‘It’s warm…’
She could feel the warmth of his body through the soft skin of her lips, and the inexplicable scent of his body tickled the tip of her nose. He was a person who always behaved coldly, but she did not know why this person’s body temperature and scent were so warm. And even though it was only a part of the body in contact, she was ecstatic. Her mind just went blank…
She stayed on his lips for a moment, then slowly released them and exhaled carefully.
‘Now, I have to be strong.’
She knew what was about to happen. When she would open her eyes, she would meet Killian’s eyes full of astonishment. He would despise her for being in heat, saying that she was a prostitute, that she had no shame, and he would grab her forearm and throw her out the door. And the two guards on patrol would be embarrassed to see that.
Well, it can’t be helped.
She was prepared to be embarrassed and slowly opened her eyes.
‘Ah, also…’
When she opened her eyes, she could see Killian’s startled eyes less than a span apart. The saliva went down.
“Mi, I’m sorry. That… I’ll go back on my own. Therefore…”
She was going to say something casually, but she seemed to be taken aback for a moment, so nothing came out. Seeing her like that, Killian smiled, raised his body halfway, and grabbed her forearm.
“You pretended not to be, but now you’re so horny that you can’t even play?”
Oh yeah. It was a similar line, indeed.
“No, I just kissed…”
“Well, good.”
“Yes…? What, what?”
Without losing any strength in his grip on her forearm, he straightened himself up.
‘Yeah, that’s how you drag me out the door… Why are you throwing me into bed?’
“Well, try to satisfy me as the flower snake of Rigelhofs. You can’t know. Will I even get tempted?”
“Yes…?”
Uh? Come on? This was not it! Why was the original starting to change now!!
* * *
The day Edith collapsed, Killian wasn’t in a good mood since morning. But he couldn’t quite explain why he was in a bad mood. Was it because Edith did not confess her crime until the end, or because she herself knew that there was not enough evidence to convict her of being the culprit?
‘Or maybe it’s because of the woman’s diary I stole yesterday.’
She was right when she said it was not correct to steal someone else’s diary. Because if he hadn’t read it, he wouldn’t have felt so bad.
[This morning, I hid on the side street of the gymnasium and spied on Killian. No matter how many times I see him, his face glows every time I see him. Why is his body so hot? When I think about it, I salivate again. As expected, my preference is Killian rather than Cliff.]
When he read that part, he was angry and a little glad at the same time. She acted so arrogant in front of him, but was doing such a cunning thing behind him. However, when he read the following, his mood somehow calmed down.
[But his beauty wasn’t all that. Just then, Lise passed by and waved her hand, and Killian smiled brightly and waved his hand. I thought I was going blind then. Could it have been more handsome there! I didn’t know because he never smiled at me. How much virtue did Lise, who can see that face every day, accumulate in her previous life? I envy her, really.]
Edith wrote it like it was nothing special, but the sentence ‘I didn’t know because he never smiled at me’ strangely weighed on his heart.
‘What’s there to laugh at this woman?’
He thought so and tried to pass it on. However, the middle of his heart throbbed at Edith’s words as she stood up asking if he had any thoughts of being polite to her. She ran out with a face as if she was holding back her tears, and somehow he had no choice but to follow.
“I can’t trust you.”
Why did he say such a thing to someone who was already suffering as much as she was suffering? Maybe he just wanted to be convinced that he was right. No, it was more like self brainwashing.
“I know! It has always been and always will be!”
He was the one who hurt her, so he didn’t know why her words felt like a knife. The thought of it always made his head throb. In the past, digging into a single thought always gave him a headache like this. And strangely, that headache only eased when Lise was around.
“Oh, Killian… Edith…!”
So when he saw Lise standing in front of Edith’s room, he felt relieved. Because it will free him from headaches. But no this time.
“I will go in. Please talk between you two.”
He realized it when he saw Edith leaving him and Lise behind. She didn’t expect anything from him.
Give up. Despair. Nothingness… There was no dampness in her eyes, only dry emotion.
“If someone stole the document… Maybe it was then.”
Even after listening to Lise’s important testimony, he was not at ease thinking of Edith’s turned back. And even though Lise was by his side, the headache didn’t get better. So he thought of just asking and forgetting about it, but the next day it happened.
As usual, he was about to start his morning sparring with Cliff. But a servant came quickly and whispered.
“Miss Edith has passed out.”
“What? What do you mean!”
“It is said that she fainted while talking to the Duchess in her office earlier. Now the servants…”
Before the servant finished speaking, Killian was running. He ran up the stairs two at a time and headed for the Duchess’s office on the second floor, when the servants were trying to carry Edith on their back.
“Leave her.”
“Killian! Killian, what about this!”
The Duchess was embarrassed, even showing her tears. He picked up Edith, who had collapsed, because she wanted to be seen by the lawmaker before being asked questions about everything. And when he looked down at her, he noticed that the proud, sassy woman’s face was covered in tears.
“This, what the hell…”
“Killian! Let’s move her now! Because I sent someone to bring the doctor.”
“…yes.”
While carrying her collapsed, his heartbeat was strangely fast and his headache was so strong. The hurriedly called doctor examined Edith calmly and then asked quietly.
“Has there been anything lately in which she has exhausted her energy?”
Then the Duchess replied, wiping away her tears.
“That’s right. For a while, Edith suffered a lot.”
“Hmm… okay. Well, nothing serious. It seems that she passed out because she was exhausted from the tension. As long as she wakes up, there won’t be any major problems in her daily life, but for the time being, I think you need to pay some attention so that the lady can feel comfortable.”
The doctor wrote the prescription with a nonchalant expression, but Edith’s face was still pale as she lay there.
Killian looked at that face, which had no trace of life left on it, and asked the Duchess.
“What did she and mother talk about?”
“She knows you won’t believe her, but she says she never leaked documents.”
“That’s what she said before…”
“So I said I believed her.”
“What?”
“I said I believe in Edith.”
For a while, he couldn’t say anything.
She sighed and continued her words.
“That one word made Edith cry. From then on she shed tears. She said she wasn’t trust by anyone… and thanked me… ”
His breath was caught in his throat. His headaches and tinnitus intensified, but he couldn’t help but think of Edith’s despair. Although he was only her husband on paper, he himself was no help to her. Even the word she believes…
“Ugh…!”
“Killian! Why are you like this!”
“Oh, no. These days… My headache got a little worse…”
“Anna! Go get the doctor! I think he should see Killian too!”
“No. I’ll be fine soon.”
“Killian!”
Killian barely stopped his mother from trying to show him to the doctor, then he stared at the sleeping Edith for a long time before coming out.
When he left Edith’s room, Lise was waiting for him.
“I heard Edith passed out. Visiting her now… Will it be difficult?”
“She is sleeping now. I think you should come later.”
Lise held Killian’s hand with a worried face. From the hand Lise held, he felt something refreshing, and his throbbing headache gradually began to subside.
“Killian. It’s not your fault.”
“…I guess so.”
“So don’t torment yourself with guilt.”
“Who is tormented with guilt? I’m just worried that the rumors will spread strangely and bother me.”
Killian assumed that his heart, which kept bothering him like a fingernail, was like that.
Seeing Killian’s complicated expression, Lise said as if changing the topic.
“Edith seems to have a softer heart rather than what she looks like. She was trembling with anxiety enough to collapse…”
As soon as he heard that, sharp tinnitus scratched Killian’s eardrums. He felt repulsive at what Lise had just said. It wasn’t that Lise did mean anything, but it sounded as if Edith was trembling with anxiety since she wasn’t innocent.
“She was innocent, but she could have been deeply hurt because no one believed her.”
“I guess so. Poor Edith… Anyway, you seem very surprised, so take a break. Yes?”
Lise’s hand caressing his cheek didn’t calm his shaking inside, but strangely, he couldn’t disobey Lise’s words.
How do you feel?
