Chapter 99
It felt as though all the blood in her body had frozen solid. Killian strode up behind Rowena, who stood rigid, unable to make even the sound of her own breathing, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Her pounding heart felt as if it might burst through her chest at any moment. As she wavered over whether to push him away or flee, a gentle hand guided her toward the bed.
So flustered she could not even resist, she sank onto the soft bedding. Then, suddenly, Killian knelt. As she stared down at the crown of his head, now a familiar sight, his sinewy hand lifted her heel and examined it.
“It seems you didn’t go out to the courtyard today.”
Relief was buried in the small sigh that followed. At his cryptic words and attitude, Rowena could only blink.
What on earth was he talking about? She had not had the leisure to stroll around admiring flowers lately. Killian raised his head and studied Rowena’s face. Only then did Rowena notice the wounds carved into his cheek.
There was the cut from the vase she had thrown at him that afternoon, and the scratches her fingernails had left. Like footprints appearing on a field of pure white snow, her gaze naturally lingered on the scars marked into skin that had once been smooth and flawless.
“Wait.”
It was then that her eyes shook. After checking her feet and face, Killian stood as if to change clothes and began undoing, one by one, the buttons of the shirt fastened all the way to his throat.
His exposed neck was stained blue with handprints. While Rowena lost her words at a sight she had never even imagined, Killian turned away and took off his top. The sleek muscles beneath his broad shoulders flashed briefly before her eyes, then vanished beneath his nightclothes. Having quickly changed, Killian approached the bed again. Rowena flinched and tried to scoot backward, but he was one step faster. Enveloping Rowena’s hands in both of his, Killian brought them to his own neck. As though it were natural. As though it were only right.
“You can choke me now.”
“……”
“But you can’t go out to the courtyard. You might fall while walking.”
Rowena’s hands, resting against his warm neck, trembled violently. Frowning at something that had never happened before, Killian looked into the green eyes wandering wildly in the dark.
“Rowena?”
“No.”
With a cry, Rowena shoved Killian away and covered her ears with both hands.
The ghost of the mansion. The handprints on his neck.
The truth surged over Rowena like a disaster. At the same time, a shock strong enough to shake the earth swept through her. Thrashing like someone submerged underwater, she repeated the same words like a death rattle.
“No!”
“Rowena.”
Only then realizing that Rowena was awake, Killian caught her by the elbow. Then, with the utmost calm, he moved his lips.
“Calm down.”
“No. No! It wasn’t me……”
“That’s right. It wasn’t. So……”
“Aaaah!”
Tears burst forth along with a desperate scream. She really was going mad.
How was she any different from an insane woman like this? Her entire body trembled, and sobs broke through her lips.
The next moment, unable to watch any longer, Killian embraced her. One hand wrapped around her shoulders, the other pulled her in by the waist.
She was warm. She was alive. That was enough. That alone was his hope.
“Let go!”
“I can’t.”
“I said let go! I hate this!”
“No.”
Her struggles were useless. No matter how she pushed him, scratched him, or hurled curses, he did not budge, like a solid rock. Rowena resisted until her strength gave out.
“Are you happy now that you’ve driven me completely insane? Is holding a madwoman in your arms to your taste?”
“You’re not insane. It’s all my fault. You did nothing wrong. I’m the one who’s mad, and I’m the bastard who deserves to die.”
Hot tears continued to stream down her cheeks. The breath touching her shoulder was trembling. Along with it, a memory she had been trying hard to forget resurfaced.
Not long ago, the last time she went to the harbor, she had fallen into the sea. The one who had pulled her up as she slowly sank, feeling the buoyancy, had been none other than Killian.
The voice that had called her so desperately. She had lost consciousness, and for some reason, from the next day on, she had not remembered it.
Her breathing, agitated by shock, rage, and despair, gradually, little by little, subsided beneath the hand stroking her back. After exhausting all her strength, Rowena went limp, and the sleep that had long been delayed came for her. Noticing Rowena blinking drowsily, Killian carefully laid her down on the bed.
“No……”
Her voice came out like a whisper. Bending over, Killian kissed her forehead and, with a familiar motion, closed her eyes.
“Sleep now. Once you wake up, you’ll feel much better.”
With those words, Rowena’s eyelids closed completely. Even after she had fallen into a deep sleep, Killian looked down at her for a long while before calling to the man who had been standing outside the door, unable to come in.
“Jenok.”
* * *
The plan had gone awry. Something had gone wrong.
Tom, who had spent the past few days hiding himself and spying on Killian Devonshire and Rowena Philone, could not shake the ominous feeling.
And Cecilia had played no small part in that unease.
“What on earth is this? If anything, it looks like their relationship has grown stronger!”
“Wait.”
“Until when? It’s already happened!”
According to the original objective, Rowena Philone should have suspected Killian Devonshire and accused him of being a murderer based on the clues he had subtly leaked. At first, it had seemed to succeed, but before long, the situation overturned his expectations.
Rowena Philone was treating Killian Devonshire with extreme violence and contempt, but she did not seem to be mistaking him for a murderer.
“Can’t we just show her a body and say it was discovered late? What’s the problem?”
And there was an even bigger problem. Tom suddenly glared at Cecilia, who had made him recall it. As Cecilia flinched and hunched her shoulders, he bared his teeth.
“How am I supposed to show something that doesn’t exist?”
“What?”
“He died in the explosion, and aside from that damned necklace, we can’t find a trace.”
“Then make more decisive evidence.”
“For example?”
At the sharp question, Cecilia slipped her gaze away and stammered.
“For, for example, well…… a confession from a close aide, or something.”
A close aide. Jenok Gillitus. A flash of insight shot through his mind.
“There was that bastard!”
He was a figure Tom had not seen lately, no matter how much he loitered around the duke. Since some authority had been delegated to him as a proxy, Tom had assumed he was busy working in his master’s place, but the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
“Wh-where are you going?”
A hurried voice followed behind Tom as he abruptly turned and strode away.
“Somewhere I need to go.”
Without looking back, Tom answered and ran off as if sprinting somewhere.
* * *
Damian could not adjust to the unfamiliar surroundings. No sooner had he boarded the ship than he was dragged back down and shut up, practically imprisoned, in a high-class inn. When it was time, three meals a day were brought out, and everything he needed was prepared. Aside from leaving the room, he was granted a certain degree of freedom, but it was still suffocating all the same.
“Brother. How long do we have to stay here?”
“Damian.”
When Damian finally could not hold back and asked, a shadow fell over Cedric’s face. The one who had brought the two of them to the villa was none other than the duke’s close aide, Jenok Gillitus.
—Come with me right now.
—Why should we do that?
—If you value your lives, then follow me. Right now.
The other party had not pointed a gun at them, but the situation was no different from a threat. Only after they arrived at a secluded high-class inn under strict guard did Cedric understand what it meant to be told to follow if they wanted to stay alive. Only after every window had been closed off with curtains, blocking inside from outside, did Jenok explain the situation to him.
—There is someone after you.
—What?
—Until we catch them, you must remain here. Officially, as dead men.
It was impossible to believe, but if Duke Devonshire had intended to kill him, there would have been no reason to bring him all the way here and imprison him while wasting time. Moreover, Jenok’s reaction upon seeing Damian also proved it. He seemed to know that Damian was Killian Devonshire’s only son, and whenever he dealt with Damian, he was even more courteous than when he dealt with Cedric.
In the end, all they could do was quietly hide themselves and wait for contact. After begging them to deliver, at the very least, the medicine he had barely managed to procure to his elder sister Lauren, Cedric spent his days with Damian with no promise of when it would end.
“I miss Mom. And Aunt Lauren, too.”
“……
Me too.”
Holding Damian tightly, Cedric let out a deep sigh inwardly. It had already been several days. As an adult, he could endure it, but he was worried about Damian.
“Can’t I go see Mom, even from far away?”
Damian lifted his head from Cedric’s arms and asked tearfully. Unable to answer, Cedric stroked his small head, when someone knocked on the door beyond the room. His tension lasted only a moment. At the voice that followed, Cedric let out a sigh of relief.
“Mr. Godwell.”
“Come in, Mr. Gillitus.”
At his permission, Jenok opened the door and entered, then held something out to the two of them.
“This is……?”
“Prepare to leave at once.”
What Jenok held out was none other than a long robe with a hood. Perfect for hiding one’s identity.
“Where are we going now?”
Though he recognized him as an ally, Cedric instinctively hid Damian behind his back and remained on guard.
As if he understood, Jenok answered slowly without a change in expression.
“We are going to see Lady Rowena.”