The Crazy Prologue Never Ends

38. Please leave me alone.

“…I know. I understand. You don’t have to say it.”

There was no need to reiterate it. I understood it clearly now.

How must I have appeared all this time? Watching me secretly as I packed my belongings.

Perhaps I looked like a squirrel gathering pine cones to prepare for winter.

I wanted to hold my head high and speak confidently, but my frozen body continued to tremble.

Deon wordlessly stoked the fire in the middle of the hut. He endured my silent reproach.

Deon picked up a small teapot boiling in the center of the hut. Inside the teapot, soup was bubbling.

He pushed a plate toward me. Warmth brushed past.

“It will help you warm up.”

A tiny teaspoon was in the pumpkin soup.

I stirred the soup, and finely chopped pumpkin danced in the turbulent waves.

Hunger surged. I scooped up a spoonful and put it in my mouth.

My tongue felt warmth.

It tasted good.

Although all my senses had dulled from the cold, my tongue was finding its senses again.

“It would be a good idea to warm up after finishing the soup.”

Deon, who had finished setting up the makeshift bed, said.

“Before lying down on the bed, it’s better to take off your clothes.”

“Ah.”

I let out a brief sigh.

I removed the fur coat I was wearing. The clothes that had been covered in snow were not coming off easily. The snow that had stuck to it was now melting and making it sticky, but I silently started unbuttoning it.

I took off the fur coat on the outside and then the jacket underneath it. I also removed the scarf that had been around my neck. Before I knew it, I was left with only a thin shirt.

As I undressed, Deon’s expression, who had been watching my actions, gradually hardened.

While he was silent, I unbuttoned all the buttons on my top.

As I was about to lower the fabric around my neck to bare my shoulders, Deon grabbed my wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“Just a moment. I need to finish undressing.”

I lightly brushed aside his hand and pushed my clothing further down my chest.

“So, why?”

“Aren’t you trying to drink my blood?”

“What?”

The air in the hut seemed to freeze, becoming tense. His face, as he looked down at me, showed signs of confusion.

“You… do you see me as someone so thirsty for blood that I would go this far?”

His forehead furrowed. He turned away and sighed heavily.

“If I thought you had any inkling of mercy, you would have put me in that corner and forgotten about me long ago. If you had even the slightest consideration for me, you would have erased the magic tattoo long ago, though it’s not a provocation now. You are more than capable of doing that.”

Contrary to my expectation that he would raise his voice, he took out a cloth and began wiping away the moisture from my body. In no time, the ice was melting, and water was dripping from my hair.

“I’ll take care of it.”

He took the cloth from his hand and began drying my hair.

My hair was long, so it didn’t dry easily. I only removed enough moisture so it wouldn’t soak into my clothes. The dry cloth soon became damp.

Deon, who had been watching this with displeasure, took the cloth from me.

He meticulously combed my hair, straightening the tangled mess and thoroughly drying the remaining moisture.

His touch was rough yet delicate. It was as if he was trying to embrace me, not just my hair. I didn’t resist and accepted his touch obediently. I had no strength left to push him away.

His inexperience became apparent quickly. Every time he touched my hair, cold moisture would splash onto my face.

He wiped the splashed water from my cheek with a towel. Fortunately, the hut’s temperature was high, and his arms around me were warm, so I didn’t feel cold.

He placed his fingers on my still-chilled neck, his last touch after wringing out the damp cloth on the floor. After checking my pulse, which was irregular and slightly warmer, he finally let me go.

“You’re still cold. If you plan to leave, go outside just like yesterday. Even though it might seem like the weather has improved, today is still a cold day.”

I felt his slow, deliberate fingers unbuttoning each button of my shirt. He neatly fixed the disheveled shirt and covered me with a blanket over my shoulders.

“Duke.”

My throat stung. I gathered the strength I had left and spoke.

“Please leave me here.”

“…”

There was no immediate response. He must have heard, but he chose not to acknowledge it.

I cleared my throat once more.

“Please leave me behind.”

“Change your clothes. You’re wet.”

He dismissed my words with a single sentence.

“As long as you’re alive, you’ll keep running. You’ll run away, and if I catch you, you’ll run away again.”

“…Are you not tired of me?”

He locked the buttons of my shirt in silence.

“Leonie, do you think I’m going to abandon you?”

“…You’ve abandoned me until now.”

“That was just a temporary release, not an abandonment. And now, I won’t release you again.”

Please, no more. Please, stop killing me.

I tightly closed my eyes. He was callously rejecting even my final request.

“You’re determined to freeze to death in this cold, huh? You should dress more warmly. And don’t provoke others too much. Even if you have no intention of being considerate, you should have some shame. You can tease others, but don’t do it based on the weather.”

Cold fingers touched my throat. He pulled the strings on the neckband tightly, even tighter than before.

“No need for that.”

He ignored my words and meticulously fastened a couple of loose collar buttons. My neck was tightly constricted, making it hard to breathe.

“Who would wear clothes this snug for a simple walk?”

His hand paused.

“Right. You were just out for a walk.”

He released the last button he had fastened. The previously tightened collar loosened.

In truth, taking off my clothes had been partly a jest. As death loomed so close, I wanted to provoke him somehow. I didn’t expect it to change the course of events by begging for my life.

I wanted to leave a small scar on the villain who was about to kill me out of injustice.

But he was too resolute. He wasn’t just unscathed by my sharp words; he wasn’t even scratched.

If I had to stay by his side, if I couldn’t escape, how should I spend the remaining days of my life?

I looked at Deon. He was still tidying up my clothes.

Yes, if I can’t do anything to him, and if I can’t leave, then I should just continue as I was before.

Since I couldn’t kill him, I would at least make things difficult for him. At least for as long as I was alive.

Proud and audacious. I should act as if I were the one holding the leash.

It’s time to go back to square one.

That’s how I resolved myself, and once I did, I felt a sense of relief.

I took another spoonful of pumpkin soup. The sweetness coated my taste buds.

“It’s delicious.”

I had been holding back on eating, wary of Elizabeth and the child’s judgment. But now that my resolve was firm, my appetite returned.

He hung the new clothes neatly on the bed.

“Finish eating and change your outer clothes. You’re too wet. I don’t want to see you freezing to death even in my hut.”

I put down the soup and approached the bed, picking up the cloak that had been sized for Leonie,It was a cloak of a size I had once thought of having made to measure.

The clothes gleamed in the candlelight that had been placed in the tent.

At a glance, it was clearly made of high-quality material. The fur of the fine coat was plush, and it felt soft to the touch. The sleeve length was just right, as if it were tailored.

“Put it on. Don’t freeze to death.”

He said to me as I was just staring at the clothes.

“I’m not really used to wearing such…”

“It’s for my sake; I hope you accept it.”

He firmly interrupted me.

Oh, well then.

I chuckled as I slipped my arms into the cloak.

“Yes, it’s warm. After all, living food is fresher and tastier than frozen food…”

He stared at me without saying a word.

Uncomfortable under his piercing gaze, I reluctantly gave him the answer he wanted.

“Alright.”

I pulled the other arm out as well. It also fit perfectly.

I had thought it might have been custom-made for his wife, but it wasn’t. Elizabeth was about a head shorter than me.

He gazed at me intently, but then he reached out and held my hand. I thought he was examining the fabric of the cloak, but he was inspecting my hand.

“You’ve got another wound.”

With his long fingers, he traced the scar around the pattern.

“Yes.”

“You said you didn’t like blood, but you’re always covered in scars whenever I see you.”

These little wounds are nothing.

Do you know that I once contemplated cutting off a part of myself like a blood offering?

“My lord, do you remember him? What did you do with that man?”

I barely managed to swallow the words that were rising.

“Is there something you’d like to say to me?”

I lowered my head.

“No.”

I set down the empty plate, and a profound silence filled the spacious tent.

As I nervously bit my fingernails, Deon stood up from his seat.

Then, he forcefully pulled open the windproof curtain in the tent.

Outside the tent, there were soldiers waiting.

They all stood in formation, with stern expressions, but it was clear that they were listening intently to what was happening inside. Their heads were turned toward the tent. When the canvas of the tent was lifted, they visibly flinched.

“When daylight comes, we’ll depart for the castle.”

“Yes, understood!”

“We’ll obey your orders.”

As soon as Deon issued the command, the soldiers quickly packed their belongings. They tightened the reins and melted the ice to water the horses’ throats.