Chapter 24
“Your Highness, are you all right? Hmm, you look fine, but…”
Shouldn’t someone who hasn’t slept for a week have dark circles and a sickly pale face?
But he looked absolutely perfect, as if nothing were wrong.
Just like how he once checked me to see if the man who resembled him had harmed me,
this time I began inspecting him up and down.
Well… he doesn’t look sick, or thin, or anything like that…
Isn’t that stranger?
Why does he look perfectly fine?
When Blake met my puzzled gaze, he looked back at me as if I were the strange one.
And the very first thing he said when our eyes met was—
“Are you all right?”
“What? That’s what I should be asking you. Are you all right, Your Highness?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
Why wouldn’t he?
There are plenty of reasons!
He was so calm, I almost wondered if the reports I’d heard were mistaken.
“But why are you so fine, Master?”
“…What? Oh… I—I’m sorry. My husband was imprisoned and yet I… look fine…”
“……”
I didn’t know he’d scold me for that!
But the truth was, I’d really been worried about him all this time…
Worried he wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep without me.
Like a puppy who’d secretly caused trouble, I stole little glances up at his face.
Blake looked down at me with a bewildered expression at my mumbling.
Seriously—he’s the one who spoke sharply, yet he looks baffled now?
After a long hesitation, he finally spoke in a careful tone.
“Ian Harmel is dead.”
“Oh, right.”
“…That’s all you have to say?”
Did that sound too cold-hearted?
Of course Blake knew Ian had once been my fiancé.
Even if now he was nothing more than a so-called “friend,” less than a stranger,
my response probably sounded heartless.
So I put on a slightly sad expression, placed a hand over my chest, and declared dramatically:
“Oh, heavens! Ian is dead! In your next life, don’t go after women who are already taken. Just find someone who likes you and live happily together!”
“……”
“See? Why’d you have to keep pestering a married woman? Accept when love is over, and at least treat your parents well! What a pity!”
“…What?”
“…Should I keep going?”
At that, Blake closed his eyes and pressed his forehead like he had a headache—
though he wasn’t even capable of feeling pain.
When he looked at me again, his expression said plainly: I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Ian Harmel is dead, and you’re not sad?”
“Oh, I am sad. And… a little surprised. But, hmm… yeah, that’s about it.”
“…Why?”
I’d noticed for a while now that Blake wasn’t great at empathizing with my emotions.
Like when he asked why I didn’t get angry after he kissed me without permission.
Or now, asking why I wasn’t sad about Ian.
Well, the truth is…
Since I transmigrated into this body, how many times had I even seen Ian? Maybe once a month?
And besides, I read the book. I know the ending.
Anyone who got close to Ian ended up with a miserable, gruesome death.
Who would want to stick around him?
I avoided him deliberately, and whenever I ran into him, I felt no joy at all.
In fact, I had endless complaints.
I rejected him politely by calling him a “friend,” but he kept pushing,
like a bulldozer, completely ignoring my refusals.
So basically…
Ian Harmel was like a “so-called ex-boyfriend I never really dated,”
while I already had a husband—one with beauty and wealth, no less.
Even if our marriage wasn’t exactly built on love, legally I was a married woman.
Ian was morally irritating, and to make matters worse,
I knew if I stayed involved with him, my future would be ruined.
So to me, Ian was less than a stranger.
Sure, the news of his death shocked me, but I wasn’t deeply grieved.
But how was I supposed to explain that?
After fumbling for words, I finally scratched my head and muttered:
“Well… he was my childhood friend, but also my ex-fiancé. Isn’t it natural that he’d feel like less than a stranger to me?”
“……”
Now Blake looked even more shocked than I was.
He just stared blankly at me for a moment, then his expression grew conflicted.
And soon after, he let out a hollow little laugh.
“…Ha. Haha…”
“Your Highness?”
His face now—
It was like a character in a tragic novel who realizes the necklace he thought was priceless,
the one he spent his life repaying,
turned out to be a worthless fake.
Like someone who suddenly learned that everything he had believed in was false.
Like someone who’d wasted years of grief, only to realize he could never get that time back.
“Sigh…”
“Your Highness, are you sure you’re not sick?”
This was strange. A moment ago, he’d seemed perfectly fine.
But now… he looked worse, as if my visit had weakened him.
While I hesitated, he murmured something under his breath.
His face looked unreadable, yet strangely I could feel a deep regret radiating from him.
“…If I’d known…”
“…Pardon?”
“If I’d known you’d be this fine…”
“Yes?”
“I would’ve killed that bastard myself a long time ago.”
“…What???”
I yelped in shock.
Then I panicked, glancing at the door to make sure the knights outside hadn’t overheard.
Thankfully, they hadn’t.
When I turned back, Blake was looking down at me with a smile.
“…Haha…”
It was a laugh—but unsettling.
There was a dangerous glint to it, the kind that sent chills down my spine.
Almost decadent, almost feral.
I instinctively took a step back.
“Your Highness… you’re really okay, right? You haven’t lost your mind from being locked up so long, or from lack of sleep, have you?”
I blurted it out nervously, but… come to think of it, it did make sense.
If someone goes too long without sleep, they enter a hyper state.
So maybe that’s why he looked euphoric.
In short—he looked… insane.
“Master.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you backing away?”
He noticed my retreat and stepped closer.
“……”
Goosebumps prickled up my back, but Blake didn’t stop.
In fact, he changed his tone—softening it, almost coaxing.
“Come here. You need to recharge me.”
“…Recharge?”
“I haven’t slept or eaten properly in a week. Of course I’m not fine, right?”
At that moment, Blake looked disturbingly like a wolf licking its lips.
“Uh…”
I swallowed hard.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him as he strode toward me with that dangerous smile.
Like Little Red Riding Hood cornered by the Big Bad Wolf, I shivered.
How exactly was I supposed to “recharge” him?
He looked perfectly fine, but… did this require physical contact?
Trembling, I carefully reached out my hand.
But Blake only shook his head and pulled me straight into his arms.
I gasped, eyes wide.
“This isn’t enough. You already know what I need, don’t you?”
“…Wh-what do I know?”
“The way to make my heart beat.”
That… that meant…
My gaze faltered, and after a long hesitation, landed on his lips—
those lips curved in a teasing smile.
Was he talking about… what we did back at the temple?
But back then, he kissed me and went all dazed afterward!
He even apologized and promised it wouldn’t happen again!
And now he’s acting all sly about it?!
My mouth felt dry as I stammered, desperate to argue.
“B-but… what difference does it make if your heart beats?”
“When my heart’s beating, I can be like a normal person. My original, complete self.”
A normal person…
Able to taste, feel pain, sense heat and cold.
Able to sleep, and have a warm body when touched.
As I grumbled internally, my thoughts finally reached the obvious conclusion.
I clenched my eyes shut.
And then I felt it—
a small chuckle, followed by a gentle, hot, soft pressure landing carefully on my lips.
