“Don’t want to!”
Arundel swung his arm, but his hand didn’t budge.
Arundel, looking discontentedly at Zion’s hand, stopped Cain who was passing by.
“Cain! Just a moment!”
“Yes?”
Cain, who was passing by, approached with a puzzled look at Arundel’s voice. Arundel pulled Cain’s ear and whispered.
Zion’s expression hardened as he watched.
Cain, who heard what Arundel was whispering, said as if he was troubled.
“Why are you doing this to me…!”
But Arundel also glared and tapped Cain’s forearm.
Cain reluctantly conveyed in a trembling voice.
“…Her Majesty the Empress…says not to talk to her…”
As soon as the words ended, Arundel pulled Cain’s ear again and whispered. And then he distanced himself again.
Cain, avoiding Zion’s eyes, conveyed the message.
“When changing the clothes…she asks if it feels comfortable now…”
Arundel pulled Cain’s ear again. As Arundel whispered, Cain’s complexion turned black. Arundel, who finished speaking, tapped his arm once again.
But Cain recoiled as if refusing.
“Why are you doing this to me! I’m going to die! Look at His Majesty’s expression.”
Cain boldly complained to Arundel, but Arundel, unfazed, grabbed Cain again.
And she whispered again.
Cain seemed unable to utter a word, covering his own mouth. But Arundel, as if urging him to speak, tugged at Cain’s clothes.
“Ha… I’m going to die.”
Cain glanced at Zion in front of him. Zion’s gaze was constantly directed at Arundel, but he felt his mood gradually calming down.
When Cain seemed absolutely unwilling to relay the message, Arundel gave up and walked past Zion.
Cain expected the emperor to follow the empress, but Zion stood in his place, slowly closing and opening his eyes.
His opened eyes looked somewhat desolate. But that was only for a moment, Zion’s subdued voice was heard.
“Cain.”
“…Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“…”
“What did she say?”
“It would be better not to hear…”
Zion’s gaze turned to Cain. Feeling as if Zion’s cold gaze would freeze him at any moment, Cain had no choice but to open his mouth.
“So…”
Cain rolled his eyes here and there and opened his mouth with difficulty.
“If you hate it so much…let’s… divorce…”
Zion’s eyes flashed terrifyingly for a moment. Zion turned around and looked for Arundel.
It didn’t take long.
Despite the presence of many people, Zion easily found Arundel. Her silhouette, her movements, were easily caught in his eyes wherever she went.
Having located her, Zion quickly approached Arundel.
Arundel, completely unaware of the situation, was pouring the pink-colored alcohol in the glass into her mouth.
“Divorce?”
Arundel’s eyes were slightly relaxed. In her hand was a continuously filled glass of an unidentified pink-colored alcohol.
“Didn’t you hate me?”
“…What nonsense.”
“Then why…avoid me, and when my hand touches you, you push it away so fiercely…”
“That’s…”
Zion clenched his teeth.
Seeing Zion unable to answer, as if she knew it would be like this, she tilted the glass in her hand. The fine alcohol moistened Arundel’s throat.
“See…you can’t say anything. If you hate it so much…let’s divorce…”
Bang-!
Arundel’s words were buried with a loud noise. Because Zion had slammed the table with a tremendous momentum.
The attention of the people was drawn for a moment, but Zion seemed to not see the surroundings at all.
“Divorce?”
“…”
“Never while I’m alive. Think about it once you fall into hell.”
Zion looked at Arundel, curling his lips coldly. But his eyes looked somewhat anxious.
Arundel rolled her eyes discontentedly at Zion.
‘So what.’
Avoiding conversation, pushing away even by mistake, and feeling heartbroken. Besides, Zion doesn’t seem to be affected.
But still, divorce is absolutely not allowed?
Arundel picked up the glass filled with alcohol again. And she gulped it down at once.
Seeing that, Zion snatched Arundel’s glass.
“Stop drinking.”
Arundel looked at her suddenly vacant hand devoid of the empty glass. She blinked her eyes. Somehow her actions were unnatural and excessive.
“…Hing.”
And she let out a strange sound. As she tried to get up from her seat, Arundel staggered. Zion quickly supported her.
“…You’ve already drunk a lot.”
Arundel tried to push Zion away again, but that was just her thought. The spreading alcohol was already controlling her body.
Zion looked down at Arundel quietly. Her arms were slowly flailing as if trying to push him away, but her actions were slow and clumsy.
Zion brushed his hair back irritably. And he called Cain from afar.
“Cain!”
At the familiar voice, Cain, who had been turning his head, put down the wine he was drinking and quickly approached Zion.
“What is it?”
“Clean up.”
“Huh?”
Cain asked in surprise. But Zion said again with a cool expression.
“End the party now.”
“What?! There’s still more than 2 hours left to end the party…I’ll end it.”
Cain tried to dissuade Zion feeling startled, but he felt the limit in Zion’s wide-eyed expression.
He instinctively knew.
If he retorts more, a meteor might suddenly fly in this banquet hall.
Cain glanced at the pink-colored drink that Arundel was drinking and looked at Zion’s back.
Zion was leaving the banquet hall in a posture as if he was dragging the staggering Arundel.
Looking at the overlapping backs of the two, Cain thought.
‘…Am I finally seeing the aftermath?’
****
“I’m thirsty.”
Arundel, whose body was gradually collapsing, couldn’t hold herself up and fell. At first, Zion took Arundel as if supporting her, but eventually he had to carry her.
Fortunately, Arundel didn’t resist and was quietly nestled.
But that was only for a moment.
Arundel, touching Zion’s face, kept talking.
“Zion.”
“Just wait a little. We’ll be in the bedroom soon.”
Thanks to that, Zion felt like he was going crazy.
The murmuring voice, rubbing her face against his chest, seemed to set his chest on fire.
But whether she knew it or not, Arundel kept whining.
“I’m thirsty, Zion.”
Zion walked with clenched lips and reached the bedroom.
Although it was not a great distance, despite its proximity, Zion felt like it was an endless universe.
Time seemed infinite until they finally arrived at the bedroom.
When Zion tried to lower Arundel onto the bed, Arundel grabbed his hand.
Now closer than ever, Zion’s sight was filled with only Arundel.
“Hot…”
Arundel then spoke incomprehensible words, seeming more than just one sentence, while reaching behind with her hand as if to unbutton a button.
“Uncomfortable.”
In a moment of panic, Zion grabbed both of Arundel’s wrists as if to stop her, then turned to look at her face to confirm her condition.
Looking into Arundel’s eyes, Zion noticed blurry pupils shrouded by hazy mist. The dilated eyes appeared slightly sunken.
Despite considering Arundel might be drunk, the appearance differed too much from usual. The face was flushed red, and sweet breath escaped continuously.
“…It’s hot.”
“…”
“My body feels strange…”
Speaking without understanding what she was saying herself, Arundel twisted her body restlessly. She squirmed, struggling against Zion’s grip on her wrist.
Arundel closed her eyes and exhaled a hot breath.
“…Hard…”
“…”
“My body is hot…What to do?”
As if provoking him, Arundel’s breath became increasingly rough, yet Zion remained silent and did nothing about it. In fact, he couldn’t do anything.
Staring helplessly at Zion who remained unmoving, Arundel began to struggle sitting up from the bed.
“If you don’t solve this, someone else will….!”
Eventually, Zion lost his composure. He pushed Arundel down roughly once and climbed on top of her.
“Don’t laugh! Someone else?”
“…Haa.”
“How long have I endured this!”
Zion quickly kissed her as though like a starving beast, and then, after a moment’s pause, he pulled his lips away and snarled.
“I’ll kill you!”
This threat was directed toward an imaginary opponent.
Zion stared down at Arundel whose forehead dripped sweat and whose black hair hung limply around her head.
Her reddened cheeks glistened with tears. The sight was so crazy that it seemed to arouse sexual desires.
Yet again, Zion demonstrated cosmic patience.
“Irina,” Zion called out, but Arundel was still out of it.
“Look at me.”
Having exhausted all his patience, Zion firmly gripped Arundel’s chin to prevent her gaze from wandering away.
Although opening her mouth slightly, Arundel didn’t speak any words.
Gazing intensely at Arundel as if holding her captive, Zion spoke calmly but firmly now.
“Answer me.”
Nevertheless, she didn’t respond. Arundel’s eyes continued to appear foggy, similar to early morning dew.
At that moment, Zion realized something. She wasn’t looking at him.
Upon realizing this crucial detail, Zion’s mind snapped back to clarity.
He had been carried away by lust and obliviousness, forgetting what truly mattered.
[The obvious difference is love, the need to have love and the need without love is what separates a beast from a human being.]
The Prime Minister’s words echoed through his mind as if scolding.
Lowering his head, Zion saw Arundel beneath him, breathing hard. Of course, desires weren’t easily extinguished.
However, he couldn’t become the very people he despised.
“…I am different from them.”
She wasn’t in her right mind right now, nor was Zion himself.
Such relationships ultimately amounted to nothing.
In contrast, Zion anticipated what Arundel’s reaction would be the next day.
–[I was clearly intoxicated, what have you done to me?]
Indeed, disappointment washed over him.
Her sparkling eyes convey discontentment. Visualizing such a scene made Zion feel chilled inside.
Zion, having regained his senses, escaped from the control of desire. There was something more important.
‘I don’t want to be hated by you.’
He had gone through a tough process to get to this point with her. During that process, he had been hated by her, she had left him, and he had even almost died.
Recalling the terrible past, Zion closed his eyes. He had spent time like hell.
Zion knew that Irina did not love him. But just having a conversation with her like this, he knew it was precious like never before.
‘Don’t be anxious.’
Zion quietly muttered ‘sleep’ while stroking Arundel’s forehead, who was groaning next to him. At that moment, Arundel’s eyes slowly closed.
Zion looked down at Arundel, who had become quiet.
He was too greedy in his impatient heart. Just being next to her made his chest feel so warm.
Even just looking at her filled a round sense of satisfaction. Zion bowed his head and pressed his lips to Arundel’s forehead, which was sweaty.
A bitter smile hung on the corner of Zion’s mouth as he raised his head.
‘But I’m curious.’
Irina, will the day come when you love me?
