Chapter 45

Before Damian could bring up the introduction, Doha saw through the main point sharply, causing her to be momentarily speechless.

She replied a beat later.

“You’re going to take it out here?”

“It’s a splendid prison, right here.”

What could be a more accurate description?

She was trapped in a splendid prison, equally magnificent in her past and present lives, unable to break free.

The luxurious dress she was wearing was her prison uniform, and her jewelry was shackles and chains.

She had to dedicate her destiny and future to those who had turned her into nothing but a mere prisoner.

Doha found her own plight so pitiful that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ah, hahaha….”

She chuckled weakly and said, “Yes, you’re right. Take me out of here.”

Doha boldly declared that she had saved him in order to use him.

But Damian showed no signs of anger or embarrassment.

He was not one to talk much, and his face was covered with bangs, so it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

He had been so honest and cute when he was injured and wandering in his thoughts.

Doha imagined herself cutting his bangs with scissors and said, “We both lost someone precious and became alone.”

Damian lost his mother, and Doha lost her grandmother.

They lost the ones who supported their minds and lives in different ways. So, wouldn’t it be natural for the loners to come together?

“I’ve thought about it, and I just can’t handle this winter alone.”

No matter how hard they tried, there was a limit to what they could do alone.

Both Doha and Damian knew that. Alone, they couldn’t leave this castle, and alone, they couldn’t become emperor.

“So carry me. Step on me and rise up. Swallow this splendid prison.”

“…”

“But don’t carry me too much.”

Because excessive fire could bring obsession and coercion instead of passion. Don’t burn down my forest completely.

Even if their horoscopes matched perfectly, fire could turn trees into ashes in an instant.

Doha swallowed the rest without saying it.

Worrying about it, Damian’s spark was still small, fragile, and precarious.

It was still far too early to control his fire and worry about it.

“Instead, what can you do?”

“I can make you an emperor.”

Damian didn’t seem particularly interested in the throne or the condition she offered.

Instead, he proposed it himself.

“Stay with me forever.”

…Forever?

She hadn’t expected this. Doha blinked slowly with a blank expression at Damian’s words.

“Even if I don’t become the radiant sun that shines on everything, as you say.”

“…”

“Become an emperor and somehow get me out of here, and stay by my side. Forever.”

Was it a request not to betray him?

Doha nodded her head slowly, thinking that Damian was stating the obvious in a roundabout way.

If she didn’t follow him properly and gain complete trust, she could be executed later.

That’s what it meant, that his future path would be filled with conspiracies and betrayals.

‘Above all, gaining trust is the most important thing.’

Moreover, since his mother passed away, he would be anxious. It would be most urgent to gain someone trustworthy.

“I’ll be yours forever.”

I’ll be your loyal servant, risking my life to help you.

Understanding it that way, Doha answered with determination.

Then his lips drew a smooth curve.

‘He knows how to smile too.’

I thought he was like an emotionless old man.

But seeing him smile, I felt like I wanted to keep making this child smile in the future.

‘I wonder if Grandma felt the same way.’

It feels like having a younger sibling.

Actually, the sentiment is more like a son, but since Doha from her past life and Damian don’t have that much age gap.

Doha felt good at the thought of raising Damian to be a bright and warm person in the future.

* * *

“Lady, don’t you have an appetite?”

Doha looked up at Ruby’s cautious words.

“It’s delicious.”

Actually, Doha didn’t have much interest in the food filling the table. The Park family wasn’t stingy with food, so she was used to luxurious meals.

‘I bet the real Bunny would have been so happy and eaten heartily.’

Wouldn’t Damian eat deliciously too?

Seeing him eating heartily with his small mouth, I would feel very satisfied and pleased.

“Oh.”

Lost in thought, Doha asked Ruby for a favor.

“Could you call Dane?”

“Why again?”

Ruby gave Doha a sharp look with a wary expression.

It was like a puppy seeing a cat sitting in the house where only the owner and the puppy lived.

“Feed him some delicious food.”

“Why should you show him such kindness?”

Unable to hold back her thoughts, Doha barked sharply, picturing a Maltese yapping fiercely.

It was really not threatening at all and rather cute, so it made her laugh.

“Why are you treating Dane like a sneaky guy trying to sell a naive girl?”

“Exactly! That’s very accurate!”

Ruby was seriously misunderstanding Damian.

Her declaration at the reception hall, “I nursed her by her side when she was sick,” seemed to have ignited doubts instead.

According to Ruby’s argument, approaching someone when they are weak is the most dangerous.

‘A surprisingly sharp remark.’

Although she would accept it if it came from someone else, she was a little surprised because it came from Ruby.

Perhaps she had been heavily criticized before.

‘And if you think about it, when Damian approached me when he was weakest…’

According to Ruby’s argument, Doha became the most dangerous person to Damian.

It made Doha feel a little uneasy to be treated like a dangerous person, and she felt a bit… ashamed.

“Ruby, he’s still young.”

“You’re young too! No, you’re not!”

“Let’s just do one thing.”

“That’s not it… And… there’s not much age difference between you and him. I had someone I liked at that age too.”

“You were mature.”

“N, No, I wasn’t!”

Ruby was momentarily caught in a dilemma of why she had to say such things to the young lady.

“And somehow, I have a bad feeling about it. You’re doing more than necessary right now. If you keep treating the lady so well, and then show your true colors to her…”

It was really unnecessary worry.

Doha, who had lived her whole life struggling with the boundary between life and death, had never once liked anyone.

So Ruby’s words didn’t resonate with her at all.

‘I have to overcome a huge wall right now, why would I have such unnecessary thoughts.’

With enemies all around and enemies overwhelmingly strong, and with her life at stake.

“It’s just that the kids have become friends. Think of me as a new friend I’ve made.”

Doha scolded Ruby in a tone that was not childish at all.

It wasn’t coercive, but it had a strange dignity that wasn’t easy to dismiss.

With a sigh, Ruby retreated after bringing Damian along.

She continued to send him glances until the door closed.

Go ahead and try something foolish with the lady.

I’ll be watching.

In that sense, she alternated between pointing her index and middle fingers at her own eyes and Damian.

“….”

Damian had no particular reaction, as if he didn’t care how Ruby looked at him.

In fact, he never once took his gaze off Doha.

“Have you eaten?”

“…Not yet.”

“Good. Let’s eat together.”

Doha pushed her share of the food towards him.

And unknowingly, she stared intently at Damian with sparkling eyes.

Even though she didn’t particularly enjoy eating delicious food herself, she felt excited at the thought of feeding him.

“Try it. It’s delicious.”

Damian alternated between looking at the food in front of him and the knife and fork, then raised the knife.

And as if he were going to murder someone with it, he grasped it tightly and stabbed the turkey deeply, slicing through the flesh.

“….”

The ingredients and spices stuffed inside the turkey flowed out like blood and entrails.

It was a grotesque sight, as if he had killed the already dead turkey twice.

“That’s not how you do it….”

Doha gave up on explaining with words. Instead, she brought a chair, placed it right next to Damian’s, and sat down.

“Relax your grip.”

Even though she told him to relax his grip, Damian only stared at her.

Unable to do anything else, Doha overlapped her hand with his hand, which was tightly gripping the knife handle.

Then, she gently patted it as if coaxing and soothing.

Underneath her hand, his hand, which had been trembling slightly, gradually relaxed its grip on the knife.