IBWCD 05

Chapter 05

“Can I borrow something you’re wearing?”

Rhea’s eyes narrowed.

She had just overheard the maids’ conversation.

Evelyn’s out-of-the-blue request, even for someone who rarely asked for favors, made Rhea suspicious.

“What about the Councilor’s robes? You can’t…”

“You’re right, I need to get into the tower to check something out. The only way to get past the heavy security is to disguise myself as a Councilman.”

Reah thought for a moment, then brushed the rain off her robe and handed it to her.

She’d been a tomboy since childhood, but she knew there was something to be said for an urgent request.

Especially when the other person was a lifesaver.

“Just promise me one thing, you’ll come out as soon as you’re done. It’s dangerous for a reason.”

Evelyn knew. How thoughtful and serious the man they called a dangerous, cruel monster was.

“Yes, you don’t have to worry.”

Wearing a borrowed robe emblazoned with the emblem of the attending physician, Evelyn turned away from Reah’s worried gaze and headed for the spire.

* * *

Tiny footsteps echoed in the dark space like the entrance to hell.

“What the hell!”

Evelyn’s hooded figure emerged from the maze of corridors, and her bodyguards stopped her.

They were not the Count’s private soldiers, but the Knights of Blackwood from the North.

Even though there was no way they would recognize her, Evelyn bowed her head and opened her mouth, feeling unnecessarily shy.

“I’ve brought medicine, and I’ve been ordered to keep you company until the priests arrive.”

“Medicine?”

Earlier, Evelyn could tell from the conversation of the guards that they were waiting for the priests.

There could be any number of reasons for waiting for the priests, but Evelyn had chosen to use the excuse that suited her attire at the moment.

“Yes, if it helps.”

There was a moment of silence.

Just when she thought she was going to suffocate under the weight of four pairs of eyes probing her every thought, someone spoke up.

“Take care of yourself. Keep an eye on her, but stay as close as possible.”

Seeing no danger in her disguise as a councilwoman, the escorts cleared the way without question.

Evelyn nodded quickly, though she briefly questioned the order to keep to herself.

The door swung open and pitch blackness enveloped her.

‘Have I fallen asleep already…?’

She looked around with eyes that had grown accustomed to the darkness.

*Flash*

*Bang!*

In the flash of light, she could see something naked and crouched on the bed, covered in a black aura.

‘A knife…’

Her eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. The anticipation of seeing the face she’d missed so much made her throat tighten and her stomach burn.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and closed the distance between them, but something was wrong.

Evelyn hurried toward the bed, her heart pounding so hard it threatened to burst out of her tiny body.

“Oh, my God…!”

The first thing she saw was a wound.

A gaping, bone-baring wound, as if a demon had slashed it deeply with its sharp claws, and black, gushing blood.

Scales covered its bare skin, and black feathers sprouted like wings from its torn right arm.

“It’s going on a rampage.”

This was not a good sign.

The moment he went on a rampage, he would be consumed by darkness and the demons within him would take control of his body, and only the sight of someone’s blood would quell it.

“What the hell happened…”

Evelyn tossed off the hood that covered her head and pressed her hands urgently to his wounds.

Only the need to keep him alive filled her graying mind. No matter what the future held for her, if she could save him, she would not regret this moment.

It was then.

“Hmph!”

A faint mauve aura emanated from Evelyn’s hand as it touched Kalian’s right arm, and at the same time, her eyes widened to the point of bulging.

Evelyn’s eyes widened as she touched his wound, and the pain of tearing and burning limbs was instantly transmitted.

Evelyn clamped her hand over her mouth as a scream threatened to escape.

And this time, something scorching hot bubbled up inside.

The crimson liquid that escaped her clenched gums quickly overflowed and drenched her dress.

“Blood…?”

A burning, gnawing pain pressed down on her entire body, and the area around her mouth began to ache as if it were on fire.

“Why is this happening?”

She doesn’t know why.

It never happened before.

Her vision flashes. Evelyn instinctively sensed that his pain was transferring to her.

It’s like the senses are torn apart, like time and space are out of sync.

‘It’s similar to the pain I felt just before I died…’

A moment of sheer terror overtook her, and she stared at the man for a moment, breathing raggedly.

‘But if I give up now, he might die. If Kalian dies, will I…?’

Her purpose fades. For now, he is the only one who has free access to the temple and can take her north.

‘I need you to make sure my mother is alive and well, to decipher the curse. So get through this, please.’

Evelyn bit her lower lip so hard it bled, hoping it would take away his pain.

So much time passed like that.

The razor-like scales and black feathers slowly dissipated in a cloud of puffy smoke.

His wounds, which had been dripping with black blood, had healed, though not perfectly.

His ragged breathing had calmed down.

His eyelashes dampened as relief washed over him. More than anything else, it pleased her to know that her healing powers still worked on him.

‘Thank goodness, really…’

Evelyn, drenched in blood, sweat, and tears, was about to place her hand on his forehead once more, just in case.

“Huh!”

A hand reached out like a thunderbolt from the darkness and grabbed her wrist.

In the next instant, she was spun around and thrown back on the bed, her vision darting to the ceiling.

“Ugh..!”

Evelyn could barely speak, let alone attempt to escape, as she was held by a terrifying, evil force.

For Kalian had leapt on top of her, pressing down on her lower body and binding her wrists together.

“Your Highness?”

She barely managed to get her words out before the force of the pressing pushed her back against the fluffy pillows.

Pressing her trembling lips together, Evelyn stared blankly at the red moon, which was getting closer and closer.

It was some time before she realized they were a man’s eyes.

‘…He’s still out of it.’

The man’s defocused pupils looked like they were going mad. Facing those blood-red eyes, she felt her consciousness slip away, as if she were being dragged underwater.

“Why the hell…”

The sensation of souls mingling with souls, coupled with the ferocity and intensity of those eyes, caused an unknown desire to ripple through her mind.

She couldn’t understand why.

Because the moment their bodies touched, the only thing that filled Evelyn’s mind was the sinister thought that she couldn’t wait for him to f*ck her .

“…breathe!”

Darkness engulfed her as soon as she grabbed his shoulder to steady herself.

His face, so close in an instant, cast a shadow before her eyes.

He opened her lips, roughly, like a ravenous beast.

His thick tongue slipped invasively between her small lips. The large, powerful tongue took control of her mouth with skill and sensuality.

Evelyn could barely breathe as the mucous membranes were pierced and the root of the tongue was relentless.

‘It’s too much, it’s too much, I’m going crazy.’

Her mind went blank. Her body slowly began to heat up at the gentle teasing of his tongue as he wrapped it around the tip, sucking it in and out.

His kiss was ecstatic enough to melt away the thoughts in her head, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it out loud.

“Hmph…”

Evelyn twisted her head and barely let out the breath she’d been holding. Then a large hand reached out and grabbed her chin as if to warn her not to look away from him.

Her gaze was instantly consumed. Sparks flashed in her slit pupils.

“Ah…!”

He cornered his prey, his gaze locked firmly on Evelyn’s, his forehead pressed against hers, and he pursed his lips again.

‘I know where and how to touch you to make you ecstatic.’

The thoughtful gaze that descended on her naked body, her touch like sunshine, layered over his darkened face.

Her heart thumped in her chest despite the ferocity of his thrusts. It was hard to resist the man she had loved for so long.

Evelyn collapsed against Kalian’s strong hold on her, refusing to let go.

The next thing she knew, she was clinging to him, her arms wrapped around his head, her lips and tongue pressed tightly against his, sucking him in.

A sticky mixture of saliva he didn’t recognize as his own slipped between their tongues in a dizzying tangle of vines.

“Hmph!”

A large hand slid into her dress, soaked with blood, and slid down her slim thigh.

It stroked the inside of her slender thigh, then dug deeper and deeper.

“My Lord.”

Evelyn’s thighs jerked at the unexpected touch.

The clumsy movements paradoxically made her whole body tingle. She felt as if she’d been drunk and couldn’t think straight.

“Ahhh, ahhhhh!”

Evelyn’s back buckled. The sensations in her body were rushing downward, an unbearable rush of pleasure all at once. How to relieve the sensations and heat, she didn’t know.

“Aaahhh, your highness, your highness…!”

As she called out to him like a madwoman, her gaze finally met his.

His eyes were red and disheveled, their color gone. Tears stung his ears and soaked his disheveled hair.

“Please, please, stay awake…”

But Evelyn could only gulp down the rest of the words in her mouth.

“I can’t. I can’t let you go.”

Evelyn opened her mouth to speak, only to find him staring at her with the familiarity of a dark reaper.