TCS 00

~ Prologue ~

“Take this hand.”

Adrian de Castillo. He was the only man who had reached out to Stella in her moment of crisis. It was, perhaps, a natural progression that she gave him her heart. Was that why? She never dreamed her heart would ache so deeply upon discovering that the man she had no choice but to love had been deceiving her all along.

“Get a grip! That man sided with the Empress who tried to kill you!”

The horrifying words she had heard from her brother in the past were carved like an imprint into Stella’s mind. She looked at the man before her. Silver hair that shimmered as if it had absorbed all the light in the world, and a face as exquisitely sculpted as porcelain. His deeply sunken red eyes shone like the sun, as if desiring her and her alone. If she, too, had not known the truth, would she not be looking at him with those very same eyes?

“Did you really deceive me?”

The words spilled out of Stella like a gasp. Even though she was asking about a fact already brought to light, the agony tightening around her throat made her hands tremble and her entire body stiffen. Seeing her like this, he stepped closer.

“Please, tell me it’s not true.”

She forgot how to breathe in the mounting tension. Adrian’s long fingers gently traced across Stella’s lips. That touch was still tender. Perhaps that was why she couldn’t accept the reality that he had distorted the truth and fabricated everything around her with lies. If everyone else in the world had to deceive her, she wished at least he had been true. By the time she realized it was a web he had meticulously spun, she had already surrendered her heart.

“Your gentle voice lingering in my ears… it couldn’t all have been a lie. Right?”

The body that had barely been holding itself up went limp and slumped downward. It hurt because she hated him and loved him all at once, her heart caught in a helpless drift. While her feelings were plunging down a bottomless precipice like this, the eyes she met grew chillingly still.

“It seems there is another rat about.” “Lord Castillo…” “Do not let anything catch your eye. Do not listen to anything. You only need to ignore everyone who tries to shake you, My Lady. I will make sure of it.”

Adrian readily confessed that he had been covering Stella’s eyes and ears.

“So it is true that you conspired with the Empress to lure me to this Castillo mansion.”

She bit down gently on the soft flesh inside her lips. Then, she placed one hand on his cheek. Adrian buried his face into her touch.

“Look only at me.”

Thorns had sprouted inside her mouth.

“You expect me to live inside your cage?”

Would those eyes, always shining with unwavering clarity, ever truly waver?

“What if I told you I cannot live knowing nothing, with the entire world being nothing but you?”

It was not a difficult question, but asking it straight out felt like it would not yield the truth. Steeling her resolve, she placed both hands on his cheeks and captured his soft lips.

“Hah… ha.”

Rough breaths warmed the air. As if waiting for this, a large hand plowed past her waist. Through slightly parted lips, she forced out her question.

“What if I ignore everything, just as you say?”

The eyes he met blazed with intense brilliance. Everywhere his slender fingers touched, her skin felt scorched as if burned. The lips that hid the truth gradually descended down the line of her throat. With every brush of his lips, her body flared with heat, sending a tingling sensation deep into her lower abdomen. Biting her lip to swallow the sounds spilling past her teeth, she pressed him further.

“Ngh… If I hear nothing and see nothing of the world, what will you give me in return?” “What do you desire?”

His hotly flushed red eyes gleamed with stunning brilliance. Even though this should have been a moment of happiness, her heart ached to the point of bursting. His touch crept lower, caressing a place that had never been touched before. That cautious touch made her breath grow ever more ragged. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, like a fish pulled ashore.

“Can you give me everything you have?”

She wanted to know how far he would go to trap another person within the hypocrisy of a lie. He asked back with a somewhat surprised expression. “Me?” “Yes.” “If you wish it, I will.” “Even if it is your life?”

Stella assumed Adrian would not so readily surrender his life. As he hesitated, she let out a bitter, self-deprecating scoff and made to turn away. Yet, contrary to her expectations, he answered without hesitation.

“Gladly.”

For a moment, her mind went blank. Seeing how she almost fell for it yet again by his unwavering gaze, steeling her heart was utterly useless. The red eyes that had grown softly calm now shone with a feral edge. She could no longer hold his gaze. If she kept looking into those eyes, she would want to believe it all.

How foolish.

She closed her eyes. Instantly, his lips drew close. It happened before she could even refuse. His neat attire fell into disarray, and his thick thighs slid in, brushing against her soft skin. Entrusting her body entirely to his heavy, permeating touch, she wrapped her arms around his back. Sharp nails left distinct marks across his smooth skin. Before she knew it, their breaths intertwined like the heavy monsoon of summer.

“Ah… ngh.”

Rough breaths swept through like a typhoon. She clutched tightly at his soft hair. Calling out her name, he plundered the inside of her mouth relentlessly, like a spinning wheel that knew no pause. As their rugged breaths merged into one, different shades of light cast across their eyes. At last, the star-shaped amulet on his disheveled uniform gleamed. Stella forced strength into her eyes to swallow the rising tears. Then, she bit down on his red lips. As their parted lips separated, a drop of blood fell to the floor. Wiping the blood from her lips, his gaze softened at the corners.

“Your lips have become a mess.”

Even though it was the blood flowing from his own lips. The care with which his fingers caressed her lips made her heart waver once more, if only for a moment. But she quickly gathered her resolve, realizing she had been deceived by this very tenderness all along. No matter how extravagant and cozy a birdcage might be, she could not live inside it for the rest of her life. Pushing his hand away, she stared quietly at him.

“Lord Castillo.”

Adrian’s gaze turned toward Stella. Now she knew that everything he had done was to keep her from escaping this cage. Stella swept her gaze across the Castillo mansion. What had he been thinking as he watched her become a bird trapped inside a large cage? Wiping away the blood, she twisted one corner of her lips into a smile.

“Do you know how to tame a bird?” “……” “They say you provide a space to eat and sleep together, while blocking the bird’s eyes and ears so it believes only its master exists in the world. And if that isn’t enough, they even clip its wings.”

Adrian’s crimson eyes shook violently. The reasons Stella had to leave were clear. Right now, he had only conspired with the Empress to block her eyes and ears, but if things did not go his way, he would eventually try to kill her. Her hand, sweeping down his cheek, caused a faint tremor. Warmth could be felt at her fingertips, but strangely, her heart was turning cold and rigid.

“I don’t know how long you’ve been deceiving me.” “……” “I am not a bird.”

He said nothing.

“And I have even less intention of being trapped in a cage you built. Therefore…”

Instead, the neatly upturned corners of his mouth twisted in a harrowing grimace. Not stopping there, she drove the final wedge.

“I am leaving this place.”

Hoping that he would crumble helplessly. Hoping that this hand would be heatedly drenched by his tears of regret. Wishing that he would wander, searching for her and her alone within the world he had created, she turned away without a shred of lingering attachment.