Diana was led by a firm hand to sit on the bed. As Raoul knelt down at her feet, their eye levels became roughly the same.

Diana, looking at his downcast eyes that had become obedient like before, flinched in surprise and turned her head away.

‘I can’t waver anymore….’

Although Raoul kissed the back of her hand as if pleading, even that sensation felt uncomfortable.

Diana pulled her hand out of his large grasp and barely moved her chapped lips.

“Don’t… say you missed me.”

“…I’ll explain everything.”

“I don’t want to hear it….”

Diana shook her head and bit her lips tightly.

Separate from her hatred for Raoul being diluted, a firm resolve to push him away resolutely had taken strong root in her heart.

In a situation where even the original female lead was showing hostility towards her, she couldn’t just sit there and talk about love.

A love that would never be fulfilled, it was wise to cleanly wrap it up without leaving a single lingering attachment.

Diana recited coldly in a manner different from usual.

“The curse being lifted is something to congratulate. Joining the rebels is an opportunity for you too….”

Raoul, who had dropped his empty hand in vain, asked back as if in disbelief.

“You think I joined voluntarily…?”

“Yes. Even if you didn’t join voluntarily, I still think it’s a good opportunity. It’s a chance to pursue glory you can’t enjoy by my side…. Of course you should leave….”

At her annoyingly indifferent tone, Raoul fell silent.

She turned away from his hurt face with her gaze thrown far, but her heart bruised blue. She was the one who attacked, but felt attacked.

Suppressing the urge to cry and controlling the corners of her mouth, Raoul pulled her turned head towards him.

Surprised by the slightly forceful grasp of his hand compared to usual, her body froze upon meeting his gaze.

His eyes, sunken cold like the north wind in midwinter, looked more serious than ever. Raoul asked in a suppressed voice as if holding back anger.

“You think I left your side just for mere glory? Even turning my back on you and your family…?”

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it…. You left me and you can leave again at any time…. That’s all that matters.”

There might be a plausible excuse for Raoul, but Diana didn’t want to hear it.

She was afraid that if she knew the reason, she would waver again. Raoul, unable to bear her words that avoided and ignored the situation, raised his voice slightly.

“Is your faith in me so lacking that you don’t even want to hear my excuses? Is the trust we’ve built over a lifetime together only this much?”

The trust we’ve built over a lifetime?

When Diana heard the word trust come out of Raoul’s mouth, she somehow became unable to contain her anger.

You wonder why I can’t trust you? Diana wasn’t sure if she was angry at the original work or at Raoul, but she thought she had to spill out everything inside.

Otherwise, today’s meeting would likely remain a lingering lump.

Diana, shaking off the hand that held her, continued speaking in a trembling voice.

“I can’t trust you even if I want to. Whether it was when we were young or now, I feel anxious when I see you…. I may seem like the closest person to you, but I’m always excluded from important matters…. You’re pioneering a new path with new people without my knowledge, and if I’m the only one unaware and dreaming of a future together, it’ll surely be miserable…. So how can I trust you!”

Raoul seemed overwhelmed by the flood of emotional words like a tidal wave.

Raoul, who had regained his focus like someone who had been submerged in water several times and barely came to his senses, turned her body towards him and asked.

“All this time… you’ve been feeling that way?”

Raoul looked quite shocked by the sincerity he was hearing for the first time. But from Diana’s perspective, it was an obvious thing to say.

It wasn’t something Raoul did wrong in this life, but Diana was someone who had already failed in love with Raoul once. She had paid for it with her life, so she had no choice but to be cautious in every matter.

Even if Raoul only showed an upright appearance in this life, Diana had no choice but to doubt from her position. Because she couldn’t repeat the same mistake, bewitched by a sweet scent….

You don’t even give me enough trust, and you lie to me.

When Diana slowly nodded, his blue pupils trembled as if there was an earthquake.

“If it’s because of Ayla, we really have no relationship. It’s something the damn reporters made up to their liking. I’ve never, ever cheated on you behind your back. I didn’t join the rebels because of that woman in the first place. There’s no way….”

Diana turned her head away from his desperate gaze and spoke.

“Yes…. But it’s not just this one time. When Ayla was imprisoned, and during your first mission, you didn’t tell me anything. Without Ayla, you probably wouldn’t have been able to join the rebels…. What matters isn’t whether your heart is with me or Ayla right now. The problem is that I find the thought of anxiously fretting over how your heart might change in the future too pathetic and distasteful….”

The more she spoke, the more pathetic she felt. Raoul buried his face in the hem of her skirt, unable to do anything, and said,

“Why would my heart change…? I’ve never even laid eyes on anyone but you. It’s true that it was my fault for not speaking much during the first mission. But I never acted that way because I had feelings for someone else. Rather, I hated you worrying about such trivial things. I was so happy that day and I didn’t want the stories of other people passing between us. That’s why I refrained from speaking.”

As Diana responded with silence, Raoul added with a regretful expression.

“From now on, no matter what happens, I’ll tell you everything. You’ll never find out anything belatedly….”

He seemed to be trying to respond calmly, but the end of his voice was trembling slightly. Raoul, who pulled her by the waist into an embrace, crumpled the fabric with slightly eager hands, conveying his trembling breath.

Raoul buried his nose in her soft abdomen and slowly raised his gaze, revealing eyes as dismal as a wounded beast.

It was a pitiful sight, but Diana turned her head as if she had no intention of giving in and spoke coldly.

“There’s no need to explain. It’s just that I’ve accumulated disappointment in you and poured it out today. If I think about it, we were never a good match from the beginning. I’m… too ordinary. As others say, we don’t suit each other at all. I have no confidence in being your lover or a guide to lead you…. Ending it here is the best for both of us.”

Diana also didn’t think she could utter these words of farewell so indifferently.

But once the words were out, she had no intention of taking them back. Rather, she felt a bit refreshed.

‘Seeing Raoul hurt makes my heart ache. But my feelings are precious too…. I don’t want to repeat having expectations and being let down because of Raoul anymore. I’ve done my part to this extent.’

The goal Diana had set in the beginning was already achieved. Raoul had become a kind man, and she made him have an amicable relationship with Ayla even before Trian appeared.

Once she perfectly sorted out her initial heart that decided to end her one-sided love, her connection with Raoul ended here.

Just as Diana was about to smile slightly and give her final farewell,

With a heavy weight, long strands of hair spread out widely on the musty blanket.

Diana looked up at the ceiling in surprise. She felt a hot palm supporting her back and a hot breath going in and out of the nose buried in the nape of her neck.

Diana flinched in surprise and shrank back.

“Wa, wait! Raoul! What are you doing!”

“If I had known I would lose you, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this!”

“Ugh…! It tickles! Wait!”

Raoul was uncontrollable like a horse with its reins loose.

Diana, lying on the bed writhing, tried to push his shoulders away, but thick fingers intertwined deeply between her palms first.

“I’m the one who doesn’t suit you! You probably have no idea how painful that gap is. How hard it is for me to bear… my pathetic and lacking self in front of you….”

The boy who bashfully turned his head, saying he couldn’t lie on the bed together, was gone, and a much grown Lycan pushed her delicate body all the way to the end of the bed.

The old and narrow prisoner’s bed couldn’t handle the weight of the two people at all.

The wooden bed frame creaked and screamed in agony.

Diana, driven to the end of the bed head, had to endure the hot breath pouring down her neck.

Whenever his resentful voice went up and down her neck, she felt flustered and eerie, and cold sweat flowed.

Diana, not knowing how to calm the excited wolf, just wiggled her feet.

“I don’t care if you have a fiancé or another man. Even if I have to kill that man, I won’t give you up….”

“Mmm…! Ah, okay. I get it, so get off and talk. Okay?”

“How can you say let’s end it…? How can you say that!”

Raoul lifted his face from her neck and looked down at Diana. And at that moment,

“How… can you say that. Take it back, right now…. Take it back right now, Diana de Arnel.”

Diana was so surprised that she even hiccuped. Raoul was crying. To the point where his whole face was wet, sobbing….