“But I want to let you know that I’m not rejecting your proposal because you resemble Carlos Nikolai.”

As he slowly raised his head, his beautiful leaf-like eyes were brimming with countless emotions and moisture.

Yes, since you were honest with me, I’ll be honest with you too.

That would be the best courtesy I can show to Sergei, my longtime friend who deeply loves me.

I…

“…I already love Lord Joseph.”

Sergei’s jaw tightened. Only then was I able to pull my hands away from his gentle grasp.

There was no guilt. We had already drifted apart, my decision was clear, and there was nothing I could promise Sergei.

When Joseph opened his eyes, it was very dark around him.

But that didn’t mean it was pitch black to the point where he couldn’t distinguish his surroundings, just that sunlight wasn’t coming in.

It seems night had fallen while he slept for a long time under the influence of medicine.

A faint light flickered in one corner of his still unfocused vision.

“Are you awake?”

Ah, at that moment, the dim light seemed to brighten a bit. His vision finally came into focus.

“I was waiting because I thought you’d wake up soon. Here, have some water first.”

Even in his somewhat dazed state, he felt a sense of satisfaction filling his senses.

All pain disappeared and all worries scattered. And in that emptied space, she took her place.

To Joseph, Lieselotte was no longer just a lifeline to survive.

It felt like she made his heart beat. She made him breathe.

So she had to be there.

As much as he wanted to live, as much as he had to live.

There was no other alternative. He had to possess her, Lieselotte, for himself.

‘Whatever it takes…’

“Lord Jose…!”

Impulsively, Joseph grabbed the back of Lieselotte’s neck as she was offering water. Then he swallowed her breath.

The shaken water cup spilled a large amount of water onto his chest, but it didn’t matter.

At that moment, Joseph’s mind was filled with nothing but desire for Lieselotte.

Joseph explored her faithfully to his instincts.

He delved into her hesitant lips, sweeping over her teeth.

Ignoring weak resistance, he swallowed even her sharp sounds, pressing as if to take all her breath away.

Ah, only then did reason slowly settle in his mind, which had been raging like a beast from lack of oxygen.

When he came to his senses again, he found himself on top of her.

Her disheveled black hair and messy clothes provocatively revealed her dazzling body lines.

Especially when she revealed her violet eyes, fluttering her eyelids, he even thought he wanted to devour this woman right here.

‘Should I really do that?’

If he kidnapped her to the Alperon land where the fallen tower of the Demon Emperor is…

‘Then nothing, neither people nor circumstances, could influence her.’

Then this woman would be completely mine.

Only looking at me, only filling me…

“No matter what, I don’t want to have this kind of relationship with a beast that’s lost its reason.”

“…”

His head cleared in an instant. Joseph bit his lip. If she said no, it was right to back off.

But that didn’t mean he wanted to get off her body readily.

The hand that had been stroking her cheek and neckline came to rest on her fiercely rising and falling chest.

“Well. Even if I get permission, I’m not confident I can maintain my reason.”

“Lord Joseph, what nonsense are you talking about?”

“Even if it doesn’t sound like it, there are situations where it makes sense, my lady.”

He couldn’t see a mirror, but Joseph instinctively knew.

How greedy his eyes must look now, how they must be glistening with intense possessiveness and madness.

He admits it. He is not normal.

He was a madman raging with obsession, greed, and desire to monopolize Lieselotte.

Thousands of years of regression and repeated deaths made him crave her so blindly.

But should he hide this, necessarily?

She knows him anyway. Pretending to be docile and begging for mercy and affection would rather be deception.

It would be more effective to engrave his existence on her instead.

‘How much I want you.’

Why you are the only one for me.

“Shall I prove it to you?”

Joseph’s hands became unrestrained in an instant as he smiled, narrowing his eyes.

Tearing off her cumbersome dress, he must have her today.

That purposefulness disengaged the barely remaining control mechanism in Joseph.

“Stop it, Lord Joseph.”

But he couldn’t shake off her touch as she grabbed his wrist firmly.

The delicate force exerted by that slender wrist had the effect of calming not only Joseph’s trained strength and magical power, but also his fiercely raging emotions.

“This isn’t why I was nursing you by your side.”

“…”

“Look around you a bit.”

Only then did Joseph slowly become aware of his surroundings.

The narrow space enclosed by wooden walls and the low ceiling. A place where a few oil lamps were the only source of light filling the surroundings.

But this alone wasn’t enough to grasp the situation. Joseph also listened for sounds from outside.

Then his ears were filled with the sound of something being moved with a clatter and quiet whispered conversations.

Adding to that, by holding his breath a little more, he could even perceive the sound of a bonfire burning and the cries of insects and owls filling the distant background.

This place, where preparations for camping were in full swing outside, was clearly inside a carriage.

“…It’s not a hotel.”

“Because it rained yesterday. And your health condition didn’t look so good either.”

Aha. Only then did Joseph nod, understanding the unplanned camping.

“But looking at you now, your condition seems to have improved a lot.”

Lieselotte, still lying underneath, quickly took off her gloves and put her hand on Joseph’s nape.

Joseph leaned in, feeling good from her cool hand, but her hand moved away coldly after achieving its purpose.

“Your fever has gone down a lot too.”

Suddenly, Joseph resented his own body with its far superior physical condition. If he could be just a little sicker, he could have received her nursing to his heart’s content.

Of course, this thought came only because he was feeling a bit better now.

In the morning when he was so weak that even raising his body was difficult, he was actually scared, thinking he might die like this.

“Hah…”

If the situation was like this, there was no help for it. After all, to be a good husband to her, he needed to be able to consider her social status and face as well.

Joseph got off Lieselotte’s body, putting his regrets behind him.

She soon sat down opposite him, tidying herself up.

Suddenly glaring at Joseph with sharp eyes, Lieselotte said,

“Now pour and drink the water yourself.”

“Ah, I see.”

Come to think of it, his chest was soaked. Joseph, who couldn’t help but smile, only opened his mouth after drinking a full glass of water.

“First of all, Lord Sergei has recovered well. His eyes are fine, the scars have disappeared, his eyesight has even improved, and his condition is quite good. He’s a bit down, but now he’s gone for a walk saying he wants to look around.”

The problem was that as soon as she opened her mouth, she was talking about that damn traitor.

Joseph frowned deeply, crossing his legs and folding his arms in a closed-off posture.

“From what you’re saying, it seems everything has gone well, so why is he down?”

Perhaps because it wasn’t a topic he wanted to think about, a sarcastic and sharp retort popped out.

Lieselotte also responded nonchalantly, as if it wasn’t a topic she wanted to dwell on either.

“Well, probably because he was rejected in love.”

“So whether that guy was rejected or not…”

Huh?

At that moment, Joseph’s words stopped.

The abacus in his head spun rapidly. That statement just now, could it be…!

“My lady, did you reject Lord Sergei’s proposal?”

“Before that, Lord Joseph.”

However, Lieselotte, who immediately put on a stern expression, didn’t readily give him the answer he wanted.

“I want to confirm one thing first.”

Instead, she adjusted her posture and said with her beautiful red lips set firmly,

“I’m someone who thinks people can tell small lies when necessary. Because I know that lying can be quite an excellent defense mechanism for someone backed into a corner.”

It was quite an abrupt statement, but Joseph unconsciously swallowed saliva. Lieselotte continued,

“So I’m asking this as a matter of procedure. I’ll tell you in advance, I’m only going to ask this question once, and no matter what Lord Joseph answers, I intend to trust it completely without any doubt.”

A gentle but overwhelming pressure swirled in her eyes.

At this moment, she was not a woman, but the head leading a family.

“Is it true that you turned back time to save me and the children?”

“…”

In front of her like this, he couldn’t dare to speak a lie.