The deepened dark eyes held nothing.

Meeting that gaze, Ariel couldn’t think of anything. All the words and resolutions she had been repeating crumbled away, leaving her mind blank.

It felt like she had forgotten how to breathe.

Kaius slowly rose from the bench after closing the book. The time he took to close and open his eyes wasn’t long, but in Ariel’s consciousness, it felt like an eternity.

He approached Ariel and quietly handed her the book. Ariel, too stiff to move a finger, couldn’t take it. When she didn’t, the book was thrown back onto the bench with a thud, and Kaius brushed past her as if she wasn’t there. During this time, Ariel couldn’t move an inch.

When Ariel realized what had happened, it was the moment Zaparos collapsed to one side with a loud noise. Behind the Zaparos, cut in half horizontally, she saw Kaius leaving the greenhouse.

Finally coming to her senses, Ariel ran towards him, struggling to recall the words she had rehearsed countless times for this moment.

By the time she blocked Kaius’s path as he entered the trail, she had regained some courage. Ridiculously, she even felt hopeful based on the behavior he had shown in recent times.

“…Kaius, let’s talk.”

“About what?”

His question contained no anger or resentment. That made her heart clench even more, and a heavy pain settled in her solar plexus.

“Let’s go back to the greenhouse. It’s difficult to say outside.”

Ariel looked around once, then back at Kaius, and reached out to take him to the greenhouse. She grabbed his firm arm with both hands and pulled, but his arm slipped out of her grasp. As she raised her gaze to meet his eyes, Ariel’s body stiffened.

The cold gaze and tightly closed lips were reminiscent of his past self.

“Stop deceiving me.”

Ariel’s hands, suddenly damp with cold sweat, clenched so tightly that her veins stood out. Biting the soft flesh inside her mouth, she barely held back the tears that threatened to spill, and once again clung to him.

“Please… I beg you, Kaius.”

Kaius tilted his head slightly at the sight of Ariel pleading desperately.

Is this pity for a man who won’t live long? Kaius let out a low chuckle as he looked at Ariel’s eyes, which seemed almost pitiful.

“What to do. I have nothing I want to hear or say.”

At his excessively dry voice, devoid of any inflection, tears spilled from Ariel’s eyes. Remembering the previous night when they had looked at each other in the white snow, her self-loathing grew even stronger.

What had she expected? Unconditional understanding?

No, that wasn’t it. She had only hoped he would listen to her explanation. And that he would tolerate and help her until the day she saved him. Though he might hate and dislike her, she just wanted him to wait.

Amidst the unceasing tears, Ariel gazed desperately into Kaius’s unfeeling eyes.

At this sight, Kaius’s gaze deepened immeasurably. The promise she made at the palace was all a lie. No. Perhaps this was what she couldn’t say. I’m letting you die, Your Grace. No sane person could say such a thing.

Consideration? Ha. Now, a hollow laugh kept escaping. Not knowing she was a woman trying to kill him. He had wanted to possess her, to know her. And what about the unfamiliar times of late? He found himself unbearably ridiculous. Overwhelmed by self-loathing, Kaius’s face, now wiped of laughter, was excessively unfeeling.

“…All of this is ultimately to save you, Your Grace. Please believe me. Please. I’ll explain in detail, so please give me some time. Okay? If you don’t like the greenhouse, let’s go somewhere else. Wherever you want.”

“I told you, didn’t I? Stop trying to deceive me.”

His voice, lowered further, betrayed no emotion. Kaius, looking at Ariel with indifferent eyes, began to walk past her.

“We need to go to the demon realm. There’s a plant there that neutralizes the components of Zaparos. I’m going to get it and save you. So please… don’t misunderstand.”

As Ariel spoke softly but clearly behind his back, he paused for a moment.

“Well, I don’t think I’m misunderstanding anything.”

With those final words, Kaius quickly walked away. Ariel, desperately watching his retreating back, collapsed onto the trail.

The image of him throwing himself to save her in the library, their sunset walk hand in hand like affectionate lovers. And recently, he had suppressed his desires and just held her as they slept.

And that wasn’t all.

Last night, in the first snow, the look in his eyes was clearly different. In those eyes as deep as the night sky, there was definitely something different from other days.

So maybe… she had unknowingly harbored such expectations. That he might understand her.

“Lady Ariel… What on earth is happening?”

As Kaius disappeared from sight, Anna approached and wrapped her arms around Ariel’s back. At her voice, full of worry, Ariel could no longer hold back her tears.

The thick, hot tears flowing down her cheeks sparkled in the piercingly cold moonlight.

***

“Anna, go to the bedroom and bring me the greenhouse key.”

“Are you alright now?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Please.”

After crying for a long time, Ariel finally calmed herself and got up from the cold ground to head to the greenhouse. There was no use in saying anything to him now, so she had to wait.

This was something she had to go through eventually. Even though she had prepared herself, it wasn’t easy.

Right now, more than anything, she needed to revive the Zaparos he had cut down. She needed that flower to save him.

But no matter how much life force she poured into the cut Zaparos, it didn’t even sprout the tiniest bud. With this much life force, it should have grown a little. Only then did Ariel examine the cut surface closely. It was dry, as if the tree had simply withered. The tree was already dead.

“Ah…”

There was only one seed left now. Due to its size, Zaparos couldn’t be brought from the demon realm, and there was no way to obtain seeds anywhere. Ludvian had said that was all when he first handed over the seed. So to grow it again, she needed Kaius’s permission. The moment he cut that down too, Ariel’s life would be over.

A hollow laugh escaped her.

After a life lived to the fullest, all that remained was just a month’s time. It felt empty and powerless. Ariel, who had been standing calmly, slumped over the trunk of the Zaparos. Her shoulders shook intermittently.

If she couldn’t hand over the oil at the next trade, Ludvian would find out everything. Then not only her life but her parents’ lives would be in danger too.

If he didn’t allow her to grow Zaparos again, she would have to settle everything before that happened.

It was time to move considering the worst-case scenario.

When Ariel raised her head, her face was stained with tears, but her eyes were blazing.

***

Kaius, who had come to the bedroom earlier than usual, approached the bedroom window without turning on the lights. A pale blue smoke rose from the cigar in his hand. In the faint moonlight seeping through, Kaius’s reflection in the glass window showed eyes that were chillingly deep and unfeeling.

[…It’s to save you, Your Grace. Please believe me.]

Ariel’s voice echoed through his cluttered mind.

Saying it’s to save him after making him die? Kaius let out a silent laugh, and the cigarette smoke he exhaled through his lips shattered against the transparent glass window.

From the beginning, it was a relationship built on deception, and that continued until now. Perhaps it would continue in the future. Now he could no longer trust his wife. However, he knew that her words about saving him were not a lie. Regardless of success, she would do her best to try.

Was this the reason she didn’t just accept the greenhouse in the end? Did she think she was maintaining her conscience in her own way? Kaius laughed bitterly at the sudden memory of that moment.

Whatever the case, it was all irreversible now.

So what did he want now?

Life? Well. Had he ever clung to life? What he valued was the life that shone brilliantly above mere existence. Creating a perfect Elbartan through courage, challenge, intelligence, and dignity. Such things would come as naturally as breathing in the time he had left. There was only one duty as the family head he hadn’t fulfilled yet. Ensuring that the lofty name of Elbartan would be passed down to future generations.

And…

Possessing his wife, who had toyed with and insulted him, more perfectly.

Kaius could easily think of a more certain method than the feeble efforts of the past. Although it wasn’t what he truly wanted, and he might never be able to have it…

An opportunity had come, so he would seize it.

After remaining motionless in that position for a long time, Kaius moved towards the sofa. He unfastened his sword belt and placed it right beside him as he sat back deeply on the sofa. That seat was positioned to directly face the door that didn’t require knocking.

She wasn’t a woman to give up easily. So she would come back.

[We need to go to the demon realm. There’s a plant there that neutralizes the components of Zaparos. I’m going to get it and save you. So please…]

It’s true that going to the demon realm is life-threatening. Moreover, taking a woman who can’t even protect herself? That’s nothing short of madness. He knew well that the reason for victory in the demon realm war was because it was in the human realm. So going directly was impossible.

Kaius thought of a demon. Lucifer Tanark, the commander-in-chief during the demon realm war. The demon prince who had formed a connection with Kaius due to the war. For now, it would be best to contact him first. The chances of him granting the request were low, but it was a better choice than going directly.

Leisurely crossing his arms and legs as he sat, he checked the time. It was then that he heard a faint knock.