Chapter 8
***
Sponsored by Angela. Thank you ? (4/4)
***
Of course I flatly refused. My life was humiliating, but it wasn’t enough to trade my body. I still had my pride.
“No. We’re not even married.”
“Will you give it to me when we’re married? Then I’ll be the only one who can have it.”
What to give him? I didn’t know exactly what he wanted, and my mind became complicated as to what to say. I had the abominable feeling that I had to come up with the answer he wanted.
“Normally, people who love each other get married…… Yes.”
“Love?”
Noah nodded lowly, his mouth lifting in a smile. It was a strange mocking look.
“I suppose you’ll have to love me for that.” (Noah)
“I’ll try.”
“Then do it now.” (Noah)
What is he saying?
He wants me to love him now?
This crazy man’s demand was beyond perplexing and made me blank out. Suddenly, the scene in the novel “The Great Duke” came to mind, where the man who saved the woman from danger, then he asked the woman to tell him that she loves him.
“You like this kind of thing, don’t you?”
In this situation, the ‘boundary’ between whether the original work was an R19 novel or an abduction negotiation novel was ambiguous. There was no way to explain the situation where the crazy man in the original book immersed himself in the role of the male protagonist in another book.
‘Don’t tell me that you just want to try it out. It’s a skit, right?’
Love is not something you can just tell someone to do, but it’s easy to spit out with just words without sincerity. I can tell him as much as he wants if my situation improves with just one word.
“Yes, I love you.”
Noah’s eyes glazed over at the soulless words I spat out at random. If I were to become a lover with this man, it would be fine. I was a sophisticated adult, and I had tried to have light relationships where we meet and break up for our mutual benefits.
I was a light-hearted fickle person who could turn over at the touch of a breeze, and I was in a situation where I was losing both my place to stay and my life. So I had no choice but to make the most of even a paper’s worth of interest and wait for the opportunity to make further choices.
Even if you meet someone randomly and break up with her, you won’t kill the woman you were dating with a gun. As I was seriously considering my future plans, Noah covered his mouth and chuckled in amusement.
“Princess.”
With a low voice calling me, the corners of his eyes curved pleasantly. The hazy breath was lightly scattered with a weak laughter. Noah, who had his eyes down, let out a deep sigh, slowly raised his head and made eye contact with me.
“Did you really mean that?”
What?
Noah’s chilling voice even chilled the air around us. His bright eyes laid their gaze on me again. I’m sure he has seen many captives with his unique taste. He must have heard all the lies they tell in order to survive, made them spit out the necessary words themselves, and seen and experienced everything down to the bottom of humanity.
In the original story, it was written that Noah was smart and excellent at understanding the strategies and plans of his opponents. It’s not like he was a colonel at a young age, advancing through the ranks for no reason. I looked flustered and Noah grinned, staring at me with the satisfaction of a successful plan.
“You’re not lying, are you? I’m sure you didn’t say that to try and cover it up. My princess wouldn’t say anything irresponsible, right?”
The words he said while stroking my swollen cheek sounded like a threat disguised as kindness.
I was just pretending to be a role play, but he was asking me like a threat? I suddenly realized something and felt the chill in the back. He tried to make it a reality by nailing what I said. It may be wrong to think that he will not shoot and kill the woman he dated.
Is it possible to have a normal relationship with that man in the first place? What would happen to me if I told the truth? I wriggled my fingers and tried to manage my expression.
“I meant it. You saved me….”
I lied for my own convenience. Of course that man couldn’t be trusted. It was just a command to do what he wanted. It was like a puppet show.
I was a person who was annoyed by everything, apathetic and unsure of the feeling of love. I had tried to love in my real life, but I had never truly loved anyone.
It was a lie but I had no choice but to do it because I was desperate.
He rubbed his lips, still looking incredulous.
“I can’t believe it. How can you tell with just words?”
“I can’t show you that.”
“Why not?”
Noah’s gaze descended along his breath as he lowered his head toward me, our eyes met. He was silent, looking toward my lips.
In the gap where each other’s words were cut off, only the wind passed by the branches in desolation. Noah kept his gaze locked on me and raised one hand. The soldiers who had been organizing the area ran without a trace and disappeared somewhere.
Everything was gentle and kindly forced.
I couldn’t believe I was making a deal with this man for my comfortable life in a situation where I was going to collapse even if the wind blows. I didn’t have the power to think, so I decided to follow this strange man as he wanted.
I grabbed Noah’s cheek and put my cold hardened lips on his lips and quickly fell off. Noah stood up with an expressionless face without any agitation.
“Are you okay?”
What kind of order is this? I’ve never seen anyone finally ask if I’m okay after he was done with his business. ‘Oh, this man is a beautiful madman.’
“No. Too late to ask, is it not?”
Noah picked me up lightly and gestured his chin at the soldiers hiding in the distance. Did they see all this?
“Get the situation under control and get back to work.”
I grabbed the hem of my torn skirt, worried about my thighs that were constantly showing as I was held in his arms, and Noah put me down and tied the hem of my skirt together.
“I’ll do whatever you want, too. We even kissed each other.”
He said “yes” to the question of whether he wanted my body, but he said it like a pure-hearted man. What does he want me to do? He was such an unpredictable person that I felt like I was going crazy.
“Even if we kissed each other, our bodies are still….”
“That wasn’t a kiss.”
“Ah?”
Yes, it’s just like an accident, like we accidentally crossed paths.
“If you don’t know, I’ll teach you.”
Noah’s face snuggled up to mine with interesting eyes. I could feel the heat around my eyes from the sudden closeness. We were nose to nose, and my gaze naturally turned to his lips.
“No.”
“You said you love me. Don’t you?”
“It’s not that I don’t. It’s just too embarrassing here.”
“Then let’s go to your room.”
Noah, who was holding my chin, asked with a languid look on his face. His voice was soft and relaxed, like he was swimming in water, and I was completely won over by this man. If all of this was a prank, I couldn’t blame him because I was in a much more regrettable situation than he was.
All the times I’ve seen him so far, he seemed to know what I was thinking and deliberately deceived me. I feel like my hands and feet were tied to the “extremely cornered” cord and being manipulated at will. At least he seemed to be enjoying himself.
In the original story, he seemed to enjoy leading Celine around like this and teasing her. I ruminated on his tendencies again as I lost my motivation in a situation where I had no choice. He let out a snort of laughter as I started to wiggle, not wanting Noah to hold me as a princess in his arms.
The soft fur on my body was making his chin and neck itch.
“It tickles..
“I can walk, you know.”
“Your injuries look painful. It’s hard to hold, please wrap your arms around my neck.”
When I put my arms around his neck, he immediately hugged me back and started walking towards the mansion.
“Can you walk there like this?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it dangerous? There are wolves.”
“Are you scared? I’m here.”
Noah rubbed his chin against the top of my head. Fortunately, the moonlight was bright and we didn’t seem to have any problems getting lost. I could smell the faint scent of his body heat warming around his neck. Unlike his beautiful face, I could feel the firmness of his arms and upper body.
Unlike his cold exterior, his arms were warm. There were many unexpected things when I looked at it up close. The warmth that enveloped my body made me relaxed and my eyes began to close.
“Get some sleep.”
“Did I doze off?”
“You seem to sleep a lot, wherever you are.”
I didn’t have the strength to reply, my whole body relaxed and I leaned my head against his chest. How could I have come into a life with so many twists and turns?
I grieved in my heart and slept myself into a faint. When I finally lifted my eyelids, the familiar ceiling came into view as if I had entered a time warp.
I heard the sound of wood burning in the fireplace. A warm comforter was draped over me, and my back felt the fluffy sheets.
“Huh?”
My clothes, which were muddy, torn in places, and tattered, had been changed into a soft nightgown. White bandages were attached to the scratches and injured knees here and there.
“Who did this?”
“I did it.”
A nice low voice interrupted my monologue.
“You?”
“Yes.”
Noah, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, handed me a warm cup of tea and pulled the covers up to my chin. I don’t know if he wanted me to drink tea or sleep. Oh, wait a minute. He changed my clothes.
“You undressed me?”
I put my teacup on the small table and tried to get up quickly, but my back was throbbing, so I lay down again. There was no part of my body that didn’t hurt, as if I had been beaten all over. I just lay there and looked up at him with wild eyes and he smiled.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t we in a relationship?”
“Relationship?”
It wasn’t really my real body, but I still didn’t want anyone to see it so easily.
“It’s mine now, isn’t it?”
He asked back insistently.
“I’m yours too, Princess.”
I was still not sure what we were going to exchange, but I’ve made it clear that we had to be married … I was sure he was doing that on purpose. That man was quite hateful, wasn’t he?
“But I don’t want you to take off my clothes without permission. I don’t like being coerced.”
“I’m joking. I’m not so uneducated that I would touch you without permission. But I did put the bandage on you.”
If that was the case, I was happy, and I felt a deep lethargy and exhaled. Unlike me, who was droopy, the man with a clean and perfect figure was looking down at me. He had shallow dimples. His eyelashes were long and cast a shadow on his cheeks.
It was outrageous that I told this man I loved him. Why would he do this to me when he was the one who turned a cold face away from Celine’s deadly seduction tactics in the original story? Was this one of the fun games of this man with peculiar tendencies? I was a puppet playing around in his hands.
“Diana.”
Noah called my name in a calm voice. Before I could even answer, he continued.
“Did you forget that I was going to teach you?”
He told me he was going to teach me something. The faint scent of musk and exhaustion intertwined in a fuzzy mess in my head. All I could remember was that the beautiful Duke’s lips bent loosely.
***
“You failed?”
Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Grenendall’s brows furrowed as he heard the news that the attempt to rescue Diana had failed and that everyone had been killed in action.
“Yes, they’re all dead.”
Jeffrey sighed as he set his tea cup down.
“Tell the Admiral I will visit him at the residence tomorrow.”
The next day, Jeffrey boarded a military vehicle and headed for the Admiral’s residence. At the entrance of the mansion, Celine, wearing a rose-colored dress, greeted him with a gorgeous smile.
The diamond pins that adorned her platinum hair shone brightly in the afternoon sunlight. Celine could not hide her happiness and even her face turned red.
“Hello Lieutenant Colonel Grenendall.”
“Yes, Miss Claire. How have you been?”
“I haven’t been well because of what happened to my sister.”
Celine fiddled with her curly hair as she hurriedly altered her words. She led Jeffrey into the parlor and fetched the tea tray from the maid and served the tea herself. On the table with white tablecloths, refreshments and precious foreign fruits were also served.
“My father will be back in about half an hour.”
“I see. Thank you for the tea.”
Jeffrey, holding a teacup filled with fragrant tea, looked at Celine in silence. She was dressed full of expensive accessories and shone every time she moved.
“I guess you like jewelry.”
“Yes. My father bought me a lot of jewelry. This is the same color as the Lieutenant’s eyes, isn’t it? It’s my favorite gemstone.”
Celine fiddled with a pair of blue sapphire earrings. Jeffrey remembered the ears that he glimpsed through Diana’s jet black short hair. There wasn’t even a trace of an opening. The shoes didn’t fit her small feet, and she scraped her heels as she walked. They kept falling off.
“I’ll save your sister.”
“What? Are you going to Progen yourself?”
Celine’s face, which had been neat and blooming, suddenly faded. The man she had a crush on was going to risk his life going to a hostile country because of her sister.
“Yes. I was there, and I bear a great deal of responsibility.”
“I’ve heard that Colonel Rothsilde is a very brutal and dangerous man. He’s a good shooter. ………”
“I can’t help it. I don’t know what Miss Diana is going through there.”
“Oh, Diana. ………….”
‘He’s calling her name? No way…have they met before? I don’t think so.’
Celine, who had slurred her last words, set her teacup down as she gently bit her bottom lip.
“There’s no need for the Lieutenant colonel to go there yourself, you’re too valuable. I’m sure someone else will go.”
“What does a soldier have to do with his family of origin or status?”
“Still …….”
Tears began to pool in Celine’s clear, green eyes. With her reddened eyes, she looked at Jeffrey sadly. He appeared robust and calm, showing that he would never change what he had decided.
She couldn’t believe that the man she loved was going to his death for her sister who was treated like a kitchen sink… Celine dropped her eyes and eventually tears trickled down her face. The appearance was devastating and beautiful like a dewy net.
“I’m worried. Please don’t go.”
In the end, Jeffrey, who saw Celine burst into tears, made a caring and friendly voice as if to soothe her.
“Miss Claire, I have no choice. It’s for your own good.”
“What?”
Celine stared at Jeffrey with a surprised look on her face. She was tinged with a bit of anticipation.
“That’s right.”
Jeffrey sighed meaningfully and placed one hand over his mouth. His mouth, hidden beneath the palm of his hand, was twisted with a mockery that did not leak out.