‘Hah.’
The uncomfortable silence was suffocating.
Even breathing felt awkward. Even the air felt heavy.
She fidgeted with her teacup like a broken marionette, tilting it this way and that.
‘What on earth do I say—’
Emily wasn’t the only peculiar one. The household staff had behaved just as strangely — they set up the sitting room and then dissolved, every last one of them, as though they had received a secret order from somewhere.
“Did you not insist on it just yesterday.”
“…”
“That you could handle it yourself.”
“…I’m… sorry.”
‘Is this really something I should be apologizing for?’
Honestly — how long ago had she even said that? One single day had passed. That was all.
And then — of all days, of all times — Edwin had to show up unannounced.
‘Maybe it was because I brought up the broken engagement.’
It really did feel as though the entire universe had conspired to make her life difficult.
‘And now I’m the one getting scolded because of Edwin.’
But somehow, in front of Kael, she always felt herself shrink. The apology seemed less likely to make things worse than letting it fester.
“It would be best to resolve things like this quickly.”
“…R-right. I — I’ve already contacted my parents. About the broken engagement.”
Edwin — of course they would break it off. That was already done.
But being afraid of Kael was a separate matter entirely.
If his opinion of her ever changed — couldn’t he treat her the same way he’d just treated Edwin? ‘Should I kill her? Should I only half-kill her? Should I make her suffer just short of dying?’ That could be her. Couldn’t it?
Then again — actually, when she thought about it that way, it was a little absurd.
“Ivelina.”
“Yes?”
“If you’re entertaining other thoughts right now, I’d suggest putting them aside.”
“Ha ha… other thoughts? Certainly not. But — just as a hypothetical — what sort of thoughts would those be…?”
She pressed her hands together, kneading her fingers, which had gone cold.
‘I’ve been running a fever on and off lately. Maybe I should see a doctor…’
At that moment, the red eyes that had been fixed somewhere in the middle distance shifted — and settled on her.
She had only asked out of curiosity. But his gaze was sharp, precise, the look of a predator who had found something presumptuous enough to call itself prey.
“Oh. Just in case you might try to find a way to escape your responsibilities. It was nothing more than that.”
“Ha ha! Please don’t worry about that. Escape — the very idea is ridiculous.”
Those eyes. There was not a single grain of mercy in them.
‘If this is the face of the hidden villain of a story — I suppose an aura like this is to be expected.’
When she was only reading about characters like him, they felt dangerous and thrilling all at once. A certain type of appeal—’ahem’. That kind of character.
‘But now that it’s happening to me — I’m just terrified!’
What was she going to do?
“…velina.”
And on top of everything — if she timed things carefully, the female lead would be making her entrance soon.
‘Right. If I can just hold on until then, it might all work out.’
“Ivelina.”
The low, cool voice said her name again.
“Yes?!”
“Come here for a moment.”
Kael patted the seat beside him with a light tip of his chin.
“Suddenly?”
“Yes.”
His answer was absolute. She rose, stiffly, and made her way toward him.
But she couldn’t quite bring herself to sit — she hovered at the edge, guarded and uncertain.
“Why…why…? —’oh’!”
The world spun.
“Wh — what — what is this?!”
Before she had even registered what was happening, she was sitting in his lap.
Good heavens. What an utterly improper position.
Even if they were alone — this was the sitting room of a house that belonged to her parents. Not a private chamber. An open, common room.
And besides — they had expressly agreed to take things slowly, hadn’t they? To get to know each other step by step. For him to so casually disregard their arrangement—
‘I should say something.’
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“No! You’re actually very… spacious. It’s quite comfortable. But this is still a bit — a bit soon for — “
“You liked it.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Being above me. You enjoyed it.”
It didn’t take long to understand what he meant.
‘…You shameless man.’
‘Please stop.’
“Your face has gone as red as an apple.”
“…”
“Don’t tell me. Were you having indecent thoughts?”
“Wh — ‘what’ — I was ‘not’ — how ‘dare’ you insinuate such a thing!”
She squirmed against his lap, trying to pull free.
He held firm. He was impossibly strong — her efforts accomplished nothing.
“I only said something offhand, and you’ve gone red.”
“You’re ‘lying’ — you meant something else by it entirely!”
“I really didn’t. I had no other intention.”
“…Is that true?”
“Yes.”
‘And now I’ve managed to make myself look like the strange one.’
She snapped her mouth shut.
He didn’t seem to care. He tilted his head and studied her face at leisure, turning her expression this way and that with his eyes.
One arm held her firmly. With his other hand, he took hold of her wrist — gently, carefully. Edwin’s marks were still faintly visible.
“Is the place from earlier all right?”
“Yes, thanks to you. It wasn’t gripped as hard as it looked.”
Kael looked at her for a moment and then said, in a quiet, serious voice:
“Once we’re married, I think I should keep you locked in the bedroom.”
“‘Excuse me?'”
“Better than having you go around getting hurt everywhere.”
“…”
“And I find it rather… disagreeable. Having other people see you.”
“I — ‘why’ does it have to be the bed’room’ specifically?!”
A shiver ran through her, and she demanded an answer.
Truly. Why a bedroom? Not a study, not a washroom, not a parlor.
But the question, regrettably, was ignored entirely.
‘I just got rid of Edwin and stumbled straight into the arms of this legendary villain.’
And if the female lead showed up before she could get herself untangled—
‘How does a life get this knotted? How is this even possible?’
She was swallowing down her despair when —
“One good squeeze and that would probably snap.”
A chillingly dry voice delivered an extraordinary remark with complete absence of affect.
“What — ‘what’ would?!”
“Your wrist. Obviously.”
‘Why say it like’ that? ‘He could have just said it was slender, or delicate — why—’
She was genuinely frightened. A cold sweat tracked slowly down her spine.
She swallowed hard. Kael pulled her closer against him, her waist caught tight in his grip.
‘Can’t — breathe—’
“K — Kael!”
“Yes.”
“Can you let me down now?”
“No. I can’t.”
“B-but we’re in the sitting room… this is a bit indecent for — for…”
“…”
“We’re not even married yet… we’re still in the ‘getting to know each other’ stage, this is far too—”
‘This is my parents’ house. There are staff outside.’
‘Any passing soul would think we were already wed.’
“…”
Kael looked up at her from where she sat perched on his knee. He looked at her for a long moment.
And then he let out a short, quiet laugh — a soft ‘pft’ of breath.
‘What… what is that… that laughing-at-something-absurd look…’
Kael let his eyes soften and settle on her as he spoke.
“You don’t seem to understand.”
“…?”
“The location doesn’t matter.”
“…”
He pulled her flush against him.
There was no space left between them. And then he kissed her.
“Haah…”
‘What just happened.’
She lay half-reclined against Kael’s chest, breathing in ragged, uneven pulls, every bit of strength completely wrung out of her body.
She cracked her eyes open to look at the clock. Thirty minutes had gone by.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake.’
She didn’t even have the energy to lift her head properly.
The man who had kept her so thoroughly captive now held her close and patted her back — steady, almost soothing.
‘He doesn’t look the type at all. He has a surprisingly gentle side.’
“Your stamina is abysmal.”
“‘Excuse me.'”
She took that back. Immediately.
She lifted her head with what little strength she had left.
‘I’m gasping because of ‘you’ — and this is somehow a comment about ‘my’ fitness?’
This was objectively his endurance being excessive. Not hers.
What a maddening man.
She had tried. She had pushed back with everything she had.
“Wait — just wait — Kael—”
“Mm. What is it?”
“Do you know where we are right now? The ‘sitting room’. The ‘sitting room’!”
“Mm. I know. So stay still. Don’t waste your energy.”
“We’re not even married yet — “
“We will be soon.”
Truly. There was no getting through to him.
“Wasn’t it you who said you wanted time to get to know each other?”
Kael said it with an entirely straight face. Effortlessly. Smoothly.
“I genuinely cannot believe this. Not just a little — I am ‘profoundly’ without words.”
“Is that right. A pity.”
His voice held not a single shred of sincerity.
‘This won’t do.’
She truly needed to say something firm. Something that would land.
