Chapter 111
Even in the face of Ian’s desperate gaze, Aisha refused to open her mouth. Watching her silence, Ian realized his patience was nearing its limit. Struggling to hold back the urge to demand an answer, he briefly turned his eyes toward the rain-swept window—then, as if he could no longer endure it, he bent down on his still-unbent knee and slowly pressed his face against her lap, burying himself into her thigh.
Through the soft fabric of her dress came a familiar scent and the gentle warmth of her body, easing his restless heart just slightly. Remaining in that position, Ian reached out and clasped Aisha’s cold hands with both of his.
“From the beginning, I wanted revenge—not just on your father, but on you as well. You were the child of my enemy. I thought you lived in luxury while my parents’ blood had barely dried.”
“……”
“Do you know how hard I tried to hate you? How desperately I struggled to look away from you, when my eyes would always drift back? Do you know how I fought—just to keep my feelings for you from growing?”
The thought that Aisha was tired of his gaze had been nothing more than a delusion he created for himself. Looking back, he had never once taken his eyes off her. He only forced himself to believe it, telling himself he had to—because of his parents.
“I admit it. I tormented you a lot. I know how many tears you shed because of me. But Aisha… I couldn’t help it. I had to. Otherwise… if I didn’t convince myself I hated you, if I didn’t hurt you to deny my own feelings, I would’ve drowned in guilt and gone mad.”
“……”
“I was cruel to you. I’m sorry. But only recently have I been able to admit it… that I—care for you. That I could never throw you away, even as the daughter of my enemy.”
His confession spilled out alongside the sound of rain. Aisha stared blankly down at the golden head resting against her lap.
“I love you, Aisha.”
“……”
“If I hadn’t tormented you all this time, you would still love me. No… you still do. You’re just blinded by anger, denying it like I did.”
“……”
“I beg your forgiveness for the pain I caused you. If you wish, I’ll spend my life on my knees, atoning for that alone. But in return…”
She still could not comprehend his words fully. To be precise—she could barely hear them at all. Her mind replayed only the first shocking words he had spoken.
“…Abandon your father. And marry me.”
That was when her numbed mind finally stirred. Aisha parted her long-sealed lips, trying to free her hands from his grasp. At her sudden movement, Ian lifted his head from her lap.
“I thought, maybe, for your sake I could give up on revenge. But no—I can’t. I’ll spare your other family for your sake. But your father? No. The Count must pay for his crimes.”
“……”
“Aisha. Just say one word—‘yes.’ No, even just nod once, and we can go back to the way things were. You know how much we cherished each other… don’t you?”
Ian pleaded, pressing her to abandon her father and choose him. But behind his tender mask, Aisha caught a glimpse of cruelty.
No. Ian truly means to harm Father.
He intended to kill her father. The moment she realized this, her dazed mind cleared entirely. Aisha clenched her trembling hand with all her strength.
“…No.”
“……”
“My father is not that kind of man.”
“……”
“You’re mistaken, Ian. My father cared for you. He mourned your late parents deeply. I know it—I saw it. You’re wrong. You’ve misunderstood everything.”
Shaking her head frantically, Aisha denied him. She refused to believe his words. No—she couldn’t. If she acknowledged them, if they were true, then Ian’s revenge would be justified. And if that were the case, her father would surely be struck down by his hand.
That was why she had to deny it, desperately. The more frantically she insisted, the more Ian’s expression crumbled. The faith once shining in his eyes darkened in an instant. As Aisha, in tears, shook her head and refused, Ian bit his lip so hard it bled.
“…So your choice… is your father, not me?”
“Ian, calm down—!”
Suddenly, Ian rose to his feet. His face twisted in anguish, he seized Aisha’s shoulders and threw his weight forward. Her vision reeled, and her back slammed not against the couch’s backrest but its seat.
“Fine. Say I’m mistaken. But what if I’m not? What if your father truly killed my parents? If that’s the truth, then what will you do? Will you still choose him—or me?”
The answer he expected was clear. But Aisha could not say she would choose him. Even if it were true, how could she abandon her father? He had always been warm to her—lavishing her with affection in an empire where daughters were often neglected. How could she forsake such a father for a man who swore to kill him? It was impossible.
“…Even if it were true, I could never abandon Father. You would have me watch you kill him? I can’t. And I keep telling you—it’s a misunderstanding. I know Father well. Ian, you must be wrong. Please, just listen…”
“Hah!”
Ian gave a hollow laugh, trembling with betrayal, and covered his eyes with his hand. Beneath him, Aisha shrank in fear, unable to see his face.
Lightning flashed, blinding them for a moment. When his hand finally lowered, his face was filled with fury, resentment, hatred—every vile emotion imaginable.
Grinding his teeth, he braced one hand on the couch and seized Aisha’s chin with the other.
“Do you hate me that much? Just because I treated you badly these past few years, you—couldn’t trust me at all? Without a moment’s hesitation, you chose your father?”
“That’s your fault, Ian!”
Unable to hold back, Aisha shouted. Yes—she could not trust him. Unlike her father, who had always given her unwavering trust, Ian had only eroded it over the years. That was why she chose her father without hesitation.
“For three years, I endured without even knowing why you hated me! If you despised me for being the enemy’s daughter, you could have ignored me, looked away! But you didn’t. You never even treated me as an equal, Ian.”
“……”
“All you ever said was that I was tiresome, bothersome. Then why look at me at all? Instead, you toyed with me—changed your words and actions over and over, trapping me so I couldn’t move either way!”
“And I told you why! Because of your father! And even after hearing everything, you still—”
Ian’s insides boiled. He could not accept that Aisha had chosen her father over him—no, that she had cast him aside so easily.
Even a moment of hesitation, even a token promise to look at his proof would have appeased him. But she hadn’t. Without the slightest doubt, she chose her father. That fact snapped what little reason he had left.
“…No. The real mistake was expecting anything else.”
As he tightened his grip on her chin, Aisha struggled against him, but that only worsened his mood. He pushed his weight down, pinning her beneath him.
“Like father, like daughter. Sharing half his blood—you were bound to be the same. I was a fool to hope otherwise.”
“…It hurts.”
“Thinking about it… everything dragged on because of you. If I’d cast you aside sooner, if you hadn’t clouded my eyes, I’d have finished my revenge long ago.”
“My stomach… ngh…”
“All that wasted time, because of you. And to think I even proposed to someone like you—I must have been insane.”
Her lower abdomen, already sensitive since the banquet, now ached sharply under the weight pressing down on her. She couldn’t even scream, only grimaced and tried to push him away. But her faint cries were drowned out by thunder, and Ian, hearing nothing, pressed on with his rage.
“Still… thank you—for finally snapping me out of it.”
“L-let me go. Ian, please…”
The Ian she once knew might have noticed the pallor washing over her face. But this Ian, consumed by fury, found twisted comfort in her pained expression. Because he suffered, he wanted her to suffer as well.
At last, exhausted, Aisha stopped resisting. Sweat and tears streamed from her face as she lay limp in agony. Ian gazed at her pale, fragile features, then bit down on her lips in a violent kiss. Pulling back with a cruel smile, he muttered coldly:
“Aren’t you curious… what I’ll do to you?”
“……”
“First, I’ll destroy your father. Ruin your family. Then I’ll keep you as my slave. You know nobles keep slaves in secret, don’t you? Having one myself… should be fine.”
In the Caesar Empire, slavery was illegal. Yet unlike the strictly forbidden mind-corrupting drugs, the laws against slavery were relatively new, and punishments lenient if only a few were kept. So many nobles and the wealthy still harbored them in secret.
Even so, it was still a crime. Aisha’s eyes widened in shock. The very word slave was rarely uttered in her world. To hear Ian say that—after killing her father and destroying her house, he would enslave her—left her staring at him in horrified disbelief.
