THDR 01

Prologue

A beauty mark—right below her lips.

Zervant pressed his fingertip against the small mole just beneath Titia’s right lip.

Her soft lips twitched at the touch. Zervant’s eyes never left her face, captivated even by that tiny reaction.

Slowly, his finger traced downward, pressing lightly against her lower lip. As her lips spread slightly under the pressure, his throat bobbed with a visible gulp.

Just as he was about to slip past the faint gap between her lips—without her noticing—Titia’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing clear, sky-blue eyes.

Zervant frowned slightly, as if annoyed at being caught, but Titia greeted him brightly.

“Boss!”

“…You’re actually happy to see me?”

“Of course I am!”

Titia jumped up, grabbed his hand, and shook it enthusiastically. Whatever irritation lingered in Zervant’s heart melted away in an instant.

“What brings you here? I left you a note saying I’d be back as soon as I finished my errand. Didn’t you see it?”

Zervant’s brow knit tightly.

“I saw it. A single little note, that’s all you left behind.”

His voice came out low and strained, the emotion barely held in check.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? So I wouldn’t follow you.”

Unable to answer, Titia rolled her big eyes nervously. Zervant grasped her chin and turned her face toward him.

“Look at me. You should look at me, Titi.”

“You’re going to scold me, aren’t you?”

His brow furrowed as if he hadn’t expected that.

“Why would I ever scold you? How could I?”

Zervant ran a hand down his face and whispered softly,

“When I said I wanted to be with you wherever you go, I wasn’t lying.”

“But you can go out on your own now, even without me.”

That wasn’t what he meant at all.

Zervant deliberately pressed a kiss into the center of her palm. The faint scent that was uniquely Titia’s filled his senses, making his breath roughen.

“…Maybe if I became that fool again, I could stay by your side every second.”

“How can you say something like that!”

Titia gasped, pinching his cheek with all her strength.

“Ow.”

“After everything you went through, how could you even think about going back to that time?”

Her voice trembled with anger, but his large hand gently smoothed over her back, as though to calm her down. The touch was filled with unspoken affection.

When his fingers slid slowly down her spine, Titia stiffened in surprise. She quietly let go of his cheek, and he stepped closer in an instant.

“Then don’t leave me behind anymore.”

“……”

“If you were the one who dragged me out of the darkness where I’d hidden myself away…”

His voice deepened, heavy with emotion. Fixing his burning gaze on her, he pressed a kiss against the back of her hand.

“…then you’ll have to take responsibility for me.”

The arm he reached out with became a snare she could no longer escape.

Chapter 1. 

A Strange Question

One day, a man wearing a robe with the hood pulled low came up to me out of nowhere and said—

“Are you funny?”

So I closed the door.

What a weirdo.

As soon as the door shut with a thud, he started pounding on it.

“I’m not a suspicious person! Well, I suppose I can’t say I’m not suspicious either.”

What kind of person is this?

As I eyed the door warily, I suddenly remembered hearing that a circus had come to the nearby town of Mouren down the hill.

“Are you from the circus? I don’t know what you’ve heard, but I’m not the kind of person who makes people laugh with my body. And I have no intention of showing my face in front of others.”

In other words, please leave.

But instead of taking the hint, the man clapped his hands in delight.

“What a wonderful answer!”

What the hell is wonderful about that?

Feeling uneasy that this might turn into a bigger problem if I kept talking, I locked the door tightly and went back to preparing my sandwich.

I deliberately made loud noises in the kitchen, just to show him I had no intention of continuing the conversation, but he didn’t give up. His voice grew louder.

“You must be very confused by my sudden question. I’m not a suspicious… well, I could be suspicious, depending on how you look at it, but anyway, I’m not that kind of person.”

His endless rambling made me sigh and stop chopping.

“What exactly are you asking?”

The house was so old that even a slightly raised voice could be heard clearly outside.

Then his serious tone seeped in through the cracked door.

“I want to recruit you.”

After all that persistence, that was it? Nothing grand, just that?

I resumed chopping.

“I’m not funny when people are watching. You should look for someone else.”

It was the first time anyone had ever come to “recruit” me. People had come after me for my looks before, but this was new.

“Do you know the Duchy of Destine? If you do, explain it.”

Was he trying to provoke me?

Fine, I took the bait and explained in full detail.

“Of course I do. It’s the title personally granted by His Majesty to Jervant de Destine, one of the three heroes who sealed the Demon of Serael.”

No citizen of the Empire wouldn’t know that.

He was one of the heroes who saved the world from near destruction. It was only natural that he was granted a ducal title, and no one ever questioned that decision.

“Then you must know about the Eclipse Guild, too.”

I considered ignoring him, but figured that would just make him cling harder, so I answered plainly.

“Of course. It’s the guild Duke Destine ran even before he received his title.”

Hearing those names stirred up an old memory. The novel that this world was based on.

Jervant de Destine…

In that story, he was the villain who eventually redeemed himself thanks to the heroine, becoming a beloved sub–male lead.

But now, hearing that name again just felt strange.

“So you do know. That makes this easier.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The reason I mentioned Duke Destine and the Eclipse Guild is because I serve Jervant de Destine himself.”

“In a remote mountain village like this? You must be the world’s greatest belly–button hunter, coming all this way. You’ve made your joke, now please leave.”

I tried to brush it off, but truth be told, I believed him.

No one would dare impersonate a member of that guild — the Eclipse Guild — unless they had a death wish.

Even though I reincarnated into a novel, I’ve never once crossed paths with any of the original characters… until now.

Why did he come here?

A chill ran down my spine.

Wait… did William hire the Eclipse Guild?

Then I shook my head.

No. William didn’t have that kind of money.

As ominous thoughts churned in my mind, I forced myself to focus on the food.

I layered grilled bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg neatly on whole–grain bread, then placed the other slice on top.

As I cut it neatly in half, the man outside spoke again in an overly serious tone.

“Even with this short conversation, I can tell. Lady Titia, you’re a delightful person. You’re exactly who I’ve been looking for.”

“I’m about to eat breakfast. If I skip meals, I get dizzy… And if someone were to interrupt such an important time…”

To make my point, I slammed the knife down into the cutting board.

Thinng!

The blade vibrated, humming in the air.

“My reaction could be unpredictable.”

Even if he was an Eclipse Guild member, I wasn’t going to back down. Hopefully, he’d take the hint and leave quietly.

Silence. Finally, maybe he’d gone.

But then, a face suddenly popped up in the kitchen window.

“You have to be the one!”

“Ahhh!”

I screamed instinctively, clutching the knife with trembling hands.

“Hey! Don’t just pop out like that! I’m armed… I mean, I’m holding a knife!”

If I threw it out of panic, he’d die and I’d end up in jail!

“I could dodge a knife with my eyes closed. Don’t underestimate Eclipse.”

I never said I did.

I carefully lowered the knife back onto the board.

“You leave me no choice, then,” he said.

Then he leaned close to the window, so close his face almost pressed against the glass, and began listing off my personal details.

“Titia Angela. Twenty-one years old. Your half-brother inherited the Angela viscountcy, and you were driven out. Well, to be precise, you ran away because you didn’t want to get married.”

“That man already has a child my age. You really think that’s a suitable match?”

“I also know that every night, you perform strange exercises under the moon before going to bed.”

How the hell did he know that?!

“It’s called national calisthenics! I just happen to sleep better afterward—wait, this is a violation of privacy!”

“We even know what the Emperor mumbles in his sleep!”

“How impressive for you.”

“If you’d like, I could list more of your secrets and weaknesses—”

“All right!”

I threw up my hands.

“Fine! Enough!”

With a groan, I flung open the door I’d locked so tightly. The man walked in as if he owned the place.

“I didn’t say you could come in.”

“Oh, my apologies. Then I’ll just—”

He half–bent his broad shoulders and moonwalked backward out the door. We ended up facing each other again, him outside, me inside.

“Let me introduce myself properly,” he said.

He pulled back his deep hood.

The first thing I noticed were his pale blue eyes behind a pair of thin, translucent rectangular glasses. His delicate features and long green hair tied loosely down to his chest gave him a strangely familiar air.

He parted his lips and said his name.

“My name is Veilt Ward.”

The moment I heard it, my eyebrows twitched involuntarily — and his sharp eyes caught it instantly.

“So you do know who I am. Not surprising, really — I’m quite famous.”

That shameless man was nearly as well–known as Jervant himself. He was one of the founding members of the Eclipse Guild, the duke’s closest friend, and the guild’s vice–leader.

I never thought someone that high–ranking would come looking for me personally.

“So, Mr. Belt— what exactly do you want?”

“You know who I am, and yet you still dare call me by the nickname I hate most… Such boldness! You clearly have the courage required to serve our lord—”

No, I had no idea.