Chapter 24
“Can We Sleep Together?”
“Re…Re…?”
I called out to Renard cautiously.
Sensing that I wanted to pull away, he didn’t answer but held me even tighter.
He whispered to me,
“Just a moment. Please, just stay like this for a while… it helps me breathe…”
His voice was delicate, like fresh spring shoots. The rough, metallic tone from earlier had disappeared, and it seemed it wasn’t an exaggeration—he really could breathe easier when holding me.
“Does that mean it hurts less now?” I asked.
He buried his head into my shoulder and nodded in response.
I knew why Renard was in pain. It was because of the planet Irianek.
The planet resonated with the magic of witches and sorcerers. When it came close to Earth, it amplified or weakened their magic. Magic that was in phase with Irianek’s waves—strong magic—would intensify due to constructive interference. Magic that was out of phase—weak magic—would weaken due to destructive interference.
But if magic became too strong, it would torment the body that contained it, as the magic tried to escape.
This was exactly what was happening to Renard.
He already had naturally strong magic. His constant nightmares at night were because his magic overflowed beyond what his body could contain.
“Ha… huff…”
Renard pressed his lips to my neck, breathing heavily.
“Are you… alright?” I asked carefully.
He nodded again. The strands of his hair brushing against my cheek tickled me, and I bit my lower lip to keep from pulling away. I couldn’t push him away while he was in pain.
“It’s definitely… better… so please, just stay a little longer…”
Renard whispered to me like the delicate melody of a song.
I nodded.
From then on, he inhaled sharply and hugged me as if to crush me, then relaxed, then hugged me tightly again. His breathing gradually steadied during this.
How long had we stayed like that, bodies pressed together? I could feel his heat slowly dissipating.
Finally, Renard lifted his sweat-soaked, exhausted face to meet mine.
He still held me in his arms, so we were very close.
Up close, Renard’s face had a strangely decadent quality.
‘It’s funny… seeing someone in pain makes you think all sorts of things,’ I thought.
“Are you alright now? Can you let me go?” I asked him.
But Renard just stared at me without answering.
“Renard… please, I…”
“I still feel a little pain.”
“I think your fever’s gone… I’d like it if you’d let me go…”
“…”
Renard slowly moved away from me.
He was so slow that I nearly scolded him for teasing a sick person.
He finally leaned against the headboard.
An awkward silence filled the room. Feeling uncomfortable, I broke it.
“You are a sorcerer, aren’t you?”
“…”
It seemed the time had come to let him know that I knew. And indeed, among the high nobles of the Graciana Empire, there was no one who hadn’t studied the relationship between the planet Irianek and magic, so it wouldn’t be strange for him to realize that I knew.
“…Yes,” he finally admitted after a long pause.
Renard fell silent again for a moment, then spoke once more.
“It was a situation that might have been obvious, but still… it’s impressive that you figured it out immediately.”
“Just a guess…” I said.
“You’ve known quite a lot about me, Princess. It’s not something you could just guess.”
“….”
I was at a loss for words. I hadn’t realized that Renard had noticed how much I knew about him.
“Whenever I tried to deceive you, I often felt like you were one step ahead. But Princess… how is that even possible? Did you investigate me?”
Renard’s expression was serious.
He had probably thought a lot about why I hadn’t fallen for his temptations or his assassin schemes.
But I could not give him the real answer.
The reason I could predict so much about Renard was all because of the original story.
But that was something I could never tell him. It would sound more unbelievable than witches or sorcerers.
While I rolled my eyes, searching for words, Renard kept staring at me.
Then he lowered his head and smiled faintly—a laugh full of resignation.
“You know what’s funny? I don’t really care. Right now, it feels like I’m in the palm of your hand… and I don’t mind at all.”
Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me back into his arms.
“As long as you are by my side, it doesn’t really matter… that’s my conclusion.”
I lost count of how many times I had been held by him tonight. Second? Third?
While counting silently, Renard slid his hand around the back of my head and began stroking it gently, as if handling something precious.
Feeling strange, I pushed him away and quickly moved out of the bed, babbling,
“I think you’re really okay now, Renard. Your fever has gone down…”
But I couldn’t finish my sentence because he suddenly held me from behind.
His arm wrapped under my chest as we sat on the bed, immobilizing me.
It was an uncomfortable position—he was sitting on my thighs.
I dared not move.
Then, in a firm voice, Renard spoke:
“I cannot let you go yet. I’m still in pain.”
And to prove it, his body grew warm again.
I sighed, acknowledging that he was still unwell.
He chuckled softly behind me.
“You seem too kindhearted. You see? Now that I’m in pain, you stay with me again.”
He seemed to be enjoying the situation.
“What do you mean by ‘too kindhearted’? That sounded like an insult just now.”
“It’s not an insult. You look like an ice statue, and that’s not an insult.”
“…That was definitely an insult.”
“I like ice statues.”
I glared at him, and Renard smiled back at me.
His eyes darkened, and his body, still holding me, grew even warmer.
Surprised, I instinctively reached to touch him, trying to ease his heat.
I had unconsciously come to believe that my touch helped him feel less pain.
Renard’s gaze deepened, and his body grew hotter, making me panic further.
‘…Why won’t he listen?’
I could hear the pounding of his heart. His heartbeat.
“I feel… a little pain today… it’s hard to bear…”
Renard exhaled deeply, pressing his lips into my hair.
When he lifted his head, his lips carried strands of my silver hair.
His eyes curved in a smile.
“Even so, breathing feels easiest when I can press my lips against some part of you, Princess. What can I do? I can’t breathe without you now.”
His warm, sweet breath touched me.
A tiny flame seemed to flicker in his eyes.
Then Renard asked me:
“Can we… sleep together tonight?”
“….”
“Just holding you once, Princess… I feel like I could avoid nightmares and fully recover…”
I could sense the sincerity in his words.
‘I’m Castina’s magic potion.’
Renard needed me.
“…But how is this even possible? That I could help with your nightmares and your pain from the planet… I just don’t understand.”
I asked him what had been puzzling me, staring at him intently.
Renard shrugged, as if he didn’t know either.
“I don’t know for sure. But today’s pain is definitely related to magic.”
“….”
“Princess… are you perhaps a witch?”
Renard asked in a calm voice.
But his eyes were full of hope.
Just as he was a sorcerer, he seemed to wish that I were a witch too.
But our positions could not align on that matter.
Seeing my face stiffen, Renard relaxed his arms slightly.
I pushed his arms away and freed myself from his embrace.
The atmosphere around us instantly grew heavy.
“I’m not a witch.”
I said firmly.
My voice trembled slightly despite my certainty.
If I were a witch, my family would be annihilated.
Even without Olendo intervening, the empire’s policy of exterminating witches and sorcerers meant that the people themselves would destroy my family.
In the Graciana Empire, witches and sorcerers were treated as enemies.
Renard, being strong and already a sorcerer, might find it easy to reveal himself, but I could not.
My only goal in this world was to prevent the Cowell family’s annihilation.
‘…And yet, here I am, supposed to be a witch?’
It was a dangerously absurd assumption.
I could not allow such a lie to put my family in jeopardy.
Renard seemed to want to persuade me.
“You can trust me. I’ve already told you that I’m a sorcerer…”
“I’m not.”
“Princess?”
“I’m telling you, I’m not a witch. Absolutely not.”
My voice still trembled slightly.
Renard’s reddish-brown eyes flickered in response.
He let out a self-deprecating sigh.
“You… don’t trust me… you know me too well…”
Watching that, I felt a pang of guilt.
But I could not change my stance.
“I really… I’m not… I really am not…”
I struggled to get the words out, but could not finish my sentence.
Renard seemed to understand and nodded.
Yet his reddish-brown eyes continued to shimmer.
