“…Aren’t you scared?”

Although he hoped she wouldn’t be scared, seeing her reaction, Magnus couldn’t help but ask again.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Of course not!”

Magnus jumped up.

He couldn’t understand how the conversation had taken such a turn.

“Even now?”

“Who knows, I might go mad again at any time.”

“Well, that’s… ultimately a disease, isn’t it?”

“……A disease?”

Serena dismissed it in one word.

A disease, she said.

Magnus didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about this statement.

He ended up making a strange expression.

It seemed like she was saying it wasn’t his fault, but it also sounded like she was calling him mentally ill.

Magnus felt a bit dizzy from the unexpected response.

‘Since it’s a world where wars happen quite often.’

They just died like that not too long ago.

Perhaps because she had become so accustomed to this world, her words didn’t feel particularly unethical.

However, there was a slight physiological aversion.

But Serena wasn’t stupid enough to show that aversion.

“…No, honestly, I wouldn’t have anything to say even if you denounced me as a monster.”

Magnus said after a long deliberation.

He judged it was better to be treated as a monster than to be treated as mentally ill.

“Not a monster, but a human, I suppose.”

Serena shattered Magnus’s expectations.

“…Why?”

“Feeling exhilaration from simply killing something, not for survival, is typically a human characteristic, isn’t it?”

“……”

Magnus was taken aback by this rather philosophical response.

He hadn’t expected such an answer to come out of his words.

“So you’re not a monster, but a human.”

“…That’s quite an unexpected statement.”

“Ah, don’t be moved. Don’t fall for me.”

Serena said, recalling a common cliché in novels.

“I think you’re human, but I do feel aversion.”

And she honestly added.

That’s right.

Even if she didn’t show it in her expression, Serena was someone who could speak frankly with words.

“……”

Magnus was at a loss for words.

“Serena.”

He called her seriously, somewhat upset.

“Yes?”

“I’ve already fallen for you, so what do you mean by telling me not to fall for you?”

Magnus said seriously.

Serena was also taken aback.

‘Wasn’t he going to get angry about me saying I feel aversion?’

When Serena looked at Magnus with a dubious gaze, Magnus became even more uncomfortable.

“Why do you keep trying to leave me?”

“No, that’s… I’m not leaving. I have no intention of leaving until you tell me you’ve found a new woman.”

“That’s what I’m saying, I don’t have a new woman. Why would I… when I have you.”

We’re kissing like this, our bodies are pressed together, and we’re even sleeping in the same bed!

“I’m not that promiscuous!”

Magnus, who had become heated while speaking, said while on top of her.

“No, I know…”

Serena said in a slightly subdued voice.

“I’m saying, I want to embrace you too.”

Magnus said, kissing her neck. Her scent greatly stimulated him.

“Uh… that’s not allowed.”

Serena shook her head.

“…Why not?”

“Well, because of the child…”

It would be taken away if we had one.

Because Serena’s miserable ‘sad ending’ route might open up.

‘Of course, I wouldn’t take my own life because of a child, but…’

The child is taken away, the two people become happy, and the child grows up in someone else’s hands?

‘It probably won’t grow up as an orphan, but…’

There’s definitely a possibility it could grow up being mistreated.

Although in the novel’s description, it was said to have been raised happily and well.

Nevertheless, it’s true that she feels a bit reluctant. Getting pregnant just to have the child taken away is a bit…

“Well, if I got pregnant, the child might be taken away…”

“…By me?”

Serena didn’t answer, but Magnus read affirmation in that silence.

He was quite dumbfounded.

So he asked.

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“No, just in case, if you found someone else and we got divorced, since that child would have your blood, for the ducal family…”

“Stop.”

Magnus’s voice sank heavily.

“How long are you going to keep talking like this?”

A pair of fierce beast-like eyes silently looked down at Serena from above.

Serena’s black eyes widened as they met those bright yellow eyes.

“Is there a reason you can’t trust me?”

“…No, it’s just…”

“Or have I made some mistake with you? Is it because of what happened in the past?”

The voice asking without fluctuation is cold.

It feels as if the faint heat that had filled the room until just now has disappeared.

Serena felt a bit choked up at his suddenly cold demeanor.

“If I apologize properly, will you stop doing this now?”

“That was my fault, so there’s no particular reason for you to apologize.”

Serena said.

“Then, what do I need to do for you to stop talking like this?”

Magnus’s expression twisted a little.

Serena unknowingly swallowed at that expression which seemed to convey even pain.

“…I’m sorry.”

Serena apologized obediently.

Because she had been talking about something he knew nothing about.

‘I shouldn’t show it.’

Serena thought lightly.

She believed his feelings were just a light joke.

Because she was the ‘villainess’ and he was clearly positioned as the solid ‘sub-male lead character’.

Even when just walking down the street, one learns to understand their place.

That she and Magnus don’t match.

‘Doing this repeatedly makes me develop expectations.’

Serena admitted honestly.

That his kindness, the warmth he gives, was stirring her up helplessly.

So she thinks over and over again.

That this is not her world.

She finds herself chanting repeatedly.

That if she gives her heart, she’ll get hurt.

How miserable it would be to give her heart to someone when she already knows the ending.

She could understand without even imagining.

Serena didn’t want to get hurt.

She was usually indifferent to most things, but this was an exception.

Magnus’s casually uttered confessions properly shook Serena.

Magnus didn’t know, but Drukan’s words were right.

She had no idea how to stop the pouring stream. She was just soaked through and that scared her.

Because it keeps raining without stopping when she doesn’t even have an umbrella.

Because it’s pouring, as if a downpour has been unleashed.

“…I’m sorry.”

Serena said to Magnus with a frightened face.

“…I don’t want an apology, I want to hear the reason.”

Magnus also saw the fear that appeared on her face.

But he didn’t back down.

Because the moment he backs down here, she will put on a mask again as if nothing happened and would be ready to run away at any time.

“Just… sorry.”

“There’s no such thing as ‘just’ a reason in this world. If you have any misunderstandings, tell me. I’ll explain, or if something is wrong, I’ll apologize and fix it.”

“……”

“When you fall silent like this, it pains me. I wish you would at least give me a chance to explain, or tell me the reason why you think that way.”

Despite Magnus’s plea, Serena couldn’t open her mouth.

That’s because she couldn’t possibly explain that he’s actually a character in a book and she had been reincarnated from the outside world, so she knows their entire future.

The author has already firmly established that you are destined to be with the count’s daughter and live happily ever after.

That’s why.

“…Just…”

So Serena decided to reveal a bit of her true feelings, which was rare for her.

Because Magnus showed no signs of backing down.

“…because I’m scared.”

At the subdued words that came out after a long while, Magnus’s brow furrowed.

Trapping Serena between his arms in case she might run away, Magnus looked at her pitch-black eyes shining in the moonlight.

‘It’s the truth.’

She wasn’t lying.

Magnus, who could discern this fact just by looking at her gaze, nodded.

“Have I ever scared you?”

Magnus was well aware of the fact that he was quite a frightening existence to others.

After all, he was big, muscular, and had small scars on his body.

Even if that wasn’t the case, he was blunt and his voice was quite low.

He rarely showed emotions because he hardly ever had emotional fluctuations and his position required him to maintain composure.

“It’s not that.”

Serena shook her head as if he was saying something strange.

Looking at her furrowed brow, she seemed quite unimpressed.

Magnus felt a bit choked up, but he held back in case this atmosphere might suddenly change and the conversation would fizzle out.

“Then what are you afraid of?”

“…Being abandoned.”

Serena said, squeezing the bed sheet tightly, as if wringing out the words.

It was her true feelings, spoken aloud for the first time.