Chapter 4.3

When she came to her senses, she was in his arms. Her tightly held body felt his heartbeat clearly.  

Thud, thud.  

The rhythmic sound gradually brought her back to reality.  

The heat of the man holding her was stifling.  

“Don’t do this, okay?”  

His endlessly soothing and worried voice gently echoed in her ears.  

Holding her tightly, he shifted their positions. Livie was now inside, while he stood dangerously close to the window.  

Realizing that he was half hanging out of the window, she urgently whispered:  

“It’s dangerous.”  

This time, she pulled him back.  

All she could do was tug at his collar, but he followed her motion as if she had cast a spell on him.  

Even as he obediently stood upright, he didn’t let go of the woman in his arms. Instead, he tightened his grip to ensure she couldn’t escape.  

“Now ‘we’ are both safe, right?”  

Boris whispered into her ear.  

“…”  

Livie couldn’t say anything.  

He pulled her closer again.  

Being held so tightly left her unable to resist properly.  

Her legs lost all strength. Soon, a tingling sensation began to creep up her stiffened legs as cramps took hold.  

Her body was still fighting the fear.  

Realizing she had almost fallen out of the window, delayed panic flooded her.  

Her entire body felt frozen, as if she had fallen into an icy river and barely survived.  

His body, unlike hers, radiated heat like molten lava.  

Instinctively, Livie sought that warmth.  

Against her will, she leaned into him.  

His strong arms held her trembling body tightly. In his embrace, Livie gradually began to calm down.  

“Shh, it’s okay, Livie. It’s okay now.”

The quickened heartbeat gradually returned to normal under the soothing touch patting her back.  

“…!”  

For a moment, she felt her body lift off the ground. He had picked her up in an instant, as if lifting a feather.  

“Put me down.”  

She spoke urgently, but he, of course, pretended not to hear. The hands gripping her shoulders and behind her knees only tightened their hold on her.  

Livie felt a strange sense of reassurance from his strength.  

Reassurance?  

The sudden realization of discomfort made her shudder as she looked up at Boris again. He was the source of all her unease.  

And yet, here she was, finding comfort in his arms—it was absurd.  

“…”  

Though she kept her head lowered, she could feel his gaze on her.  

“Don’t look at me.”  

She said without looking up, but the prolonged silence felt odd, so she glanced up to find him tightly shutting his eyes, his brow furrowed.  

“I didn’t mean for you to close your eyes.”  

At her words, he slowly opened his eyes and smiled gently.  

“Okay.”  

“Don’t smile.”  

It’s unsettling. 

She almost added, but refrained.  

The mist-like smile disappeared instantly from his face. Despite being a grown man exuding a masculine presence, his smile still strangely overlapped with the image of the boy she remembered from childhood, making her feel odd.  

“Huh?”  

Instead of smiling, he lifted Livie up. Before she could properly struggle, she was laid down on the bed in an instant.  

His hand reached for her legs and boldly grabbed them. Livie panicked and pulled her skirt down.  

“W-What are you doing?”  

“Your legs have gone weak.”  

His large hands leisurely began massaging her calves. The stiff muscles gradually loosened under the steady pressure of his hands.  

“Ugh…”  

As he firmly gripped her foot, which had gone numb from cramps, a strange sound escaped her lips. Livie instinctively covered her mouth. Fortunately, he seemed focused solely on massaging her foot and paid no attention to anything else.  

“Feeling better now?”  

“…A little.”  

His large hands applied just the right amount of pressure as they worked their way through her soles, toes, and the muscles behind her ankles. His movements were oddly familiar.  

“How are you so good at this?”  

His touch was as skillful as if he had been professionally trained.  

“When you fight, sometimes your legs cramp up.”  

Given the strain inside armor and sturdy boots, it made sense.  

“In those moments, you have to deal with it yourself.”  

Imagining Boris sitting in a shabby tent, massaging his cramped foot, Livie felt an inexplicable sense of unease.  

“…You’re a Knight Commander, though.”  

“I can’t exactly order my knights to massage my feet.”  

He spoke with a laugh, but Livie couldn’t bring herself to laugh along. She merely bit her lip tightly.  

As Livie fell silent, Boris lifted his head, their gazes meeting mid-air.  

“Where are we?”  

Livie quickly averted her gaze and asked.  

“My castle.”  

Leaving a brief reply, he continued massaging her legs, as if it were no big deal.  

“Your castle?”  

“Yes.”  

Again, his reply was frustratingly short. She figured it would be quicker to deduce things herself than wait for a proper answer.  

“You said you became a Duke.”  

She still couldn’t believe it, but the Crazy Crow of the Kalini Knight Order was indeed him.  

If the rumors she had heard were true, leaving out the bits about him being overly emotional, poor at understanding others, and absurdly strong…  

She studied him closely as he knelt and diligently massaged her legs.  

The slightly hidden eyes beneath his hair were the same teary ones she remembered from her childhood.  

His hair, dark to the point of having a blue tint, and its texture when wrapped around her fingers, came vividly back to her memory.  

As the sensation returned to her stiffened legs, Livie finally felt a bit calmer and asked a question.  

“Did you deliberately bring me here?”  

Just thinking about the outside view she had glimpsed earlier made her dizzy. Knowing full well how much she feared heights, putting her in a room like this…  

“Deliberately?”  

The innocent look in his upward gaze seemed genuine, but she wasn’t going to fall for it, not ever.  

“You locked me in a high place so I couldn’t jump out, didn’t you?”  

“No, this is simply the place with the best view…”  

Before he could finish, Livie cut him off again.  

“Like I’d have the time to enjoy the view after being dragged here against my will.”  

“I told you, you’re my bride, and this is your…”  

His mumbling words made Livie slap her chest in frustration.  

“Stop it! Just stop! Why are you calling me your bride? I have someone I’m supposed to marry! I shouldn’t be here. By now—no, long ago—there must have been an uproar!”  

The bride disappeared on her wedding day. It was a marriage ordered by the King, meant to symbolize peace and end the war.  

But on that very day, she was abducted by the Crazy Crow.  

The bride’s honor, her family’s honor, and even the peace and future of the kingdom—everything was at stake.  

And yet, this lunatic before her kept repeating the same nonsense like a parrot.  

“No, we made a promise, Livie. Think carefully.”  

He looked up at her desperately.  

“What promise? Stop spouting nonsense!”  

“If you think carefully, you’ll remember.”  

“I’m telling you, I don’t.”  

“Livie…”  

His eyes narrowed, filling with tears.  

“Again? Again!”  

Livie recoiled in horror, but Boris only moved closer. He climbed onto the bed and crawled toward her on his knees.  

“No, don’t come near me!”  

As he drew closer, Boris seemed far too large and threatening.  

“Don’t avoid me.”  

Thud.  

When she tried to turn and climb off the bed, his thick arm slammed down in front of her, blocking her way. She turned the other way, only for his other arm to come down, trapping her completely.  

“What are you doing?”  

Half lying down, she looked up at Boris, overwhelmed by his imposing presence.  

This posture was…  

Very dangerous. In many ways.  

“Get away. I said, get away…”  

“Livie.”  

“Don’t say my name, you villain, kidnapper, brute…”  

In the middle of her tirade, she suddenly noticed something strange.  

“What… is this?”  

The fluttering fabric near her neck and elbows felt unfamiliar.  

“Huh?”  

“My clothes… My clothes…”  

Livie muttered in shock as she looked down at herself.  

“Don’t you like it?”  

“It’s not that… It’s different clothes.”  

The single-layered, snug-fitting dress felt perfect for sleeping. It lacked the constricting corset or cumbersome decorations, making it ideal sleepwear.  

“Yes, it’s different clothes. Why?”  

He looked up at her as if wondering why that should be an issue.  

“Your previous clothes were heavy and uncomfortable, so I changed them.”  

“…Who?”  

She asked, knowing it was pointless, relying once again on the word “surely.”  

“Me.”  

He smiled brightly again.  

“What… What… What…?”

Fingers trembling in midair shook uncontrollably. Along with them, her pupils quivered relentlessly.  

“Are you hurt somewhere?”  

He grabbed her trembling hand. Using his other hand, he touched her forehead, looking at her with worried eyes.  

“You’re saying you did it?”  

“Yes, I did it myself, Livie.”  

He added with a soft smile, 

“I couldn’t entrust you to someone else’s hands, could I?”  

Thud. Her hand fell.