136.

“I’m also dealing with a curse for the first time, so I can’t predict what side effects or aftereffects the lord might experience. Therefore, I suggest you rest for a while.”

Jan solemnly advised me to rest in a grave tone as I leaned slantedly against the headboard of the bed. He was one of the few who stayed at the castle with Glen.

“I think I’m fine.”

“Rest is necessary until I say otherwise.”

Those words essentially meant I was confined to bed indefinitely. Cutting me off firmly, Jan scanned me from head to toe with a disapproving look before swiftly leaving the bedroom.

Since I had not woken up for five days, it was natural for him to be anxious as my attending physician. However, contrary to his concerns, I had simply been in a deep sleep due to accumulated fatigue. The way he looked at me, as though I were a problem child, was excessive.

Even Jan’s reaction was different from what I imagined. I thought everyone would be delighted, congratulating me, praising my efforts, and welcoming me back with petals in the air.

“…”

“You must feel uncomfortable lying down for so long. Let me massage you.”

But instead, they were all acting awkwardly.

Norma’s reaction was also completely unexpected. He was strangely subdued, appearing so melancholic that he resembled a lone goose mourning its mate.

I couldn’t quite grasp what he was thinking as I stared at him intently. Although he must have sensed my gaze, he focused solely on relieving my weakened muscles. Then he began to share news in a calm tone.

“Antoinette’s behavior seemed strange and gave me a bad feeling, so I returned urgently.”

As the goddess said, it seemed Antoinette had played a significant role in saving my life.

Norma continued to relay updates: Nyx’s head and the Crown Prince’s body were sent to the capital, most of the people in the fief had returned from the temples and shrines, and McFoy was gradually returning to its routine.

“I sent word immediately, but it will take another month for Archie to return. Please be patient.”

After saying that, he focused entirely on massaging my legs.

“…What about Ophelia?”

Oddly, there was no mention of Ophelia.

Norma finally turned toward me. Our eyes met, and I felt as though his gaze was deepening.

“She left immediately, as there were too many eyes around. I believe she returned to Diazi. Rest assured, any outsiders present have been strictly silenced.”

He seemed unwilling to elaborate further and turned his head away again.

I wanted to ask if Ophelia had left any message for me, but I kept silent. His desolate expression, as if burying a painful truth, left little doubt in my mind.

‘So that moment when Ophelia and I kissed really happened.’

There seemed to have been no alternative method. Though I sighed instinctively, the kiss was merely a medical procedure. The only issue was that the man in front of me, a Diazi, placed immense significance on something as trivial as a brush of lips.

As I observed him subtly checking my mood, his sharp features caught my eye. His face seemed gaunter, making my heart ache as I reached out to his thin cheek without realizing it.

As I timidly touched his cheek, he finally stopped massaging my leg. I had known he wasn’t fully focused despite his serious demeanor.

He rubbed his cheek against my palm, then leaned forward, resting his face lightly on my thigh. He resembled a wounded beast.

Strange. I thought that as soon as we reunited, I would give you a grand confession. And you would whisper joyfully to me, followed by a passionate kiss.

For a while, only the sound of shallow breaths filled the room. Pushing aside my subtle disappointment, I ran my fingers over his long eyelashes.

I moved to smooth his neatly arched eyebrows, but he caught my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. Looking down at him quietly, I asked.

“You.”

“I’ve… been waiting for you. Without leaving your side.”

His words, reminiscent of a marriage vow, pricked my heart. While he had been steadfastly keeping that promise, I felt as though I had failed completely.

“I’m sorry for always making you upset.”

“…I’m glad you came back.”

“…Then why won’t you look me in the eye?”

At that, he slowly lifted his half-lowered eyelids. His golden irises shone brightly as they captured my image.

“I have something to say.”

There was something I had wanted to tell him first upon his return. Now seemed the perfect moment.

“I love you.”

I expected him to smile warmly, like sunlight, upon hearing those words. Yet his reaction was, once again, unexpected.

Norma’s eyes wavered anxiously. That guilty look—I had seen it before.

“Did I… already say that to you?”

“Yes…”

But the shocking realization wasn’t that my confession and proposal had both been a mess.

“…And you still don’t trust my feelings.”

How could that be? Was this how he felt when I dismissed his emotions as a misunderstanding? It was deeply upsetting. As my face crumpled, he abruptly straightened up.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. But you… left me.”

He murmured as though the words were suffocating him, gripping my hand tighter.

I glanced at our clasped hands and asked.

“Is this about how I didn’t hold your hand back then?”

He hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod.

“How can you hold that against me when everything was so chaotic…”

I muttered blankly, as though struck on the head.

“You said you loved me, yet you let go of my hand. It felt as if your feelings were different from mine.”

“They’re not. I didn’t let go of your hand because I intended to leave you. I wasn’t in my right mind at the time, but one thing is certain.”

“…”

“It’s because you are too precious to me.”

Norma’s eyes wavered. He seemed confused.

“I love you, cherish you like my own life. That’s why.”

As I whispered desperately, he blinked slowly, then began to climb onto the bed.

“I mean it. I’ve never lied to you, not once. And now, I’ve said everything.”

…Probably.

Even as he moved closer, his gaze remained fixed on mine, as though searching for proof of a love as intense as his own. I, too, stared at him intently, silently urging him to see my love.

He gently lifted me from the headboard and placed me on his lap. At such a close distance, his golden eyes didn’t smile, which made my heart ache immensely.

He kept staring at me, seemingly oblivious to my feelings, so I asked.

“…What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about what to do with you.”

His answer was unexpected.

“…What to do with me?”

When I asked back, he faintly smiled. It was the first smile I’d seen from him, but it felt chilling. Alarmed, I quickly spoke.

“I did it all for us to live happily ever after. Can’t you let it slide just this once?”

My attempt at catching him off guard seemed to work as he finally laughed out loud.

“Aisa.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve never been so terrified.”

He reached out and tucked my disheveled hair behind my ear, his voice sweet but his words unsettling.

“I don’t care where I am, as long as I’m with you.”

“…”

“Anywhere at all. But you…”

You’re not like that. His low whisper lingered.

“I fear my growing desires might harm you. If you knew what I was thinking, you might even come to hate me. Even now—”

“…What could you possibly be thinking that’s worse than kidnapping?”

He had once confessed a bizarre desire to abduct me.

“…It’s nothing.”

He gave another subtly chilling smile, dodging the question. I had no doubt he was entertaining even wilder imaginings.

However, with my limited imagination, I couldn’t picture what he might mean by his ominous thoughts, so they didn’t pose any real threat to me. The man in front of me was just as endearing and lovely as ever.

Even if you have incomprehensible thoughts now and then, how could I ever grow to resent you?

“…So, do you finally understand that I love you?”

Norma blinked a few times and nodded. Judging by his lukewarm response, it seemed he wasn’t fully convinced yet. Why was he being so doubtful today? It felt like the years I spent dismissing his feelings as a misunderstanding were coming back to haunt me.

But Aisa McFoy, burdened with guilt, was not as patient a person as Norma Diazi.

I was also running out of time. There was no room for hesitation. Norma Diazi had been lacking for far too long. We couldn’t afford to waste a single moment when we should have been expressing our love a hundred, a thousand times over.

“If you still don’t believe me, I’ll keep telling you until you do. After all, we’re going to spend our lives together, and I’ll prove it to you for the rest of my life if necessary.”

Driven by urgency, I declared with a voice full of determination.

“You said you wanted to hide me away somewhere no one would find me? If it’s you, I might let it slide a few times.”

If it was something like that time at the birthday banquet when he kidnapped me to the middle of a lake, I could accept it.

Then, grabbing Norma’s shoulders, I pushed him down onto the sheets. Of course, Norma wasn’t someone who could be easily toppled by my strength, but he willingly let me have my way.

Without hesitation, I climbed on top of him, looking down as if pinning him in place. Thanks to his diligent massage earlier, moving wasn’t as difficult as I had expected.

“Does this give you an idea of how much I love you?”

There was confidence in my voice as I spoke. The head of the McFoy family willingly submitting to being kidnapped—that was no small thing.

Norma’s eyes widened as he looked up at me.

“You said you love me. Just close your eyes and trust me one more time. Even if it seemed unavoidable this time. Everything I did to confront Nyx was so I could spend a long life with you.”

I was utterly shameless and in a hurry because all I wanted was to be close to him.

“I love you.”

The words came as easily as breathing now that the initial hurdle was overcome. It was only natural—Aisa McFoy loved Norma Diazi.

“Aisa…”

Norma was, without a doubt, utterly vulnerable to me. The warnings about how difficult he might be to comfort were proving unnecessary.

His face flushed a deep red, as though it might burst. Seeing him like that, I couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. It seemed he finally understood what I was saying.

“I missed you so much.”

“You’re being unfair.”

He protested in a plaintive voice, overwhelmed by my relentless assault of affection.

“And yet, you seem to have plenty of time to do this.”

Seeing him like that, so endearingly flustered, I deliberately teased him.

“Time… I don’t have any.”

As if he would. He mumbled with a face so red it looked ready to explode. His expression remained forlorn, making me feel slightly guilty for pouring my emotions on him so intensely.

“Then, does that mean you understand my feelings now?”

Despite that, I continued to urge him, asking him to accept my heart.

We didn’t have time to waste like this. Surely there were things a couple reunited after a month of separation should be doing?

“…So, aren’t we going to kiss now…?”

In the next moment, Norma reached out desperately, cradling the back of my head. I willingly leaned into his touch and kissed him.