“Saul.”

At that moment, Catherine, who had been quietly observing Saul’s behavior, spoke. Her voice was somewhat cold, but showed no sign of blaming him. 

Rather, she looked like someone who had realized something important. And indeed, she had. Catherine abruptly spoke in an almost probing tone.

“You want me to be afraid of you.”

“Not only did you deceive and draw me in, but you need my help too,” Catherine murmured. Saul momentarily failed to understand what she meant, then flinched belatedly, struck to the core. He gaped in surprise at his own cowardly attitude that he hadn’t even recognized.

Saul quickly realized Catherine was right. He wanted Catherine to fear all of this and distance herself. Why? No answer came to this question.

“Saul. Look at me.”

But there was no time to think further.

Saul, belatedly noticing Catherine had moved one step closer, unconsciously retreated. But Catherine, seemingly anticipating his evasion, quickly closed the distance between them again. 

“Catherine.” 

Saul tried to stop her but became flustered when he realized she was still holding his arm.

He unconsciously took another step back. Then, feeling something against the back of his knees, he ended up sitting down. Saul tried to stand up, but Catherine approached more quickly, looking down at him. Cupping Saul’s cheek, preventing him from turning away, Catherine asked:

“Do you want me to run away?”

Catherine’s voice sounded normal yet strangely sharp. “You know why I called you by your name.” She continued whispering:

“I want to help you.”

Saul froze at those words. Only then did he properly face Catherine. Catherine looked into Saul’s blue eyes, trembling beyond his control. She read the deep-seated fear within them. 

She noticed his desire to deny what he must have misheard, or his hope that Catherine would deny those words herself. But Catherine neither let him deny it nor denied it herself. She spoke again in a clear tone:

“Just answer this. Do you need my help or not?”

Saul looked completely unable to understand the situation. And truly, he was. He couldn’t comprehend how Catherine, after knowing everything, could still offer to help him. 

He naturally assumed Catherine would leave. In truth, wouldn’t that be right? Ordinary people should rightfully fear incomprehensible things…

“Why would you go this far for me?”

Is it because of our deal? There was no immediate answer to this question. Only Catherine’s eyebrows tilted slightly while looking at Saul. She seemed somewhat disappointed by his question, or perhaps reproachful of his foolishness. 

Yet even that didn’t seem intended to blame him for his wrongdoing. Rather, it was closer to lamenting his attitude stemming from a foolishness Saul himself couldn’t understand.

“…Perhaps it is because of the deal.”

Catherine whispered. Then she gently traced Saul’s cheek, touching it like something precious. Her gaze slid along with her hand, following the gaunt, prominent contours.

“The deal can be nullified.”

Catherine chuckled, feeling Saul’s whispering voice resonating through the cheek she cupped. Then she returned his question:

“And you? Why do you go this far for me?”

No answer came for a moment. Then Catherine, who had been staring at Saul with an incomprehensible expression, said:

“If you wanted, you didn’t have to explain anything to me. You call it unfair, but it was clearly a deal. You already paid the price, and so did I.”

Her breath, released like laughter, settled on the bridge of Saul’s nose.

“Be honest, Saul.”

Catherine said, tracing Saul’s closed lips.

“I want your reason for going this far for me to be the same as mine.”

Since this was unexpected, Saul couldn’t answer for some time. Unable to hide his bewilderment, he unconsciously bit his lip. His teeth caught Catherine’s fingertip between his lips. 

Since it wasn’t intentional, Saul quickly released Catherine’s finger. But Catherine’s hand on Saul’s lips didn’t move away.

Instead, she quietly leaned down and kissed Saul’s stiffly set lips. It was a simple kiss, merely pressing against him and pulling away. Since this too was unexpected, Saul stared at Catherine with an astonished face. Yet Catherine, while facing such a Saul, quietly kissed his thin lips once more.

“Why did you propose to me?”

With that quiet question came hot breath. Their breaths mingled, almost touching. But Saul couldn’t answer this time either. Before those dark green eyes gazing at him, Saul was nearly frozen.

Why did he propose? When he finally considered this question, Saul thought it was because of the deal with the evil thing. But he soon realized that wasn’t the right answer. 

The deal with the evil thing only required going to a designated place at a designated time. What happened afterward… his proposal to Catherine and bringing her to Cavendish wasn’t because of the deal with the evil thing.

Saul blinked then, seemingly having a sudden realization. Looking at Catherine before him, he recalled the day they first met. The moment he first encountered her on that bridge in the capital, a few years after his father passed away… And Saul felt that strange experience he had then coming alive again.

“Catherine, I…”

He breathed shallowly. Saul unconsciously clutched his chest. Beneath his hand, he pressed down on something pulsating. He could only press it down. He wanted to moisten his parched mouth, but Saul couldn’t even move. 

This was truly… strange. Both then and now, despite not losing himself, Saul felt the presence of the evil thing closer than ever. Looking back, it happened every time he faced Catherine…

“Saul, I love you.”

Catherine whispered. Saul didn’t know what was stirring within him now. Momentarily, Saul traced back the past few weeks spent with Catherine. He reflected on those days that were joyful and more fulfilling than any other time. But love… was a completely different matter.

He wasn’t unaware that Catherine was favorable toward him. Saul had worked to gain Catherine’s affection. He had tried to protect her and properly respected her, so perhaps it wasn’t so strange that Catherine felt affection for him.

Saul also knew Catherine was a genuinely good person. Catherine was mentally strong. Saul occasionally felt awe toward Catherine. 

He respected her attitude that never retreated despite wavering, considered her deep green eyes that shone solidly beautiful, and cherished the upright will within her.

To confess, Saul liked Catherine. Throughout his time with Catherine, he often forgot many things. There were times when everything felt distant—the prophecy assigned to him, the evil residing within him, even the moment he had intended to kill it.

However, he didn’t know whether this was merely human affection or something from another realm. The presence of the evil thing that felt closer than ever when he first saw Catherine, the unfamiliar sensation that rushed in every moment he faced her—these confused Saul.

“Catherine… you.”

With a pale face, seemingly frightened, Saul barely opened his mouth. In Catherine’s eyes looking at him, Saul saw his reflection. Love? He murmured, denying it. 

At those words, Catherine blinked. She didn’t seem particularly hurt. Rather, Catherine appeared to gain some certainty from Saul’s attitude.

But Saul, lost in deep contemplation, didn’t notice Catherine’s expression. He simply thought Catherine was mistaking human affection for something else. Catherine couldn’t possibly love him. 

If not for the deal with the evil thing that day, Saul would have been too ashamed of his own shabbiness to even stand before Catherine.

In truth, what about this moment? Saul had just exposed all his flaws to Catherine. Before her, Saul felt completely n*ked. Moreover, he couldn’t imagine how his unhealthy state and dry, gloomy temperament could bring any joy to Catherine. It wasn’t just Catherine. Who could love someone like him? In fact, he shouldn’t love anyone either. He just…

“Saul, why did you want me to fear you?”

…wanted Catherine to leave him.

“Why did you want me to run away?”

With that sudden thought, Saul finally fully acknowledged his inner feelings. He wanted Catherine to flee. He wanted her to distance herself so she wouldn’t see his flaws anymore, wouldn’t be disappointed in him. It was a late realization. Saul sank into silence.

“Are you afraid of me helping you?”

But far from fleeing from him, Catherine was very close to him. Not just physically. To Catherine’s rapidly pressing questions, Saul felt pierced. Though they were merely repeating questions from earlier, Catherine’s inquiries sounded like she was reading Saul’s mind.

“Do you love me?”

This too felt the same. Saul wished Catherine would stop looking into him.

“Stop this now.”

Saying so, Saul tried to push away Catherine, who still blocked his path. But he couldn’t voice it aloud or push her away. The moment he grabbed Catherine’s arm, a voice burst forth, sharply piercing Saul’s heart, like something he had been suppressing all along.

“Don’t run away!”