DCEB | CH 28

Chapter 28: Holding Each Other’s Hearts

Eleanor shut her eyes tightly for a moment, then stood up suddenly, as if shaking off all her frustrating emotions.

Then, like someone who had gone mad, she pulled out her neatly arranged parchment and quill.

“What are you doing?”

“You told me to explain. I’m going to prove it.”

Eleanor’s hands moved quickly.

As the quill moved, complex lines and shapes appeared with delicate precision, as if she had seen and copied them.

How much time passed like that?

Before they knew it, she had completed a map so detailed that it was hard to believe she drew it from memory.

Eleanor slammed the map down on the table and glared at the silent man.

“Congratulations, dear. You now have the map to the treasure vault Count Grace has desperately tried to keep hidden. Well? How is it?”

She pointed at specific marks she had added.

“Once a month, the guards rotate. That’s the best time to raid it.”

“……”

“My father is arrogant and lazy, so he tends to only care about appearances. Don’t forget to fill it with fake items to trick him.”

Kylus looked shocked, frowning as if deep in thought. But he didn’t refuse the map.

“Let’s stop the useless talk and get to the real matter between us.”

He looked clearly annoyed, but when she stared at him stubbornly, he finally pulled out a glowing piece of parchment from inside his coat.

That single sheet was likely worth over 100 gold.

“This is what you asked for.”

“A life-binding contract.”

“Yes. If either side breaks it, their heart explodes.”

Kylus pointed coldly at the bottom of the parchment where the signature should go.

“If you write your name here, the contract— What are you doing?!”

He shouted as Eleanor tried to sign, snatching the parchment away from her.

Eleanor glared at him sharply, but his mood was just as fiery.

He let out a frustrated breath, clutching the paper tightly.

“Are you really insane, Grace?! Signing a life-binding contract without even reading it?”

“Can’t you just see it as desperation? I already told you the terms. A one-year marriage contract, and then divorce. Your goal is to destroy Grace. My goal is freedom. What else?”

His eyes flashed with irritation, as if swallowing back a curse.

“You keep stressing one year… Don’t tell me that’s how much time you have left.”

“What if it is?”

“…What?”

Eleanor let out a small laugh.

Don’t be kind to me. It doesn’t suit you.

There’s no need to cross the line with unnecessary cooperation.

That would only make things dangerous—for both of them.

“I’m joking. I just don’t want to give more than a year. You’ve seen my memory, haven’t you?”

“You think that’s a joke?”

“Why not? It’s my life.”

Eleanor reached out and took the parchment back from him.

It glowed faintly.

It was short, but ended with a brutal sentence:

“If the contract is broken, the heart will rupture.”

Direct and effective.

Eleanor smiled faintly.

“I chose you for a simple reason. If I give you all of my father’s secrets, I believed you could take him down within a year.”

“You speak of yourself like you’re not involved.”

“You’ll do your best to destroy Grace. And I’ll give it my all to help you.”

“So what do you gain? Isn’t that too little? Are you really satisfied with just freedom?”

“I told you. I don’t need anything else. I’ll fill my own pockets. I’ll handle my life on my own.”

Eleanor took a deep breath.

“When I sign my name, when I put my life on the scale—”

Her green eyes sparkled with madness.

A beautiful face hiding something dark beneath her perfect smile.

Something that had festered for years.

The emotion that death couldn’t erase and made her return to life.

Please, just believe me.

“Kylus, from now on, you’ll follow all the information I give you. Trust me completely. Until our one-year contract ends, and Count Grace breathes his last.”

The man laughed harshly.

Watching Eleanor’s quill move, he muttered bitterly,

“What a disgustingly satisfying contract.”

“Yes. A reasonable one.”

“For who?”

“For you and me. Done.”

As Eleanor pressed her name onto the contract and lifted her hand, she paused.

“…What are you doing?”

“It’s only reasonable for you. I may be a knight who follows justice, but I can’t let this unfairness go.”

He took the quill from her with his large hand.

“Life for life.”

With a deep sigh, a tired brow, and darkened eyes,

He smoothly signed his name right below hers.

Eleanor was shocked.

She looked up quickly, and he returned a twisted, fierce stare as if nothing was wrong.

“You…!”

She was the shocked one, yet Kylus was the one looking annoyed and angry.

“What are you staring at? A fair contract requires both sides to risk their lives.”

The quill dropped from his hand.

“A contract where we give each other our hearts… Truly an unforgettable wedding night.”

She didn’t know if he was angry because she risked her life too easily.

But that was the whole point of the contract! Why act like this now?

Ignoring Eleanor’s stunned expression, the now-cold Kylus picked up the contract and stood.

He didn’t want to see her anymore—the message was clear in his back.

That strong back. That rejection.

As Eleanor watched his familiar back, her heart suddenly dropped.

Then she remembered something she had forgotten.

Even in this serious moment… she couldn’t help it.

“Wait.”

She reached out and grabbed his clothes tightly.

He almost lost half his shirt. Kylus turned with a shocked face.

“…What are you doing?”

It felt like she kept making him say that.

It was embarrassing and awkward, but Eleanor had a point.

“You’re seriously going to leave just like this?”

His brows twitched like he didn’t understand.

“What nonsense now?”

“That’s what I’m saying. You’re going to leave. We just got married. This is our wedding night.”

“…What?”

“You can’t leave just like that.”

“What?”

That was all he could say.

“We have to sleep together.”

“…!”

Only after seeing his shocked expression did she realize she hadn’t explained herself clearly.

As she tried to fix her words, she even bit her tongue.

Not knowing her thoughts, Kylus looked at her like she was insane and said,

“You shameless woman.”

No, that’s not what I meant!

He pulled his clothes away from her hand.

Eleanor tried to grab it again, but Kylus suddenly jumped back.

Now it was Eleanor’s turn to be stunned.

“Wait… Did you just dodge me?”

“……”

What, do you think I’ll bite you?

“Kylus, seriously, what’s with you!”

“……”

She was about to say something sharp again when she noticed—

“Who said I dodged you.”

“……”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

His voice was low, his face annoyed and angry.

That was the usual Kylus.

But she saw something else too.

His red ears, his flushed neck…

His boiling rage was now fading away.

‘Why are you making that face…’

Back when they had spent their first night together,

Kylus did not act like someone inexperienced.

She remembered clearly how rough and hot that night had been.

So why now…?

‘Were those trembling lips back then just my imagination?’

When they kissed after she returned to the past—And when he bit his lip at the wedding…

Suddenly, she felt empty.

It really felt like the man before her wasn’t the same man who had been her husband ten years later.

Strangely, his embarrassment and flustered face seemed to be contagious.

She was used to deep kisses, raw passion, and nights full of tangled pleasure.

Yet she bit her lip and turned her head.

Then whispered quietly,

“I don’t know what you misunderstood, but… I meant we should at least pretend we slept in the same room tonight.”

“……”

A heavy, embarrassed silence fell over the room.