101

“Liar.”

I hesitated, stepping back.

“You were like this before, and you’re still like this now.”

Step.

The more I retreated, the closer Dante approached, closing the distance between us.

“You really are quite a handful, aren’t you? I was so happy, thinking you had finally matured, but to think…”

Dante’s smile deepened.

“…that you’d hit me in the back and run away.”

I bit down on my molars.

Dante shrugged his shoulders as if to show off.

“It’s okay. They say the one who loves more is the one who loses.”

“…”

“Isn’t that right, darling?”

As he asked, Dante stuffed his hands into his pockets, glancing around at the surroundings.

The spotless tables and chairs, the vase with the flowers Jerome had brought earlier, and even the small framed pictures hanging on the wall.

He inspected each one meticulously, as if committing everything to memory.

“Ha.”

Dante let out a laugh, full of disbelief.

“You must have had such a fun life, huh?”

“…”

“Did you really like this tiny shop so much? Enough to clean it up and care for it yourself?”

I continued to remain silent.

Dante looked at me with an unreadable expression.

Then.

“…You should’ve just told me.”

Dante opened his mouth again, this time with a voice strained with suppressed emotion.

“If this is what you needed, I could have—”

“No.”

I firmly shook my head.

“The Marquis cannot give me the space I need.”

Dante froze in place.

In front of him, looking as wounded as a child betrayed by his own mother, I spoke clearly with an expressionless face.

“What I needed was…”

I stared directly at his increasingly twisted face.

“…a place you could never find.”

“…”

Dante clenched his fists tightly.

“So, did you enjoy leaving me behind?”

“Yes, I enjoyed it.”

I twisted the corners of my lips upwards.

“I wish you had stayed abandoned by me until the very end.”

“…”

Dante fell silent.

Clenching my molars tightly, I tried hard to compose my expression.

But for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why you were making that face.

Why do you look so hurt?

You were the one who treated me like a toy from the start.

…You only wanted to play love games with me, never intending to share even a fragment of sincerity.

“Not once…”

After a moment, Dante asked me in a strained voice.

“Have you never loved me?”

Love.

Love, huh?

I let out a bitter laugh.

‘You really… know nothing.’

That night, when you clung to me, tormented by nightmares, and I comforted you.

When we sank together into the deepest depths of ecstasy, wrapped in each other’s heated embrace.

Your voice softly tickling the edge of my ear.

And the night of the fireworks, when you carried me on your back through the festival streets…

“…”

My love for you felt overwhelming.

I was afraid that love would consume me.

Like a moth throwing itself into the flames, I felt like I could let myself be burned up by that love and not even care.

If I stayed by your side.

I feared I would come to treasure you more than myself…

“…”

“…”

A sticky silence settled between us like a swamp.

I stared into your oddly desperate blood-red eyes.

Hoping my answer would wound you in some way.

I opened my lips.

“No, I never loved you.”

“…”

Dante silently stared at me for a long moment.

Then.

“…Is that so?”

His voice, asking again, was frighteningly calm.

“It’s fine. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

…What?

I looked at Dante warily.

He laughed coldly.

“Love… love. How ridiculous. Clinging to such a worthless emotion.”

“Marquis.”

“All I need is for you to stay by my side. Yes, that’s enough.”

Dante murmured to himself as if trying to brainwash himself.

Watching him, I gripped the hem of my dress tightly and retorted sharply.

“I won’t stay.”

“You won’t?”

Dante raised his eyebrows mockingly, as if daring me.

Then he let out a small laugh.

“You know, darling, if you don’t quietly follow me, even I’m not sure what I might do.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“You know. You know how much of a garbage person I am.”

Dante shrugged, teasing me as he drove the nail in.

“Make your choice. Will you follow me willingly, or…”

His blood-red eyes gleamed with madness.

“…will you watch as this town is completely wiped off the map?”

“…What did you just say?”

I glared at him with wide eyes.

“No matter how powerful you are, you can’t wipe out an entire town!”

“You’re right. If I harmed or killed the good citizens of the empire… the imperial family and those damn nobles would surely cause trouble.”

Dante seemed to agree with me, but then suddenly smirked.

“But it’s not like I have to send my men to destroy this town, is it?”

My shoulders stiffened.

He was right.

There were countless ways to wipe out a town without laying a finger on anyone.

Interfere with the town’s resources, cut off the sales of agricultural goods…

And that was just what came to mind immediately.

…In the process, the townspeople would suffer immeasurable losses.

‘Because of me.’

The thought that the people of the town might be better off dead than living through that made cold sweat soak into my palms.

“Why don’t you find out? Just how far my influence can reach.”

Dante said it in the same casual tone one might use to announce dinner plans.

“And right now, I’m in a terrible mood.”

“…Marquis.”

“I usually hate dealing with bothersome things…”

A terrible premonition crept over me.

I gritted my teeth and glared at Dante.

He met my gaze head-on and spoke clearly.

“In my current mood, I could easily cover up two or three missing good citizens.”

What?

In that moment, my eyes shot wide open.

“You’ve been spending time with a woman named Madam Anna recently, haven’t you?”

…No way.

It felt like someone had tied a noose around my neck, and I could barely breathe.

“And that delivery boy… Jerome, was it? He’s been getting on my nerves.”

“Stop it.”

“And that shop you frequent, the one run by a man named Tom, right?”

“Stop it!”

Tom, the man who picked out the freshest vegetables and fruits for me.

Madam Anna, who was always so kind.

Jerome, who delivered things faithfully.

…And all my kind neighbors.

My fingertips started trembling.

To hide it, I gripped my dress tightly.

“I’ll go…”

I felt dizzy, my vision blurring before me.

I shut my eyes tightly, then opened them again.

And as if spitting out poison, I muttered.

“You’re really… the worst kind of person.”

“….”

For a moment, his red eyes flickered briefly.

Like a stone skipping across a lake, a faint ripple spread.

I was dumbfounded.

You’re the one who sought me out, dragging me from my peaceful life.

So why are you acting like you’re the one who’s hurt?

But that flicker vanished in an instant.

“Shall we go, darling?”

Dante extended his hand to me with his usual calm expression.

It was a gesture like a gentleman escorting a lady.

“….”

I looked down at his hand for a moment, then bit my lip and brushed past him.

As he withdrew his hand, Dante murmured softly.

“How cold.”

Even his voice sounded strangely wounded.

So, I deliberately refused to look back.

* * *

After several days of traveling in a carriage with the windows perfectly covered by curtains, we finally arrived.

I reached a secluded countryside mansion.

“Let’s get out, darling.”

Dante, who had already stepped out of the carriage, extended his hand to me.

I ignored his hand and stepped out on my own.

And then.

‘Ah.’

For a moment, I felt utterly deflated.

I guess I still hadn’t completely given up hope.

I had secretly thought that maybe you wouldn’t imprison me entirely.

That at the very least, you’d treat me like a human being…

Deep down, I must have been thinking that way.

But.

“The Rose Cross Mansion…”

It was an extravagant mansion, reminiscent of the old Rose Cross boarding school.

An iron gate intricately crafted with rose vines.

A beautiful garden surrounding the mansion.

A vast lake stretched out behind the property.

And…

“…There’s no need to have this many guards.”

The place was swarming with guards, leaving no room for escape.

The security was so tight, it made the old boarding school seem lax in comparison.

Dante let out a small laugh and asked me.

“Really? Do you think so?”