It wasn’t a joke; he really was making me want to die every single day.
He had also said he would never forget the times she had thrown tantrums at him, wailed about his lack of attention, and provocatively bowed in front of him wearing a revealing dress.

At this point, she felt it couldn’t continue like this.

“How long will you keep living like this?”

“Indefinitely.”

“What?”

Liz exclaimed, almost jumping up, and quickly scanned the surroundings. Fortunately, no one was paying them any mind.

Kain spoke in a calm tone.
“Come to think of it, living like this seems fine.”

“Is that… a joke?”

Her desire to deny reality manifested itself in the form of a faint laugh.

However, that laughter quickly vanished at his single statement.

“Is it not?”

Good heavens. He must be really crazy!

“So… you’re planning to stay here and serve me for the rest of your life?”

“What’s wrong with that? I’m earning money honestly, it’s good.”

A chill winter wind swept over Liz’s cheeks from beyond the row of fir trees.

As if trapped in an ice cave with no exit, Liz felt a shiver run through her.
This is… this is not it.

“I don’t think this is right, Your Highness,” Liz said with a solemn face.

“Why don’t you just go back to the palace?”

It was mainly for my own sake, but it wasn’t like I had no feelings for this man. The daily life here was not what he truly wished for.

“Why go back to a place where no one’s waiting for me? The empire is doing just fine under the governance of the Duke of Seobjeong…”

“But don’t you have an ideal haven in mind?”

Liz had once had a conversation about children with Kain a long time ago.
He lamented the dark side that lay behind the glamour of the empire, where commoners’ children were driven to work as expendable goods, easily used and discarded by the nobility.

And he had told me that if he were given the power, he would provide every child with opportunities for welfare and education, his eyes sparkling as he spoke.

Since it was one of the few serious conversations Liz had had with him, she remembered it clearly.

Kain remained silent for a long while.
Once again, the winter wind that blew made the silence between them even more unbearable.

She had to say something.

“And why is there no one waiting for you?”

Kain’s gaze shifted from his feet to Liz.

“There’s Lord Ishar, isn’t there?”

His expression momentarily hardened, then…

Ha[Dash]!

He let out a laugh as refreshing as the melting of summer ice.

That cheerful laughter made her recall the kissing incident from the other day.

‘Do you regret it?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘If you’re not sure, do it again.’

‘No, I don’t regret it. Not at all!’
Like someone who hesitates whether to laugh or not and then bursts into laughter, a sudden and cheerful laugh also erupted from Kain at this moment.

Liz felt relieved.

Even though the rather passionate kiss came to mind along with that laugh, it couldn’t shatter the current peaceful emotions.

Because it was merely… a happening.

Seeing that even Kain, who had wandered in and out of her room as if it were his own since that day, didn’t mention the incident, it was clear that it was a simple happening.
At times, the lack of mention was so great that Liz even thought that perhaps I had kissed a man other than Kain.

It made sense, for on that night, the man with whom Liz had shared a sweet kiss was not a platinum-haired man with blue eyes but a man with black hair and golden eyes, and in Liz’s mind, the two men had not yet properly merged.

“However, you.”

Suddenly interrupted by a voice a tone lower, Liz’s train of thought was broken.

“Why do you remember the name Eshar?”

“…….”

At a fact even I hadn’t known, Liz blinked her eyes.
‘Is that so? Why do I remember that man’s name, I wonder?’

Kain looked at Liz with narrowed eyes.

“Well……”

Unintentionally letting a response slip, Liz tilted her head, searching her memory.

Eshar…… Eshar……

Was he important in the original work?

Or was it because of his contradictory behavior—setting a splendid meal before me but not lending the pen and paper piled in front of me? Yes, that would be memorable. But she couldn’t say that, so…

“Well… it seems I can now remember men’s names a bit too, it seems.”
It was a somewhat satisfying improvisation. Finding her own increasing slyness amusing, Liz let out a soft snicker and kicked at the dry grass with her toes.

In contrast, Kain’s gaze, fixed on her profile, had cooled. No, it was burning intensely.

Had all my efforts to get closer and improve relations with her over the past few days been in vain?

Had the stories of my past that I’d shared in hopes of getting even a little closer failed to stir any emotion in her?
I thought she’d appreciate the arm pillows I made for her, my somewhat aggressive attempts to gain her attention, the seductive allure, and so on.

I thought reminding her of these would rekindle some feelings from that time.

Ever since the kiss we shared that day, my body had been boiling like a fireball. Just hearing the ‘K’ in “kiss” triggers an involuntary response from my body; I’ve been biting my lips just to hold back. And yet, you… you’re so unaffected that you can even think about another man.
Watching Liz from the side as she scuffed the dry grass with her toes, he couldn’t help but acknowledge the dark desire within him.

He wanted to confine her.

In a world where there would be no other man but him.