Episode 5
“They said since it was just developed, little fragments might fall off, so we should go inside the greenhouse.”
The duke brewed a warm tea and offered it to me as he spoke something out of the blue.
“I don’t mind, but I was worried some residue might land on you, so I guided you inside.”
Had he developed something? But then, why bring me here?
I took a sip of tea first. It was warm and sweet.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“You’ll know as soon as you see it.”
With a brisk motion, Duke fiar rubbed two fingers together, making a sharp sound. At his signal, the sky suddenly became tinged with iridescent colors.
“My goodness.”
With a thunderous boom, fireworks soared into the night sky and burst beautifully. The lights, painting the dark heavens in countless hues, were indescribably splendid and dazzling.
I shot up from my seat, wanting to see them even closer. I wanted to touch that black canvas where the festival bloomed.
“They’re so beautiful. I never thought I’d see something like this.”
“The magicians under my ducal house had quite the hard time.”
“…?”
“I kept pressing them to create a wedding gift.”
Seeing his cheerful smile, I suddenly pitied the poor magicians. To be unlucky enough to fall into the hands of this man—surely they had been wrung dry, unable to eat or sleep. I could vividly picture it.
‘It’s like magic itself.’
But the sight before me, and the emotions rippling in my chest, were real.
“My dearest wife, Luen.”
“Yes, my lord duke.”
I answered joyfully, touched at heart, and he smiled brightly. Without changing his posture, he wrapped me from behind and clasped my hands. His chin rested atop my head.
“I’ve been wanting to be alone with you like this all evening.”
When he held my hand, his palm was so large it felt like mine was swallowed whole. As if I were a hidden treasure he wanted to protect, warmth flowed into me. It was the safest, coziest place in the world.
“Ah.”
He lightly traced the inside of my palm with his finger. The languid, strange touch drew all my nerves to my hand. Though the fireworks were still exploding—pop, boom—I couldn’t look at them anymore.
Sensing my wavering focus, his laughter rumbled against the crown of my head. In a relaxed, slightly teasing tone, he said,
“My wife, your eyes should be on the sky. It is, after all, the gift I prepared.”
And then he landed the final blow.
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? Our wedding night has yet to begin.”
Boom—
A firework burst again in the sky.
The door slammed shut. I hadn’t even noticed when we’d returned to the mansion and entered the duke’s chambers.
He dismissed the servants almost with a growl, and then pulled me tightly into his arms. Now it was just him and me.
I might be devoured. A primal fear welled up inside me. Perhaps reading the terror in my eyes, he spoke in a broken, hoarse voice.
“No… you cannot run away.”
Because I will hold you here.
So you can’t go anywhere. No one can take you away from me.
As if clinging desperately, the duke held me close. His whisper sent a chilling shiver through me. The voice was so strangely desperate it stirred doubt inside me.
‘But… no one is trying to take me away…’
He gently lifted my chin, and despite his earlier declaration, his kiss was tender.
Perhaps there had been a spell hidden within those fireworks. Like someone bewitched, I forgot everything and clung to him. He welcomed me wholeheartedly.
As he embraced me, my legs weakened. But he, anticipating even that, held me firm and unwavering.
“Ah.”
A small sound escaped my lips only to be swallowed by him. As if unable to endure any longer, he swept me into his arms, still kissing me, and strode forward. With nothing else to hold onto, I clutched him tightly. He whispered, low and secretive.
“My Luen, do you know?”
Tonight will be a very long night. You must pay for standing up the bridegroom.
Before I realized it, I was already lying on the bed. In the blink of an eye, he had shed his shirt and loomed over me.
So this is what his famed body looked like up close—solid muscle packed across his chest and shoulders, filling my vision completely.
Indeed, Duke fiar was said to possess a physique even finer than the emperor’s. Since childhood, the two had grown as closest friends and rivals, nearly equal in all things, though often the duke held a slight edge.
‘And yet he once prayed, asking the heavens for nothing but Sophia alone.’
The memory sobered me. Gazing at his body in admiration, I suddenly felt my blood run cold. Getting swept up by impulse and passion—it felt wrong.
I mustn’t.
He belongs to someone else. To Sophia.
“Wait.”
I reached out and pushed against him. He stopped without resistance, staring at me with burning eyes full of yearning. I reminded myself—this man was Sophia’s.
The scales inside me tipped. I clenched my teeth and pulled back. No matter how intoxicatingly alluring he was, I had to endure. Of all people, I, who knew everything, must resist.
‘Don’t do this to me. Soon you’ll love Sophia. This is nothing more than a fleeting wavering.’
That brief hesitation poured cold water over me, bringing me quickly back to my senses. No matter how tender he was with me now, in the end he would end up with the heroine. The story demanded it.
So until the storm of plot arrived, I had to keep my heart sealed tight. So that I could live on.
“I’m very tired today. I’d like to rest.”
He regarded me with an unreadable expression. Slowly, he blinked once. I tensed, worried he might ignore my words and force himself on me. Perhaps it was only a sigh I heard, the faint exhalation from above.
“You’re right. I was too hasty.”
He apologized and pressed a feather-light kiss to my forehead. His lips still burned with heat, but he went no further. Only the gentle kisses continued.
Down my forehead, along my nose, to my cheek—his lips finally hovered at mine, hesitating for a few long seconds. So much passed in that silence, but I feigned ignorance. He gave me a brief kiss and then pulled away.
“At least allow me to hold you as we sleep.”
Faced with that fervent gaze, I nodded.
His embrace was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. It was as though he was declaring that this, at least, he could not surrender.
And indeed, the night was long.
Even after counting hundreds of sheep, sleep wouldn’t come. His heartbeat thudded steadily against me, his calm breathing stirring up my restless mind.
To distract myself, I recalled my meeting with Sophia earlier that day. Though brief, it had left a strong impression.
So that was why she kept calling him “that man.”
Duke fiar had led the war against the Nation of Najen. I couldn’t remember the details clearly, only the broad strokes of the original story. If so, then Sophia’s resentment was understandable.
The one who destroyed everything she cherished had been Duke fiar.
And worse, in her recurring dreams, he abandoned her coldly despite carrying his child. Of course she would see him as a scoundrel.
Still…
It made sense for her and the duke to be entangled. But why had I appeared in her dreams, in the opposite role no less?
In the original story, Sophia and I never crossed paths. I was nothing more than one of the duke’s countless nameless mistresses.
So honestly, I thought her dream was nonsense. A meaningless fantasy. Though, admittedly, a small part of me was envious.
Because being expelled from House Piarr was the only way I could avoid my death flag.
Perhaps dreams really do come in reverse.
No, stop. Don’t jinx it.
Instead, I recalled our conversation.
‘…I see. Thank you for your concern.’
‘No, I only acted on my own worry. Still, I apologize for disrupting your wedding ceremony.’
The way Sophia had bowed to me had been upright and proper. Her respectful sincerity had left me embarrassed instead.
That kind of conviction—acting boldly based only on a dream—was something only a protagonist could do.
I couldn’t help but admire her, this princess.
Lost in thought, exhaustion finally overtook me. The last thing I remembered was the gentle feeling of a hand patting me.
“Sleep well, my Luen.”
His tender whisper was the final thing I heard as I drifted off.
In a dim, hazy space, a man and woman faced each other. The woman’s cheeks were streaked with tears. She fell to her knees, clinging to him.
“Duke fiar, please, just once…”
Thud.
The man roughly shoved her away. Too frail to withstand his strength, she collapsed to the ground.
“Ah.”
The sting in her body was nothing compared to the deeper agony of being cast aside by the man she loved.
“My lord duke…”
“A lowborn thing, and you dare presume to touch me?”
His icy rebuke drained the color from her face. Shaking her head in disbelief, she only drew more scorn from his sneer.
“Viha—”
“Do not soil that name with your lips. A forgotten tryst is all it was. You came here thinking it meant anything to me?”
A lowborn. To him, I am nothing more than that?
Repeating his words under her breath, her lips trembled with sorrow.
“Still, it was bold of you to come here.”
Her heart already shredded with wounds, yet the man pressed on, as if determined to rid himself of all displeasure.
“Ha. Pregnant, you say. And I’m supposed to believe that? You’re hardly the first to come here spouting such things.”
“…”
“Was that your aim from the beginning? To ensnare me? You’ve come to the wrong man.”
His habitual mockery only pushed her further into a pit of despair and humiliation.
‘That’s not it. I love you.’
But fearing her feelings would be further sullied, she couldn’t even voice them. The pit only deepened, making escape impossible.
She had never expected a welcome. Nor dared dream of his joy. Not even hoped he cherished their memories as she did. Those were luxuries far beyond her reach.
“I only wanted…”
To tell him she existed here. That she loved him. That she carried his child. That she would always cheer him on, even from afar.
That was all.
She hadn’t thought even that small wish would be too much.
“Power, then? Or prestige?”
Please, not that. Don’t wound me further. Don’t insult my heart, our child, or me.
“Or money, perhaps. Judging from your family’s current state, I’d wager that’s most likely.”
But blind to her despair, the man kept driving the knife deeper.
I feel so disconnected.