“It never felt right whenever I looked at it, though.”

Hailla’s face grew increasingly pale as she listened to his story. Feelings of rage at the duke for forcing such abnormal behaviour on a child and overwhelming helplessness at how she could possibly correct Lian’s warped values washed over her at once.

From that one story alone, Hailla could understand why Lian wanted to kill his father. Clearly, the duke’s abuse had worsened as Lian had grown older. He wasn’t normal — not by any stretch.

“When I first started falling for you, I wondered if I should preserve you like a specimen. But I realised I can’t live without the real you.”

He said this with a strange solemnity, as if revealing some profound truth. It was both unsettling and pitiful. Hailla was always at her weakest in moments like this, when Lian clumsily tried to understand emotions he had never been taught about. She realised it wasn’t his fault.

She closed her eyes tightly for a moment. Memories of his obsessive behaviour and desperate need for affection while she was imprisoned came rushing back.

“Hailla, this feels good, right? Hm? You like this, don’t you?”

“Ah, ah, haaah!”

“I’ll make you feel good every day, so stay with me forever…”

“No, ah…!”

“Let’s stay together. Don’t leave me…”

Even while forcing himself on her, his desperate gaze was impossible to ignore. Each time she flinched in pain, he became increasingly anxious. He relentlessly searched for the spots that made her writhe, watching her reactions obsessively and pushing her to the edge.

Ultimately, his words were always a plea to be with her forever. Hailla had tried her best not to pity him, fearing that it would weaken her resolve. But now, even after hearing his painful story, she found it hard to turn away from Lian because she loved him.

“Was your father always like that? Always so twisted?”

“No.”

“…”

“He usually didn’t say anything. He acted first.”

Lian didn’t necessarily think that his father’s teachings were wrong. Physical pain was the easiest way to control people. Taxidermy — preserving what you loved forever — also didn’t seem like such a bad idea. But it just hadn’t satisfied him.

He was clever enough to choose his words carefully, though. He noticed that Hailla wasn’t repulsed by his childhood story, but heartbroken. He decided to use this to his advantage.

“Tassen — no, my father — he hated me. Every night, he’d summon me to the punishment room and beat me. He trained me to call myself a monster with every blow. I still have the scars…”

He touched the old wound on his ribs, which he had once claimed was from falling on the mountain.

“He stabbed me. While I was asleep. I barely escaped, and that’s when I met you.”

They met in the mountains. Lian was badly injured, so Hailla treated him. The wound was so serious that she had no choice but to help him. However, she never imagined that the wound had been inflicted by his own father.

The moment she opened her mouth, Hailla felt as though she would burst into tears. She quickly covered her face with her hands. Just hearing about it broke her heart. As she stared at Lian through her tear-filled golden eyes, he gave her a faint, sorrowful smile. It was a despicable lie, but a convincing one.

“My mother died giving birth to me.”

“That’s the reason?”

He nodded weakly a couple of times, then asked in a sunken voice.

“Do you think I’m a monster too?”

And just like that, Hailla’s tears overflowed. She threw her arms around him, sobbing and telling him through her hiccups that he was not a monster — he never had been.

Although she hadn’t experienced beatings like Lian had growing up, she knew hunger and harsh punishment. Her own abuse had been terrifying, but at least she had Rethe — she hadn’t been alone. Lian, on the other hand, had probably always been alone, forced to bear that pain by himself. Now, she could just about understand the roots of his twisted love and controlling behaviour.

Overwhelmed by her compassion, Lian buried himself in her arms and lay down with her on the bed. She gently stroked his soft hair as he nuzzled her. It was the kind of tenderness she hadn’t shown him since entering the temple and their relationship souring.

“Thank you, Hailla.”

His whisper into her chest sounded eerie, but she didn’t notice.

—

“No matter the reason, what you did was still wrong.”

Despite her attempts to speak firmly, Lian didn’t seem to be paying much attention. Hailla had cried herself into a stupor and then passed out, seemingly dead. When she woke up, she had regained her composure and made Lian sit down in front of her. With both hands on her hips, she stood with an almost solemn air.

“I understand now why you did what you did to me. But still, this kind of thing…”

“You mean having s*x all day?”

“No! The problem is doing it when I said no!”

Hailla’s face flushed as she shouted. Lian, who seemed to have no sense of shame, had a tendency to use blunt, explicit language without hesitation.

“But you liked it too.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I think you did. Just a little touch and you were already dripping—”

“Stop!”

He pouted, folding his arms in frustration. Hailla, now serious, pointed out the truth.

“It doesn’t matter how my body reacted. What matters is that I said no and you ignored it.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

His low voice cut in, making her tense slightly.

“You don’t want me anymore?”

“That’s not—”

The air fell silent for a moment. Hailla faltered. She couldn’t bring herself to answer. Lian spoke again into the silence.

“But I couldn’t help it.”

“What?”

“If I hadn’t done that, you would’ve left me. I’d rather be hated a little than be abandoned.”

The way he said this so casually, sipping his tea, felt utterly out of place.

“Ha! I’m a noble.”

He smiled at her frozen form.

“No matter what kind of man my father is, nobles are always like this. Whether it’s right or wrong doesn’t matter much.”

“…”

“If you try to leave me, I’ll use this method again whenever I need to. And if it results in a child, even better.”

He enunciated the last part clearly before rising to his feet. Then he walked over to Hailla and knelt in front of her. Meeting his gaze, she looked exhausted and dazed. Admiring that expression as beautiful too, Lian kissed the back of her hand.

“So don’t even think about leaving me, okay?”

“Lian…”

“I know you’re like this because of Rethe.”

Seeing that she couldn’t deny it, Lian’s eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

“I’ll kill her if I have to — if that’s what it takes to have you. I won’t hesitate.”

“You…”

It was a disturbingly sweet threat that worked remarkably well. As expected, Hailla was clearly shaken.

“But if you just stay by my side, I won’t do anything like that.”

“…”

“I just want you to be happy. Your smile is beautiful. That’s why I’m giving you a chance.”

He whispered, luring her in like a witch with sweets, pretending to care while setting a trap to get rid of Rethe. And, once again, Hailla fell for his sweet temptation.

“All right.”

Lian smiled, satisfied. As he reached out to help her up, Hailla added one condition.

“But you have to promise me something.”

“A promise?”

He tilted his head in interest. Hailla spoke calmly.

“Promise me that you’ll unlock this shackle and let me go home. Promise me that you won’t lie to me anymore. Promise me that you won’t hurt the people around me either. At the very least, promise me that.”

This was the bare minimum she needed to feel safe.

Hailla had decided that there was no escaping him. From the outset, they had thought completely differently. He was obsessed with her and determined to keep her by his side, whatever the cost. Even worse, he had the power to imprison someone like her — a mere commoner — for life.

For now, at least, she had no choice but to go along with him. If that was the case, she needed some kind of leverage to protect her sister.

“Above all, don’t hurt my sister.”

There was a determined edge to her voice, warning him that she wouldn’t just sit back and take it if he didn’t agree to her terms. Lian found this resolve almost endearing; it made him want to test her.

“Alright, fine. But if I break that promise, what will you do then?”

“Then it’s over.”

“Our relationship won’t end over something like that.”

He spoke with a scowl, clearly convinced. Hailla slowly shook her head.

“Yeah. Because you’ll never let me go.”

“…”

“I just meant that, for me, it’ll be over. Maybe that’s all it really means.”

Lian didn’t quite understand what she meant. He simply took it as another irritating comment driven by Hailla’s obsession with her sister, Rethe. It wasn’t the first time she’d said something like that, so he just nodded vaguely in agreement.

Besides, it didn’t matter — he was sure she’d never find out. He hadn’t been careless, and no matter what, she would always be his. That was how he saw it. So he just muttered an indifferent ‘OK’ and leaned in to kiss her.

Everything was going exactly as he’d planned, and he was very happy about that.