“Sway more for me, Rebecca.”

His voice was incredibly seductive.

At that moment, the distance between us was so close that our noses almost touched.

I slowly scanned Cedric’s beautiful face.

Ocean-blue eyes and alluring gaze, high-bridged nose, and… his sweet lips.

My gaze, finally lingering on his charmingly upturned lip corners, couldn’t leave for a while.

“Rebecca?”

It was then that I lunged for Cedric’s lips.

An impulsive action, like someone quenching severe thirst.

But Cedric moved with me as if he had been waiting for it.

After a while, heavy breaths finally escaped through the narrow gap between us.

“Cedric…”

I gently pulled back and looked up at Cedric.

Moonlight seeping through the window gap.

It settled softly on Cedric’s face, casting light and shadow.

It was then that my eyes secretly reddened at that beautiful sight.

“…Rebecca.”

Cedric murmured softly while cupping my face.

“After tonight, you’ll be the only one who can either save me or utterly ruin me.”

I felt Cedric’s gentle touch on my round shoulders.

“Even so…”

As his deep voice resonated in my ears once again, my heartbeat became uncontrollably fierce.

I unknowingly let out an overwhelmed breath.

“I will never regret this moment.”

With those words, he pressed his lips to mine once more.

Soon, the movements of the two silhouettes under the moonlight gradually became more passionate.

It was the beginning of a long night.

.

.

.

The time that flowed as one for the two people finally ended as dawn began to break.

Rebecca closed her eyes, breathing heavily, and Cedric hurriedly examined her face.

She seemed to have fallen asleep, fainting from exhaustion.

Her face was still flushed red.

Cedric smiled faintly, as if relieved, only after confirming the even breaths escaping from her lips.

Looking at Rebecca with loving eyes, he soon gently kissed her cheek.

Rebecca, asleep in his arms.

Whether her face looked so lovely because of the imprint or not, he couldn’t tell.

Cedric now thought that the reason didn’t matter anymore.

Before being imprinted on Rebecca, and even now… his thirst for her was equally intense.

“Thirsty…”

As Rebecca mumbled in her sleep, a smile spread across Cedric’s lips again.

He brought water, holding it in his mouth.

Slowly letting the water flow, Rebecca clung to Cedric in her sleep-induced state.

Cedric wore a troubled expression but still let out a small laugh.

Then, as if he couldn’t bear how lovable Rebecca was, he kissed her cheek repeatedly.

The perfect image of beautiful lovers.

The morning sunlight gently settled on their faces.

The strong sunlight pouring through the window gap made my face scrunch up involuntarily.

Extreme thirst and a splitting headache.

Could there be a more perfect combination for a hangover?

‘Damn, this isn’t an ordinary hangover. It’s an extraordinary one I haven’t met in a long time.’

Barely opening my eyes to check the time, it was already past noon.

I sat up slowly, holding my throbbing head with both hands.

Then, along with a tingling pain in my waist, a painful groan burst out involuntarily.

“Oh, my back. What on earth happened yesterday…”

Seeing that even my lower abdomen was sore, was it time for Mother Nature to visit?

I was grumbling when I suddenly realized.

‘Right, I spent hours sitting on a low chair cleaning fish yesterday.’

At the same time, the events of yesterday flashed by like a kaleidoscope.

‘After finishing the village communal work yesterday, I was dragged by Jacqueline to the welcome party. The honey beer was so delicious I almost inhaled it, and then…’

From there, my memory started to fragment.

I remember lamenting with Jacqueline and the other village women, but I can’t recall the actual content, that sort of thing.

‘I remember being carried in by Cedric yesterday, but…’

Suddenly peeking under the blanket, I felt as if all the blood drained from my body in an instant.

‘But why are my clothes changed?’

As far as I remember, all the maids were as drunk as I was last night.

There’s no way they would have followed me to this remote cabin with the sole intention of changing my clothes.

‘Then, could it be… Cedric changed my clothes?!’

I jumped up from my seat as if shocked by electricity.

At the same time, as a sharp pain hit my head like lightning, I reflexively squeezed my head.

Just then, Cedric’s face flashed briefly through my hazy memories.

That serious face calling my name, Rebecca. And then…

‘You are… utterly ruining…’

Utterly ruining? Me? What exactly…?

I blinked slowly, covering my mouth with both hands.

At that moment, there was only one intuitive thought.

‘I’m doomed.’

I must have made some terrible mistake.

To cause such an uncharacteristic mood swing in Cedric, after building up so much goodwill, to the point of ‘ruining’ something of his?

‘I’m crazy, truly crazy!’

As I kept hitting my head with my fist, I cautiously turned my head to look outside the bedroom.

“Cedric…?”

.

.

.

At that time, Cedric was on his way back to the cabin.

In both his hands were plenty of food including soft white bread and a bottle of fresh milk.

An hour ago, Cedric had carefully left the cabin so as not to wake Rebecca, and headed straight to the center of the village.

He was worried that Rebecca might suffer from a hangover and hunger when she woke up.

Finally arriving at the cabin, Cedric asked softly, looking towards the bedroom.

“Rebecca, are you awake?”

As he had newly discovered, Rebecca was quite prone to sleep talking.

If he playfully asked her something while she was asleep, she would often mumble as if answering.

He had played such tricks all night long, finding it cute, but now for some reason, there was no response.

“Rebecca?”

As he slowly opened the curtain to check inside the bedroom.

Cedric’s bright expression, which had been maintained all along, gradually darkened.

Rebecca was nowhere to be seen.

Cedric stared blankly at the empty bed, which had been left in a mess all night.

‘Where on earth did she go?’

She might have just gone for a walk, taking advantage of his absence.

Or she might have gone to meet Bianca or her maids.

There was no way she could have left this village without a carriage.

It was nearly impossible to leave the Greyzone village, located on the mountainside, on foot alone.

His head was clearly calculating the situation.

However, no matter how much he pushed those calculations, there was no way to shake off the anxiety spreading from deep within his heart.

Biting his lip nervously, Cedric soon rushed out of the cabin like a person who had lost self-control.

It had been barely a few minutes since he realized Rebecca’s absence.

I walked along the trail behind the cabin, calmly trying to recall my memories.

But no matter how hard I tried, the memories of last night wouldn’t come back.

“This is driving me crazy, really. I need to remember something to at least apologize properly!”

I shouted as if urging my alcohol-soaked brain, but nothing changed.

So in the end, all I could do was speculate about my mistake from last night.

‘Cedric said I ruined something terribly, my clothes were changed…’

As I was piecing together the situation at that moment.

The ‘worst-case scenario’ that could have happened last night came to mind.

‘N-No way, did I…’

The back of my head tingled and I felt as if all the blood was draining from my body.

I repeatedly rubbed my face with both palms and then blinked slowly.

‘Did I… Did I throw up on Cedric?’

I desperately hoped it wasn’t that, but no matter how much I thought about it, there was no more plausible answer than that.

‘Right? That’s it, right? I’m crazy, absolutely crazy!’

I pounded my head repeatedly with rising self-loathing.

At the same time, the headache that seemed to have subsided flared up again like wildfire.

“Oh, my head…”

As I was slowly lowering my head, clutching it.

“Rebecca!”

A familiar voice called out.

I quickly turned my head to see Cedric in the distance, looking around the mountain path and repeatedly calling my name.

Fortunately, he hadn’t spotted me yet.

His face looked excessively urgent, and his voice calling my name was clearly tinged with excitement.

‘Why, why is he looking for me like that?’

As I was biting my lower lip, an ominous thought flashed through my mind.

‘Could it be that he woke up this morning and got even more angry when he thought about it…?’

In that brief moment, goosebumps rose on the back of my neck.

‘I need to quickly find an excuse for last night’s mistake before Cedric finds me.’

To make matters worse, the distance between Cedric and me was gradually closing.

But the memories of last night showed no signs of resurfacing.

Meanwhile, Cedric was entering the entrance of the trail where I was standing.

‘What should I apologize for? I can’t even remember… Ah, should I just hide?’

The bushes grown as tall as me belatedly caught my eye.

But it was already too late.

“Rebecca!”

Cedric, who had finally spotted me, started walking briskly towards me.

His face was set in a grim expression, and his forehead was covered in beads of sweat, showing how long he had been searching for me.

“Ce-Cedric… Haha…”

I tried to force an awkward smile.

Cedric’s brow, now standing in front of me, furrowed fiercely.

“Where on earth did you go? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

Cedric closed his eyes tightly and let out a long breath.

It seemed like he was either forcibly suppressing his anger or trying to calm his startled heart.

“Wh-What brings you to…”

“…Why do you think?”

One of Cedric’s eyebrows twitched once and then rose high.

‘So it was the former. He was forcibly suppressing his anger.’

The only words floating around in my head were ‘I’m doomed.’

‘Haha, at this rate, I might die faster than the original Rebecca.’

It was then, as my heart was pounding with a mix of despair and anxiety.

Cedric, who had been staring at me with blazing eyes, suddenly raised both arms and approached me.

Wh-What! Why are you raising your arms like that?!

I hurriedly shrank back and shouted.

“How worried I was…”

“I-I’m really sorry, Cedric! That was, from beginning to end, all of it, entirely! It was a mistake!”

Cedric might have said something, but it was drowned out by my shout.

As I cautiously raised my head, Cedric was looking down at me with wide eyes.

He seemed unable to continue speaking for a while, with an expression of shock.

After moving his lips silently a few times.

Finally, Cedric’s lips slowly parted.

“Are you saying that everything last night… was all a mistake?”