Chapter 6. Endure It Even If You Hate It
“……!”
The kiss that came without warning was rough, as if intent on stealing her breath right from the roots.
The hand that had seemed to be descending now gripped her face.
It was an impatient, thirsting kiss. Kylo raised his upper body as if to cover her completely, trapping her beneath him.
Their moist, hot warmth tangled together, clouding Razel’s mind into a haze.
When his breath grazed and swept over her delicate skin, her shoulders involuntarily shrank, and heat surged through her entire body.
“Haa……!”
Whenever her blocked breath burst out even for a moment, he sealed it again with his lips. As if her moist lips were a luscious fruit, Kylo persistently bit and devoured them.
It was clearly an act of torment.
Moreover, this must be his way of expressing the anger from the past that she had stained for him.
The emotion was so vividly clear that Razel’s chest tightened painfully.
“Ah, hng…….”
The entwining, rubbing heat melted away the cold. Now, her body trembled not from chill but from a different kind of shiver.
Overwhelmed, Razel lifted her tear-laden eyelashes.
A familiar face came into view. One she hadn’t seen even once during the four years of war, making it feel just a little unfamiliar—his face.
His thick eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, and his dense, long lashes cast shadows as they drooped downward.
Only after heating every breath she exhaled and inhaled with scorching fervor did his kiss finally subside somewhat.
He, who had been relentlessly rough, untangled their entwined tongues and lightly rubbed them.
Soon, with a heated sigh, his lips parted from hers with a wet sound.
“Haa…….”
Only then did Razel breathe freely.
She didn’t know how long their lips had been pressed together, but in that time, it seemed a snowstorm had begun raging outside.
Yet, even in this frigid weather, all Razel could think was that it felt hot.
‘What comes next… is he really going to do it?’
Razel looked up at him with trembling eyes. Her heart pounded like a pumping machine.
Unable to bear the tension, she bit her lip. At that moment, the hand cupping her cheek slid down again.
And then, he pulled the slipped blanket up to her neck and lay down on the bed.
Just as before, he held her tightly from behind.
Naturally, all actions came to a halt.
“Uh…….”
Razel opened her mouth, unable to comprehend. With their bodies pressed together—back to chest—she could feel every rise and fall of their breaths and the heat radiating between them.
The flow certainly hadn’t suggested stopping. His body hadn’t cooled either.
In this inexplicable situation, as Razel squirmed to turn around, he spoke in a low, husky voice.
“We’re set to depart as soon as dawn breaks. It’d be better for you to get some sleep now.”
“That’s not what I mean, right now…….”
“Endure it even if you hate being close. It’s the price for driving me into hell.”
“…….”
Razel slowly closed her parted lips.
She felt like she understood his intentions, yet no matter how deeply she probed, it seemed unknowable.
What was clear was that if he wasn’t going to violate her here, that was news she could welcome.
‘His whims are incomprehensible… but for me, it’s fortunate.’
Of course, it wasn’t something to feel entirely relieved about. After all, once she became his wife, the coercive acts would extend beyond kisses to something more.
“……I understand.”
Razel replied softly and closed her eyes.
It felt like she had only just regained consciousness, but with the harsh weather, drowsiness washed over her again.
Saaa, the sound of the snowstorm faded into the distance.
* * *
From the moment dawn broke, they had a light meal and set the carriage racing onward again.
‘Is it my imagination? My treatment doesn’t seem that bad.’
She had certainly thought he would discriminate against her with food.
Come morning, Kylo was nowhere to be seen, and a low-ranking soldier handed her a covered meal with an annoyed glance before leaving.
So, she had assumed even dry bread and a cup of water would be better treatment.
‘But the meal I actually received was different from what I expected.’
Not only was it the same food as the other soldiers, but the portion was generously ample.
Razel, accustomed to eating sparingly due to her stepmother’s abuse, couldn’t even finish it all.
‘Does this mean he has no intention of tormenting me through food?’
With a sidelong glance, Razel looked at the man sitting across from her.
His firmly closed lips. His resolute jawline. His blue eyes gazing calmly out the window. All these elements combined stirred curiosity about what he was thinking.
At that moment, Kylo spoke, without even looking her way.
“I’ll tell you in advance before we arrive at my territory.”
“What……?”
Razel swallowed dryly at the abrupt start of conversation.
Hearing him say ‘my territory’ confirmed that he held a respectable position in Crombel.
No, perhaps even more than that…….
“There’ll be a lot for you to do once we get there. It’ll be quite grueling for a while.”
“What do you mean by things for me to do…….”
“Then, did you think you’d live comfortably despite being captured by me? What on earth made you think that?”
He narrowed his handsome eyebrows slightly as he looked at her. Then, he crookedly lifted one corner of his mouth as if finding it amusing.
“Don’t tell me you were relying on me? Thinking I’d accommodate you?”
Kylo continued to scoff. Despite his stoic and upright appearance, he didn’t hold back on sneers like some street thug.
He was still arrogant… and haughty.
But Razel knew this attitude stemmed from the fact that she had never treated him kindly in the first place.
When he was her slave, she—who had been the family’s scapegoat—had vented the pain she received from outside onto him.
So, this was something she had to endure.
Razel replied quietly.
“I never thought about living comfortably… I know this life is one you spared, after all.”
“Then you’ll have to follow whatever I order without complaint.”
With his chin propped on the window frame, he now matched the other side of his mouth to the twisted one, forming a symmetrical smile.
For some reason, a wicked sense of satisfaction peeked through that grin, and Razel thought.
‘Is he planning to seat me as his wife and then make me do menial chores?’
She hadn’t intended to live leisurely either, but she hadn’t anticipated work grueling enough to be exhausting.
She had only expected to be tormented or hurt.
‘What could these grueling tasks be?’
For now, if not menial work… all she could think of was something like nighttime duties.
Feeling like she’d be harshly driven no matter what, Razel rolled her lips inward and bit them.
“We’re almost there.”
A short while later, at Kylo’s words, Razel looked out the window. And for a moment, she doubted her eyes.
‘Almost there?’
The question nearly burst from her lips.
The outside, battered by brutal cold, looked far too barren to suggest they were nearing their destination.
She had thought there was still a long way to go.
At this rate, whether the carriage advanced a bit more or retreated, it would only lead to endless desolate land…….
‘This must be the northernmost part of Crombel, right?’
Razel could tell, having read about it in books more than once.
A barren winter land far from fertility.
A place called such because its winters were unusually long and harsh throughout the year.
‘To think the territory granted to Kylo is such a wretched place. Is he treated this poorly because he’s lived as an outsider?’
But Kylo was certainly…….
As Razel’s thoughts deepened, the carriage climbed a hill and tilted to one side. Startled, Razel gripped the seat to brace against the incline.
After rattling along the bumpy path for a while, the carriage came to a stop.
“Get out.”
Leaving the hesitating Razel behind, he stepped out of the carriage first and extended his hand.
It was an unexpected courtesy. Snapping back to her senses, she quickly took his hand and carefully stepped down.
Even with just a faint exhale, a clear puff of breath dispersed instantly. The cold wind whipped through her blonde hair.
“This is where you and I will live from now on.”
At his low voice, Razel lifted her head.
Before her stood a massive castle blanketed in pure white snow like a garment. It was a castle that appeared as desolate and pale as winter itself.
She could see several servants lined up at the castle’s entrance.
As Razel gazed around in bewilderment, Kylo’s voice reached her again.
“Still, since you’re a guest and my fiancée, I should tell you.”
He readjusted his grip on Razel’s hand and lifted the corner of his mouth.
In contrast to the season, his warm lips drew a chilling yet beautiful arc.
“Welcome to the Windmore Grand Duchy.”
