.jpg)
“Yes.”
It was frustrating and heartbreaking.
I felt a surge of irritation toward Valentin for refusing to accept me based on such negative emotions, yet I felt pity for him—how great must his anxiety be that he tried so hard to deny his own feelings?
Having pulled away, Valentin wore a face more serene than anyone else's, despite the passion burning in his eyes.
While still holding my hand, his lips uttered a merciless, baseless lie.
“I am not suited for Your Highness.”
I answered, suppressing my anger.
“I'm the one who decides who is suited for me.”
“Princess Larisa, you do not know how dangerous it is to become a person's final salvation.”
“I don't want to know, and I'm not curious. What I want is you. Don't you feel the same?”
Could he possibly say he didn't? As I stared at him with pressing eyes, Valentin gave a bitter smile.
“How could I possibly... not feel that way. I want Your Highness as well. In a way that is more despicable and vile than you could ever imagine.”
“Then that's enough!”
I brushed Valentin's hand away and placed my hands on my hips. Then, I glared at him with a determined expression that signaled I would accept no further rebuttals.
“That's all. This conversation ends here. You said with your own mouth that you want me, right? That's all that matters. You're mine now, Valentin. You must look only at me, love only me, and do everything... everything only with me. I mean that not only your body, but your heart is my property. Do you understand?”
I cut him off again just as he opened his mouth to speak.
“Don't run away. I know everything now. Valentin, you didn't propose to Oksana. If you start spouting nonsense and acting like a coward again, I'll go straight to my father and scream for him to give you to me.”
Despite such a bold declaration of war, Valentin still looked as if he had something to say. Right, he still thinks there's a corner to hide in? I sharpened my gaze, daring him to try.
Then, Valentin uttered an unexpected name.
“What about Igor Tolstoy?”
“...Igor?”
“Is he not staying in this castle? If you take my body and heart, what do you intend to do with that man? And what of Sergei Nikitin?”
“Are you stupid? Those two have nothing to do with me anymore. I only have you now. My head has become a complete mess all because of you!”
“And the marriage?”
“What about the marriage! Stop jumping from one thing to another!”
“You aren't planning to keep me as a lover while marrying someone else, are you?”
“Absolutely not!”
Is confessing love always this exhausting and draining? I took a deep breath to cool the heat rising to my neck, feeling as though I had just run a long distance.
Valentin had a strange look on his face.
No, Valentin is always strange, so perhaps I should say he looked the same as usual. He took my hand again. I tried to pull away in a fit of pique, but he wouldn't budge. When I turned my head to show my displeasure, he remained silent for a long while.
Even then, he absolutely refused to let go of my hand. Rather, gripping me by the wrist, he slowly pulled me toward him—so gradually that one wouldn't notice unless they were paying full attention. Toward himself.
Only after our eyes met did Valentin speak.
“You may regret this.”
I told you not to say things that make no sense, Valentin.
Is that the kind of face a warning person makes? Why are you holding my hand so desperately while saying things like that? Why are you looking at me with the eyes of a desperate, sorrowful weakling?
“I won't regret it.”
“You might be disappointed in me.”
“Everyone gets disappointed sometimes.”
“Will you still wait for me until the end?”
“Yes.”
“In this hell that may repeat eternally, will you always hold this hand?”
My heart ached. I felt a lump in my throat as I realized what Valentin had feared most all this time. I nodded, my voice more certain than ever.
“Yes.”
Valentin let out a frail smile that didn't suit him at all.
“Is it truly alright, even if this weak appearance... is nothing more than a shallow ploy to deceive you?”
“I told you, Valentin. Anywhere is fine. Anytime doesn't matter. If it's you, it's okay to use me.”
“And?”
I shot him a dissatisfied look.
“What more do you want? I've said everything I needed to say.”
“No, you haven't said it all.”
“I have.”
“No. Think carefully. Surely there is one more important phrase remaining.”
I tried to push him away and pull my hand back once more. But as expected, Valentin didn't budge. I could feel his determination to achieve what he wanted, no matter what.
With eyes like a swamp, he demanded of me.
“Please say it.”
The despicable Valentin has words he wants to hear from me.
But because he is so despicable, he will never reveal what those words are with his own mouth. That fact truly angered me, and yet, again...
“...You are a cowardly wretch.”
“I know. I am sorry, Your Highness.”
“What do you know? Don't pretend to know. You know nothing! You have no idea that you are truly the worst of the worst!”
After a moment of hesitation, I uttered the words I had been holding in my heart.
“But I still love you.”
Finally, a look of ecstasy dawned in Valentin's eyes.
Despite having pushed me away so tirelessly, his final composure shattered with a single, simple confession. His smile beneath the night sky was breathtakingly beautiful. At the peak of his euphoria, he...
“Why do you give me such a lovely confession?”
He looked as if he were about to cry.
“What?”
“I gave Your Highness a chance. I gave you countless chances to run away from me.”
I think I was inwardly shocked by Valentin's reaction. Seeing as I couldn't even open my mouth after hearing such nonsense.
'This is just love, Valentin.'
What on earth are you so afraid of?
“Why are you silent? Do you regret it now that it's too late?”
“...As if I would.”
Valentin didn't listen to my voice. Bending his back, he gently kissed my shoulder. Then, he slowly lifted his head.
“I am sorry. It is too late to regret it now.”
He stole my lips. It was an insolent kiss, one I had not permitted. But I obediently opened my mouth and accepted Valentin. I didn't want to push him away. Because I love him.
'Idiot.'
Oksana was right. You really are malicious, Valentin. Four lifetimes have ruined you.
Now I see you clearly. You're a coward who became a tyrant. Because you're a coward, you're afraid to love me; because you're a tyrant, you make me be the only one to confess love. If Tatyana knew about today, she would scream and be appalled.
I know I'm just as hopeless for choosing someone like you.
But it's okay. Because I am the Imperial Princess of the Ohala Empire, Larisa. Whether ten years pass or fifty, I can handle someone like you.
“Now, you must love only me for the rest of your life.”
Those were the words I wanted to say.
.jpg)