CHAPTER 189……………………………………………….
I woke up and ran around everywhere searching for Yuliter. But no matter how loudly I called, it was useless.
“Does that mean he’s deliberately avoiding me?”
He had clearly said he was a being who protected the forest, but could he really be invisible like this?
Just as doubt crept in, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.
Naturally, I was sure it was Yuliter behind me, so I turned my head—but standing before me was Kyle.
“Why are you here…?”
Seeing him, my heart plummeted to the ground.
“Why are you making that face?”
Kyle’s thick eyebrows furrowed slightly.
His exhausted gaze, unable to take his eyes off me, made him look weary.
I tucked my trembling hand behind my skirt and forced a smile.
“Is there something wrong with my expression?”
My eyes burned as if tears could fall any moment, but I opened them wide, tilted my head slightly to the right shoulder, and tried to reassure him as if nothing were wrong.
“The look you had while looking at me… wasn’t good.”
“That’s because… you appeared all of a sudden, Kyle. I was startled. I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, Kyle nodded as if accepting my explanation.
“But…”
Lowering his tall frame to look at my face more closely, Kyle muttered in a voice that had instantly grown cold:
“Has your surprised expression always been like this?”
“…I just had a nightmare, so my face must look a bit off.”
I tried to avert my gaze, but he smiled casually as if he had known my intentions from the start.
“I see.”
Unlike me, who thought the conversation had ended, Kyle didn’t move even a single eyelash—he just kept looking at me.
We were so close that even breathing felt burdensome. The stillness of the air made me uneasy, and I finally brushed my hair back with a trembling hand.
“I’m sorry, Kyle. Honestly, everything happened so suddenly… I don’t think I considered your position—leaving the empire to bring me here.”
Kyle, listening to my words, looked at me with a baffled expression before quietly bursting into laughter.
“Could it be… you actually thought I wanted to remain bound to that empire?”
“……”
I had never thought from Kyle’s perspective.
I had only believed that he was the empire’s guardian and that he would help Roelin become the emperor in the original story.
“I was too selfish.”
I had assumed he became a guardian because he wanted to. So, in my current state, the whole situation felt overwhelming.
If what Kyle truly wanted was freedom, and that was why he had looked at me with such an expression all this time, hoping I wouldn’t stay in the palace, everything made sense.
“If the Kyle I love desires freedom, then I can no longer tell him to return to the empire for Roelin’s sake.”
“You’re finally smiling.”
Startled by his voice, I touched my lips, realizing I had unconsciously smiled.
Kyle, watching me, genuinely looked happy.
“Ah… what I want is only one thing. That you become my bride and stay by my side.”
Even knowing that I was the target of his revenge, could he really say the same words now?
I stared at Kyle, trying to calm my aching heart.
“From your perspective, haven’t you just now escaped being human? If you form a bond with me, a human, again…”
Even I knew it was a meaningless excuse. Just thinking about Kyle disappearing because he couldn’t fulfill the dragon’s revenge was painful.
“It’s only natural. I can’t bear to watch him vanish from this world because of me.”
Compared to a dragon, life would be brief, but even so, I couldn’t imagine living those years without Kyle.
Even if I wasn’t the real Elupe’s soul from the original story… I had already died once. Dying again wouldn’t feel unfair.
“After all, it wasn’t even my real life. If there’s something I can do for Kyle, even if it’s small, that’s enough value.”
Selfishly, I wished Kyle didn’t love me. So he would remain here instead, feeling just a little sadness.
If Kyle, after a long time, naturally forgot me and lived freely, that would be enough.
“I don’t want to hear it if you intend to refuse.”
I didn’t want to see Kyle’s angry expression before I died, so perhaps it was better to give him everything he wanted.
With that thought, I didn’t avoid his gaze.
Although I couldn’t tell him my worries now, I hoped that in the near future, he might feel some pity for me once he knew.
“I’ll do that.”
“…El.”
Just permitting our marriage made Kyle so happy that he didn’t know what to do.
Seeing him so transparent, I felt helpless.
Even though I knew marrying me wasn’t the best choice, why…
“But promise me, just once, that if I truly desire something, you’ll fulfill it.”
“…I promise. If there’s anything you want, I’ll grant it. I swear to make you happy until the moment I die.”
His gaze shone beautifully, like stars in the night sky.
Especially his sun-like, burning red eyes sparkled intensely.
“Is it really that good?”
He reached out and gently touched my cheek.
His tender expression filled me with both overwhelming joy and helplessness.
After that, Kyle scooped me up and returned to the bedroom.
I didn’t know why he seemed so happy—his eyes seemed to shout his love for me, making me blush.
“If you need anything, anything at all, just say the word and I’ll—”
“Can you summon Rublion?”
“Why does that name come up?”
Kyle looked at me with a twisted expression.
Outside the window, the cheerful chirping of mountain birds still reached us, and the space between us was even closer than before.
Yet Kyle’s inscrutable gaze made me feel like stone.
“…I wanted Marquis Eastern to be the witness of our vow. I also asked him to arrange the engagement.”
“Like at the engagement ceremony…”
Kyle’s displeased tone pressed on my heart like a weight.
But there was no other way—this was the only way to contact Rublion.
“I know the Inferna family is no longer considered nobility in the empire. But I believe Marquis Eastern Rublion will attend our wedding.”
“Attend?”
He asked curiously, looking at me.
“I thought the ceremony would be here. Isn’t that right?”
“Ha… saying it like this leaves me no choice.”
Finally, Kyle raised his finger with a “click” sound as if giving in.
Outside the door, the bustling sound of people reached us.
The smell of freshly baked bread, clattering footsteps, and the fragrance of garden flowers in the wind.
“This is…”
“The duke’s estate. It’s the territory of the empire’s guardian, passed down since the beginning, regardless of royal contracts. Uncomfortable?”
“Oh, no. I was just surprised that we had to move here from the forest so suddenly.”
“Until now, the palace chefs took care of your meals. If you need anything, you can use this bell from now on.”
Kyle handed me a cute bell with a ribbon, smiling.
Only then did I accept that this was indeed his estate.
I had visited the empire briefly to see Roelin, but it wasn’t a situation where anyone could have heard rumors about me.
Apparently, I had become much more famous among people than before.
“They say the guardian, enraged, devoured the daughter of the fallen Inferna family.”
“Eh… that’s not true. My distant relative who went there that day said the guardian tore her apart personally.”
The people in the market spoke as if my disappearance that day by the dragon meant I was dead.
Unaware that Kyle, the legendary dragon, stood by my side, they continued speaking loudly as if their version of events was true.
“She might not be dead. Marquis Eastern, the paladin, reportedly went there multiple times.”
Officially, I was a noblewoman from a ruined family who had died under the guardian’s judgment.
But Rublion, unconcerned about his reputation, went about freely.
It was heartening that someone cared about me, but at this moment, I felt uneasy and frustrated.
“Rublion is trying to help me because I disappeared. But suddenly asking him to aid in my death seems selfish…”
Yet there was no other way.
The only person I could ask for help right now was Rublion, so I had to meet him.
