Chapter 6
“That’s impossible.”
A hollow laugh escaped between his lips.
“I can’t believe it.”
Damian shook his head repeatedly, his brows drawing together fiercely.
Had he really found her story impossible to believe?
Well, even if she was a Saintess blessed with divine power, there had never been a single person in history who had seen the future or possessed the ability to foresee it.
So his reaction was perfectly understandable.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling hurt by the fact that even Damian—the one person who had tried to save her at the very end—seemed to be pushing her away.
Slightly discouraged, she let out a small sigh.
“Haah, yes. I know it’s hard to believe, but…….”
“Right. It’s an absolutely impossible story.”
One of his eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.
“Why would I be killed by those bastards?”
“……Huh?”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m stronger than all those pieces of trash. So why?”
Elize blinked rapidly as she stared at Damian, trying to understand what he was getting at.
His green eyes burned more fiercely than ever, filled with fighting spirit.
“And I died without even being able to protect you? Why the hell would I die?”
At Damian’s next question, an involuntary breathless laugh escaped her.
Apparently, the part he found impossible to believe was that he had died at their hands.
“That’s the part you can’t believe?”
“Yeah. Why is the future like that?”
Completely unconcerned about the absurd story of her having seen the future, he continued pressing her for answers.
“Tell me everything in detail.”
“……All right.”
She told him everything.
How the three men had betrayed her.
How Damian had tried to save her when everyone else demanded her death.
And how, despite possessing such overwhelming power, he had ended up dying alongside her.
She even told him that after experiencing a death that felt like either a dream or reality, she had discovered that the three men were preparing to burn her at the stake three months later.
“Those crazy bastards.”
Damian’s face turned cold after hearing the entire story.
He muttered a curse under his breath, then spoke.
“See? I told you, Elize.”
His low voice sounded like the growl of a beast.
“They looked exactly like the kind of bastards who’d stab you in the back. You can tell just by looking at their faces.”
Although he seemed relatively calm, Damian was actually holding back a tremendous amount of anger.
He had sensed for a long time, through his natural instincts and almost animal-like intuition, that Esit, Ian, and Leonhardt were hiding sinister plans.
But he had never imagined that their schemes would extend to Elize.
“No wonder I kept having this feeling that I needed to watch over you.”
Damian muttered quietly to himself.
“……So it wasn’t just simple stalking?”
So he really had been protecting her for that reason?
She stared at him in surprise.
“I’m the sole heir to the throne of the Deblen Empire. If it had merely been a baseless concern, I would’ve put protective magic on you or assigned you guards.”
Even though he had every reason to be offended, Damian calmly continued speaking without showing the slightest trace of displeasure.
“Even if it means going back and working all night, isn’t it only natural for me to keep the woman I love safe?”
Elize’s lips slowly parted in shock.
Just how badly had she misunderstood him all this time?
Calling it a mere prejudice seemed almost laughable.
It had been a pair of sunglasses made entirely from vicious prejudice.
And it was the three men who had betrayed her who had placed those sunglasses over her eyes.
“It’s true that I’m blinded by love, but I wouldn’t do something like that without a reason.”
“……You’re right.”
Her complexion had grown darker as she looked straight into Damian’s eyes.
“I think there were far too many things I misunderstood. I’m sorry, Damian.”
She even bowed her head and sincerely apologized.
One apology couldn’t erase the fact that she had avoided him and secretly looked down on him for so long.
But if she intended to remain by Damian’s side, she had to apologize for what she had done.
“Elize.”
Damian merely lifted one corner of his mouth.
“You can do anything to me.”
A dimple appeared beside his crooked smile.
As she carefully took in yet another unexpected side of him, Elize listened attentively.
“You can curse at me or even hit me. I don’t care.”
“Although it’s a future that hasn’t happened yet, you were the only person who came to save me. You’re my benefactor.”
She added seriously,
“If your preference is being cursed at and hit, then I’ll gladly…….”
“Ha!”
Damian burst out laughing at her unexpected response.
Covering his mouth, he chuckled for quite a while. Eventually, he wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes before speaking again.
“This is why I can’t escape from you, Elize.”
At that moment, Damian’s eyes curved gently.
“You’re this adorable. How could I possibly not love you?”
Elize stared blankly at him.
He had always been exceptionally handsome, but because of his slightly upturned eyes, Damian’s expression usually appeared cold.
Yet seeing him smile like that made him look almost innocent.
So this was how he smiled when he was genuinely happy.
Apparently, he had countless charms she had yet to discover.
Her face flushed red. She smiled awkwardly and trailed off.
“I’m not that adorable…….”
“You can just use me if you want. The one person in this world who can treat the Crown Prince of the Deblen Empire like a slave is…….”
Damian finished slowly, maintaining his gentle smile.
“You.”
Does he really have that kind of preference……?
Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Elize cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Anyway…….”
She returned to a serious expression and continued.
“I don’t want to lie to you, so I’ll tell you everything honestly. There’s something I promised you when we died together.”
“A promise? Now I’m very curious what kind of promise it was.”
Damian’s eyes sparkled with interest.
She smiled faintly before continuing.
“I promised that in my next life, I would love you.”
At those words, Damian fell completely silent, as though someone had struck him hard in the back of the head.
“So I’m going to love you now. Honestly, I probably can’t do it right away. But I’ll try. And perhaps soon…….”
Under normal circumstances, these were words she would have been too embarrassed to say.
Yet now, embarrassing words continued to spill freely from her lips.
“I’ll probably come to love you.”
Elize looked directly into Damian’s eyes.
The reason she could say it so confidently was simple.
“The moment you came to save me, I was so grateful that I wanted to cry.”
Damian had risked his life to save her.
Even with death right before him, his weakened hands had continued working to undo her bonds.
Even as his eyes began losing focus, he had looked deeply into hers to reassure her.
And finally, there had been the warmth of his embrace.
Even now, those sensations remained so vivid that she could almost feel them against her skin whenever she closed her eyes.
“And I need your help, too.”
“……All right. What do you need me to help with, my lovely Elize?”
“The downfall of the three men.”
Elize’s pupils narrowed sharply, like those of a beast.
“Their complete destruction. And for that destruction…… I’ll need your help, too.”
Burning with vengeance, she slowly reached out toward Damian.
“Well, well…….”
He stared at the hand Elize had extended toward him before taking it firmly in his own.
“That sounds…… extremely interesting, Elize.”
Yes. That was exactly the expression.
In a world where everything else had become black and white, only she seemed to shine with beautiful color.
Damian looked at Elize as though he were utterly enchanted, the corners of his lips rising in deep satisfaction.
