which had been soft the whole time, suddenly took on a familiar fierceness.
"I need to formally protest what his son did to my wife."
Ah. I quickly threw away the blanket and tried to get up.
"I'll go with you."
Dante furrowed his eyebrows slightly.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why? I'm Involved in this case."
Dante looked down at me silently, then walked over to the nightstand and handed me a mirror. I looked inside it with a puzzled look and soon became speechless.
"..."
Had a plague spread in the bedroom overnight? If not, there was no explanation for the red marks that had taken up residence from the nape of my neck to my collarbone.
"I'm sorry."
Dante apologized with a troubled face.
"I didn't mean to go this far."
He frowned seriously and pulled the blanket up to the nape of my neck before continuing.
"I'll make sure that this never happens again."
Next. My cheeks suddenly grew hot at those words. He assumed the next step as if it were a given and looked at his watch. It seemed like there wasn't much time left for our audience.
"Leave it to me today and rest."
But... My lips, which were about to open to say that, stopped.
Touch.
Something soft and dry touched the corners of my mouth. I held my breath and looked up at him with wide eyes. When our eyes met, Dante gritted his teeth and brought his lips together again. And once more... once more.
Large palms wrapped around my cheeks. I felt trapped between the two hands, unable to move. It was the overwhelming feeling that I would be eaten at any moment, the feeling that had overwhelmed me all night.
"... Damn it."
He let his lips drop and let out a small curse. The unresolved heat was clinging to his red eyes. The gentle smile that had filled his mouth just a moment ago had also disappeared. He wiped his forehead dryly and glared at his watch again. Then he spoke to me with determined eyes as if he was making a promise.
"Rest. I'll be back soon."
I stared blankly at the closed door. With one hand, I pressed my chest, which was beating busily, and with the other, I stroked my swollen lower lip.
'... What is this?'
He suddenly tossed the person aside and then disappeared just as suddenly.
Ding, ding, ding.
The sound of the clock chiming woke me up from my daze.
'What a surprise. I jumped up and only then came to my senses. The bell chimed ten times. It was proof that the sun had risen to its zenith. I washed my face dry with both palms.
Dante told me to rest, but I couldn't just do that.
'I have to do my job, too!'
I carefully got up and headed to the side table. There were a few documents I had temporarily received from Mr. Hoffman.
***
"Do you know what this is?"
Ding.
The syringe Dante had thrown rolled across the obsidian table. A deep wrinkle formed between the Emperor's eyebrows, sitting at the head of the table.
"The Elixir of Love."
Dante growled as he glanced at the faces of those sitting around him.
"It's a magic potion, but it's a harmful drug that only some rascals in the back alleys would use, with a strong mix of aphrodisiac and hypnotic ingredients."
If you inject this drug and hypnotize someone, they will blindly follow the first person they see. It was a deadly poison that could render a person half-idiot.
"He tried to inject this into my wife."
Groan.
The Emperor let out a low groan.
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