“…….”
I had no rebuttal.
‘No matter how much you hate the Madame, remember that it is something you must eventually do. Because that is the contract.’
It felt quite dreadful to have my own words thrown back at me.
I started to protest, but stopped myself.
Slump.
For now, I sat in the chair as Rose instructed.
“The amount being discharged has decreased compared to before. It means the Velvet Wisp in Your Excellency's lungs has almost come out.”
“…….”
“Once this problem is resolved, Your Excellency will be able to safely pass your upcoming birthday.”
Rose began to speak entirely frankly, laying everything bare.
“Nothing will happen even if you drink the wine Joel gives you. Then my role will be over, too.”
Rose held the cylinder filled with gas in her hand and shook it slightly.
“This will probably be the last one.”
Her words sounded exactly like that.
That this was our last. That since her role was over, our relationship was over too.
“…Rose.”
I forced my stiff lips to move.
“Is that all you have to say to me?”
I would rather Rose resented or despised me.
Her businesslike attitude, showing she was only acting out of obligation because she was bound by a contract. Her cold tone, as if to say that this was all there was between us.
That expressionless face, as if nothing was left, made me uncontrollably anxious.
“I told you I don't care about the contract. You don't have to do anything.”
It seemed like nothing I said would work, but I couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
“Just stay by my side.”
“…….”
Rose kept her mouth shut tight and lowered her eyes.
Even though she was this close, Rose looked far away. I felt a perfect sense of isolation, as if we were in different worlds.
“…….”
I held my breath without realizing it. The silence Rose brought heightened the tension.
I once felt that her green eyes were as warm as the spring sun. But now....
As soon as I faced them, bearing a different temperature from before,
“I thought it was strange.”
Rose's lips moved.
“The Your Excellency I know would never act like this.”
It was closer to a slow murmur than a sharp interrogation.
“From the first day... so much was different. Why didn't I realize it was strange back then?”
Rose continued to speak slowly, as if reminiscing about the past. While looking at me intently.
“Thinking about it now... many things, no, everything was Your Excellency's orchestration. Even making me meet Andersen-nim, it was all to give me clues...”
A dry smile crumbled at the corners of Rose's mouth.
“It was your intention to make me move according to your will.”
“…I can't say I had no such intention at all.”
In front of Rose, who was baring her true feelings so honestly, I no longer hid the words in my heart either.
“But what I considered more important than that was your safety. Because if the future changes, unpredictable variables would arise.”
“…….”
“Because of that, you were actually put in danger. You probably don't know how much I regretted it then.”
Rose was still looking at me with an expressionless face.
“Your Excellency used me in order to survive.”
The words she spat out were fatally sharp. It felt as if a giant sword had pierced through my heart.
“Used... you say.”
I replied, feeling my heart surge and begin to bleed.
“Yes, I used you. Because I needed you.”
“…….”
“At the same time, I hoped you would use me too. I wanted you to see me as the key to solving your problems, as a safe haven.”
An unfathomable wave rippled over Rose's eyes. I looked at it and said slowly.
“It was a contract that started out of necessity... but at some point, that changed.”
“…….”
“Because you became more precious to me than the contract.”
It was not easy to honestly lay bare the emotions I had always kept hidden and the thoughts I had merely let spill out.
But I tried my best to convey my heart. Hoping it wouldn't sound like a mere excuse.
“…….”
Silence fell as if to gauge my true intentions.
Rose looked at me while biting her lip tightly. She bit it so hard that I worried she might bleed.
A moment later, Rose reached out her hand, her eyes tinged with an unreadable color.
Tap.
The gas cylinder Rose handed over was set down on my hand. As she released it, I could see her retreating hand trembling faintly.
“Drink it for now.”
It was a tone that carried an undeniable force.
I silently opened the cylinder and downed it in one gulp.
“…?”
I drank it bracing myself for that terrible taste, but the sensation left on my tongue was just slightly bitter and dull.
Just as I stared at the gas cylinder with questioning eyes.
“Hehe....”
Rose let out a low laugh.
Clack.
Then she took away the empty gas cylinder and set it down on the desk.
“To drink it so obediently. Yes, this part was truly unlike Your Excellency too.”
The smile blooming at the corners of Rose's mouth was unusual. Her eyes, having grown deeper at some point, held a peculiar gleam.
“You used to be so strict about everything you put in your mouth.”
“…What did you feed me?”
“I didn't feed it to you. Your Excellency drank it himself.”
Rose slowly approached, and
Press.
She pressed down on my arm resting on the armrest with her hand. And she leaned her body toward me.
“What you just drank is a poison I made by analyzing Your Excellency's body. If you don't drink the antidote every day, it will cause seizures.”
Rose's large green eyes gleamed.
“It will be an agony so terrible that you would rather die. And only I can make the antidote.”
Her voice was as gentle as the fluttering of a butterfly, but what lay within it was a cruelty far more intense than a bee's sting.
“…….”
I stared at Rose blankly.
What Rose had done, and the words she whispered as she approached me.
Everything came as a huge shock.
“Your Excellency used me to survive... but not anymore. From now on, Your Excellency can only die if I allow it.”
Rose's lips twisted, drawing a cruel smile.
“Now, beg me. Beg me to save your life.”
“…….”
I remained silent, looking at Rose.
Even though she was smiling, why did it look to my eyes as if she were crying? Why did she seem so fragile, as if she would shatter at any moment?
“…Haha.”
Eventually, a laugh of relief spilled out.
Compared to the Rose who desired nothing from me, who acted as if she would leave me at any moment.
The Rose who fed me poison and told me to beg for my life...
...was so damn lovely.
‘I must be out of my mind.’
I felt myself desiring her even more intensely for putting a collar around my neck and forcing a choice upon me.
But I would gladly accept a collar like this. I didn't care even if it ended up choking me to death.
Rose wanted me. That alone was enough.
“Rose.”
I raised the corners of my mouth and whispered.
“I like you.”
Rose's body flinched and stiffened for a moment.
“I love you.”
I smiled at Rose, who seemed to have stopped still, forgetting to even breathe.
“If this is the death you give me, Rose, I will gladly take it.”
A brief silence flowed.
It was because Rose stood frozen in place, as if she had encountered something completely foreign.
But the next moment.
Grab.
Rose grabbed my collar with both hands, and
“Mmph.”
suddenly kissed me.
Almost simultaneously with our lips meeting, her tongue thrust in and swept through every corner of my mouth.
It was a fierce kiss, as if she wanted to seal my mouth shut or shatter me completely.
“…Haa.”
After a long moment, Rose pulled her lips away and stared at me. Her green eyes were churning violently.
“Say it again.”
To the demand that poured out like a sigh,
“I love you.”
I replied as if it were a matter of course. As soon as I finished speaking, Rose kissed me again.
It was less fierce than the previous one, but still hot and heavy.
It was frustrating that I couldn't touch her because Rose had both my arms pinned down.
But being unable to move like this and receiving the barrage of kisses Rose rained down on me wasn't bad, either.
“Haa.”
The only things that could move were my tongue and lips.
Ironically, doing so made the sensations of my tongue and lips stand out all the more vividly.
Rose's soft skin wrapping around my lips, her hot flesh exploring every corner of my mouth and sweeping across it without leaving a single inch untouched.
Even though I had just drunk the gas, I no longer felt the bitter, gritty taste. It was simply sweet.
“Haa....”
Pressing her forehead against mine, Rose met my gaze. Tears had already gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“…I love you.”
With our breaths intertwining, her brilliantly tearful eyes whispered her true feelings.
“I love you, Your Excellency.”
I stared at Rose, completely frozen as if I had been put under hypnosis.
“Your hair, your skin, your breath... I won't surrender a single one of them. Not to anyone.”
Rose's words were seeping into my ears very slowly.
“Not even to death.”
Rose leaned in once more and took my lips. Her thick tongue entwined with mine, reaching every nook and cranny of my mouth.
Rose pulled away, swallowing even my final breath. A mad smile had surfaced at some point, looking down on me from above.
“Everything about you... yes, everything.”
It was a vow, and a declaration of war.
Or...
“All of it is mine.”
It was also a confession.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart pounded like mad. Sweat gathered in my palms and my fingertips trembled...
“…Hah.”
I was in ecstasy.
A sense of fulfillment I had never felt when obtaining anything else. A satisfaction welled up inside me, as if I had gained everything in the world.
Who wouldn't feel their heart flutter at such an intense, maddening confession that cast everything else aside?
Rose liked me too. No, she loved me.
I couldn't think of anything else after that. I merely grabbed Rose's face and surged forward.
“Mmph.”
When I stood up abruptly, our eye levels instantly shifted.
It was nice to receive the kisses Rose rained down from above, but...
“Haa, hah.”
A kiss while pressing tightly against Rose's body was far better.
Thud!
I lifted Rose as she was and sat her on the desk.
“Ah...!”
My hands caressed Rose's body, and my lips took in her breath.
Rose naturally wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. She intertwined her fingers tightly, as if vowing never to let go.
After a series of fiery kisses,
“Your Excellency.”
Rose made her demand with moist, tearful eyes.
“Give me... give me everything, Your Excellency.”
The words she breathed out in ragged gasps were insanely seductive.
Thinking or judging anything more was impossible.
“…To the bedroom.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I lifted Rose into my arms.