Caught off guard by Dietrich’s unexpected confession, Celiya was completely at a loss for words.

She had meant to get angry.

Like a child unable to control their emotions.

She had meant to yell at him, asking if he knew how worried she had been, until her anger subsided.

“I like you.”

But at Dietrich’s confession as he looked at her straight on, Celiya forgot that she had meant to be angry.

“If you’ll allow it.”

Dietrich continued as he smoothed Celiya’s disheveled hair.

“I want to be your real lover, not a fake one.”

It was a confession dripping with sincerity in every word.

After thinking for a moment, Celiya took Dietrich’s hand and spoke.

“Dietrich, as you know, I’m terminally ill.”

She had less than a year left to live.

No matter Dietrich’s healing ability, he wouldn’t be able to heal her rotting, decaying internal organs.

That’s what Celiya thought.

Though she was genuinely happy at Dietrich’s confession, she couldn’t just accept it with unmitigated joy.

“I have less than a year to live.”

“I can heal you.”

“How?”

To Celiya’s question, Dietrich answered in a languid voice.

“My healing ability manifests when I make contact with the other person.”

Dietrich interlaced his fingers with Celiya’s.

“Simple contact has a calming effect, but to heal wounds or remove physical pain, I need bodily fluids other than blood. And among bodily fluids, the most effective is…”

Dietrich brought Celiya’s hand to his lips, gently kissing it as he continued.

“My mother told me that mixing bodies with the other person is the most effective.”

Celiya’s eyes widened.

It’s not that she didn’t understand what Dietrich meant.

“I won’t do anything you dislike.”

“…”

“I respect you.”

Coming from the man who had just roughly kissed her, his words weren’t entirely trustworthy.

But Celiya knew that if she had rejected Dietrich’s kiss, he would have backed off without protest.

The reason she hadn’t rejected him was because she also had feelings for Dietrich.

Two people with the same pain, with the same purpose, inevitably developing feelings for each other – in a way, it was a natural progression.

So she couldn’t help but accept Dietrich’s confession.

Because Celiya felt the same way about Dietrich.

Celiya couldn’t remember when she had started to like Dietrich.

Was it when the cold look in his eyes turned warm as he gazed at her?

Was it when he fed her?

Or was it from the moment he said he would hold her leash?

“When I first saw you.”

Celiya opened her lips.

“I thought your eyes were so beautiful.”

She had never seen such vivid red eyes before in her life.

Even in the moment after killing the emperor, as her consciousness faded and she collapsed coughing blood, she thought his eyes, devoid of desire and quietly burning with anger, looked just like embers in a fire.

Perhaps that’s why she felt safe letting go of consciousness in his arms.

“I had never seen eyes like that in my life.”

The eyes of men looking at her had always held some kind of desire.

The man who claimed to love men, the priest who claimed to serve God, even the emperor who died by her hand – they were all the same.

But Dietrich was different.

From the moment they met, he looked down at her with eyes filled with pure anger and killing intent.

So she thought it wouldn’t be so bad to die by his hand.

At least he probably wouldn’t do anything strange to her corpse.

Celiya wanted to touch Dietrich’s face.

-May I touch your face for a moment?

Recalling when Dietrich had asked her permission, Celiya looked up at him and asked.

“…May I touch your face?”

“You don’t need my permission.”

Dietrich said as he brought Celiya’s hand to his face.

“Because you’re also my master.”

Celiya realized then that she had truly become Dietrich’s master in full.

Celiya caressed Dietrich’s face.

His flawless, smooth skin was captured by Celiya’s hand.

Celiya’s hand traced Dietrich’s masculine jawline, sharp nose bridge, and neat neck.

Her hand moved over his broad forehead and straight eyebrows, long eyelids, and finally came to rest on Dietrich’s moist lips.

Celiya imagined a future with Dietrich.

Always trapped in the shadows of the past, she had never even dreamed of a happy future.

She thought revenge was the final destination of her life.

She hadn’t thought about life beyond that at all.

But a life living together with Dietrich didn’t seem so bad.

It might be fun to travel wherever their feet took them, or live quietly farming in some remote mountain.

Simple, just simple.

She wanted to go somewhere no one knew them and live comfortably.

Having someone to fully trust and rely on felt this good.

It was a feeling she had never experienced when she was alone.

“After Abelon falls, after everything is finished…”

Celiya paused and looked up at Dietrich.

Dietrich was quietly waiting for her to continue.

That sight felt indescribably lovable.

“Will you live quietly with me, traveling around?”

At Celiya’s words, Dietrich smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling.

“I’d like that.”

“You really won’t do anything I dislike?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then from now on, don’t do anything and stay still. No matter what I do, you have to stay still.”

Dietrich nodded obediently like a gentle lamb.

Enough talking.

Celiya wrapped her arms around Dietrich’s firm neck and kissed him.

Dietrich opened his mouth docilely, and Celiya delved inside.

She pushed deep into his mouth, then gently bit the inside of his lip with her teeth.

Celiya stole Dietrich’s saliva and breath, just as he had done to her earlier.

Wet sounds echoed in the room.

Dietrich’s hand started to touch the back of Celiya’s head, but stopped short and grasped the bed sheets instead.

Seeing his hand with blue veins bulging, Celiya slowly pulled her lips away from Dietrich.

As their lips parted, a thread of saliva stretched between them.

Desire glistened on Dietrich’s face as he looked at Celiya.

The beast-like desire, overflowing and spilling over, was clearly visible even to Celiya’s eyes.

It felt suffocating, like someone was choking her, to see his eyes yearning for her so intensely.

Nevertheless, Dietrich kept his promise.

He stayed still without touching her.

He prioritized her words over his own surging desire.

Feeling her heart grow warm, Celiya opened her mouth.

“You can move now.”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Dietrich grabbed the back of Celiya’s head.

Hot breath rushed between their lips.

Dietrich roughly explored inside, then gently scraped.

At the sensation of heat spreading throughout her body, Celiya’s toes curled involuntarily.

Dietrich was gentle yet rough.

He seemed tender one moment, then pushed like a beast the next.

As if they were each other’s entire world, the two kissed over and over.

Dietrich’s hand slowly moved down below Celiya’s collarbone.

At the sensual touch, Celiya unconsciously let out a moan.

Dietrich’s lips descended on Celiya’s forehead, neck, collarbone, and protruding clothes.

At the sensation of hot passion consuming her body, Celiya tightly embraced Dietrich’s firm neck.

Their heartbeats could be felt vividly through their pressed chests.

Their hearts were beating erratically, frantically.

Just then, the heavy sensation against her lower body snapped Celiya out of her pleasure-soaked state.

What was protruding from between his pants seemed a bit much to be considered human.

It definitely won’t fit.

Even if her terminally ill body would be healed, if something like that entered her body, wouldn’t she die instantly?

Forget healing, it felt like her body would be torn apart, split in half.

Celiya trembled at the fear she felt for the first time.

“…Stop.”

At Celiya’s words, Dietrich’s movements completely ceased.

Dietrich caught his breath for a moment, then neatly fixed Celiya’s dress.

Dietrich’s hand was warm as he smoothed her disheveled hair after fixing her dress.

“I’ll never do anything you dislike. So don’t be afraid.”

With those words, Dietrich lifted Celiya up and headed for the bathroom.

“What are you doing?”

“I still smell like blood, so I think I got it on you.”

Dietrich carefully set Celiya down in the bathroom.

“Can you wash yourself? Or should I help…”

“I’ll wash alone.”

At Celiya’s quick answer, Dietrich’s lips twisted in a smile as he left the bathroom.

Soon after, Dietrich came back in carrying a tub full of bathwater on both shoulders.

Then he poured the steaming bathwater into the tub.

Splash-

The empty tub quickly filled with hot water.

When Celiya looked at Dietrich questioningly, wondering why he didn’t have a servant do this, he smiled and said:

“I’ll be in the next room, so call if you need anything.”

With those words, Dietrich handed Celiya a change of clothes and towels.

Thud.

The bathroom door closed as Dietrich left.

Celiya undressed and sank into the steaming bathtub.

With the tension released, Celiya dozed off in the tub.

The next day, the winner of the hunting competition was announced.