Chapter 28 - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“No matter when your brother arrives at this villa, nothing will change.”

“Just a moment......”

“I will steal you away from that man.”

“What do you mean by......”

Before I could even ask what he meant, our lips met.

Again, I couldn’t push him away.

The moment our warm breaths mingled and tongues intertwined, my heart pounded as if to burst, and my mind went blank.

I could do nothing but pant for air, receiving this man who devoured me ravenously like someone parched with thirst.

The constellations visible beyond the window had already shifted their positions.

And time flowed endlessly, enough for the stars to shift again.

All while I melted helplessly in his warm embrace.

* * *

What woke me in the early dawn, exhausted, was the familiar spirit that had entered my room through the wall.

“Kyiiing, kyiiing......”

“What’s wrong......”

I muttered toward the familiar who was whimpering anxiously, and sat up in bed.

Rubbing my eyes and checking the spot next to me, Ruwellin was fast asleep.

Careful not to wake him, I approached the familiar.

With its tail lowered, the familiar perked up its ears at the sight of me and let out a sound like it was in pain.

Shh, you have to be quiet.

When I cautioned it in a small voice, the familiar immediately understood and became docile.

But it still pawed the ground anxiously, spinning in circles as if trying to tell me something.

‘......Could it be?’

A chill of dread ran up my spine.

I roughly grabbed some clothes, put them on, sat in a chair, and focused my mind.

Using a spell that allowed me to see for a thousand ri, even if only for a very short while, I clearly saw the image of a large ship approaching the harbor, about to dock.

‘Damn it.’

Soon after, the spell dissipated.

I hurried to the bed to wake Ruwellin.

There was no time.

Adrian had returned.

* * *

“Your Grace, wake up. Hurry!”

“Rose......?”

Ruwellin lifted his heavy eyelids and looked at me, smiling dazedly.

Even in this urgent moment, his radiant beauty left me speechless for a moment.

Seeing me like that, Ruwellin must have misunderstood, because he pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight.

Smack.

I only came to my senses after he kissed my cheek.

“Ru— I mean, Your Grace. This is no time for that. You have to get up—”

“Were you about to call me by my name? Just ‘Ruwellin’?”

Ruwellin asked, surprised and pleased, but I ignored him and got up.

Then I took out new clothes from an envelope and tossed them carelessly to him.

They were clothes I had bought on the first day I brought Ruwellin to the villa.

“Wash up and put on your clothes. Then leave here immediately.”

“What do you mean......”

Ruwellin held the clothes, blinked in confusion, then his eyes lit up as he spoke.

“Your brother has returned, hasn’t he.”

“......That’s right. So you need to leave here quickly.”

I let out a deep sigh.

By now the ship would have docked at the harbor, and soon after, Adrian would arrive at the villa.

Adrian hated the House of Rashiane.

So if someone from the House of Rashiane—especially its head, Ruwellin—were clearly at the villa, he would surely go berserk.

Moreover, if he found out about the relationship between Ruwellin and me......

Just imagining how Adrian would rage terrified me.

So I had to send Ruwellin back to his home quickly.

“Put on your clothes and leave this villa for the station. I’ll give you money for the train. It would be better to slip away secretly rather than summon your retainers. Adrian is eerily perceptive......”

“Rose.”

As I rattled off words like a rapid-fire gun, Ruwellin called my name in a rather heavy voice.

I stopped and looked at him.

Ruwellin was gazing at me with a serious face.

“You want to send me away alone? You’re staying here?”

“Of course......”

I answered blankly, and Ruwellin let out a deep sigh, then rose and came toward me.

Without even getting dressed, no less.

I flinched in surprise.

‘No, put some clothes on first!’

Trying to take in his naked body in the bright dawn made me feel utterly shameless.

Feeling my face heat up, I turned my head away.

Ruwellin gently took my chin and made me look at him.

“Rose. As you know, I suffer from mana rampages quite frequently. So I absolutely need someone by my side at all times to suppress my mana through contact.”

His light tone became serious again.

When he started speaking in such a polite manner, I became nervous for some reason.

......Well, come to think of it, I always seemed to be nervous around this man.

For many reasons.

“I want only you to be the one who suppresses my mana. I don’t want anyone else. Don’t you feel the same? Would you truly be fine with me in another woman’s arms?”