“What are you taking responsibility for?”

Lea looked at the man with a trembling gaze. The red eyes staring at her were engulfed in enormous inflammation.

An inexplicable tension constricted her heart, and she swallowed nervously. Just the look in his eyes made her feel as if she would parch from a deep thirst.

“Count, please calm down and sit, let’s talk…”

But Lea’s words could not be completed. The Count, gradually approaching, silenced her by swallowing her words with his lips.

“!!!!”

Her mind went blank at the sensation of his hand skillfully binding her knuckles and the velvety feeling that rushed urgently into her mouth.

It was an aggressive kiss, as if he would consume all of her.

As the intensity of the kiss deepened, Lea began to pant as if burdened.

“Hah… haa.”

As their lips parted, a thin silver thread connected them. Lea felt as if she would get drunk on the heat emanating from the Count’s body.

With halfdazed eyes, she looked up, and Akkia swept her tangled long hair aside.

He had likely intended to simply brush her hair aside, but every time his burning touch met her skin, Lea flinched.

Before she knew it, all her senses were heightened towards Akkia.

“Lea.”

Perhaps her state stimulated Akkia; he called her name in a voice strained with restraint.

Her consciousness grew faint at the melodious voice that tingled her ears.

His lips slowly slid downwards—from her jawline to her neck and collarbone, grazing slowly.

Each time Akkia deeply swallowed, Lea could not regain her senses, utterly soaked in the unfamiliar pleasure he provided.

“If you dislike it…”

His eyes seeking permission met Lea’s.

‘Dislike it? Far from it…’

Her body was heating up, contrary to dislike.

To ask her if she dislikes it after arousing every cell in her body to this degree.

‘Set it up so I can’t refuse.’

Her eyelashes fluttered at his words.

She, too, might have gotten drunk on the side effect of the medicine, as her body trembled with a dizzying thrill every time he touched her.

‘I also this man…’

Lea felt the thirst she had been holding back boiling throughout her body. Reason told her to stop here, but she couldn’t.

Slowly, Lea shook her head. Then, slowly, she reached out and pulled Akkia’s neck closer.

‘I want it.’

Gently, implying consent.

For a moment, Akkia’s eyes deepened at Lea’s pull.

“I don’t dislike it. I am… eh.”

As if her words were a signal, Akkia’s lips collided with hers again. The buttons of Lea’s dress began to loosen one by one, and her clothes fell.

Soon, their bare skin touched. The hot heat felt through their skin wasn’t unpleasant.

Again, they were connected by a deep, intense kiss.

Lea was enveloped as if the Count wouldn’t miss even her smallest breath.

Akkia slowly, and deeply, invaded Lea.

(This is a time separator.)

Before the dawn, in a room where silence roamed, Akkia who had awakened sat up.

He seemed to have fallen asleep without realizing it.

Akkia stared intently at Lea, who was still breathing unevenly in her sleep. Her red hair was scattered on the pure white bedding.

“…I didn’t intend for this to happen.”

Quietly muttering, he wrapped her red hair around his finger. Although he should have gotten used to it by now, the color of her hair remained a mystery every time he looked at it.
It was not uncommon for someone to possess colored hair in the empire. However, it was usually a murky blend of different shades.

This was the first time someone with such vivid red hair had appeared.

“But somehow, it feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before…”

Akkia, who had been fiddling with Lea’s hair, let out a quiet chuckle.

“There’s no way.”

As if dismissing a ridiculous thought, he silently shook his head.

How could a chicklike girl like her possibly thwart the longterm plans he had been preparing for over a decade?

Even to himself, the situation seemed absurd, and the corner of Akkia’s mouth twisted.

Ellei must have noticed that he had been taking Polarium poison. That’s why she had intentionally given him tea with a sedative effect.

Ellei probably believed that his heart would stop after drinking that tea. In reality, Akkia had taken a heartstopping drug he had prepared in advance.

A drug that stops the heart for about a week.

If Lea’s new drug hadn’t awakened him early, everything would have gone according to plan.

Because Akkia woke up earlier than expected, all plans were off. Despite Rikel’s urgent advice, Akkia couldn’t bring himself to move.

If he were to leave now, Lea’s execution would proceed as planned.

His former self wouldn’t have cared about a healer’s life one way or another.

“I just couldn’t bring myself to leave.”

Akkia gently stroked the cheek of the sleeping Lea, releasing a faint sigh.

Why he couldn’t leave, what had held him back.

Akkia seemed to have an answer, chuckling softly to himself.