Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Calista's Mistake
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The door opened, and Asherad entered. As the dark door parted, a thin beam of light gradually thickened. Thud, thud. The sound of neat footsteps echoed. Daphne moved as if to greet the man who had entered. Those footsteps were as heavy as if iron balls were chained to them.
"Have you been waiting long?"
Asherad smiled coolly. His face, backlighted by the beam, shone beautifully like the sun god. This was no time to exchange smiles. Yet Asherad seemed in a good mood. He touched Daphne's hair and pressed his lips to it.
Daphne stared at the man without the slightest movement. She approached him and kissed him. Their lips met, producing a wet, sticky sound that rang in her ears. As Daphne teetered unsteadily on tiptoe, Asherad wrapped his arms around her waist.
The man and woman kissed fiercely for a long while. However, neither Asherad nor Daphne wore a happy expression. It was only natural. How could a prisoner and her jailer get along?
Daphne reached out and undid his buttons. Soon, his firm body, radiating heat, was revealed. She kissed the thick muscles of his chest. A red mark bloomed on the man's light brown skin. Daphne noticed that his breathing had quickened at some point.
Asherad tightened his arms around Daphne, and she could feel his heartbeat. Feeling that warmth, Daphne wondered why he was holding her so long.
Daphne reached out and stripped off Asherad's clothes.
The process of the two coming together was excessively natural.
On the bed, confined in Asherad's arms, Daphne let out sweet moans without restraint. Being with him was all too familiar. They had been entwining their bodies since her days as a lowly maid until now.
Her body rocked with his movements. Soon, those movements grew more intense. Asherad climaxed while holding Daphne tightly.
He panted roughly as he looked at her. That gaze held no sweet emotions for a lover who had just shared passion. Only hatred, hatred, hatred. Nothing but hatred. He stroked her wet hair with his large hand.
"You really give yourself well."
"……."
"To someone you hate so much."
Daphne said nothing and nestled into him. As she gasped for breath, Asherad kissed her neck. She flinched at the ticklish sensation.
The clash of flesh against flesh felt good.
Yet it was also an act that painfully reminded her they were back to square one. Just like when she first learned the truth long ago, or when she was seized the moment he returned from the battlefield and they coupled—like that, it was a continuous cycle of overflowing affection that was dry, hot yet cold.
When Daphne avoided his eyes, Asherad watched her quietly for a moment before rising from his seat. Daphne didn't even turn her head. A twisted feeling surged in him for an instant, but he gazed at his woman, who lay still with her eyes closed.
Soon, Daphne's body went limp. At the same time, the sound of steady breathing rose. She had fallen asleep. Asherad held her close.
"Sleep well."
There was no reaction even to Asherad's murmur. In the past, she would have startled awake, but after days of intense lovemaking, she was exhausted.
Suddenly, her exposed shoulder looked cold. Asherad reached for a thin blanket to cover her, then brushed her fallen hair behind her ear.
'Your Highness.'
He recalled that shabby maid who used to smile brightly at him. The one who thought of him as her entire world, who willingly knelt before him and adored him...
But that woman no longer looked at him now.
Feeling suffocated, Asherad rose from his seat. He could only stroke her tenderly like this for now. Gazing at this insolent woman, Asherad let out a low breath.
* * *
Yohannis paused upon entering the room. No lights were on inside; only pale yellow moonlight illuminated him.
He frowned slightly at the sour smell of alcohol filling the room.
"Drink in moderation."
He looked at Asherad, who was drinking. Dressed only in pants and a shirt haphazardly thrown on, he seemed to have lost all imperial dignity.
Asherad had always lived flawlessly, without a single flaw to pick at. But now, he looked somehow broken.
"Yohannis. Sit."
"……."
Yohannis sat across from him. Asherad's eyes were glazed. He chuckled to himself while gazing at the moonlight. At that behavior, Yohannis said stiffly,
"Enough with the alcohol..."
"Drink with me. That's why I called you."
Asherad pulled out a glass and poured some liquor. Yohannis sighed and took a sip.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"……."
"No, I feel like I'm going mad."
Asherad, who had never said such a thing even in situations that would drive anyone mad, now uttered those words when everything had returned to normal.
Yohannis knew the reason.
It was Daphne.
Staring at his glass, Asherad chuckled.
"You two seem close enough to use names."
"......What do you mean."
"That maid. You called her name when she died."
The atmosphere shifted instantly at his words. With the smile gone from his face, Asherad looked at Yohannis.
"Does Daphne like you?"
"That won't happen."
"Or do you like her?"
Yohannis said nothing. At that moment, the glass in Asherad's hand cracked with a crunch.
"Asherad!"
Yohannis looked at Asherad's hand. The wound that had just barely healed had burst open, blood trickling through the bandage.
"That won't happen!"
Yohannis shouted, staring at his hand. At that desperate expression, Asherad spoke with a twisted face.
"Yes, it won't happen with you."
"Yes."
"I feel like I'm dying."
He said, panting. He didn't regret it, but he was in despair.
"Why? Even when I have her in my grasp, it feels like I don't? Why, why?"
"……."
"I... I need Daphne. No one else."
The moment he realized it was love, emotions Asherad couldn't endure came crashing over him like waves. He remembered feeling happy the instant he decided to marry her. The moment she found him at that ball, he was overwhelmed.
"I can't have anyone else."
If Daphne had always been cold to him, he might have dismissed it as her nature. But having seen the worship she directed at him, the face that smiled happily at him—it only made it worse.
"Treat Daphne as well as possible. Give her the best treatment."
"……."
"That's the only way to see her smile again."
Some relationships are wrong from the very first button. Even so, seeing Asherad's desperate face, Yohannis couldn't say it.
"Help me."
With an unstable expression, Asherad asked Yohannis for help. Asherad, who had never once asked for help.
"You're different from me. You're not as mad as I am."
It was pitiful to see him swallow his lofty pride and beg. Yohannis was weak against Asherad.
Far too weak.
But the problem was that Asherad knew it all too well.
"Understood."
Hearing Yohannis's reply, Asherad's face finally relaxed.
"So, stop with the alcohol."
As Yohannis cautioned him, Asherad nodded. Yohannis pulled the bell cord to summon a servant.
"Bring bandages."
Asherad's face gleamed with madness while watching him speak to the servant. A smile played on his red lips.
* * *
From morning, Daphne blankly stared at the flowers that had arrived. Asherad had started sending her flowers. He also brought not just Sara, but other maids as well.
They obeyed Daphne on their own and treated her with utmost respect. Though Asherad had obsessively forbidden her from going out, even that restriction had been lifted.
Of course, she no longer had any intention of running away.
She would get caught by Asherad anyway. She couldn't escape alone. If caught, he would slaughter everyone involved in helping her flee and laugh while drenched in blood.
The spring garden was beautiful, but the vibrant flowers and clear blue sky stirred no emotion in her.
In the end, she would live like this, have relations with Asherad, collapse in exhaustion and sleep late into the day, then sleep with him again.
Daphne decided not to think about her future. She knew Asherad would do as he pleased anyway. She had no say in her own life.
As she strolled through the central garden, a commotion reached her ears. She saw a lavish parasol. At the front was golden blonde hair tinged with red—Calista.
When Calista spotted her, their eyes met. She came running straight over.
Just as Daphne thought her gaze was sharp, a massive shock hit her cheek. Calista had slapped her.
"You seductive wench!"
"……."
"Trying to steal His Majesty from me?!"
Calista shoved her hard. Caught off guard, Daphne fell flat. Bloodshot veins stood out in Calista's eyes.
"Two-faced bitch! You fox!"
"……."
"While you're spreading your legs for Asherad! If you cared about me, you wouldn't have! You're insane!"
Calista's rage was beyond imagination. When Daphne didn't resist, she even kicked off her shoe and struck her with it. The thin heel hit her head, feeling like a stab.
"Lady Daphne!"
"Lady Daphne!"
This time, looking at the maids who pitied her, Daphne smiled bitterly. A warm sensation spread as her vision blurred. Daphne accepted Calista's violence without resistance. If she told the truth—that Asherad wouldn't let her go—she'd get hit even more.
At that moment, a voice rang out.
"What are you doing."
It was a voice suppressed tightly. Daphne looked weakly at the polished boots. Raising her gaze, she saw Asherad.