‘But, that won’t do…’

If it only harmed him, he would have endured it willingly, but the problem was the opposite.

He had to escape. Constantine tried to slowly pull away again.

She wasn’t content with just wrapping around him in a strangely persistent way, but pressed her body against his. The hot and soft sensation kept stimulating him, making his already thin patience evaporate in real time.

Moreover, her nightgown was too thin. In this position, even trying to move without their bare skin touching felt like rubbing against each other—it was torturous. It felt like a new form of t*rture.

“…Saena.”

Finally, he felt he had to wake her up.

Besides, this was his room.

Had she brought him here and laid him down?

‘Come to think of it, how?’

He had definitely lost consciousness in the tower. Yet he woke up in the Duke’s room in Castle Cream?

There’s no way she could have moved him here by herself?

And she couldn’t have called anyone else either. As mentioned before, the tower was a place whose very existence was unknown, let alone accessible, without the head family’s permission.

“…Saena. How did I end up here?”

Naturally, such a question came out.

“Moved you… I did…”

Saena replied drowsily, as though she were drunk with sleep.

“You did…? How could you…”

But it still made no sense.

“With the Guardian Spirit’s power…”

“……”

Ah, I see.

She really… awakened.

Now she’s an Oathkeeper… like me…

Suddenly this fact felt so strange and novel.

She, who had emanated an odd energy since their first meeting, had finally become an Oathkeeper.

“…Congratulations, Saena.”

“……”

“Such a miraculous thing…”

How many miracles was this now?

How many things that he had never even imagined in all his years of life were happening…

The black diamond passed down for hundreds of generations had been decoded. (Though this couldn’t necessarily be seen as a good thing.)

He, who thought he would never even meet a woman let alone marry, found a woman he loved.

He witnessed an awakened one whose line had been cut off, an Oathkeeper after 500 years.

And that Oathkeeper was the woman he loved.

The being who was already precious to him had now become even more noble, to the point where he absolutely must not hold onto her.

‘…How can such things happen?’

It was truly a sequence of unreal events. Almost unbelievably so.

But… an even more unreal thing happened.

She opened her eyes drowsily, looked up at him, and suddenly grabbed his hand. She rubbed her cheek against his palm and acted unbearably pretty. Though startled, the sight was too precious for him to pull his hand away.

Though delightful, cute, and lovely, no dreamlike sight or miracle could justify his touching her.

“…We shouldn’t do this.”

He tried to withdraw his hand somehow, but her strength was surprisingly firm.

Of course, he could pull away if he used more force, but he would have to push her away. She might fall over. There was no way he could do that.

“Your hand… Saena… We can’t do this. You know that…”

The longer they touched, the more anxious he became, feeling as if he was eating away at her vitality moment by moment.

Ignoring his concerns, she buried her cheek deeper and made a satisfied expression like a purring cat.

The gap between their feelings was driving him mad.

“It’s fine.”

“No, please… I can’t harm you.”

“I’m telling you it’s really fine.”

“What…”

“It doesn’t harm me.”

She looked up at him with a bright smile.

“Caligo’s energy cannot invade me.”

This was the question she had desperately wanted to ask Yuri. He had answered with an expression that showed he really didn’t want to tell her.

Though she felt quite annoyed that he had pretended not to know while aware they were both suffering over this issue, after meeting Yuri again and hearing the confirmation that touching him was fine, she felt that everything was alright now.

“It was always like that. I told you before that I never felt any cold from you.”

What… what does this mean…

As if to confuse him even more in his bewilderment, she suddenly sat up and pushed his shoulders. Though it wasn’t a particularly strong force, he fell back with a thump, and she climbed on top of him.

“Caligo is darkness. My Guardian Spirit is light.”

“…Ah.”

“Light burns away darkness. So…”

Her hand brushed his forehead, pushed back his hair, and cupped his cheek. Meanwhile, her face drew closer than before.

‘What? Then…’

It’s okay? Really? He could touch her… without consequences?

It seemed too fortunate, too perfectly tailored to his benefit to be believable.

Because Caligo ranked among the strongest of the Guardian Spirits.

Though he had never fought it, he expected it wouldn’t lose even to the imperial family’s Achelion.

“Darkness… can also devour light…”

So wasn’t it difficult to guarantee?

Though her words weren’t wrong, what if darkness devoured light due to its sheer strength…? What would happen then?

“I’m telling you it’s real! Do you think I would lie about my own life?”

“…You might, actually.”

“Constantine, I love you, but I wouldn’t do that. It would hurt you.”

“…Wh… what?”

He was suddenly at a loss for words.

L-love? Did she just say love?

He momentarily forgot what conversation they’d been having until then.

But then she smiled.

Gently, her lips spread wide.

“I love you.”

She moved her lips with an unbearably lovely expression.

“I love you, Constantine.”

And at her confession,

At her smile,

He froze like a wooden block.

“Before I lost consciousness at the ruins, I suddenly realized.”

“……”

“That I… am in love with you.”

It felt as if his heart, time, and the world had stopped.

‘What… was that just now?’

It felt that unreal.

‘…An auditory hallucination? No, an illusion?’

He should have known since her hair color changed…

She reached out her hand toward Constantine, who remained frozen with a blank expression as if someone had stopped his biological clock.

Even as he watched her rosy lips gradually approach, it didn’t feel real at all.

Not when she gently wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his upper body closer, not when her lips softly enveloped his and sucked, and not even when her sweet tongue slipped between them to slowly stroke his.

He remained dazed.

It absolutely didn’t feel real.

Words beyond his comprehension.

Words he had never even dared to hope for in his life.

That confession.

And the soft sensation of her lips pressing against his was beyond imagination, leaving him unable to take any action.

It felt like a dream enclosed in thin glass that might shatter at the slightest wrong move. Seeing him frozen as if someone had pressed pause, Saena sighed with a laugh and shook her head.

“Yolly.”

Then she whispered a familiar name.

A beast appeared amid a whirlwind of energy that felt familiar yet different in intensity.

A beast in the form of a wolf.

Saena called this beast Yolly.

It was similar to the Yolly he had seen before, yet different. The summoned beast bore the forehead markings and wings characteristic of Guardian Spirits.

The somewhat fidgety image from before was gone, replaced by the powerful aura of a Guardian Spirit and its unique otherworldly energy.

‘So it was that beast after all.’

The unusually intelligent beast that had been hovering around Saena.

“My husband just won’t believe me. You’ll have to tell him.”

Now that it was a Guardian Spirit, Yolly no longer responded with barks like ‘kyang?’ as before.

Still, seeing its head slightly tilted as it made eye contact with Saena, they were clearly still communicating.

Since it was now her Guardian Spirit, they were probably conversing in a way only she could hear.

“He doesn’t seem to believe that Caligo’s energy can’t penetrate me.”

At Saena’s words, Yolly frowned and tapped its tail.

Though the beast’s voice couldn’t be heard, its display of displeasure was similar to before.

“He says to ask Caligo. Apparently that bast… hmm. That Guardian Spirit knew but didn’t tell you.”

“…What?”

“That cunning bas… Guardian Spirit, because of its nature. Right?”

Though he certainly knew about its cunning nature…

He felt as if he’d been hit hard on the back of the head.

“…One moment.”

He lifted her from his stomach and set her aside, then moved away. He couldn’t communicate with Caligo while touching her.

“Caligo.”

— …Gasp! Master! You and that woman again! Why are you doing this! You shouldn’t do this!

The hidden voice returned immediately, making a fuss.

“You… did you know your energy doesn’t affect Saena?”

— …What? No, that’s not the issue right now! Just why–

“Did you know my worrying about touching her was an unnecessary worry?”

— ……

“Answer me, you bastard!”

The fact that Caligo, who usually couldn’t stop chattering at every opportunity, remained silent was as good as confirmation, and Constantine was consumed by terrible anger.

“If you don’t answer right now, I’m heading straight to the hot springs.”

— So what if I knew!

“……”

— I hate it so much! Master, you! You’re always too busy clinging to that woman, obsessed with her!

“……”

— I didn’t say anything because you didn’t ask! I don’t lie!

It chattered endlessly all day as if that was its mission, yet it kept quiet about the most important thing?

A grinding sound escaped between his teeth.

— Master! You’re the bad one! I did nothing wrong!

What had all his worrying and anguish been for?

How many times had he unintentionally hurt Saena because he couldn’t touch her? Yet she would always approach him with worried eyes and heal him whenever he was hurt.

How many times had he had to turn away after promising to cherish her? Those moments when he would desperately crave her while unconscious, only to have to turn away as if nothing had happened upon waking.

When she came to his room…

When she closed her eyes and leaned her cheek into his hand at the festival,

All those moments when he had to grit his teeth and turn away from her as she tried to close the distance he struggled to maintain.

He literally wanted to kill this bastard.

“Constantine.”

A small touch instantly suppressed the anger that was about to explode.

She called his name and grabbed his hand.

“Did you confirm it?”

He turned his head to look at her as her soft fingers slipped gently between his.

“I was right, wasn’t I?”

“…Yes.”

Her red lips curved into a gentle smile.

“Then…”

“……”

“We’re okay now, right?”

She asked as she climbed back onto his thighs and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting them on his shoulders.

A dry swallow passed through his throat.

It was hard enough maintaining control with this shocking revelation, but why did she have to make such provocative moves?

As Constantine tried desperately to maintain control over his body, she spoke again.

“I love you.”

He clutched his chest as if someone had struck his heart with a drumstick, making it pound.

His anger toward Caligo and even his ability to think vanished in an instant.

“…Constantine?”

“I…”

Why?

Tears suddenly welled up at her confession.

His heart trembled like when he first realized his feelings for her. He could hardly speak. The tears just kept flowing.