Chapter 50
Chester handed me a cup of water.
Since I couldn’t spit out the medicine I had already taken, I swallowed it with the water, letting it slide down my throat.
After confirming that I had swallowed it, he took the cup from my hands.
“…Chester.”
When I called his name, Chester came closer to me.
“Come closer.”
He obeyed my request obediently, coming so close that I could almost reach out and touch him.
I suddenly wrapped my arms tightly around his neck.
“Yulia?”
“Are you… disappointed?”
“Do I look that way?”
I regretted saying I would willingly agree to annul the engagement if he changed his mind.
Seeing me like this—mentally unstable—surely made any affection I had for him fade. Even if some love remained, marriage would now feel impossible.
My arms around his neck tightened involuntarily.
“Not at all.”
Chester said something completely different from what I expected.
Then he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me gently, and carefully patted my back.
“Rather… I would like you to rely on me.”
He didn’t push away my unstable self; instead, he held me warmly.
“No matter how you act, what you say, or what you do, I will never be disappointed.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I love all of you.”
The sweet word “love” lingered in my mind.
Chester’s whisper that he loved all of me was so sweet I wanted to melt into it.
“You… won’t annul our engagement?”
“Why would I? Didn’t I tell you my heart will never change?”
“…Chester. Are you really okay with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
I rested my face on his shoulder.
“Yulia. Is it okay if I touch you?”
“Huh?”
“I heard you refused the maids last time.”
“…That was—”
“Does it have to do with today’s events?”
My body began to tremble at his words.
Since my body was touching Chester and he must have noticed me trembling, I couldn’t hide it.
“Yes… but I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s fine. You don’t have to if it’s difficult.”
“I’m… sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Yulia.”
Chester gently lifted me and laid me down properly on the bed. Then he kindly pulled the blanket up to my chin.
As he tried to leave, I hurriedly grabbed him.
“You’re just going to leave?”
“Yes. I… I should go. You… might be uncomfortable with me here…”
“I’m not uncomfortable!”
He wasn’t uncomfortable—he was just afraid that seeing me like this would make me lose affection for him.
Chester, who loved me, had only asked me not to come out of fear I might reject him if I saw him see me like this.
But Chester said he loved me even seeing me like this.
“Stay by my side.”
“….”
“Ah… Chester is such a busy person… I shouldn’t hold you back. You can go.”
I let go of his sleeve and released him.
“Yulia.”
“….”
“Do you want me to stay?”
“Chester, you’re busy.”
“Answer me. Don’t you want me to stay?”
I did want that. I wanted Chester to stay by my side.
But I couldn’t hold back a busy Chester because of my selfishness. He’d been buried in paperwork since morning. How could I stop him?
Yet I couldn’t bring myself to say for him to go.
I turned my back to him. I didn’t want to see him leave.
“Yulia.”
Why did a shadow suddenly fall over me?
Even though I had turned my back, why could I see his hand before my eyes?
I slowly moved, and when our eyes met, I was startled and turned my head away again.
“Look me in the eyes when you speak.”
“….”
“Don’t avoid me.”
I turned back to face him directly.
My heart raced uncontrollably, but this time it wasn’t fear.
It was a thrill called excitement.
“Yulia. Now tell me. Tell me to stay by your side, not to leave.”
“…Can I say that?”
“Yes. If you want, I can stay by your side all day. That’s enough for me.”
“….”
“Just say it. All you have to do is tell me you want me by your side today.”
“…By your side.”
My lips moved but the words wouldn’t come easily.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. He let me.
“Stay… by my side, Chester.”
“Yes. I will stay by your side.”
“Don’t leave me alone. You must stay by my side!”
“Yes. Even if you say you don’t want me to, I will stay.”
My hands, tightly holding his neck, were released by him.
Then he sat up and positioned himself beside me.
“Rest. The medicine has a sedative, so you’ll feel sleepy.”
“You said you’d stay by my side.”
“Yes. Even when you wake up, I won’t leave. I’ll be here, by your side.”
“…Don’t go.”
“Don’t worry. You are my priority, Yulia.”
He covered my eyes with his hand. The warmth of his skin made me realize I was alive.
He reassured me, showing that this love was real.
Chester’s unconditional, reasonless love was incredibly sweet.
If this were a dream, I wouldn’t want to wake up—the sweetness melted me completely. I wanted it to last forever.
“Sweet dreams, Yulia.”
With his lips brushing my forehead, I slowly drifted off.
When he heard Yulia’s steady breathing, Chester covered her with the blanket again and got up.
He went out of the room and sought her maid. The maid tried to greet him.
“Your Grace, Duke Zikbert.”
“No need for greetings.”
“Yes.”
“Now explain… why Her Highness appeared in such a state.”
“…I’m sorry, but I don’t have the authority to disclose that.”
“Then—”
Chester tried to suppress his anger, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
“So… is it related to His Majesty, the Emperor?”
“Yes. There is no way to know the truth except from the princess herself or directly from His Majesty.”
“Does this happen often?”
“No. It’s been years. We were relieved she was well all this time… The medicine was prepared urgently.”
Chester clenched his fists as his anger rose.
“The princess asked me to stay by her side.”
“Yes… If that’s what the princess said, I will prepare a room for her today.”
“But why call me? Isn’t Marchioness Chloe, her close friend, also present?”
“Her current state required… affection, not friendship. So we called Your Grace.”
“But if she wants affection, the Crown Prince is there too, isn’t he? He seems close to her.”
“In her current state… that would be poison. She smiled more comfortably after meeting Your Grace.”
Chester’s pupils slightly trembled at that.
“She hasn’t been able to live comfortably since the Empress passed away. Seeing her genuinely and brightly smile was rare.”
“….”
“Your Grace was needed today. Please forgive the sudden summons.”
“Can I know anything about her past?”
“…No. By royal decree, no one can disclose those events except the princess herself.”
With nothing more to hear, Chester turned from the maid and walked back to Yulia’s room.
He pulled a chair next to the bed and sat, watching her even breathing.
“Yulia. According to the reports, you were the one and only princess, loved dearly, raised as a treasure…”
Chester reached out and touched Yulia’s flawless, clear cheek.
He slowly caressed her cheek, murmuring to himself.
“Now I see… your family trapped you in a cage called the imperial palace.”
He looked at her with eyes full of pity.
He withdrew his hand from her cheek and brought it to his lips, as if to cover them.
His previously pitiful eyes softened into a gentle curve.
His lips, partially hidden, drew a firm line.
“Having grown in that cage, now it’s time to move that cage. Luckily.”
Closing his eyes, he whispered and exhaled a relieved breath.
When he opened them, the pity was gone, replaced by red eyes shining with madness.
No kindness, no gentleness—only clear, unrelenting madness.
“I want to lock you in the cozy cage I’ve made. Even your freedom… I want you to enjoy it under my control.”
He grabbed a handful of her silver hair from the bed.
He brought his lips to the soft strands.
“But soon, I’ll be able to fully possess you… I feel glad and relieved.”
He buried his nose in her hair, savoring her scent.
When he opened his eyes, the madness was suppressed. He released her hair.
Instead, his eyes glowed with possessiveness as he stared at Yulia, sleeping like an angel, and licked his dry lower lip.
“Live seeing only the pure things in the safe and beautiful cage I made, Yulia.”
In his blood-red, desire-filled eyes was the image of his beloved, deeply asleep, unaware of the world.
