Just the touch of their lips raised the temperature, making it hard to breathe. It was not easy to determine where this was.

Whether the moonlight was pouring down on closed eyes or the darkness was sweeping in pitch-black, it couldn’t be discerned. As a deep sigh flowed from Ines’s throat, Carson’s body stopped its trembling movement.

Suddenly, a low and hearty laughter flowed into the opening created.

Every time he saw Ines sitting by the window, bathed in the pouring sunlight, Carson felt like he was looking at a summer scene that he could never possess.

Ines Swenden was like a spring tiger that couldn’t be confined no matter how hard he reached. She resembled the unrestrainable spring day’s tiger.

When he embraced her and leaned in, her legs went weak, hitting the bed. As he held her hand tightly, her hand turned pale. Carson gently squeezed her hand again, pulling her into his arms.
With a thud, the two bodies intertwined like shadows fell onto the bed.

“I feel like I’m going crazy.”

His words were too intense. Due to the fullness of his breath, Ines’s chest involuntarily surged upward. Under Carson’s heavy weight, Ines’s body lost its form and crumpled.

“Because of you… I can’t keep my composure.”

The trembling of the eye contact was engraved like stars. While knowing that Ines’s body was trembling with overwhelming tension, Carson couldn’t stop himself.

At that moment, Ines reached out and brushed Carson’s cheek. His movement paused as if struck by lightning.

The eyes of the two deeply locked. Eyes carrying the same light shone fully towards each other. With just that, it seemed like it could reach the sky.

“Call my name.”

Was meeting a man who truly held her heart and physically confronting him such a heart-wrenching experience? It was an emotion Ines had never felt in her long, eventful life.

“Hmm?”

“Carson.”

At the plea of a single word, the name came out without hesitation. There was no reason not to call when he wanted it.

“Again.”

“Carson, Carson.”

“Say you love me.”

Imprisoning Ines between his arms, he gazed down arrogantly, demanding it like a ruler, perhaps already knowing the answer, perhaps like an emperor who dominated the bed, or simply like a man seeking love.

A man with many faces whispered into Ines’s ear while nibbling on it once again.

“Say you love me.”

“I love you.”

Although always by her side, the woman who had never been held in her hands once, when she spoke of love for the first time, a mysterious thrill crawled down Carson’s back.

Caressing Ines’s cheek while closing his eyes, Carson pleaded.

“Open your eyes, Ines. You must remember who you are with right now.”

Once she opened her eyes, Carson felt a sense of emptiness. It felt as if he had been dropped alone into a vast forest without a path.

As the dew in the forest sparkled and shone, he had to bite down hard on his molars to prevent curses from leaking out. It felt as if his whole body was locked inside her.

Trembling her eyelashes, Ines once again internalized Carson’s command, even though it wasn’t an order.

“I love you.”

The end of the words crumbled back into his mouth. Even though he blocked it himself, Carson’s heartbeat intensified. Despite wishing for an arbitrary answer to the topic he wanted to hear, even the confession of love didn’t come out easily. Now that he had ardently desired her, even for a short while, he hoped Ines would speed up.

For the first time in his life, Carson had a narrow-minded thought.

With a firm hand, he pushed it behind her neck and messed up her hair while staying steadfast on that topic.
Ines always acted as if she were the chosen woman for him. However, deep within her heart, she probably already knew. Carson could only breathe if Ines chose and allowed him to do so.

But seeing Ines’s eyes shake with unknown emotions, Carson quickly realizes such thoughts.

To burn oneself for this woman, for a mere fragment of the feelings she conveyed, it was only that… But what are you made of, after all? For what reason, do you grasp and shake my life like this?

Brief thoughts scatter back into the overwhelming sensation.

Ines blushed like a flower.

“Carson…”

Just calling Carson’s name made her think that she was being drawn into an endless vortex. It seemed so distant, far away, and almost crazy, but it was a place she couldn’t escape from.

The whole world turned white as she felt it now, whether she was experiencing it, being swept away, or floating, she couldn’t discern.

He was molding Ines again as if he were a god.

“Yes, your Carson is here.”

Lips, producing a low and raspy voice, grazed her shoulders. Sharp pain accompanied by the sting, and Ines’s head nodded involuntarily.

You really are here, the person who always felt so distant is now closer than ever and can no longer get any closer.

As their affectionate eyes met, emotions overflowed.

“I love you, I love you.” The words poured out from her heart spontaneously.

She recalled the moment they first met. Drenched in the dewy chill, shivering all over, she melted under Carson’s eyes, as if they were the sun.