Ha, haha. A hollow laugh burst from Ciello’s mouth.
“Really…Everything is easy for you,” Ciello muttered.
‘Did you think he would make you a duchess?’
‘At best, you’ll only be a concubine.’
The criticism that Ciello had received, the gossip mixed with ridicule, dug into her mind.
Her miserably crumpled heart was about to tear apart. Yet, absurdly, that messed-up heart was the sweetest happiness Ciello had ever felt in her life.
That’s why Ciello had endured from the bottom, nursing her heart filled with such pathetic words as ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, and ‘actually’.
But such feelings were nothing to him, they were easy. They were a very ridiculous and light concern that he could get with just a word. That’s why he didn’t feel any remorse even while thinking of confining her entire life.
“Yes, fine. But then you shouldn’t treat me like this.”
Ciello glared at him and put down her fork.
“I don’t want to eat anything right now. I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“Okay. I’ll take you to your room.”
“I don’t want to.”
Ciello snorted.
“Does the duke’s family have a custom of imprisoning their marriage partners in a room? Please change my room first.”
He stared at Ciello intently. Ciello, a little scared, slightly shrank her neck. But he leaned back in his chair leisurely, as if things were going well, and narrowed his eyes.
“Now you understand what I’m saying. Ask for anything. As I said before, there’s nothing you can think of that I can’t handle. So first…”
Estribal paused for a moment, then stood up from his seat.
“Follow me. You don’t seem to want to eat right now.”
Ciello followed Estribal, who was striding out of the dining room. The place where Estribal stopped was a room directly connected to his bedroom.
“You know what it means for you to use this room.”
He quickly opened the door to the room before Ciello could answer, as if there was no room for refusal.
“Ah…”
‘So this is what a noble’s room looks like.’
Ciello looked around the room with curiosity. It had an old feel to it, but that only added to its deep dignity, and it was impeccably clean as if it had been tidied every day.
However, it seemed that no one had lived in the room for a very long time, as the furniture’s design in the room looked like it was hundreds of years ago.
‘Did the previous generation, and the one before that, not have a wife?’
“Your belongings will be moved by the servants. Do you need anything else?”
At Estribal’s question, Ciello shrugged and replied.
“If possible, please don’t install the lock. It’s disgusting to see it every time.”
“I’ll take note.”
****
Several days passed since then. As Ciello didn’t cause any problems, time was just quiet.
A luxurious room, delicious meals. Except for the fact that she couldn’t step out of the mansion, it was exactly the life Ciello had dreamed of.
“At least now I know whether it’s day or night…”
Ciello grumbled, looking out at the dark window. Whether she should be grateful or not, there was really no lock visible on Ciello’s window. Of course, no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t open.
Ciello crawled into the large, soft bed and closed her eyes. Around dawn, when everyone was asleep, the bedroom door quietly opened. Ciello, who was a light sleeper, opened her eyes wide.
‘What?’
A long shadow, reeking of blood, entered the room. Ciello surreptitiously rolled her eyes to check. It was Estribal.
‘Did he come to check if I had run away?’
Ciello closed her eyes tightly again, pretending to sleep, but Estribal did not leave. He carefully sat on the bed where Ciello was lying. Ciello’s head spun.
‘Did he come to…do that?’
Ciello, who was tense, tightened her grip on the pillow she was hugging. Coming to the bedroom in the middle of the night must mean that…right?
‘Can I resist?’
Ciello thought quickly. If they can’t kill each other anyway, she, who can turn back time, might have the advantage. So maybe she should just turn back time and run away…
Just when she thought the sound of her heart beating might give away that she was awake, his hand moved towards Ciello’s chest.
‘…!’
Ciello bit her lip hard to suppress a scream. But what his hand was holding was not Ciello’s flesh, but the blanket.
‘Huh.’
He quietly pulled up the blanket to cover Ciello up to her chin and muttered to himself.
“…I’ll have to change my clothes before I come here in the future. The bloody smell on me is noticeable here.”
He slowly got up and left the bedroom.
‘What was that? Why on earth?’
Ciello couldn’t sleep until dawn thinking about him.
****
Since that day, Estribal has been visiting Ciello’s bedroom almost every night.
Some days he sat without saying a word, and other days he came with a subtle anger and left the room when his anger seemed to fade.
They didn’t say anything, and they didn’t touch each other. Yet, Ciello could clearly feel that he was a little better when he left her bedroom. The same was true for Ciello.
If Estribal gained peace and rest, on the contrary, Ciello could know that she was a comfort for him. That fact softened Cielo’s mood.
Someone might laugh that her heart is weak, but originally the heart was so weak that it could be stronger than anything.
Before long, Ciello began to wait for his visit.
‘Will he come today…’
That night, the bedroom door opened without fail. As always, Ciello held her breath and slightly closed her eyes.
Estribal today was neither angry nor very sad. He just sighed, a long sigh, as if he had resigned himself to everything, and piled it up on Ciello’s blanket. After a while, he opened his mouth.
“It seems okay to live like this.”
Estribal’s voice sounded blurry as if it was coming from a very far place. He muttered as if he was chanting.
“This is the only way you and I can live through an era. So, in this mansion, until the end of the world…”
Before his words ended, Ciello impulsively grabbed his wrist.
“…you, since when…!”
Estribal was startled and tried to shake off Ciello’s hand. But Ciello did not let go.
“Ciello, I…”
The strength drained from Estribal’s hand. He couldn’t bear to shake off Ciello and pursed his lips. Ciello got up.
“I’m not smart, and I honestly don’t know what the Duke wants to do.”
Their faces got closer. His face was flushed enough to be seen even in the dark.
“Stop. Ciello…”
Estribal covered his face as if to hide it with his other hand. But Ciello didn’t care and continued to speak.
“But, I’ve lived on the streets for a long time, right? So I know this.”
Ciello paused for a moment and squeezed his hand tightly.
“…There’s not just one way in any place.”
Really. Ciello added with a slight smile. Estribal’s face twisted painfully.
“I…have no other way. There wasn’t, and there won’t be in the future…”
“No. There must be.”
Ciello cut off his words.
“I thought the only real way to pay off my debt was…”
Ciello rubbed his wrist with her thumb. A hot breath faintly leaked from Estribal’s mouth at the shallow contact, as if it was hard to bear.
“There was another way.”
Estribal stared blankly at Ciello. There was a red light that seemed to be visible even in any darkness in front of his eyes.
“I…am your way.”
Estribal reached out to Ciello.
“Well, sometimes it’s like a dead-end alley.”
Ciello joked and lightly bumped her cheek against his hand. At that moment, Estribal noticeably flinched.
“Duke?”
He opened his mouth intermittently.
“Don’t touch me, I said.”
His voice cracked and trembled uncontrollably. Ciello, who sensed something strange, looked at him and said, “Huh?”.
“Duke, could it be….”
Ciello lowered her gaze. Seeing him hard, the expression on Ciello’s face turned fiery red.
If he could only feel sensations from her, would touch be the same?
Estribal quickly pushed Ciello away with closed eyes.
“I, I clearly warned you…No. It’s my sin.”
“Oh, no, I… it’s not like that.”
Ciello hastily grabbed his hand again. But he shook his head once more.
“…I’m sorry, Ciello.”
Ciello looked at him with a slightly surprised face. It was the first time Estribal had apologized to her.
“I’m sorry. Now…it’s time for me to go my own way.”
The hand that Ciello had held slipped out smoothly. Estribal got up from the bed.
“It’s late at night. You should not wait for me.”
“You’re coming back, right?”
“Regrettably, I plan to. It would be better for you if I didn’t come.”
He turned his body and left the room. Ciello clenched and unclenched the hand that had held him several times, then closed her eyes.
Estribal, who had come out of Ciello’s room, staggered into his bedroom like a drunk person.
“I’m going to go crazy…”
He leaned against the door and rubbed his face several times, but his composure did not easily return. Although he had never experienced it before, it was very clear what his lower body wanted now.
Ciello’s grip on his wrist still stung. It felt like all the sensations in his body were focused there. He was reaching a point of understanding why the term “head over heels” came about, and why some succumb to irrational choices under the seduction of desire.
For a man who had lived for years without feeling any sensation, even being held by the wrist was an overwhelming stimulus. He stared blankly at the hand that had brushed against Ciello’s cheek, then closed his eyes and shook his head.
“How could I have such dirty thoughts…”
He wanted to slap his own cheek, but it would be a meaningless action as he couldn’t even feel the pain himself. He bit the inside of his mouth hard, then quickly took out a glove from his pocket. As he put on the glove with his trembling hand, the discomfort below began to subside.
“Duke, it’s time for you to depart for the palace.”
At the servant’s voice, his heat calmed down enough to move. When he thought of the emperor, he felt a choking sensation inside and outside his throat. He roughly tousled his hair and detached his body from the wall.
“I understand. I’m leaving.”
****
“Why on earth did those vultures lay a hand on your woman?”
The Emperor’s private chamber still gleamed luxuriously, but the Emperor’s demeanor as he sat there appeared somewhat uneasy. His shining hair, like scattered gold dust, lightly swayed. Estribal, kneeling on one knee in front of him, carefully chose his words.
“…It seems they saw that woman as my weakness.”
“Weakness…as a weakness. Your words are correct.”
The Emperor furrowed his brow.
“Do you know why I cherish you? It’s because you have no weaknesses. But if that woman is a weakness for you….”
The Emperor asked, lifting the corner of his mouth.
“Must it be eliminated?”
