Chapter 4.1 – The Castle of the White Rose (1)

That day, Boris looked vastly different from usual.  

“Livie, what would you do if I had to leave far away?”  

“Far away?”  

When she tilted her head in curiosity, Boris gave her an enigmatic smile and said,  

“Yes, if I had to leave the village.”  

“Leave? Where…?”  

To her, it was an utterly unfamiliar notion. The villagers rarely left this place. They were born here, and they died here. Leaving the village only happened for one reason:  

Conscription for war.  

“Are you going to war?”  

“……”  

Boris said nothing, but his face silently affirmed it.  

“No, don’t go. It’s dangerous.”  

Livie quickly grabbed and clung to his arm. Boris still seemed so weak, a foolish crybaby who would tear up at the slightest thing.  

What if he got hurt on such a bloody battlefield? No, even getting hurt might be the least of her worries.  

“You might die.”  

No one could guarantee survival in war. Livie was terrified of that.  

“Livie, I’ll come back.”  

The fingers brushing her face were cold.  

“I’ll definitely come back.”  

“……”  

“When I return as a Duke, let’s get married then.”  

***

“Are you okay?”  

Blink, blink.  

“Livie, it’s me. Can you hear my voice?”  

The voice echoed as if it were coming from underwater.  

Who is it? Who’s calling me?  

Livie strained her ears to identify the owner of the voice. It was a voice both familiar and unfamiliar. The owner was…  

Lying down, she shifted her eyes like an owl. The face looking down at her with concern was one she had grown quite familiar with over the past day. According to his introduction, he was Boris, the Knight Commander of the Kalini Knight Order and now a newly appointed Duke.  

It must be a dream. This must all be a dream.  

Her desperate thought shattered as the sensations in her fingertips and the clarity of her vision gradually returned.  

‘This is reality.’  

Livie Hayden, who was supposed to become the bride of Duke Resette by royal decree, was now here, in an unknown place.  

“……”  

She tried to say something, but all she could hear was the sound of her lips cracking. Her lips and mouth were parched.  

“Wait a moment.”  

He came down toward her and busily moved his hands. She heard the sound of liquid being poured, and then the cold, firm texture of metal touched her lips.  

She felt hands lifting her limp body off the bed.  

As he tilted the metal cup, water flowed into her mouth, moistening it. As Livie gulped down the water, her vision slowly regained focus.  

Smack!  

Where she found the strength, Livie didn’t know, but she fiercely slapped the cup away. Water splashed, soaking her clothes and the bed sheets. The metal cup fell and clattered loudly on the floor.  

“D-Don’t come near me.”  

Livie scrambled to the edge of the bed, avoiding the gentle hands that had been feeding her water. She curled her toes and wrapped her arms tightly around herself, creating as much of a barrier as she could.  

“……”  

Boris froze in the posture of holding the cup, staring at her.  

He sat there, stunned, as if unable to process how quickly she had escaped from his grasp.  

Drip, drip.  

Water trickling down his fingers was the only sign that time was still moving. To break the eerie silence, Livie forced her dry lips to part and spoke.  

“Why are you doing this to me?”  

Her hands, clutching her knees, trembled violently. The shaking spread throughout her entire body.  

“Why, why?”  

Even at Livie’s question, Boris didn’t answer. Water droplets fell from his black hair as well.  

He shook his head slightly to shake off the water, then stood up and picked up the cup that had rolled away.  

“Why, you ask, Livie?”  

His voice was heavy with emotion.  

“Do you really not know why I’m doing this?”  

Step, step.  

As he drew closer, Livie curled herself into an even tighter ball.  

Creak.  

When Boris placed one knee on the bed, the mattress dipped, causing Livie’s body to tilt. She scrambled to regain her balance and scooted further back.  

“I said don’t come near me.”  

He ignored her plea and moved closer. Livie had no more room to retreat. The ornate headboard of the bed pressed painfully against her back.  

“Why are you avoiding me?”  

Tears welled up in his eyes again.  

“Avoiding you? Why do you think?”  

Did he really not understand?  

“You’re going to be my bride, Livie. That’s what we agreed on, isn’t it?”  

His voice, thick with moisture, made Livie’s body tremble. From earlier, he had been repeating incomprehensible words.  

“Boris, listen to me, okay?”  

As the large man loomed over her petite frame, his shadow engulfed her completely.  

Livie, trapped within that shadow, held her breath and spoke.  

“I… I need to keep my purity.”  

Her voice, squeezed out between her ragged breaths, was desperate.  

Looking into his crazed, glinting eyes, her pleas spilled out naturally.  

“So, please, let’s not do this.”  

Her voice, barely audible, continued with difficulty.  

“Please.”  

Tears welled up uncontrollably. It felt as though all the water she had just drunk was now pouring out through her tear ducts. Her mouth, briefly moistened, went dry again.  

“……”  

Unlike Livie, who was a mess of tears, Boris looked as though he had turned to stone, like an ancient statue unearthed from ruins.  

“Hmm?”  

Even at her tearful question, the man didn’t respond.  

“Boris…”  

“……”  

“Please let me go. I have to return before it’s too late.”  

“Why?”  

His question, spoken as he gazed down at her, made Livie answer hurriedly.  

“M-My father. My father is being held by the knights.”  

Since being captured by the knights of the Resette Dukedom, she hadn’t seen her father. 

What if they had harmed him? What if, in their anger over my abduction, they had…  

“I’ve captured all the knights. Your father is safe.”  

“……”  

His calm and definitive answer left Livie momentarily drained of strength.  

“He’s… safe?”  

“Yes. My knights remaining in Tiso Village are protecting the village. The Earl is safe. Rio and Edna, too.”  

Hearing the names of the twins from his lips, Livie looked at him with unfamiliar eyes.  

All along the journey, she had thought only of escape, yet now Boris was reassuring her about everything she had been worried about.  

“So don’t worry, Livie. Don’t worry about anything.”  

Just because they were safe now didn’t mean they would continue to be safe. He had captured all the knights, so for now, word might not spread. But eventually, Duke Resette would learn of Livie’s situation.  

Duke Resette was said to have a ferocious temperament. If he discovered that the bride he had secured through an agreement had been abducted by another man, then…  

“Boris, it’s not that simple. If I don’t arrive at the Resette Territory on time, the Duke will find out. Then they’ll march on us, and…”  

War would break out.  

The reputation of the Kalini Knight Order was well-known, but if they were to face the knights of the Resette Dukedom, the outcome would be uncertain.  

If the enraged Duke led his army to attack…  

Such a small village could be erased as if it had never existed.  

“No, Boris.”  

Imagining the scene vividly before her eyes, Livie quickly shook her head and urgently grabbed his arm.  

“Send me back. Send me to the Duke. Then everything will be fine.”  

Her pleas continued, but cruelly, there was no sign of an answer from him.  

“Why do you want to go to the Duke so badly?”  

His gaze was genuinely puzzled.  

“Don’t tell me… you love the Duke?”  

The curious light in his eyes gradually shifted to an unknown heat, as if slightly unhinged. His piercing gaze seemed to devour her.  

“Love…?”  

Livie suddenly felt her breath catch. Love? Such emotions were a luxury she couldn’t afford.  

“Boris, there’s no such thing as love in noble marriages. It only happens in relationships where everything to be exchanged is clearly defined.”  

Her voice was shockingly cold.  

“No matter how great your achievements are, you can’t defy the royal decree.”  

In the end, Livie switched from pleading to threatening.  

“My purity… is my dowry.”  

Even though she spoke with a hardened expression, he didn’t waver one bit.  

“……”  

“So I must maintain my purity. If they find out you abducted me… suspicion will arise. I’ll die. You wouldn’t want me to die, would you, Boris?”  

Boris, who had appeared as if petrified by magic, slowly began to move at her words.  

“Your dowry?”  

His narrowed eyes focused on her.  

“Say it again.”  

“My purity is the dowry my husband must receive. What you’re doing now only provides grounds for doubt about my purity. So before it’s too late…”  

Livie trembled as she spoke. Duke Resette was a man obsessively fixated on her physical purity.  

“Before it’s too late?”  

His voice, languidly resonating, seeped into her ears like honey. Livie stammered as she continued.  

“Yes, I… I must go to the place where my husband is waiting. In a pure state. It’s written in the marriage contract.”  

As she finished speaking, the bed creaked, sinking on one side. The eerie sensation snapped Livie back to her senses. A strange light flickered in his eyes.  

Boris crawled toward her on all fours, step by step, like a predator teasing its prey. As his large body approached, Livie curled herself into an almost fetal position.  

But it was futile; she was swallowed up by his shadow.