Aiden seized her lips with urgent intensity.

He kissed and nibbled her repeatedly until her peach-colored mouth turned a vivid shade of red. Their warmth mingled in their shared breaths, then dissolved into the air without a trace.

The damp, intimate sounds sent sharp tremors through every nerve in his body. As he moved faster and more insistently, the veins stood out along his strong arms.

“Ah… Your, Grace…”

Sveta’s face twisted as though she could barely bear it. Her fine, brush-like eyebrows quivered visibly. She bit down hard on her lips. The plump mouth he had stained crimson turned pale beneath her teeth.

“Your lips.”

“…”

He didn’t want her to bite her lip. Instead, she obediently pressed her lips back against his.

Her flushed cheeks were breathtaking. The faint pink tinge at the corners of her eyes was impossibly beautiful.

Suddenly, he remembered the pink rose he had once picked for her.

Then he thought of the bracelet he had commissioned from Sweenia’s finest artisan, who was renowned as the greatest across the continent. He had personally selected each pearl to complement Sveta’s clear, pale skin and commissioned rare Tebir coral to be carved with exquisite precision.

Harvested in the southern seas of Muwieo, Tebir, the coral came in the smallest quantities each year — precious beyond measure.

Yet even these flawless jewels could not rival the color blooming in Sveta’s cheeks.

His woman was this beautiful, this utterly radiant.

This thought struck him again, stealing his breath.

Drawing both arms tightly around her slender waist, Aiden lowered his voice and whispered.

“Sveta. I… you—”

His unfinished words died on his lips.

She had kissed him first. He should have finished what he had meant to say. But even after they broke apart, he found himself unable to speak. Sveta’s fingertips moved slowly and deliberately across his body.

Across his chest, firm as armor. Along the broad strength of his sides. Down the sharply carved planes of his abdomen.

Her slender fingers traced muscles that felt forged from steel.

Her small hand moved lower, fumbling with the buckle at his waist. She was awkward with it and it slipped from her grasp more than once.

When she finally undid it, the last thin thread of his restraint snapped without warning.

He seized the fabric at her waist and tore it away, letting it fall carelessly to the floor. His own trousers followed.

With Sveta still seated on his thigh, he began to move.

“Ah…”

She bit her lip, then quickly parted her lips. She must have remembered his warning not to do that. This woman knew exactly how to provoke him.

His movements became more forceful, and the heat between them intensified. Before long, Sveta could no longer stand upright, leaning weakly against him.

“It’s too much… Your Grace.”

“Would you rather lie down?”

“…Yes.”

Aiden stood still and his gaze drifted towards the window.

Light as scattered flour, the snow swirled in the wind. The falling flakes heralded the quiet end of autumn’s brief reign and felt almost like an omen.

He lay Sveta back on the sofa and moved over her. She lifted her arms and gripped the armrest tightly.

The louder the sofa creaked, the tighter her grip became. Tears shimmered faintly in the corners of her rounded eyes as she was overwhelmed by the intensity of the sensation.

Aiden raised his chin, satisfied. The sofa trembled as though it might give way, and his vision blurred.

He lowered his gaze. Through his narrowed eyes, fractured moonlight sliced into the room.

Before long, shards of silver light settled across Sveta’s damp face and the dark halo of her hair, which gleamed faintly with sweat.

Even at midnight, his sky was blinding.

“Ah… Aiden.”

His woman trembled.

“Aiden.”

Her soft voice whispered into his ear.

At the sound of his name, he felt as though he held the entire world in his hands. Yet, at the same time, an uncontrollable unease stirred within him.

He was dizzy with happiness, yet a sense of sorrow pricked at his heart, as if this fragile, luminous moment might dissolve like mist at dawn.

If this was love—

If love meant standing on the brink where a world that felt whole one moment could crumble the next—

What had he done to the woman who said she loved him?

How many times had he shattered her world?

“Sveta…”

Aiden let out a ragged breath. She slipped her arms around his neck. He pressed a kiss to the arch of her brows and whispered.

“I will give you the whole world.”

Their intertwined fingers coiled together like serpents. Their uneven breaths fell into the same rhythm, binding them together more tightly than rope ever could. Again and again, their lips found each other.

And then—

Sveta took control.

She smiled.

Her woman was unbearably beautiful.

And unbearably cruel.

***

‘Is this not excessive!’

Jace Gould rolled his eyes as he stared at the plate thr*st in front of him.

It contained watery chicken soup.

In fact, calling it soup was generous. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was merely the water used to rinse a chicken.

He glared at the knight and muttered under his breath.

“Untie my arms if you expect me to eat.”

The knight looked barely of age, yet he wore expensive-looking armor.

After studying Jace closely, he loosened the bindings around his arms, which were still tied behind his back. Then he secured the rope that was fastening his wrists to a pillar in the inn room.

“You expect me to eat without a spoon?”

“I’m restraining myself from starving you altogether!”

The voice, still bearing traces of its former boyishness, sounded sharp.

Jace Gould lay on his back on the floor, indifferent. He didn’t have much of an appetite anyway.

Watching the knight dip soft white bread into a much thicker soup than his own, he asked—

“Hey, Sir Knight. Are we in a village near the southeastern border of Prisada?”

“That’s right.”

Jace Gould hurriedly tried to think. His mind refused to turn as quickly as he wished.

‘Two days ago, a knight from the ducal house handed me over to a knight of Prisada. And now I’m being dragged into Prisada… Why?’

“But, Sir Knight, why did we cross the southeastern border instead of the northeastern one?”

“To reach Fern more quickly.”

Why in the world was he being taken to the capital of Prisada?

Jace asked blankly,.

“Why Fern?”

“…”

The young knight, whose face still bore the marks of youth, looked down at him with open contempt. He offered no reply.

Soon, an older knight entered, his white hair falling to his chin. He was carrying two large tankards of beer.

Jace swallowed hard and stared at the tankards, but the only response he received was a look of utter disgust.

The two knights raised their mugs and drained them deliberately, as if to mock him. Then they lay back on the bed.

How much time had passed?

Jace was idly scratching his ankle when a faint burning smell reached his nose.

Black smoke began to seep through the narrow crack beneath the door.

There was no mistaking it.

The place was on fire.

‘Should I wake them… or not?’

He stared at the sleeping knights, forcing his mind to work. He could not decide.

But instinct spoke clearly.

‘This is an opportunity.’

Zloytan often favored arson and sl*ughter as tactics. The premonition stirred a dangerous kind of hope within him.

He soaked the sleeve of his garment in the thin, tasteless soup and pressed it over his nose and mouth. It was almost laughable that such a wretched meal had turned out to be useful.

The moment Jace crouched low to the floor, the door was kicked open.

A swift, shadow-like figure rushed inside and slit the throats of the drunken knights sleeping on the floor without hesitation.

When Jace caught sight of the sleek blade flashing in the stranger’s hand, he let out a delighted laugh.

“Ha! Hahaha!”

***

Aiden calmly drank the tea that had long since gone cold. Though it must have been terribly bitter, he savored it as though it were wine.

“Why do you wish me to drink this?”

His question hovered between knowing and unknowing.

Had he discovered the sleeping draught?

Fear rose suddenly in her chest.

“…It helps with restful sleep. I wanted you to sleep deeply.”

Sveta answered, trying not to avert her gaze. It was, once again, an ambiguous reply.

“Your consideration is excessive.”

“Is it?”

“Sleeping well wouldn’t be so bad.”

Leaning back on the sofa, he put his cup down. Having no intention of getting dressed, he remained n*ked as he picked Sveta up and carried her towards the bed.

‘When will it take effect?’

She could feel crushing tension weighing her down. Her spine was damp with sweat. Her face felt hot.

At least these physical reactions could be mistaken for the after-effects of their intimacy.

Lying face to face, Aiden slowly closed his eyes.

An immeasurable amount of time passed. The rise and fall of his chest, once pronounced, gradually slowed.

Sveta whispered faintly.

“…Aiden.”

“…”

He did not answer.

Only his long, elegantly curved lashes trembled faintly.

As she watched them, an idea occurred to her.

He is like the sea.

No matter how gently he drew her in, he was a deceptive tide, ready to pull her under without warning.

That was the kind of man he was.

If she stayed by his side, she would inevitably sink into the ocean’s depths and be swallowed by the fissure torn open beneath the abyss.

Ultimately, she would be consumed by darkness.

His neatly shaped brows twitched slightly.

Then he reached out and pulled her closer by the back.

“Sleep, Aiden.”

“…”

“Sleep deeply.”

The curve of her red lips as she laughed softly was beautiful enough to unsettle the mind. A smile, touched with quiet satisfaction, lingered at the corners of her mouth.

Ultimately, she wanted to give him exactly what he desired.

Only then would the loss cut deeper when it was taken away.

All he wanted from her was her body. A woman who yielded without resistance: A pretty mistress who smiled sweetly at his side.

So she became precisely that.

Even if she were to disappear, she did not believe he would grieve for long. Perhaps he would feel a passing regret, but how long could such a feeling truly endure?

Sveta leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Aiden’s cheek. In his half-sleep, he smiled again.

As she closed her eyes, she thought—

‘May that brief regret become a long season of loss.’