Aria looked up at her with a bewildered expression.

Clea smiled as she saw Aria like that.

“I said, try to kill me if you can?”

Aria bit her lip at that voice that seemed to be provoking her.

She hated that always composed look. She wanted to endlessly mock that expression when it crumbled into misery.

But now as before, Clea did not crumble at all. Even in worse situations than now, Clea was always confident.

Perhaps that’s why.

The strength in Aria’s hand gripping Clea’s collar loosened.

However, Clea did not allow this.

“What are you doing!”

“What am I doing? I’m just doing what you want.”

Clea grabbed Aria’s hand and led her somewhere.

Surprised by the sudden situation, Aria tried to pull her hand away, but Clea did not let go at all.

Not knowing where they were heading, Aria kept resisting.

But it had no effect on Clea. She was just being helplessly dragged along.

Aria looked around to see if there was anyone she could ask for help. But there was no one around.

At this point, Aria recalled what Clea had said earlier.

That question of why there were no guards nearby.

‘Where on earth are you taking me.’

A fearful feeling began to rise from deep within Aria’s heart.

Aria had expected two possible reactions from Clea to her proposal.

One was to coldly reject it like just now, and the other was to accept it.

So when Aria saw Clea coldly rejecting as expected, she still had some composure left.

But now it was different. With something completely unexpected happening, she was at a loss for what to do.

She wanted to let go of her hand and run away, but her hand was still firmly held by Clea.

“Why did you bring me here?”

The place they arrived at was a terrace with bright sunlight and a clear blue sky visible.

It was right near where the two had been talking earlier.

Aria asked Clea in a voice full of wariness, but the answer was silence.

As soon as they arrived, Clea let go of her hand. Aria was finally able to regain some composure.

However, the uneasy feeling still did not go away.

Because she still could not understand why Clea had brought her here.

“Why, don’t tell me you’re going to push me off from here?”

As a strong wind blew, the hair of both women fluttered.

Clea smiled amid this and said to Aria.

Although it could have been drowned out by the wind, Aria heard every word she said.

“It’s not you who will fall from here, but me.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Aria thought this was another thing Clea said just to tease her.

Clea would always smile at such times.

So she thought it would be the same this time, but there was no answer.

Clea slowly moved towards the terrace railing.

Aria silently watched her.

‘It must be a lie. Just a lie to deceive me.’

This must be nothing but a lie to deceive herself.

Aria was certain that if she didn’t fall for it, Clea would stop her act.

However, Aria herself could not help but wonder. Why on earth was she doing this to her?

‘If she really falls from here, the situation that follows will be…’

The terrace was not that high. If one fell from here, they could sustain quite serious injuries, but they wouldn’t die.

After finishing that thought, Aria shifted her gaze to Clea.

Clea was still smiling as she looked at Aria.

“Now you seem to have realized. What situation will unfold if I fall from here.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Aria asked Clea in a trembling voice.

In Aria’s eyes were mixed complex emotions like anxiety, anger, resentment, and fear.

Meeting her gaze, Clea spoke lightly.

“Why am I doing this? I’m just doing what you want. You desperately wanted it. My death.”

Clea showed her the back of her hand, implying that Aria had planted a curse because she wanted her death.

At that, Aria’s lips hardened.

In the past, she too had had a clock mark on the back of her hand, just like Clea.

Perhaps because of the memory surfacing after a long time, Aria just stared at Clea without saying anything.

Clea spoke gently towards such an Aria.

“So I’ll die for you. Right here, right now.”

With those final words, Clea closed her eyes.

Her body leaning on the railing slowly tilted outwards.

“No!”

Aria hurriedly approached Clea and grabbed her.

Clea was calmly observing this situation.

‘You have no choice but to grab me. If by any chance I were to fall from here, your situation would become dire.’

Anyone could easily predict what would happen next if Clea fell from the railing here.

How could a young lady suddenly fall from a terrace while entertaining guests? And in her right mind at that.

Moreover, the other party was Aria, who had recently had an unpleasant incident with Clea.

If she became the subject of even a little gossip, the consequences were obvious.

“Don’t do this.”

“The person who most wants my death right now is you, isn’t it?”

“Even so, not now.”

Aria bit her lip and swallowed the words inside.

In truth, she did have a wish for Clea to die like this.

If Clea died, there would be no one left by Admund’s side.

Aria wanted to seize that moment to wedge herself in by his side.

But not now.

She was already in a crisis situation because of previous incidents.

Currently, her closest aide was imprisoned on charges of trying to kill Clea.

None other than Aria’s closest aide.

People were convinced that Aria must have given such orders to her maid.

In this situation, she couldn’t afford to escalate things any further.

‘Of course, if I had intended that, I shouldn’t have come here in the first place.’

Seeing Aria like this, Clea clicked her tongue and whispered in her ear.

“This is your last chance, Aria.”

The last chance to kill her.

“Once this moment passes, you’ll never have another chance. Because I won’t let myself be hurt anymore.”

From beginning to end, Clea was very composed. As if she knew everything.

Aria hated that composed look. She also hated the arrogant gaze Clea sent her way, like that of a victor.

In front of her, Aria felt like a loser.

Was that why? For a moment, Aria felt the urge to push Clea away. Then this insufferable relationship would end too.

That point kept tempting Aria over and over, shaking her heart.

The desire to end this relationship as soon as possible numbed her reason.

“It just takes one decision.”

And it was the same for Clea as well.

She too wanted to settle her relationship with Aria soon.

She no longer wanted to see this irritating presence constantly appearing to provoke her.

So Clea fanned the flames for the wavering Aria.

To end this futile relationship through one choice.

“I told you. Not now.”

But Aria did not easily give in. She thought time was on her side anyway.

Clea, with her terminally ill body, could not live long. Even now, Clea was slowly withering away.

Moreover, knowing this place itself was a trap, Aria thought she absolutely must not act as Clea wanted.

Looking at Aria’s appearance, Clea smirked.

“Then you’ll never have another chance.”

“Now you’ve gone blind too, I see. Can’t you see the mark on that white back of your hand? You’re going to die soon anyway.”

As Aria said, Clea was under a curse.

A life with a time limit, having to live each day anxiously not knowing when death would strike.

If it were Aria, the mental stress she would have felt because of this must have been quite severe.

Clea too sometimes felt stress because of the curse.

“Well. We’ll have to see about long and short, won’t we?”

Clea didn’t mind. Now she always had someone by her side who cared for her.

“I’ll break this curse soon, Aria.”

“You can never break the curse.”

“I look forward to seeing how long you can keep being so arrogant.”

With those final words, Aria separated from Clea. It was a sign that she found it unpleasant to have any more physical contact with her.

But her eyes did not leave her at all.

It was because of the anxiety that Clea might try to fall from the railing again in another sudden situation.

But in reality, Clea had no intention of falling from here from the beginning.

‘Why would I choose such a painful path? I just wanted to tease her a bit.’

If Admund had seen this, he probably would have lectured for hours, but fortunately, Admund was not here.

Thinking about that point, she was contemplating teasing Aria a bit more when.

“Lady Clea, a guest has arrived.”

Once again, Oberon came to inform her.

“Your Grace, it’s been so long…”

“Who is it?”

Interrupting Aria who was about to say something unnecessary, she asked who the visitor was.

Then Oberon’s gaze turned towards Aria.

Seeing that, Clea roughly guessed.

“Duke Hersher has arrived and wishes to see Lady Clea now.”