* * *
‘Wanting to become real…’
That’s the same for me too.
It was a completely different feeling from when I arrogantly thought I just needed to win his heart.
I had forgotten the reality that when you gain something precious, you simultaneously become afraid of losing it.
Cynthia tightly closed her eyes, then opened them.
As the red light of the lunar eclipse began to fade, he slightly lifted his lips from the back of her hand and whispered to her.
“So don’t think about leaving my side.”
Cynthia stared into his languidly lowered eyes.
“I will never make you unhappy.”
A restrained tone, spoken while controlling his breath. Words carefully chosen after much deliberation.
Watching him deliver words like a vow, she felt like crying.
As long as her identity was a lie, there was no way her heart could be at ease, unable to escape her original sin.
* * *
‘What should I do?’
Lying on the bed after entering the bedroom, I looked up at the ceiling with worry.
I received a sincere confession and even a hand kiss. Doesn’t that mean I have to take responsibility?
I glanced at him lying on the sofa, biting and releasing my lip.
My head and heart were both complicated.
I couldn’t bring myself to ask why he forgave someone who was practically an enemy from the royal family. Because I’m not the real princess.
I didn’t even deserve forgiveness.
‘I need to tell the truth and apologize.’
How and when should I confess?
Would he believe me if I said I had no choice to avoid death?
What if he comes to hate me?
When I first met him, my resolve to “reveal the truth someday” was premised on parting ways.
But now, many things had changed.
‘What if even my sincere feelings end up being fake?’
The lingering excitement and guilt were clashing violently.
“Cynthia.”
I heard a voice calling me as I was groaning with my head in my hands.
He was sitting on the sofa, looking at me.
‘Did he just call my name? Are we on a first-name basis now without titles?’
I sat up abruptly, flustered.
“Yes?”
“May I be next to you?”
Is that an invitation to sleep together in one bed? With my face burning bright red, I stammered.
“W-w-w-why?”
“…Is it so surprising that you need to ask four times?”
He smiled as he tidied his disheveled hair.
“I’m not trying to do anything bad. It just seems a bit cold.”
He was now starting to use seductive tactics.
“Alright. I wasn’t able to sleep anyway.”
It would be strange to suddenly draw the line after being favorable all this time.
As soon as I finished speaking, Masera came to the bed and slipped under the covers. In the blink of an eye, I was trapped in his arms.
As he embraced my head and stroked it, he said:
“I’ll correct my previous statement of disliking whatever you said.”
“Y-yes.”
I barely managed to answer with my cheek pressed against the sturdy man’s chest. It was closer to being nestled rather than trapped in his arms.
“From now on, I’ll do everything you say. Go where you want to go, do what you want to do together, and even wear that damned hat we saw at the zoo.”
But it seems he still absolutely hates wearing the tangerine hat and animal headbands.
Like someone who had released long-suppressed impulses, he kept caressing and touching my cheeks.
It felt like a cat that had been busy scratching and running away suddenly clung tightly and licked with its rough tongue. And a tiger-sized one at that.
He continued speaking as he acted like he was melting me:
“And I’ll make you feel good day and night, every day.”
He says such things so casually? Isn’t this moving too fast?
“What method will you use for that?”
I was so nervous that I unconsciously asked in a stilted, translated manner.
“I’ll try to do whatever you like as much as possible. Didn’t you say before that you wanted to raise a puppy?”
Masera was reminding me that I was a worn-out, if not rotten, human being.
But he remembered that one time I casually said “I’m the only one without a puppy” when we saw someone walking a dog.
“Puppies are nice, but will they get along well with our cats?”
“Trained dogs don’t harm other living things.”
He loosened his tight embrace and added:
“As long as humans don’t order them to.”
There was a hint of bitterness in his additional words.
I reached out and stroked his hair.
He lowered his head docilely, like a tamed beast. The fact that his hair smelled exactly like mine evoked strange emotions.
Now finding himself in my embrace, he asked:
“Can we sleep like this every day?”
Is this the same man who used to say “I dislike it” like a button for hating humans whenever I suggested anything?
My head was spinning from this unexpected directness. If there was a novel called “Tsundere Husband Hides His Straightforwardness,” this would be exactly it.
‘I wish time would pass more slowly.’
I had quite a selfish thought.
Makia covered his mouth and laughed when he heard the news that the Vicente family had been abandoned at a gambling den.
“Ah, how amusing.”
“Boss, what should we do? It doesn’t seem like they have the means to pay back their debt.”
Makia waved his hand dismissively.
“We must collect the money. As for those people, whether you break their legs and make them beg, or work them like dogs and pigs, handle it as you see fit.”
As he lit the cigar in his mouth, he continued in a low voice.
“Collect the principal plus interest through the Duke’s family. They’ll probably be reasonable.”
Makia smiled slyly as he recalled the look in Helene’s eyes when she saw him. Anyone could see it was the gaze of a woman looking at a man.
Seducing noble ladies to win their hearts was one of the skills he had acquired while navigating the underworld.
‘That pale woman seems even easier. She can’t ignore pitiful things.’
Sympathy and compassion were double-edged swords. One misstep could ruin a life.
Makia said as he bit off his leather gloves:
“Send a collection notice to Duke Rukanosa’s household.”
Beneath the removed glove, the tail end of an eerie snake tattoo was revealed.
The Dowager Duchess summoned Helene early in the morning.
‘It must be about the indebted couple.’
Helene had an idea of why she was being called, but her face remained composed.
Even if the Vicente couple tried to sell her name to the organization, it would be useless. Since it was where Capitano belonged, he would take care of it.
But when Helene entered the Dowager Duchess’s room and faced her, she felt her whole body freeze.
“Helene.”
The Dowager Duchess always had a strict and cold demeanor, but now there was a sharpness that felt like it could cut if approached too closely.
“Those people, not only are they in dire straits, but they’re also in debt to an underworld organization. Did you know?”
At the chilling gaze that seemed to already know everything, Helene nodded.
The Dowager Duchess, maintaining her initial cold expression, asked her:
“Knowing all this, did you make me write a letter asking to take care of these debtors?”
“Having been rejected by his adoptive son, Brigadier General Vicente, and even stripped of his title, he had no choice but to resort to private loans. Doesn’t the Brigadier General bear some responsibility as well?”
The Dowager Duchess exhaled a deep sigh with her lips tightly closed.
“The problem is that it’s gambling debt, and the adopted son has no obligation to pay it, yet they barged into the official residence and caused a scene.”
She handed Helene a document across the table where they sat facing each other.
“The Brigadier General’s side has billed us for everything they ate and used.”
Helene furrowed her brow and retorted irritably:
“Why are they billing the Duke’s family? What an absurd attitude.”
The Dowager Duchess handed her another document.
“Not to the Duke’s family, but to you. This one as well.”
“What?”
Helene’s face gradually filled with bewilderment as she received the document.
“Why is this…”
「As a distant relative of the Duke’s family, we heard that the Duchess has said she would take responsibility and help these people. Wouldn’t this mean agreeing to pay the debt on their behalf?
By the way, we know a lot about the Duchess. 」
It was a collection notice from the organization.
The Dowager Duchess raised her chin haughtily and glared at the shocked Helene.
“If you’re going to use the position of Duchess, you should be prepared to take responsibility.”
I am so scared for Nasera and Cynthia