Episode 49. I Thought I Was Dying from Holding It in
“...!”
Adele realized that there was someone else in the mirror besides herself.
She guessed who it was, but she couldn’t bring herself to turn her head to check.
“I’ll be out soon. Can you wait outside?”
All she said was that she pretended to be calm and put on the robe she had placed on the partition.
However, Christine crossed his arms and leaned against the bathroom door, not moving. Just feeling his gaze made Adele’s heart tighten.
“This is rude, Chris.”
She quickly tied the waistband of her robe and smiled at him. The corners of her mouth twitched from the forced smile.
“Have you forgotten? What’s our relationship?”
He approached her with a small smile, but he seemed more relaxed than usual.
Was she lucky that she hadn’t seen him?
“No matter what, please respect my private life... Ah!”
At that moment, Christine reached out and pulled Adele’s waist. With a strong force, Adele was pulled into his arms.
He smelled faintly of alcohol.
“Did you... drink?”
“A little.”
“What, you acted like the busiest person in the world.”
Adele glared at him. He had stuck to Zimmer and ignored her like that. Thinking about it made her feel a little sad.
“That’s right.”
However, seeing him grinning while drunk made her laugh out of embarrassment.
“You must be tired, so go to sleep quickly.”
Adele pushed away his hard chest, but he didn’t move.
Meanwhile, Christine’s blue-gray eyes stared at Adele. His slightly dilated pupils looked so deep and mysterious that she couldn’t see the end. Adele couldn’t take her eyes off his eyes as if she were possessed.
“Shall we sleep together?”
The unexpected words that came out of her mouth at that moment.
Adele felt her heart sink.
“What are you talking about...? There’s still a date left.”
“I said I wouldn’t hug you, I didn’t say I wouldn’t sleep with you.”
“That can’t be possible. Let me go.”
Adele struggled to break free from Christine’s embrace. But he held her tighter the more she tried to break free, like a noose.
“You don’t know until you try.”
“Chris, please...”
“Why, you don’t like me because I’m not Stone?”
Adele looked up in surprise.
He was smiling. But he was so cool that it gave her goosebumps. The drunken, languid expression quickly disappeared.
“What is that...?”
That was the moment. He turned Adele’s body sharply against the wall. At the same time, he violently pulled down her robe from her shoulders.
“...!”
The wind untied the towel wrapped around Adele’s head, and her flowing hair fell down her back.
“Wh, what are you doing, Chris...”
Adele sobbed, standing with her cheek against the wall.
Christine, as if he didn’t hear what she was saying, slowly lifted up her disheveled hair.
The black tattoo on the center of her straight, white back, above her spine, was clearly visible.
“Was this it? Stone’s mark.”
An eerie, low voice came from behind her.
Adele shut her eyes tightly.
His fingers slowly traced her back. His fingers moved as if he were tracing Stone’s initials.
The memory of the day the tattoo was engraved came back vividly, and Adele felt goosebumps all over her body.
Stone had been like that that day. As if he were marking the place where he would leave his mark.
Yes, this is the price of joining hands with the devil.
Adele bit her lips and clenched her fists so that her joints were sticking out.
Realizing that she was shaking, Christine took his hands off her back and put the half-peeled robe back on her.
“Yes. This is the mark he left on me.”
Adele said as calmly as she could while pulling up the front of her robe.
On the one hand, it felt refreshing. In fact, part of her heart may have been hoping that he would find out. Because she didn’t dare to speak first.
“Were you that bastard’s woman?”
A fierce spark flew from Adele’s eyes.
“No, absolutely not!”
At her fierce shout, Christine let out a soft breath and soon giggled. His laughter echoed alone in the bathroom for a while.
Adele glared at him as if she were offended.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m so pathetic.”
Adele’s eyebrows rose slightly at the unexpected answer.
“I’m more curious about whether you were that bastard’s woman than what happened with that bastard.”
Adele smiled bitterly.
“I understand. It’s not unreasonable to think that way.”
***
Adele came out of the bathroom and went to the console in front of the fireplace. She filled two wine glasses and handed one to Christine.
It seemed that alcohol was meant to be consumed on a day like today.
“It was the price of the deal with him.”
After taking a sip of wine, Adele began to speak cautiously.
“The price of the deal?”
“No matter how much I became a Marchioness, I was just a cellar lady. It wasn’t easy to find the nobles who killed my mother and kill them. Then Stone, who was quick-witted, caught me.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“I got some help from him. He said he wanted to leave a mark on my body in return.”
That was the contract with the devil.
However, Adele wondered if she would make a different choice if the same situation came up again. She had been that desperate at the time. She had never thought about what would happen in the future.
She felt like she would die if she didn’t get revenge.
“...Just the mark?”
She could see what Christine was suspicious of.
“Yes, just the mark. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.”
Adele had also been suspicious when she heard Stone’s offer. Even if he had insisted on it, she couldn’t refuse.
Fortunately, Stone kept his promise. Since the former Marquis of Oswald was alive, he probably couldn’t do anything about it.
But now that she thinks about it, maybe he wanted to slowly destroy and trample on Adele and feel pleasure.
Yes, that suited him better.
“As long as you have this mark, you can never escape me. It’s proof that your soul is mine.”
Adele laughed, trying to shake off Stone’s voice that had been babbling while getting the tattoo on her back that day.
“Whew, it’s better to get caught.”
And she drank wine one after another like a person with a dry throat.
“Is that why you avoided sleeping with me? Because you were afraid that the mark would be discovered?”
“Yes, because if you found out that this was Stone’s doing...”
“You were afraid that I would suspect Stone of your relationship with you?”
Adele stared into Christine’s eyes and shook her head.
“No. I thought you would believe me if I said no, like I did now.”
“Yes, I believe you. If it’s not you, then it’s not true. But why?”
His eyes were cold, but they contained trust in Adele. That’s why Adele felt even more sorry for trying to hide it.
“But I can’t help but think of Stone when I see this mark. I didn’t want him to get in between us in any way. Chris, I really wanted you to not know about it...”
Christine swirled his wine glass around and poured it into his mouth in one gulp.
“Well, I still feel like shit. That damn mark is firmly planted on your body, which I’ve never seen before. But this is just anger towards him. I won’t let you live like this!”
Adele became more anxious as she watched Christine gnashing his teeth.
“There’s also a reason I didn’t tell you. I was afraid you might recklessly rush at Stone.”
“You don’t trust me?”
Adele shook her head as she watched Christine getting angry.
“He’s much more cunning than you think.”
“You don’t know who’s more cunning.”
Christine smiled meaningfully.
For a moment, Adele even thought that he might actually be able to defeat Stone.
“I have a favor to ask, Chris.”
“What?”
Instead of answering, she turned around and untied the waistband of her robe.
The silk hem flowed down her curves and fell at Adele’s feet.
The flames of the blazing fireplace swayed as if they were going to engulf her pure white body.
Christine fixed his gaze as if entranced, placing his empty wine glass on the console.
His throat shook violently.
Was it because of the intoxication that he felt so dizzy?
***
Adele was now wearing only a thin chemise that barely covered her body.
The woman’s body, faintly visible through the chemise, resembled a statue of a goddess on display at the Revue Museum. Did countless men line up every day to see her, made of marble?
Christine felt like he could fully understand their minds now.
The flawless flesh, the straight and neat bones, the erotic yet elegant curves. He felt full just by looking at them. He couldn’t take his eyes off them as if he were possessed.
But soon he furrowed his brows and cursed softly.
“Damn it...!”
As Adele gathered her hair and swept it forward, a terrible mark was revealed on her dazzling flesh.
As if he were claiming ownership of this perfect work of art. It was a very rude and violent brand.
“Cut this mark off with your sword.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
“They say you can’t get rid of it until you peel off the skin. But you’re good with a sword, so...”
A desperate voice.
Christine swept his bangs up, both dumbfounded and angry.
Once again, he wanted to tear Stone that had made her like this to pieces and kill it.
“So that’s why you went to see the doctor in Hell Valley?”
“...!”
Adele’s shoulders shook in surprise.
“There’s nothing you can do in Green Hill without me knowing, Adele.”
“I see... I forgot. Who are you?”
“What else is there?”
“What... is there?”
Christine wrapped his arms around Adele’s shoulders and turned her to face him.
“Please don’t mislead yourself anymore, Adele. I’m always on your side, and I’ll help you.”
His voice sounded like a firm command, and like a desperate plea.
What was certain was that he was no longer the young boy who needed her protection.
A hero who is stronger than anyone else and is praised by people. Now, someone can completely rely on it.
My strong side, my man...
“That’s right. You were always on my side. I keep forgetting that. Maybe it’s become a habit to always solve things on your own.”
At that moment, something flowed down her cheek.
“Oh, what is it? I didn’t mean to cry.”
Adele quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, dumbfounded.
“You can cry. It’s in front of me.”
Christine grabbed her hand and gently licked the flowing tears.
“...!”
When Adele opened her eyes wide in surprise and looked at him, he licked his lips and savored the taste lingering on his tongue.
“This is what your tears taste like.”
“What, what are you doing...”
Adele’s face turned red. She sometimes embarrassed people with unexpected actions, but she never thought he would do something like this...
“But your lips are still more delicious.”
And he didn’t care about such words.
But when he languidly lowered his eyes and brought his face closer, Adele seemed to lose her mind.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Get rid of the mark on my back...”
When Adele stepped back and tried to change the subject, Christine came closer.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of it completely.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Even then, Christine’s eyes didn’t leave hers. His deepened gaze seemed to pierce her face.
Was he already drunk from a few glasses of wine?
Adele felt dizzy from the intense and persistent gaze. Her face also grew hot, and her earlobes were flushed. She might look like a ripe, red peach by now.
So she tried to turn her head, but he grabbed her chin and she couldn’t. He gently lifted Adele’s chin up to make her look straight at him.
His calm and cool blue eyes swelled like waves, seeming like they would swallow her up in an instant.
Adele felt dizzy as she was sucked into those waves.
“Then I don’t have to keep my promise for two weeks?”
“Huh?”
What are you talking about?
“Because your body hasn’t recovered yet, that was probably an excuse. Right?”
Huh? Are we talking about the first night?
“T-That’s...”
“I thought I was going to die holding it in.”
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