Chapter 1. Kill the Empress
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But it wasn’t easy to just watch. He wanted to touch her when he saw her, and when he made eye contact, he wanted to talk to her.
It may have been childish of him, but when he looked into those purple eyes, he was itching to do something.
Tamon rubbed his heart again. The red wound was palpable.
The night of the engraving was over, and at one point, it appeared on his chest.
The strange thing was that the pattern didn’t say “Roselyn”, but “Aranrosia”.
Roselyn seemed flustered, but Tamon was very pleased.
The Roselyn of the past died. And now it was Aranrosia who was by his side.
He laid the foundation and gave her a new name, Aranrosia Asha.
Even though it was not her will to be reborn, Tamon wanted to give her a whole new life.
Not to Roselyn, who was the Empress, but to Aranrosia, the imprinter of Tamon Krasis.
Tamon turned his body to the side and stared at her gracefully curved back.
“…”
Even though he cared so much, he thought she would still crumble if he touched her wrong.
Tamon wanted to reach out every time he saw Asha limping.
When did he not?
Actually, come to think of it, it had been that way since the first time he saw her trapped in that cold ice castle.
Tamon, who had been admiring her slender shoulders and the curves leading from her waist to her hips, reached out and pulled her to him.
Without saying a word, he felt her body stiffen.
“I have to leave before the morning sun rises, but I can’t fall asleep.”
He held her in his arms, whining as if he was a baby.
“I need to get some energy like this.”
“…… You don’t get tired, do you?”
“Is that so?”
Smiling, Tamon rubbed his nose on her fragrant neck.
He felt her pulse and naturally calmed down.
It was strange.
Even though they held each other like this, he still felt as if she was sad like she did when she was dying.
Just like the time she cut her throat right in front of his eyes.
“A ship believed to be a stowaway has entered Amor sea since yesterday.”
Tamon put more strength into his arms as he hugged her.
“How do you know?”
“If you keep a proper friendship with the pirates, the news on the sea will be at your hands.”
“I see, that’s a clever way to do it.”
Roselyn gave a small nod, as if she liked his method.
“Don’t leave this mansion as much as possible while I’m away. No, you’d better not go out of the annex.”
“Is that a threat?’
“No, I beg you. I’ll increase the guard and escort, but I don’t know if there are people who want to approach you knowing that I’m not here. Rumors of my involvement with women have already spread everywhere.”
“……….You mean they’ll hurt me?”
“That’s possible. Sometimes there are kids who are blinded. They lose their fear and jump on you like crazy.”
He warned in an elegant voice.
The forces that tried to harm her were the ones with power whom Roselyn couldn’t have known about.
Roselyn nodded obediently.
If it was when she rushed to death, she would not listen, but now it was different.
“And….”
He continued a little slowly as if he had remembered something late.
“My brother will be here in a few days.”
“Your brother?”
Tamon Krasis has a brother?
Roselyn searched her memory intently.
Oh, yes, he had a brother who was weak.
A brother who had crossed the pass of death many times.
However, he had persevered and was now said to be in good health.
Little was known because there were so many rumors.
However, she had heard rumors that Tamon was fully supporting him and sincerely taking care of him.
“What’s wrong with your brother?”
“He comes to pick up his medicine. He does so once or twice a year, and it seems that this time period coincides with the time I’m going away.”
“Ah….”
“He doesn’t stay but for a few days, so you don’t have to worry about him, but if you run into him…….”
His voice was subtly dry.
“Ignore him.”
“Ignore him?”
It was a tone that didn’t feel like an attitude towards his brother that he fully supported and sincerely took care of him.
Tamon sighed faintly and murmured in a tired voice.
“Cassion, no, Satin will come and inform you when my brother arrives. During that period, you just have to take extra care of yourself. If you’re frustrated, tell Asrell. I’ll block off the beach below the cliffs so he can’t come in.”
Tamon killed his voice as if he didn’t want to talk anymore.
Somehow, she felt a bit confused, but Roselyn didn’t ask.
Because the important thing was that Tamon was leaving tomorrow.
She tried to sleep nonchalantly, but she was strangely depressed.
Roselyn opened her eyes several times, and did not fall asleep until late in the night.
Not long after she fell asleep, Tamon got up.
***
The sound of a faint presence came as clearly as thunder.
Roselyn quickly lifted her closed eyes.
It was dawn, and yet Tamon, already clothed, was preparing to leave.
“You’re leaving now?”
Roselyn sat up on the bed.
Looking back, Tamon whispered in an apologetic voice.
“I think I woke you up even though I’m leaving quietly.”
Roselyn hesitated wondering if she should say goodbye.
It was confusing because she and Tamon weren’t in a relationship where they would greet each other friendly.
Staring at her in the dim light, Tamon chuckled.
When he laughed like that, Roselyn felt her heart crumpled like a piece of paper making a rustling sound.
She felt like a kid who was caught playing hide-and-seek.
Tamon sat down on the bed and touched her ankle, which was hidden under the blanket.
“Just in case, don’t do nonsense while I’m away.”
“…..Nonsense?”
When Roselyn opened her purple eyes grimly, Tamon laughed and tugged on her ankle.
“Run away, die, or…”
Tamon’s cold lips touched her thin ankle that had been worn out by the wound.
“Or get injured.”
Her body contracted spontaneously, startled when the breath that touched her skin.
“Or disappear, or something like that.”
He touched her slender ankle lightly and then his lips, which had fallen off, stuck on her ankle softly again.
She could feel the wetness of his tongue sucking at her skin.
The more she struggled to pull her foot away, the stronger the grip on her ankle and the pressure of his lips on it became.
“…”
A strange burning sensation scorched beneath her pale skin.
A tingling sensation rose up from the inside of her thighs, hot all the way down to her navel. Her toes naturally contracted.
Kissing her wounded ankle respectfully, Tamon slowly lifted his eyelids and looked at her.
His red eyes, as hot as the sun scorching in Amor’s blue sky, trapped her.
“… You have such useless thoughts.”
She looked at him pretending to be expressionless.
She made an effort not to be caught as she bit the inside of her lips and swallowed a moan.
Tamon’s red eyes narrowed as he observed her, and soon he dropped his gaze again and became absorbed in the act.
“Ah…”
It was only then that she finally let out a few labored breaths.
Why on earth would this man cherish this useless leg as if it were a holy object?
She had to endure the burning sensation every time he licked it.
She had to hold her breath and pretend to be unconcerned with an expressionless face.
Tamon’s lips came up over her thin shins and touched her pretty knees.
He showered her knees with hot breaths.
“You still feel nothing?”
“It just doesn’t work, as it always has.”
Tamon laughed at her calm words.
“You’re right, it’s an unusable leg, so I guess you gave it to me without any regrets.”
“…”
“That’s why I’m the owner of this leg, not you.”
Tamon, who had been constantly kissing her dry ankles and knees, as if performing some pious ritual, murmured.
A slow, heavy voice rang out in the darkness.
“Never forget.”
His eyes bent dangerously.
At one time he was her enemy, but now, he was the man who coveted her.
He looked up at her with reverent and innocent eyes.
What is that thing that is packed in his dark, flickering red eyes?
What is that hot thing that gulped down the thick neck like a starving animal for days?
She felt as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.
Just as she knew what she shouldn’t know, instinct informed her of the danger. Pushing away the strange tension that tickled her stomach silently, Roselyn lowered her eyes.
Slowly, once again, Tamon’s cold lips reached her legs. The moist tip of his tongue contained her ankle.
As if to claim his ownership, the hot lips rubbed against her skin again and again.
He left a series of teeth marks as he licked it. She felt like she was being eaten by him.
This man was a poisonous plant.
If she tasted it, it would addict her, demotivate her, and make her lose her purpose.
His teeth marks remained like fire on her ankle, who could not walk.
“I’ll be back.”
Tamon smiled leisurely and turned away, as if he was going out for a bit.
Roselyn didn’t see him off.
She just leaned against the window and watched his back as he left the mansion.
Watching Tamon’s back as he walked away, she suddenly felt a sense of reality.
The sense of reality that her journey has really begun.