"Why are you crying?"
Dante, who had reached me in an instant, narrowed his brows.
"It seems like what was inside wasn't what you expected?"
Tsk.
He clicked his tongue lowly and ran his fingers over my cheek. Unlike his long and beautiful figure, his rough hands, with calluses, brushed my skin and wiped away my tears. I was momentarily distracted by the sensation but realized a beat later. Oh, I made this person wrong.
'That's not why I'm sad.'
It wasn't that the things in the safe didn't meet my expectations. It was the exact opposite. Just thinking about the value of the documents in my arms made my heart swell. However, instead of immediately correcting his misunderstanding, my mouth opened and closed without enthusiasm. Unlike the rough sensation, the gesture of his hand wiping my cheek was careful. As if he was handling a glass doll that would break if handled even a little wrongly. His touch was too unfamiliar.
"Don't cry. Ariana."
He wiped away my tears and this time he stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. It was a clumsy but unadorned consolation. What on earth could this person be?
The question that often occupied my mind these days swept through my mind again. Over the past few years, even I had considered myself worth less than a piece of paper. By treating myself like that, I had also thrown my grandfather and mother, the two people who loved me, into the mud.
But this person is different. Dante did not ignore me, who was considered insignificant. There were when I felt that he valued me rather insignificant. Like now.
'Why?'
Why did who had been abandoned by myself, do it? Instead of explaining myself at the unfamiliar and strange sensation, I shed tears once more. Dante's eyebrow hardened seriously.
"...Oh, my. You're crying more."
A voice soaked in trouble scratched my ear. I was about to lower my embarrassment by my messy face, but he grabbed my chin and bent down so that we were at eye level.
"I have good news."
"...?"
A mischievous smile formed on his well-shaped lips. I looked up at his face as if possessed.
"If your way doesn't work..."
He whispered in a sweet voice like a devil bewitches people.
"From now on, you can do it my way."
... Dante's way?
I looked up at him with slightly wide eyes. When our eyes met, he smiled brightly.
"I definitely throw the heads of your enemies at your feet. At a speed you can't even imagine."
"..."
"I'm the senior when it comes to revenge."
At those words, I remembered what had happened to his half-brothers who had fought over the succession to the dukedom. The direct descendants of the dukedom who had insulted his mother and abused Dante when he was young. They were all... dead or missing. Every single one of them.
"But you have to pay the price."
Thump.
The long index finger lightly poked my chest, where it was starting to bulge. As I swallowed my breath, Dante whispered.
"What's inside."
I held my breath.
"Give me that too."
"..."
I stared at him with blank eyes. The face that demanded my heart was calm and composed, and that made it all the more attractive. He whispered in a seductive voice, like a mythical demon who grants wishes and takes away souls.
"Now."
... It wasn't something I could give to someone who urged me.
I bit my lips tightly. What Dante had once said was right. He was really greedy. He had so much. He already had so much in his hands that it was overflowing.
"What's the answer?"
My ears naturally grew warm at the whisper that tickled my eardrums. I could feel his breath clearly because the distance was too close.
What had come rushing in like an uninvited guest was the memory of last night.
"Look at me, Ariana."
"You're so pretty. I'm crazy."
"Ugh."
I shut my eyes tightly.
'I must be crazy.'
What on earth are you thinking all of a sudden?
With that person right in front of you!
"Ariana?"
As soon as I heard Dante's strange voice, I suddenly stretched out both hands. I held out the bundle of documents I took out of the safe as a shield.
"... Your Highness, this."
"Hmm?"
"Please review it."
I saw Dante looking through the bundle of documents with a strange look. I quickly turned my head to the side while he looked through them. To hide my face that must have turned red.
My heartbeat was so loud that I could hear it in my ears. My cheeks felt as if they were on fire. A sense of despair washed over me like a tidal wave. I knew what this state of affairs meant... I'm possessed.
That's what happened. I vowed to never let anyone else make me cry again, to hold my heart tightly in my hands and not let anyone else see it. Instead, I ended up in a more serious situation than ever.
... How foolish.
'But I won't get caught.'
I couldn't understand it at all, but Dante had just said that if my heart were the price, he could cut off the Crown Prince's head. But I couldn't let the fact that the price was already out of my hands be revealed, right?
...The excuse is good.
I laughed to myself in vain. In fact, it was just scary. Getting caught when what you want is already in your hands. If Dante made up his mind and put strength into his hands, it seemed like the heart that had barely held. together would burst this time.
"Huh."
I heard the sound of paper turning in Dante's hands.
"This is..."
There was also a strange sense of admiration in his voice. I glanced at him briefly. Dante also thought that the evidence left by my grandfather was valid. Even in this situation, he was proud of that.
"Have you checked the inside?"
Just then, an employee came to check on us. I looked back at the employee with a little relief.
"Yes. Everyone is safe."
A look of relief spread across the employee's face.
"Thank goodness! Then..."
"And there's one more thing, there's a safe I want to check."
I felt Dante looking up from his documents and staring at me. I was so concerned about every single glance. Even a teenage girl wouldn't be this tired. I have to share a bed with the person who brought me to this point tonight. Just thinking about it made my spine tingle.
"I want to check the safe in Eduardo Lopez's name."
My grandfather had made a safe for me and put my share of the inheritance in it in advance. I think he was worried that my father or Edward might touch my inheritance if he passed away. There was a huge amount of wealth inside.
'Even if you paid the salaries of orchestra members and hired a lot of information guilds, it wouldn't show any decrease.'
It wasn't for nothing that Edward had wanted to get his hands on it, even stamping his fingerprints with my bloody hands right before he died in my previous life.
"Oh, yes. Can you withdraw the money this time?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"I'll go in myself this time."
***
A moment later. I entered the safe and searched with my eyes wide open for any other clues my grandfather had left behind, but unfortunately, there were none. However, I noticed something strange.
'Huh?'
I opened my eyes wide, holding the necklace in my hand.
"What's wrong?"
Dante suddenly stuck his head next to me. This time, the safe was big enough for two people to fit in. His scent rushed in, but this time, I didn't care. I looked down at the necklace and muttered absentmindedly.
"Why is this..."
The light is off?
This necklace was a present from my grandfather for my tenth birthday. It was so pretty and amazing that it glowed on its own, so I treasured it like a treasure...
'After my grandfather passed away, Edward coveted it so much that I put it in the safe.'
He kept trying to sell it off, saying that if it glowed on its own, it must have been an incredible relic.
"That's it."
Dante raised an eyebrow as he looked at the necklace.
"It's an artifact from one of the ancient Gods."
"An ancient God?"
"They're only worshipped by a small number of tribes these days. Where did you get this?"
"My grandfather was wandering when he was young, and he saved the life of a refugee and received it as a reward."
It was said to be a treasure that protected its owner or the person most precious to them. Of course, my grandfather thought that was a superstition. However, he was amazed that it glowed on its own, so he gave it to me as a gift.
"It used to glow. Now... there's no trace of it."
As I fumbled with the necklace in vain, Dante tilted his head.
"Really? If the condition has changed, it may have been due to poor management on the part of the bank. Would you like to try it?"
"Oh, yes."
I handed the necklace to Dante. The silver trinket wrapped tightly around my large palm.
'Is it really broken?'
I looked at him with nervous eyes. Of course, even Dante wouldn't be able to figure out the cause just by touching it...
That was the moment I thought that.
"Your Highness?"
I took a breath. Dante was frozen like a statue, holding the necklace in his hand.
His eyes were furrowed as if he was in pain, his brows were twisted, and his hands were gripping the necklace so hard that the veins were bulging.
"Your Highness!"
My heart sank.
"Why, why are you doing that?"
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment