Cleaned thoroughly by a maid, she lay in fresh clothes, her skin fair and unblemished.
He removed his black leather gloves and extended his finger to her nose.
Her breathing as she slept soundly was so faint it seemed it might stop at any moment.
That thin breath made him uneasy. He couldn't understand why this fragile breath was choking him.
Rodrick stared at her peacefully sleeping face for a long time.
"Diana Beatus."
Even at his low voice, her eyelids didn't move.
"Diana."
He remembered how sulky she had been when he wouldn't call her name.
Diana. Diana Beatus. He rolled her name around in his mouth.
Diana. Just calling her name made him feel closer to her.
'Can't you hug me tightly before we part?'
'Let's say I fell for you at first sight.'
'Do you know how hard it was for me to escape! Sob. If you die, it's all for nothing! I need you!'
Her voice, yearning for life, sparkled. She always gave her all.
This small, fragile woman was relentless in her pursuit of life.
Rodrick quietly took her hand. The coolness of her bloodless skin was felt in his palm. He missed her warmth.
"Why..."
He didn't know. The unidentifiable emotion churning in his empty chest was both unpleasant and unfamiliar.
He couldn't define it.
He just thought that he wanted this woman to live. That's what Rodrick thought.
"Wake up. You said you wanted to live."
I'll make it happen. Wake up.
He didn't realize that his own voice had softened.
Diana's presence was gradually growing and settling in his heart, but no one knew. How far its influence would reach.
[This is the timeline separator]
She was aware that it was a dream. Because there was no pain and no one was visible.
Floating in the black space, she grabbed a book that was drifting with her.
What caught her eye as she read one book was the story of a villainess.
Villainess, by dictionary definition, meant a woman who was vicious and cruel in nature.
However, typically, the villainess in stories was stupidly obsessed with men and blamed the other party for the man's infidelity.
She thought everything was because of the female lead and sought revenge.
But why? Didn't it occur to her that the man was at fault?
The one who cheats without even ending the relationship is the most wrong, isn't it?
Yet you still want him? What do you see in that man? What is he that's so great?
Please. Please, have a broader perspective.
Sister!
As if being sucked into the book, the letters changed into images, then into reality, and the scene before her eyes changed.
What was burning in the bright red flames was the imperial palace, boasting overwhelming majesty.
Against the backdrop of the partially collapsed and crumbling main palace, the crown prince and the villainess stood in opposition.
"If you can't be mine..."
The villainess, shining brilliantly, smiled radiantly like a rose full of poison.
"You'll have to go with me, Your Highness."
Her hand, covered in the emperor's blood, tried to grab the crown prince's neck. But the crown prince's hand was faster.
Before the poison on her sharp nails could touch his neck, a long sword pierced the villainess's heart.
The villainess, thoroughly rejected in the love play between the crown prince and the saint in the novel. Vanessa Beatus, the eldest daughter of the Beatus family, dies like that.
Everything stopped. Everything collapsed.
She, whose heart was pierced by her loved one.
She, who had gone as far as assassinating the emperor.
She, who had been nothing more than the crown prince's dog, perished,
And along with her, everything else.
Was consumed by darkness.
The villainess's world crumbled.
Finding that sight pitiful, Diana, now embracing the villainess who had become her own flesh and blood, shed tears profusely in her dream.
[This is the timeline separator]
Was she having a nightmare?
Tears overflowed and fell from under her trembling eyelids.
Rodrick wiped her cheeks with his bare hand, without even wearing gloves, as tears flowed endlessly.
The servants who knew Rodrick well were so surprised by this attentive gesture that they were at a loss for words.
It had already been five days since they arrived in the north.
Quite a long time had passed since Diana hadn't woken up.
"Um, I need to change the water bowl..."
Pelice, standing at the wide-open doorway, flashed a smile at the maid and raised his index finger. It meant to be quiet and leave.
Sometimes people came to see Diana's face out of curiosity, and this young maid seemed to be one of them.
How dare they. Many had started to disobey the master's orders properly.
Pelice's expression hardened instantly after closing the door.
Pelice, who always greeted people with a smile, had started to change after running away and returning.
Search "seduce" at redcatty [.] com to read ahead up to chap 70.