0. Prologue

As she opened her groggy eyes, she saw him quietly getting dressed. Lumiere did not move, instead, she watched him silently with eyes still clouded with sleepiness. His forearms, tightly packed with muscle, slipped into a crisp white shirt. He calmly buttoned up and then donned a holster made of black leather, tailored to fit his body perfectly. Inside the holster was a revolver with a sleek silver body and a classic wooden handle.

What if it accidentally pierced his heart?

Every time such a needless thought crossed her mind, she felt a chill. The person in question, however, didn’t seem to care much.

‘Is it bravery, or living as if there’s no tomorrow……’

She couldn’t quite understand the subtle affection he showed while disassembling and cleaning that small silver monster.

‘Why that dangerous thing……’

— thinking this made her suddenly realize she wasn’t so different from him.

‘Why that dangerous man……’

Harboring feelings for this man could end with a bang, cutting my life short, so why……

The answer was glaringly obvious.

Half in resignation, she chuckled and continued admiring him. Regardless of the circumstances, his movements under the moonlight were mesmerizingly beautiful and sensual.

His neat fingers fastened the buttons on his wrist. He wore a watch with a sapphire on it, and pulled on tough black gloves tightly. Every time he moved, the moonlight shattered over his broad shoulders wrapped in the white shirt.

His movements were precise and clean, without any unnecessary actions, distinctly his style. He had just reached for his coat when he noticed her.

“Lumiere.”

He whispered her name in a tender voice and smiled quietly as their eyes met.

Then, his golden eyes, sharp as a beast’s, softened warmly.

“Did I wake you?

It was she who had awakened from sleep, but his voice sounded much more languid. His long legs moved briskly towards her. Despite their length, his steps were leisurely.

She watched him approach without missing a moment, buried in the tousled blankets and leaning her cheek against the soft pillow.

“Get some more rest. You must be tired, Lumiere.”

His cool fingertips brushed her forehead. Lumiere blinked slowly, surrendering herself entirely to his touch.

His fingertips, still warm on her cheek, slowly moved down. Lifting her powerless chin teasingly, he firmly pressed her slightly parted lips. After being tormented all night, she didn’t have the strength to escape even this small pressure.

“……Are you leaving now?”

Her tongue felt as swollen as her lips without needing to stick it out. The tip of his tongue, heatedly sweet, brushed against his hand. Grimacing at the faint smell of leather, he laughed and pulled off the glove with his teeth.

The look in his eyes became disorderly as he caressed her skin with his bare hand. Watching his sacred golden eyes ripple with desire for her was quite an amusing sight.

He touched Lumiere’s prettily swollen lips without saying anything for a while. As if suppressing his rising desire, he pressed down on her lips mischievously with his shortly trimmed nails. Time passed like this for a while.

The man spoke in a voice that had grown husky.

“……There’s been an urgent problem with the hotel we were building in Parshell.”

Irritation seeped into his voice.

‘Urgently’, ‘suddenly’, ‘unexpectedly’.

These were words his woman knew he hated most, so she somewhat understood his irritation.

He was a man who liked to divide time by the minute if possible and act according to plan.

Always busy, always fierce.

Yet in some aspects, he was naive and impulsive like a boy. The man she loved so much, truly terribly so.

Karl Winger.

“……Why are you looking at me like that? You seem to have something to say.”

Karl brushed the corner of her eye as he felt strange about her silent stare.

No. Hold back. It’s a point of no return.

Lumiere swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head as if it was nothing.

“I’ll come back as soon as possible.”

Regret filled Karl’s voice. His fingertips full of longing caressed her sensitive skin.

Lumiere impulsively asked,

“How much do you love me, Karl?”

A look of amusement crossed his face.

“What’s this all of a sudden? You asking such questions?”

Indeed, it was usually Karl who asked these embarrassing questions. He would often nag Lumiere to tell him how much she loved him out loud.

Even though she said she hated it because it was embarrassing, in the end, she would give in and say, ‘Alright, you win. I love you, Karl,’ and he would mess up her hair with an expression of utmost amusement.

He often prompted her to confess her love for such trivial reasons. But today, it was Lumiere’s turn.

“So, your answer?”

An uncharacteristic question followed by an uncharacteristic urging seemed to amuse him. He smoothly lifted his lips into a pleasing smile. Whispering into her earlobe, he said,

“I love you.”

His lips, having traveled down her jaw, firmly pressed against her cheek.

“I love you to death.”

Even on the tip of her round nose,

“Even if you push me into hell, I love you.”

And on her forehead, smooth as carved ivory,

“I love you. I love you, my Lumiere. My flame.”

With his slender fingertips, imbued with the scent of oil paint, he delicately kissed and forcefully said,

“I love you so much, I want to devour you.”

Lumiere, unable to hide her amusement at his possessive confession, burst into laughter and hugged his neck.

“…To such an extent?”

“More than what words can express.”

“Hmm, that’s a bit scary……?”

At her feigned weakness, he immediately played the victim and retorted,

“So, you’re going to leave me?”

“How could I leave you? You’re not someone who can just be left behind.”

“That’s right. But don’t leave me for just any reason. I’m a good and useful man, you know.”

To call himself a good and useful man…… It’s really shamelessly adorable.

“Come on, you’ve made me anxious, so tell me you love me.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be going now?”

“I can go after hearing those words.”

“Hurry up then. I’ll tell you the words you want to hear when you come back.”

His eyebrow twitched as if he didn’t appreciate her playful mischief. Lumiere giggled and pushed his lingering shoulder.

“You said you’d be back quickly. Go on then.”

Karl glanced at his watch and reluctantly got up with a grumble.

“You’re only ever mean to me.”

“You’re the only man for me. It can’t be helped. You’re the only one I can be mean to.”

“…And cunning to boot.”

Karl conceded with a cold smile. The white moonlight captured his golden eyes.

Sometimes, the moonlight of a completely dark night blinds more than the bright sunlight of midday.

His smile, like the moonlight of a dark night, grazed Lumiere’s vision. The brightness was so intense she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

As she gently closed her eyes, his lips touched hers.

Their lips fit together perfectly like gears, sharing warmth. Their breathing slowly became ragged.

It wasn’t sticky, but the breaths were sensuous enough for the night. The man held onto her lower lip a bit longer with regret but eventually let go gently.

“…Sleep more. Miss Sleepyhead stayed up too late into the dawn. I’ll be back.”

After kissing her cheek once more as she closed her eyes, he left the room.

I won’t make you wait too long.

His voice, tinged with regret like a lingering attachment, dangled in her ears.

Lumiere leaned against the window, watching her man’s black carriage disappear into the distance. Outside, snow was falling, but the bright moonlight illuminated his path.

The twisted yet tender and secretive path of her lover as he departed.

“…To say I’m the bad one.”

As the carriage carrying him completely vanished into the darkness, Lumiere whispered in a grudging voice, seemingly blaming someone who’s not present,

“The real bad one is you.”

Love is sometimes like hell, making it impossible to escape even when knowing it leads to disaster.

Karl was Lumiere’s heaven and hell.

Her eden that she desperately wanted to grasp but never wanted to be dragged into.

Even though it felt hot when he was beside her, the spot next to her now felt cold. She stroked the empty space with her fingertips before burying herself deep within the blankets.

Lying alone in the vast bed, the secret she buried deep in her heart rose as a chill. Her body involuntarily shivered.

‘To fall in love with a king, and of all people, the most unfortunate man in this country, the king of misfortune…’

To fall in love…

Foolish Lumiere. Yet even knowing the secret, there was nothing she could do.

My heaven and hell.

My foolish and pitiable king.

The weight of the secret crushed Lumiere. But today, like always, she closed her eyes pretending not to know anything, turning away from the truth.

That was all she could do for her lover.