The Beast Bit The Throat of the Late Empress - Chapter 9

“I’m fine. Although I’m supposed to be serving you, I’m not used to having someone beside me while bathing.”

Even though he said that, Finn, who swallowed dryly, looked like he desperately wanted to sit next to Eva. Still, perhaps aware that this woman was who Divlik wanted to embrace, Finn soon shook his head vigorously.

“If you’ll allow me for a moment, I’d like to go down the mountain.”

“Do you have urgent business?”

Even while conversing, Divlik had noticed that Finn’s gaze was partially directed towards Eva. Finding this somewhat unpleasant, Divlik persistently made eye contact with Finn, as if telling him to focus on him. Only then did Finn completely take his eyes off Eva.

“There’s a collapsed wall from shells fired despite orders to stop, so I need to see how to repair it.”

“Dean will take care of it.”

“That Dean talks a lot but is terribly slow to act.”

Finn sighed softly with a look of exasperation and bowed to Divlik.

“Would you allow me to leave your side for a moment, Divlik?”

“I allow it.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Finn disappeared along the narrow path between the trees, and Divlik called for Hannah and Sophie.

“I’ll wash myself, so don’t just stand there. Go down and bring some tea. I was planning to just warm up briefly, but I’ve changed my mind.”

“Yes, Divlik.”

As if they couldn’t delay for even a moment, Hanna and Sophie rushed down the mountain.

With everyone around gone and Divlik falling silent, Eva felt the waves of water slowly approaching her in the deepening silence. Divlik was moving through the water, coming closer to Eva.

In the mountains with no one around and bodies with nothing left to undress, Eva tried to hide her anxious look. But as soon as she felt Divlik’s presence almost touching her left shoulder, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Have you decided to ignore my words about not serving you and forcibly taking me here?”

Divlik, who had moved close enough for their bodies to touch, sat down right next to Eva and laughed, brushing back his wet hair with his hand once again.

“What are you saying, Former Empress? Did you think I was truly a beast just because I’m called a wolf? If that were the case, I would have done so long ago.”

Divlik made a pun using his name, as if to say, ‘As if that would happen.’ But even he didn’t seem to find it particularly funny, as there was no hint of laughter in his voice.

“Or do you want me to do that? Are you trying to give in, pretending you can’t resist?”

Eva expressed her refusal by not answering. Divlik laughed lightly as if he had expected this and continued speaking.

“We’re going to spend the night together eventually. Is there any need to keep such distance?”

Convinced that the result would be the same no matter how stubborn Eva was, Divlik turned his body completely to face her. Even though Eva had her eyes covered, she could tell where Divlik’s piercing gaze was landing on her.

From her lips, which might have lost their color from climbing up here, slowly down her neck, past her chest that was half-floating above the water, not fully submerged, brushing between her ribs, to parts that couldn’t be easily seen in the rippling water. When Eva flinched and closed her parted legs, this time Divlik’s hand lightly touched Eva’s thigh under the water.

“Staying far apart will only make your throat hurt more from having to speak loudly. Isn’t your condition already worsening?”

That excuse-like statement didn’t seem to be entirely untrue. Indeed, the crackling noise in Divlik’s voice had become more pronounced. But Eva was in no position to worry about Divlik’s voice right now. Although the hand that had briefly touched her had moved away, Divlik’s body was still too close.

“How can you properly wash yourself when you can’t even see?”

Divlik picked up the cloth for washing that Hannah and Sophie had left behind, not even giving her time to respond.

“It’s alright. I’ll do it myself.”

Eva, belatedly realizing Divlik’s intention, reached out her hand to ask for the cloth, but Divlik ruthlessly swatted her hand away.

“I’m speaking to you this close, and yet you still fail to understand me.”

He meant he was going to touch her. Feeling as if a cold blade had touched her ear, Eva withdrew her hand with a start. In the end, Divlik, holding the cloth, slowly began to wipe Eva’s body. Although Divlik’s touch was gentle as he nonchalantly wiped her shoulders, arms, and back, Eva couldn’t let go of her tension.

The wet cloth that had briefly passed over her neck and collarbone soon traveled down her cleavage and rested on Eva’s chest. Divlik spread his hand wide, slowly circling Eva’s br*easts as he wiped them clean, carefully touching even the shaded area beneath them. Then, as his hand slid down, passing over her flat stomach, it suddenly entered between Eva’s thighs.

It seemed Divlik had no intention of just wiping the surface from the start. With his free hand, he slightly parted Eva’s legs and persistently wedged between Eva’s closed thighs, using two fingers to caress the area between them.

Eva could feel the rough texture of Divlik’s hand through the thin cloth, and all her senses were focused there. As Divlik slightly moved his fingers, the sensation felt as if his bare hand was directly touching her, causing Eva to become increasingly tense.

Ironically, unlike Eva who was trying not to show any reaction, the inner part of her that Divlik’s fingers hadn’t even touched yet began to twitch. It had been a long time since she had felt such a leisurely caress down there, and those fingers were exceptionally rough. Like Divlik’s body that she had felt with her fingertips earlier, even his hands conveyed a strong masculinity.

If Eva hadn’t clenched her teeth with all her might against the slowly building stimulation, she might have let out a very small moan.

“How can your body be so tense in such warm water?”

Although he knew better than anyone why Eva was tense, Divlik pretended not to know and asked. Meanwhile, Divlik’s hand delved more thoroughly inside, touching between Eva’s thighs as if trying to open the closed entrance of her s*x.

“Aren’t you curious about how I came to have this voice?”

“If I say I’m curious, will you tell me?”

Eva asked, trying her best not to be conscious of Divlik’s hand touching her body.

“Shall we say I died and came back to life, or that I died once? It would have been better if I had died there, but I lived and came here, so it’s unfortunate for you, Former Empress, isn’t it?”

Eva couldn’t find words to respond to Divlik, who spoke of such a terrible story so casually. Meanwhile, Divlik’s hand moving back and forth in the water showed no signs of stopping, making her anxious about whether it would go deeper inside her.

“At least, the wound that was initially thought to render me unable to speak a single word has healed to this extent. That’s why we can have this kind of conversation. Otherwise, you might have ended up in my arms without being able to hear or see me.”

Divlik’s hand, which had been circling aggressively near the entrance, suddenly withdrew. Just as Eva was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Divlik asked,

“Have you ever thought about it alone in that tower room?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re pretending not to know. I’m asking if you’ve had a change of heart about serving me at night.”

“My answer… won’t be any different from before.”

Eva, who had shifted her hips slightly to the side to distance herself from Divlik, answered while maintaining her tension.

“You’re still saying you’d rather die than serve me at night?”

“That’s right.”

“Didn’t I tell you that your emperor abandoned you? In fact, it’s not even worth discussing that he’s not looking for you now. Didn’t he abandon you from the start? You said you escaped alone.”

“Whether His Majesty abandoned me or not is not important.”

After finishing her words, Eva quietly waited for Divlik’s next words, but Divlik remained silent for a long time. Eva couldn’t tell, since she couldn’t see, what expression Divlik was making in response to her answer.

As Divlik’s silence continued to stretch on, Eva thought that perhaps she might lose her head right here in this shameful state, without a stitch of clothing on her body.

A body destined to die and be discarded anyway, at least it’s fortunate to be able to wash away a few days’ worth of filth.

“It seems… you’re in love.”

But what reached Eva next was not any kind of violent touch or words, but Divlik’s sigh. Divlik asked, as if chewing on the words. If she loved Fabian. Eva didn’t answer that question. More precisely, she couldn’t answer.

Love… Have I ever loved Fabian even for a moment? And what about Fabian?

Eva recalled the image of Emperor Fabian in her memory. Dazzlingly bright dark blonde hair, a fine face that still retained traces of boyhood, with deep green eyes. Fabian’s two eyes, no less brilliant than emerald jewels, were always angry at Eva, despised Eva, and at the same time, desperately wanted and desired Eva.

―I’m doing this because I love you. Eva, why don’t you understand my feelings?

If he could only look at her with such eyes while claiming to love her… If he couldn’t do anything about his hatred for Eva, who ultimately wouldn’t look at him, no matter how much he shouted that he loved her…

It would have been better if he had given up and let go there, but Fabian couldn’t do that either.

Was it love? Perhaps it was love.

If we consider it sincere that he only verbally expressed the emotion of love, which was utterly inconsistent in his actions and sometimes couldn’t even be found in his eyes, then maybe Fabian did love me. And yet, to say that the man who ultimately left the castle alone, leaving me behind, loves me — I couldn’t accept it, but it didn’t matter either way.

Whatever Divlik thinks about why I’m dying here, that doesn’t matter either. After all, I’m going to die here.