Chapter 3

Buy Me (3)

Only a cool silence lingered in the reception room after Count Roa withdrew.

“We return to the North tomorrow at dawn. Have the carriage prepared.”

The low-pitched voice commanded the entire room.

Hearing the order, the butler’s complexion instantly paled. His gaze faltered uncertainly in the air.

“Your Highness, but… your audience with His Majesty is still remaining.”

Kailus turned his head.

With the chandelier light behind him, a deep shadow fell across his face. His glowing red eyes flashed through the darkness, piercing coldly into the space between the butler’s brows.

The butler’s shoulders shrank noticeably. He swallowed hard, his throat working nervously.

“B-but if you refuse the audience again this time, the Imperial Family will not sit idly by…”

“I don’t care.”

Kailus cut him off mercilessly.

There was not a trace of hesitation in his dismissive wave of the hand.

“Cancel it.”

There was no room for argument in that low command.

Keeping his eyes fixed on the floor, the butler barely managed to part his lips.

“Then… what shall we do with that young lady?”

Kailus narrowed his eyes.

The headache that had briefly subsided began tearing through his mind once more. The blood vessels near his temples throbbed visibly.

He roughly rubbed his aching forehead.

“We take her.”

“Are you certain?”

At the doubtful question, Kailus gave a small nod.

“Since she is an item I paid for, she must pull her weight.”

“Understood. I will prepare the arrangements.”

Instead of answering, Kailus narrowed his eyes, dismissing him.

Stepping backward, the butler cautiously closed the door.

The heavy mahogany door fitted seamlessly into its frame, cutting off every sound from outside.

The moment complete isolation settled over the room, a headache pierced through Kailus’s skull.

“Damn it…”

Suppressing this persistent pain was reaching its absolute limit.

But as long as that woman—Eveline—remained at his side, this terrible sensation would soon disappear.

As though suffocating, Kailus roughly grabbed his tight cravat and loosened it.

A dry knock against the thick oak door broke the silence.

It was a rhythmic, polite, yet unyielding knock that accepted no refusal.

Eveline tightly clenched and opened her hands where they rested on her knees before slowly standing.

“…Come in.”

The door opened, and an elderly man stepped through the shadows of the candlelight.

His appearance carried a strict dignity.

Rather than entering the room, he stood upright just beyond the doorway in the corridor.

“Orders from His Highness.”

The butler’s low voice weighed heavily upon the air inside the room.

“We leave for the North as soon as day breaks. Pack your belongings.”

“The North… you say?”

Her voice cracked slightly as she asked.

There were still several days left before the Imperial banquet concluded.

Questions surged within her, but she did not voice them aloud.

She was in no position to refuse. She had no choice but to obey.

“I have… no belongings.”

The answer came after a brief silence, dry and matter-of-fact.

The butler’s eyes lingered for a moment on Eveline’s empty hands and shabby appearance.

It was only a fleeting glance.

Yet the seasoned servant quickly wiped his expression clean and drew his chin back.

“Understood. I will separately prepare the supplies necessary for the journey.”

The butler bowed with precise movements before turning away.

As the heavy door shut, the room once again plunged into quiet darkness.

Eveline walked over to the window.

She placed her forehead against the thin glass, and the distant night view of the capital unfolded before her eyes.

Glittering, flashing lights.

Yet among those countless lights, there was not a single place for her to lay her body down.

Her fingertips dug white into the wood as she gripped the window frame.

The North.

She could not even begin to imagine how harsh that frozen land would be.

Even if it were a frozen hell, it did not matter.

She was the one who had taken that man’s hand first.

Therefore, no matter what price came with that choice, she would not run away.

She would endure it all.

Around the time the pale blue light of dawn soaked the earth, a pitch-black carriage stood waiting in front of the townhouse.

The grand ducal crest engraved upon its door glistened coldly.

“Put this on. The road to the North is harsh.”

The heavy coat the butler handed her settled weightily across her shoulders.

The rough texture of the wool pressed coarsely against her thin silk dress.

It was an ill-matched combination, but Eveline pulled the collar tightly around herself without a word of complaint.

With the butler’s assistance, she stepped into the carriage.

Kailus was already seated inside.

Even at a distance where one could clearly feel another person’s presence, he did not move an inch.

He simply leaned his head against the window frame with his eyes closed.

“Depart.”

The brief, dry command fell the moment Eveline sat down.

Immediately, accompanied by the coachman’s shout, the floor vibrated roughly.

As the heavy wheels began scraping against the ground and rolling forward, Eveline’s body lurched with the momentum.

She instinctively pulled her shoulders back against the hard wall of the cabin.

It felt suffocating.

The overwhelming presence of the man sitting opposite her seemed to consume every bit of air inside the narrow interior.

Kailus remained motionless.

Only the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest proved that he was alive.

Outside the window, the capital’s buildings, submerged in the pale-blue dawn fog, rapidly slipped away.

Before long, as they passed through a massive arched gate, the carriage’s speed increased drastically.

Though it was drawn by top-tier magical beasts, the carriage still vibrated minutely as it raced forward at such an abnormal speed.

Only suffocating silence filled the interior.

Then—

Cracks suddenly formed in that solid wall of silence.

An aching sound, forcibly swallowed deep within his throat, scraped through the air.

Eveline’s gaze instinctively turned toward him.

Kailus’s brow was deeply furrowed.

His tightly closed eyelids twitched precariously.

A scorching breath burst through his lips.

The rhythmic movement of his chest collapsed, and his breathing began to break into rough, uneven gasps.

The carriage jolted heavily as it struck a rough patch of road.

“Ugh.”

A groan leaked from Kailus’s mouth.

His hand gripped the window frame.

It was the same feeling she had witnessed at the banquet hall.

“…Your Highness.”

Instead of an answer to Eveline’s call, only a chilling scraping sound returned.

His fingernails dug into the window frame, tearing into the wood.

There was no hesitation.

Eveline rose from her seat and knelt on one knee upon the floor.

As the distance between them closed, the rough breathing of the man consumed by pain brushed against her skin.

She leaned forward and firmly grasped his trembling hand.

The instant their skin touched—

Severe pain struck her brain.

Eveline clenched her teeth so hard that her jaw felt as though it might shatter.

She forced the scream surging up her esophagus back down into her throat.

A terrible, unnatural sensation flowed backward through her palm.

It boiled as though lava were coursing through every blood vessel in her body, while at the same time, an icy chill slashed through her from head to toe.

Extreme contradictions of scorching heat and brutal cold tore through her entire being.

I have to absorb it.

She clenched her other fist until her fingers felt crushed.

The sharp pain of her fingernails piercing her own flesh was the only anchor holding onto her fading consciousness.

Before long, Kailus’s ragged breathing began to calm.

His hand, which had been stiff enough to tear the window frame apart, dropped limply.

Yet Eveline’s pain was far from over.

Rather, it intensified with every passing moment.

Her vision blurred.

A ringing sound echoed in her ears.

Just a little more.

She bit down hard on the edge of her consciousness.

She had to endure it.

This pain was her only proof of existence.

Finally, a cool light returned to Kailus’s cloudy red eyes.

As his gaze regained focus, he looked down at the pale back of the hand clasping his own.

Then at the woman drenched in cold sweat.

His hand pulled away coldly.

Losing the support holding her upright, Eveline’s body collapsed weakly.

Having been kneeling on the floor, her upper body tilted forward helplessly as she lost her balance.

“Haah… haah…”

Only rough breathing that scraped against her lungs filled the silence.

Just then, a shadow fell across her blurred vision.

“…Reduced to this state after just once?”

A low voice laced with ridicule struck her eardrums.

She had to deny it.

Eveline forcibly parted her lips to answer.

But at that moment—

A burning lump surged up from within her, filling her mouth.

It felt as though it would burst out at any moment.

But if she vomited blood here, he would surely be disgusted.

I must hold it in.

Eveline bit her lip until blood beaded upon it.

She forcibly swallowed the metallic blood pooling in her mouth back down her throat.

Her eyes flashed white at the burning sensation, as though her esophagus were catching fire.

Though her insides felt as though they were turning to ash, on the outside she merely looked pale as she kept her mouth firmly shut.

Kailus’s eyes narrowed.

“You exaggerate your pain.”

Her vision tilted wildly.

She could no longer distinguish whether the carriage was simply moving too roughly or whether her body itself was collapsing.

“I… apologize.”

The apology was barely squeezed out as she suppressed the metallic taste constantly rising in her mouth.

She needed to tell him she was fine.

That she could still handle more.

But her paralyzed tongue no longer obeyed her will.

The last bit of strength supporting her neck gave way helplessly.

Her upper body leaned heavily forward.

The hard impact with the floor she had expected never came.

Instead, what touched her cheek was the smooth texture of a uniform—

And the solid leg beneath it.

Through the thin fabric, a cool body temperature seeped into her burning cheek.

Why…?

Before she could comprehend that unfamiliar consideration, her vision blurred.

Darkness filled her eyes.

And soon, her thoughts cut off completely.

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