Chapter 99
Rixion covered his mouth with his hand, afraid that an unpleasant smile might slip out without him noticing.
He knew this was not the time for such thoughts, but memories from last night and even dawn kept coming back and tormenting him.
He remembered holding Elizabeth, who was crying and saying she wanted to rest, and continuing until dawn.
While he thought he should sincerely reflect on it, he also felt that if a situation like last night happened again, he would probably do the same thing.
After all, when someone so charming and lovely tempted him, he had no reason left to resist. Of course, he also had no patience to stop himself halfway.
“I think I missed you too.”
He clearly remembered even now her eyes as she looked at him, and her voice softly brushing against his ear.
That moment must have been the most dreamlike one, when his heart beat wildly and uncontrollably.
Even compared to all the moments of kissing, desiring each other, and falling asleep in the same bed… nothing made him happier than the moment Elizabeth said she missed him. His mind went blank in an instant.
Yet his heart recognized her voice and went completely crazy.
So thrilling, so happy, so joyful that it felt deadly.
“I don’t think I need to hold back…”
When Elizabeth said he did not need to endure it, he felt the last thin string of reason in his head snap.
Of course, he thought that the fact he could even hold her was close to a miracle.
She had always felt so far away, someone he thought he might never be able to hold onto. Yet, even for a short time, she was in his arms. In that moment, it felt like they were looking only at each other, wanting only each other.
The pleasure of feeling that she belonged to him, and that he belonged to her, wrapped around his entire body.
‘Still, this alone won’t be enough.’
Rixion quietly mocked his own heart, which was getting excited over last night’s memories.
From what he knew of Elizabeth, she would never fall completely into his hands over something like this. Rixion knew that well.
He had already expected that this morning she would regret last night and push him away again.
So even when she denied what had happened between them and treated it as if it never existed, he could act calm on the outside.
It was not that he was not hurt at all. But more urgent than showing his wounded feelings was making sure she could not run away from his side.
Rixion had no intention of letting go of this chance that had come like a miracle.
His natural hunter’s instinct, combined with an overwhelming desire to monopolize and possess one person, began to swallow him from the inside.
The thought that, if he could not have her heart, he wanted to keep her body by his side was disgusting even to himself.
But… to be honest, that was truly how he felt.
Like this morning at dawn, he wanted to hold her tightly even as she cried and begged him to stop, and fill all of her with himself.
‘Still, if possible, I want her heart too.’
Rixion cut off his dangerously growing thoughts and tried to calm his wildly beating heart.
Still, did he not gain at least a little hope when she reached out her hand to him last night?
From now on, he planned to keep his true self hidden, show only the sides she would like, and wait patiently for her to slowly open her heart to him.
To love her for his whole life, and to be loved by her—that was his final goal.
And the first step toward that goal was an engagement with her.
As Rixion was planning to take his time preparing a wedding ring but order the engagement ring as soon as possible—
“Is there anything you like?”
A merchant, noticing his interest in the rings, approached and spoke kindly.
Only then did Rixion come back to his senses.
The first thing he did was turn his head toward where Jieunha was. She was surrounded by guards, casually looking over the merchants’ goods.
But unlike what the Emperor had hoped, Jieunha did not look happy as before. With a gloomy face, she only glanced lightly at the items on display.
After buying a single flower from a small, shabby little girl earlier, she did not seem to want to buy anything else.
‘If it’s like this, wouldn’t it be better to just return to the palace already?’
Rixion swallowed a sigh with an irritated expression.
While he was seriously talking with Elizabeth about their future relationship, he had been summoned to the Imperial Palace by Emperor Alexis.
When he was urgently called to the palace, he had a bad feeling—and as expected, it was the same again. He had been called to babysit the Saintess once more.
Lately, the Emperor said the Saintess looked very depressed and was not eating well. Alexis was deeply worried that something might happen to her.
So he allowed her to go outside the palace again, despite the risks. And he attached Rixion to her as her guard dog.
Even though he understood why the Emperor was so obsessed with and overprotective of the Saintess, today his irritation reached its limit.
If it were not for the Emperor’s order, he would have abandoned that woman and returned straight to his own estate where Elizabeth was. Saintess or not, he did not even want to see her face right now.
He hated the way she openly showed that she liked him, and how desperately she tried to get his attention.
And most of all, he was furious that she had met Elizabeth on her own without permission.
The former could be ignored, but the latter was not something that could be solved just by ignoring it.
On top of that, recently Emperor Alexis had also summoned Elizabeth to the palace.
“For some reason, the Saintess seems to like Lady Christener very much. I only asked that they become friendly.”
Rixion had gone directly to the Emperor to question him, but all he received was an answer that sounded suspicious in every way.
In his gut, he was sure the Saintess was involved more deeply, but the sly Emperor was desperately hiding something, leaving Rixion with no way to push further.
‘Liz would rather hide things than tell me honestly anyway…’
Just the fact that there were things about Elizabeth he did not know made Rixion angry.
With an irritated sigh, Rixion checked the area around the Saintess. Since he had come out under the Emperor’s orders, he still had to make sure she was safe.
After confirming there were no problems, he turned his head back to the stall.
Suddenly, he felt someone’s gaze. When he looked, he saw the merchant who had spoken to him earlier still watching him with a polite smile.
Although he had been standing there looking at the stall, he had no intention of buying anything.
Rixion turned away, ignoring the merchant with an annoyed expression.
“Are you perhaps buying a gift for your lover?”
But at those words, Rixion stopped in his tracks.
He turned back to face the merchant.
‘That’s right. We’re lovers now.’
Elizabeth still seemed unwilling to admit it, but at this point, there was no doubt that the two of them were lovers. More precisely, they were closer to fiancés, with marriage in mind.
Hearing it confirmed through someone else’s mouth made him strangely happy.
“If a ring feels like too much since you haven’t been dating long, how about a hair accessory instead? This style is very popular these days.”
Seeing Rixion hesitate, the quick-witted merchant began recommending other accessories.
Normally, Rixion would have ignored such sales talk without a glance. But right now, his heart was more generous and gentle than ever.
And this merchant was the first person to confidently call Elizabeth and him lovers. Buying ten accessories would not even feel like a loss.
Following the merchant’s hand, Rixion looked to one side of the stall. A blue ribbon with a small gem caught his eye.
For a brief moment, he imagined Elizabeth tying her hair with that ribbon, and thought it would suit her very well.
If he gave it to Elizabeth, it would surely look too plain. He might not even be able to take it out in front of her… but still, buying just this ribbon seemed fine.
It would be a small way to commemorate the day they officially became lovers.
“Do you like that one?”
Seeing his interest, the merchant brought the blue ribbon closer and held it out in front of him.
Rixion stared at it for a moment, then replied to the merchant for the first time.
“I want to give a gift, but I’m not sure she’ll like it.”
“Hmm, what color is the lady’s hair?”
At his words, the merchant asked with an expression that showed he was willing to think it over together.
