For Aloken, the two weeks he had given her were a kind of reprieve. It was a reprieve that he hoped on the day of her upcoming execution, she would be terrified and tell him about the holy relic.
Even though he himself spent a lot of money and time, one thing he hadn’t even a clue about was the information about Europa. From the beginning, the issue was one. Did she originally have Europa or not? In such a situation, Aloken was very disappointed with what Fanora said.
“Do as you please.” However, he only removed the rust from his sword with a cloth dipped in an abrasive without a major change in expression.
Fanora looked at Aloken’s calm reaction and asked a question. “You really didn’t have any sincerity?”
“…”
“I heard that a good lie needs 10% truth. Is there really not even 10% of the confession I’ve been through?”
Like an idiot, why would she ask such a question? She herself knew that these words didn’t mean much. And she thought she would be unharmed from saying something like this.
“…”
Aloken did not answer, wiping only the blade, which made her continue her question.
“Still, I’m glad you have a weak spot. Why did you tell the truth with your own mouth? Did you feel guilty?”
“Are you crying or laughing?”
“That was a stupid mistake. You… if only you lied until the end, you would know. I might have continued to believe…”
She didn’t know her expression and spoke as if scolding her fiancé. Then Aloken stopped cleaning his sword and smiled gently.
“I’ve never made a mistake. Because you have an expression like this.”
What his eyes held was a fake warmth imitating affection or tenderness.
“…”
After hearing his words, Fanora realized that her face was wet.
Aloken admired her collapsed face. Seeing her struggling to the point of denying the obvious reality made him think the past two years weren’t a waste at all. It was as if splashing colorful paints on drawing papers full of achromatic colors. The uglier she looked, the more Aloken forgot his boredom. Apart from the warmth from the fireplace, it brought a strange heat.
“You are most attractive at times like this.”
Taking pleasure in the pain of others was just like the devil.
“I need to correct what I just said. That’s right. I suddenly regret not being able to get married.”
“…”
“Ah, of course, if you just say a few words to me, we will become husband and wife. Anyway, you have no intention of doing that right now.”
Aloken began to speak with a brighter expression than before. If he feels sorry for a woman like her, how can he still think of executing her? Upon reflecting on it, it makes sense that he made a mistake. Fanora stared blankly at Aloken’s figure, then hesitantly rose from the bed.
“Are you feeling regret?”
She wondered if there might be even a slight affection from Aloken toward her. Fanora thought briefly based on the lament he had uttered and the charming word she had heard. Maybe Aloken was in love with her in a twisted way. Although she wasn’t saying she would engage in a romantic relationship with someone with such a flawed character, this matter was quite important for her in her current situation.
“The fact that you haven’t loved me all this time… do you want me to forgive you? When I think about it, that’s how most people live, entering political marriages without love.”
“That’s true.”
“Because I’m not loved anywhere. Maybe becoming the duke’s wife is the best option…”
“Now we’re finally on the same page.”
Fanora tried to manipulate her mind just like him. She didn’t need to make him feel strong affection for her. If Aloken only thought it would be a waste to kill her, that would be enough.
Of course, deep in her heart, she still held onto the hope that all of this was just a nightmare and that when she woke up, they would still be lovers. But she decided to let go of her lingering feelings and gradually started to think about the future. Two weeks is too short to kill people. If only I could get rid of the appointment deadline…
Fanora approached Aloken, who was sitting on the sofa and reached out carefully. She took his cold hand. “Aloken, how about we sign a contract again? I think I still want a seat next to you. But this time, I’ll help you with something else. In the future, I’m going to search for the holy relics…”
This was a skinship to express that she didn’t hate him even after being treated like that. However, this action had the worst consequences for her.
“Aaaargh!”
A shrill scream rang out in the darkened room. Fanora screamed reflexively, grasping a long red wound across her forearm.
Aloken slashed him. That Aloken slashed him with a sword.
She flung back, recalling the same sentence over and over again. Although she didn’t feel much pain because of her lack of concern, the situation itself was a great shock to her.
Aloken looked down at Fanora with a wrinkling expression, wiping the blood from his sword.
“Gasp! Gasp…?!”
“Don’t do such a stupid trick. Unless you want to die before the two weeks are over.”
“Uh, uuuh…”
“There seems to have been a brief misunderstanding between us, but I don’t regret advancing the plan at all. Even if we got married, it wasn’t going to be a long-term relationship.”
“…!”
“At first, I was thinking of getting married and having four children. I decided to ask about Europa’s whereabouts next. If the head of the family takes children as hostage, his wife is bound to be shackled. Just like what happened to my mother.”
“Children…!”
“Ah, I thought it was a clever plan.”
He tried to add his words but listened to the knocking sound from outside. Having heard Fanora’s scream, the mansion knights the hallway, asking what was going on.
Aloken raised his voice to the knights outside the door. He told them there was an accident while he was cleaning his sword, and his fiancée was slightly injured and told them to get the first aid kit.
“However, upon second thought, I realized that it was wrong.”
After completing the order, he turned to Fanora again.
“There was a major problem with the plan. Well then, I’ll have to revise it, right?”
“…”
“You look like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“…”
“Or maybe you’re just quiet because I slashed you…”
Fanora retreated towards the corner of the room, holding her slashed left arm. Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep wound. The blade tip had just slashed her skin, but the blood flowing from her wound was enough to dye her dress.
As time went by, what surprised her subsided, and the pain became clear. Tears welled up in Fanora’s eyes as the terrifying thrill flowed from her wound. No, maybe those tears weren’t just because of the pain…
Fanora twisted her mouth and shook her eyes. Then Aloken pointed his sword at her again. As the tip of his sword moved gently down the front of her dress and touched her chin, Fanora raised her head to avoid being stabbed by the blade.
“I was going to treat you as nothing if you just bowed down and obeyed.”
“What are you saying…?”
“It’s obvious you think of useless things that you shouldn’t have done. Marriage doesn’t seem very tempting to you anymore.”
“…!”
“Well, it’s better this way.”
“Wait…!”
Aloken lowered the blade of his cane and cut off the sapphire ornament from the neckline of Fanora’s dress. He then spoke coldly without even glancing at the ornament that had fallen off.
“I’ve been worried about playing a couple roles with such an ugly thing all this time.”
Fanora grabbed the front of her ruined dress and turned blue. The few words from his mouth felt sharper than the blade hanging under her chin.
“I feel relieved that this is over. Acting as a couple with someone like you or even getting married.”
“What you’re saying…?”
He did not stop insulting Fanora even after her face was horribly wrinkled.
“If you already understand, why must you ask again?”
He gestured with his swords as if to warn her not to touch him carelessly, for he felt repulsed by the very thought of it. Fanora trembled without giving any response. Throughout her two lifetimes, she had never felt terribly humiliated and ashamed.
“…”
As they spent much time together, she thought there would be a trace of regret in this cold-blooded man’s heart. However, she felt like all hope was falling apart when she realized that she had been regarded as filthy by him so far, let alone regretted it. Just like the sentence ‘dark in front of your eyes,’ she learned that people’s vision really narrows when they fall into a big heartbreak.
“The reason why you didn’t kiss me…”
Aloken stared at her in pain and immediately remembered a short thought. The bait of restoring their relationship seemed to have lost its value. He now believed that threatening to expose her as a murderer for 14 days would be more effective rather than any sweet reward. Although Fanora looked confused, she didn’t seem like the type to beg the man who abandoned her.
“Duke!”
After a while, knock, knock. Another polite knock rang out. Aloken stopped threatening Fanora with his sword and looked at the door. Then, beyond the door, there was a voice saying that the servant had brought first aid.
“Duke, do you really not need to call a doctor?”
“It’s late, so I feel sorry to wake them up for something like this. It’s not a big deal, so I’ll take care of it.”
He approached the door in a brazen manner. Fanora thought as she looked at his back, which was moving away. It’s a nightmare.
In her heart, the warmth of his affection, who had once embraced her despite the contempt from Purson, still lingered. In addition to that, she also recalled the times he caught numerous foxes for her and the beautiful bouquet of flowers, he gave her as an anniversary gift. That same man now slashed her arm just because she touched his body.
Please, somebody, shake me to wake me up.
She hated him. She didn’t want to hate him, but now she wished her were dead. Fanora’s feelings began to churn like a storm, violently changing.
“Anyway, if you dare to make fun of your hand again, I’ll chop off one of your arms, so be careful.”
While she trembled in silence, Aloken approached her with the first aid kit he had brought from outside the door. Hurting her but also treating her. What was he doing?
Fanora looked grimly at him as he tried to treat her arm. His hand that touched her was quite warm, just like in the past when she knew nothing.
“Seriously, why do you come close to me when I’m dangerously sharpening my sword…” Aloken, who bandaged her, spoke in a caring tone, which could make the listener confused.
Fanora stared blankly at Aloken. But every time Fanora subconsciously tried to escape reality, a throbbing pain rode up from her injured arm.
“Ah…”
The wound on her left arm constantly awakened Fanora. The pain in her arm seemed to tell her not to escape her vain dreams and come to her senses.
For Aloken, the two weeks he had given her were a kind of reprieve. It was a reprieve that he hoped on the day of her upcoming execution, she would be terrified and tell him about the holy relic.
Even though he himself spent a lot of money and time, one thing he hadn’t even a clue about was the information about Europa. From the beginning, the issue was one. Did she originally have Europa or not? In such a situation, Aloken was very disappointed with what Fanora said.
“Do as you please.” However, he only removed the rust from his sword with a cloth dipped in an abrasive without a major change in expression.
Fanora looked at Aloken’s calm reaction and asked a question. “You really didn’t have any sincerity?”
“…”
“I heard that a good lie needs 10% truth. Is there really not even 10% of the confession I’ve been through?”
Like an idiot, why would she ask such a question? She herself knew that these words didn’t mean much. And she thought she would be unharmed from saying something like this.
“…”
Aloken did not answer, wiping only the blade, which made her continue her question.
“Still, I’m glad you have a weak spot. Why did you tell the truth with your own mouth? Did you feel guilty?”
“Are you crying or laughing?”
“That was a stupid mistake. You… if only you lied until the end, you would know. I might have continued to believe…”
She didn’t know her expression and spoke as if scolding her fiancé. Then Aloken stopped cleaning his sword and smiled gently.
“I’ve never made a mistake. Because you have an expression like this.”
What his eyes held was a fake warmth imitating affection or tenderness.
“…”
After hearing his words, Fanora realized that her face was wet.
Aloken admired her collapsed face. Seeing her struggling to the point of denying the obvious reality made him think the past two years weren’t a waste at all. It was as if splashing colorful paints on drawing papers full of achromatic colors. The uglier she looked, the more Aloken forgot his boredom. Apart from the warmth from the fireplace, it brought a strange heat.
“You are most attractive at times like this.”
Taking pleasure in the pain of others was just like the devil.
“I need to correct what I just said. That’s right. I suddenly regret not being able to get married.”
“…”
“Ah, of course, if you just say a few words to me, we will become husband and wife. Anyway, you have no intention of doing that right now.”
Aloken began to speak with a brighter expression than before. If he feels sorry for a woman like her, how can he still think of executing her? Upon reflecting on it, it makes sense that he made a mistake. Fanora stared blankly at Aloken’s figure, then hesitantly rose from the bed.
“Are you feeling regret?”
She wondered if there might be even a slight affection from Aloken toward her. Fanora thought briefly based on the lament he had uttered and the charming word she had heard. Maybe Aloken was in love with her in a twisted way. Although she wasn’t saying she would engage in a romantic relationship with someone with such a flawed character, this matter was quite important for her in her current situation.
“The fact that you haven’t loved me all this time… do you want me to forgive you? When I think about it, that’s how most people live, entering political marriages without love.”
“That’s true.”
“Because I’m not loved anywhere. Maybe becoming the duke’s wife is the best option…”
“Now we’re finally on the same page.”
Fanora tried to manipulate her mind just like him. She didn’t need to make him feel strong affection for her. If Aloken only thought it would be a waste to kill her, that would be enough.
Of course, deep in her heart, she still held onto the hope that all of this was just a nightmare and that when she woke up, they would still be lovers. But she decided to let go of her lingering feelings and gradually started to think about the future. Two weeks is too short to kill people. If only I could get rid of the appointment deadline…
Fanora approached Aloken, who was sitting on the sofa and reached out carefully. She took his cold hand. “Aloken, how about we sign a contract again? I think I still want a seat next to you. But this time, I’ll help you with something else. In the future, I’m going to search for the holy relics…”
This was a skinship to express that she didn’t hate him even after being treated like that. However, this action had the worst consequences for her.
“Aaaargh!”
A shrill scream rang out in the darkened room. Fanora screamed reflexively, grasping a long red wound across her forearm.
Aloken slashed him. That Aloken slashed him with a sword.
She flung back, recalling the same sentence over and over again. Although she didn’t feel much pain because of her lack of concern, the situation itself was a great shock to her.
Aloken looked down at Fanora with a wrinkling expression, wiping the blood from his sword.
“Gasp! Gasp…?!”
“Don’t do such a stupid trick. Unless you want to die before the two weeks are over.”
“Uh, uuuh…”
“There seems to have been a brief misunderstanding between us, but I don’t regret advancing the plan at all. Even if we got married, it wasn’t going to be a long-term relationship.”
“…!”
“At first, I was thinking of getting married and having four children. I decided to ask about Europa’s whereabouts next. If the head of the family takes children as hostage, his wife is bound to be shackled. Just like what happened to my mother.”
“Children…!”
“Ah, I thought it was a clever plan.”
He tried to add his words but listened to the knocking sound from outside. Having heard Fanora’s scream, the mansion knights the hallway, asking what was going on.
Aloken raised his voice to the knights outside the door. He told them there was an accident while he was cleaning his sword, and his fiancée was slightly injured and told them to get the first aid kit.
“However, upon second thought, I realized that it was wrong.”
After completing the order, he turned to Fanora again.
“There was a major problem with the plan. Well then, I’ll have to revise it, right?”
“…”
“You look like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“…”
“Or maybe you’re just quiet because I slashed you…”
Fanora retreated towards the corner of the room, holding her slashed left arm. Fortunately, it wasn’t a deep wound. The blade tip had just slashed her skin, but the blood flowing from her wound was enough to dye her dress.
As time went by, what surprised her subsided, and the pain became clear. Tears welled up in Fanora’s eyes as the terrifying thrill flowed from her wound. No, maybe those tears weren’t just because of the pain…
Fanora twisted her mouth and shook her eyes. Then Aloken pointed his sword at her again. As the tip of his sword moved gently down the front of her dress and touched her chin, Fanora raised her head to avoid being stabbed by the blade.
“I was going to treat you as nothing if you just bowed down and obeyed.”
“What are you saying…?”
“It’s obvious you think of useless things that you shouldn’t have done. Marriage doesn’t seem very tempting to you anymore.”
“…!”
“Well, it’s better this way.”
“Wait…!”
Aloken lowered the blade of his cane and cut off the sapphire ornament from the neckline of Fanora’s dress. He then spoke coldly without even glancing at the ornament that had fallen off.
“I’ve been worried about playing a couple roles with such an ugly thing all this time.”
Fanora grabbed the front of her ruined dress and turned blue. The few words from his mouth felt sharper than the blade hanging under her chin.
“I feel relieved that this is over. Acting as a couple with someone like you or even getting married.”
“What you’re saying…?”
He did not stop insulting Fanora even after her face was horribly wrinkled.
“If you already understand, why must you ask again?”
He gestured with his swords as if to warn her not to touch him carelessly, for he felt repulsed by the very thought of it. Fanora trembled without giving any response. Throughout her two lifetimes, she had never felt terribly humiliated and ashamed.
“…”
As they spent much time together, she thought there would be a trace of regret in this cold-blooded man’s heart. However, she felt like all hope was falling apart when she realized that she had been regarded as filthy by him so far, let alone regretted it. Just like the sentence ‘dark in front of your eyes,’ she learned that people’s vision really narrows when they fall into a big heartbreak.
“The reason why you didn’t kiss me…”
Aloken stared at her in pain and immediately remembered a short thought. The bait of restoring their relationship seemed to have lost its value. He now believed that threatening to expose her as a murderer for 14 days would be more effective rather than any sweet reward. Although Fanora looked confused, she didn’t seem like the type to beg the man who abandoned her.
“Duke!”
After a while, knock, knock. Another polite knock rang out. Aloken stopped threatening Fanora with his sword and looked at the door. Then, beyond the door, there was a voice saying that the servant had brought first aid.
“Duke, do you really not need to call a doctor?”
“It’s late, so I feel sorry to wake them up for something like this. It’s not a big deal, so I’ll take care of it.”
He approached the door in a brazen manner. Fanora thought as she looked at his back, which was moving away. It’s a nightmare.
In her heart, the warmth of his affection, who had once embraced her despite the contempt from Purson, still lingered. In addition to that, she also recalled the times he caught numerous foxes for her and the beautiful bouquet of flowers, he gave her as an anniversary gift. That same man now slashed her arm just because she touched his body.
Please, somebody, shake me to wake me up.
She hated him. She didn’t want to hate him, but now she wished her were dead. Fanora’s feelings began to churn like a storm, violently changing.
“Anyway, if you dare to make fun of your hand again, I’ll chop off one of your arms, so be careful.”
While she trembled in silence, Aloken approached her with the first aid kit he had brought from outside the door. Hurting her but also treating her. What was he doing?
Fanora looked grimly at him as he tried to treat her arm. His hand that touched her was quite warm, just like in the past when she knew nothing.
“Seriously, why do you come close to me when I’m dangerously sharpening my sword…” Aloken, who bandaged her, spoke in a caring tone, which could make the listener confused.
Fanora stared blankly at Aloken. But every time Fanora subconsciously tried to escape reality, a throbbing pain rode up from her injured arm.
“Ah…”
The wound on her left arm constantly awakened Fanora. The pain in her arm seemed to tell her not to escape her vain dreams and come to her senses.
