Arsen moved quietly towards the table, where a jug of water and some glasses had been set out. The sound of water being poured into a glass echoed through the room. Suddenly becoming aware of my thirst, I stared at his hand as though entranced.

He returned and offered me the glass. I took it in both hands and slowly tipped it to my lips to drink from it. My mind seemed to clear for a moment, but not enough to dispel the effects of the alcohol.

“Have you always had such a low tolerance for alcohol?”

Arsen sounded unexpectedly surprised.

“Something feels a little strange today……”

I lowered my head, still holding the glass. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that I usually coped quite well with alcohol and therefore hadn’t expected Judith to be such a lightweight.

Silence descended upon the room. Uncomfortable under the strange tension, I repeatedly tightened and loosened my fingers around the glass before finally looking up. Arsen had returned to the seat opposite me and was watching me. I wanted to avert my gaze, but I couldn’t. His dark green eyes seemed to ensnare my entire body.

‘Why is he staring at me like that?’

Perhaps it was the alcohol, but the thought slipped from my lips.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I immediately regretted asking, but it was already too late.

“Because you seem different.”

Startled by Arsen’s answer, my grip on the glass went slack. It tilted, spilling the water directly onto my gown.

“Ah!”

The thin fabric quickly became soaked, leaving a dark stain below my waist. I hurriedly righted the glass, but all the water had already spilled.

“Haah……”

As I let out a long sigh at my own foolishness, Arsen quickly approached me.

“Stay still.”

Without hesitation, he took a handkerchief from inside his coat and dropped to one knee. He pressed it firmly against the wet fabric, carefully blotting away the water.

I forgot to breathe for a moment as I stared down at him. One unimaginable thing after another had happened in this room tonight.

‘Why in the world is he doing this?’

It had already been shocking enough that Arsen had loosened my corset, yet now he was personally attending to a task normally left to a maid. Nothing like this had ever occurred in the original novel, leaving me utterly confused.

“This should be sufficient.”

Arsen rose and calmly folded the used handkerchief as though nothing unusual had happened.

“Have you always been this…… considerate?”

The thought circling my mind slipped from my lips once again. This time, however, it was no accident. Arsen’s behavior differed so drastically from the original novel that my unease compelled me to confirm the truth.

The corner of Arsen’s mouth moved almost imperceptibly.

“Who knows……”

For some reason, he appeared to be smiling.

“Perhaps I am acting a little strange today as well.”

The smile that had lingered on his ordinarily impassive—almost cold—face vanished in an instant. I stared intently at him, unable to look away because it seemed as though the smile Judith had never once seen was still lingering there.

‘Why had he never shown her something so simple, not even once?’

Perhaps because I had become Judith, a sudden wave of sorrow overwhelmed me. The man whose smile she had longed to see so desperately — the one person she had wanted all her life — was now close enough to touch.

My eyes inexplicably grew warm. Slowly, I raised my hand.

My fingertips touched his face. I knew I shouldn’t be doing this, yet I couldn’t bring myself to lower my hand.

Instead of pulling away, Arsen tilted his head into my touch, deepening the contact. Flustered by his unexpected response, I drew a sharp breath and tried to withdraw my hand, but he moved it before I could.

Arsen’s hand rested on my cheek. It was as if he was silently telling me that I could leave it there.

Unable to push him away, I raised my gaze. He was so close that I could clearly see his dark green eyes, sharply defined nose, and beautifully shaped lips.

His gaze lingered heavily on my lips before slowly rising to meet mine. Our breathless eye contact continued until he tilted his head and leaned closer. Knowing instinctively what was about to happen, I closed my eyes instead of moving away.

His warm lips brushed briefly against mine before pulling away. Without realizing it, I opened my eyes. His dark-green gaze gleamed with heat.

‘This should not be happening.’

The moment alarm surfaced in my mind, Arsen’s hand caressed my cheek. The gentle touch seemed to ask for permission, dissolving my unease as his perfectly sculpted lips filled my vision.

‘They were soft.’

I had barely felt a twinge of disappointment when his lips met mine again.

A deep heat parted my lips and slipped inside. At first, Arsen carefully explored the tender flesh inside my mouth, but then he tilted his head in closer. The innermost parts of my mouth were sensuously stroked and drawn between his lips.

“Haah……”

A m*an escaped me unexpectedly, leaving me frozen in surprise. A hot hand encircled my waist and held me firmly. Without breaking the kiss, Arsen murmured my name against my lips.

“Judith.”

My body responded before my mind could. It seemed I had already become completely accustomed to the name “Judith.”

His gaze deepening, Arsen placed a succession of light kisses upon my lips. The man before me was both the Arsen I knew and someone entirely different.

‘Perhaps I should simply face him and find out.’

I wrapped my arms around his neck. The texture of his hair beneath my fingertips and the warmth of his nape felt so vivid that I thought I might stop breathing.

Arsen thoroughly explored every corner of my mouth. His movements were relentless and ravenous.

I tightened my arms around his neck. As though he had been waiting for that response, Arsen pulled me firmly against him.

The thought that I shouldn’t be doing this had already faded away. I wanted to get closer to the man who kept defying all my preconceptions.

Arsen slipped one arm securely around my back and the other under my knees. Before I could protest, I found myself cradled against his broad chest, holding his shoulders tightly. After looking down at me, Arsen lowered his head once more.

His lips never left mine, not even during the short walk. His hot tongue plunged deeply into my mouth. I tightened my arms around his neck, relishing every overwhelming sensation.

Click.

The distinct sound of a latch made me fly awake. Arsen had opened what I had previously thought was just part of the wall and strode inside without hesitation.

The space beyond was considerably darker. As my eyes gradually adjusted, I could make out long curtains and a large bed in the middle of the room. It was an exceedingly private bedroom.

I clung to Arsen and closed my eyes, but only for a moment before he laid me on the bed. The instant I saw his face looming above me, a shiver raced across my skin. N*ked desire blazed in his darkened gaze.

I swallowed slowly. He looked utterly unfamiliar yet devastatingly beautiful, making it impossible to look away.

Using the same fingertips that had caressed my cheek, Arsen slowly traced my swollen, heated lips. Even in the darkness, his luminous gaze ensnared me, as though intending to devour me whole.

“If you tell me to step back, even now, I will.”

Although he was gentle, the heat radiating from his fingers as they traced my lips was scorching. Instead of pushing him away, I slowly raised my hand to caress his face. I moved my fingertips over his smooth forehead and sharply defined eyes, then slowly and deliberately traced the elegant line of his nose and his neatly shaped lips.

“Let us say that we are both acting strangely tonight.”

Arsen’s voice was lower and slower than usual.

“Only for tonight.”

The words I uttered like a vow were an absolution I granted myself. Once I had clearly imprinted upon my mind how this version of him differed from the original, I could draw a boundary between us as though nothing had ever happened.

“Whether this strangeness will last only tonight or continue tomorrow remains to be seen.”

My heart plummeted at his quiet whisper.

‘What did he mean by that?’

Before I could ask my question, Arsen bent down and kissed me.

I closed my eyes and gripped his shoulders. Suddenly, Arsen’s breathing became ragged. A low groan escaped him as he pressed his full weight onto me.

His hot tongue invaded my mouth without restraint, exploring every corner, while his hands slipped beneath the thin fabric of my gown and moved with incomparable urgency and persistence.

Each time the cumbersome layers of fabric fell to the floor in the darkness, it was scorching bare skin, not cool air, that touched me. With not a single thread left between us, Arsen’s heavy body settled on top of me, leaving no space at all.