CH 135.1

“…what?”

I looked vacantly at Damian.

His calm voice caressed my ears.

“I’ve been thinking about it. Why do I want to become the emperor, and why do I want to rise to the highest position in the empire?”

“Damian.”

“And all the reasons ended with you.”

The moment he said those words, all light and sound disappeared from the world.

While everything turned black and white, only Damian remained with color.

“I cannot entrust this empire to an irresponsible uncle…I have to take responsibility as the Crown Prince…”

Damian shook his head as he smiled faintly.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean I’ve never considered it, but.”

Damian reached out and gently caressed my hand.

“Before all that, I want to make you happy somehow.”

“I-I.”

“Without you by my side, nothing in this world has meaning.”

That meant…

I stared at Damian, my eyes trembling.

Scarlet eyes, shining like a setting sun, were focused on me.

“It means I love you.”

I could feel the love in his voice as he calmly spoke without hesitation.

“That’s what I had to say to you today.”

“I’m sorry that I confessed rather arbuptly, but…”

Damian smiled shyly, like a young boy meeting his long-lost first love.

“I couldn’t stand it any longer.”

I was barely thinking.

That one confession brought about so many implications.

What if Damian and I were engaged not out of ‘necessity’ but out of ‘love between the opposite sex.’

If Damian and I were on the same point, I’d be so happy I’d cry without even knowing it.

Wait, what if Damian notices my heart pounding like crazy?

Even if that happens, I can be happy about one thing.

At this very moment, Damian said he loves me…

“To be honest.”

“Huh?”

“Hearing you call Sienna by her name…”

Feeling like I was possessed, I said that out of the blue.

I was perfectly fine. I hadn’t had a single drop of alcohol.

And yet…

The truth that I kept bottled up deep down in my heart finally came out.

“…it really bothered me.”

“Charlize.”

“At first, I just thought I was sad about losing a dear friend.”

My voice was trembling slightly.

“You were my precious friend before we were crown prince and maid.”

The next thing I knew, my voice was trembling terribly.

“So, I-I thought that w-was what bothered me…”

I inhaled deeply and met Damian’s gaze again.

“Now, I don’t think that’s it.”

“…then?”

“I-.”

I had this feeling I couldn’t shake off.

Because the moment I say this, Damian and I won’t be able to go back to our old relationship.

But I still wanted to.

This overflowing feeling in my heart, this uncontrollable emotion.

It can’t be expressed with soft, shallow words…

“I want you Damian, all to myself.”

It was an intense desire to monopolize him.

My lips spoke slowly.

“…I don’t want to share you with anyone.”

Silence passed.

The silence was deafening as the deepest parts of a river.

After a moment, Damian anxiously asked me.

His voice was desperate, giving the impression we’d collapse and die right here and now if we weren’t thinking alike.

“I need to know…do-do you love me?”

“I do.”

I wholeheartedly knew it for the first time.

I could answer without the slightest hint of hesitation.

I didn’t want to hide my feelings from Damian any longer.

I calmly fixed my gaze on Damian.

The scarlet eyes, which always shone brilliantly, were now dimly filled with smoldering heat.

“…Charlize.”

Damian reached out to me.

I didn’t avoid that hand.

The hand that held the sword for so, so long, gently wrapped around my chin, slowly lifting it upwards.

Feeling his touch, I closed my eyes.

Our lips met.

My whole body felt hot like a fire inside me from the searing touch of his lips.

Our excited breathing mingled as his breath warmed my soul.

The time spent seemed as long as an eternity and as short as an instant.

Slowly, slowly.

“….ha.”

Finally, I let out a deep breath.

As if he never wanted to leave, Damian slowly parted his lips from me.

His eyes looked down at me like they were going to consume me whole.

‘I….’

I want you to keep looking at me like that.

No one else, just me.

I raised my trembling hand and wrapped it around Damian’s neck.

Though the thumping sound from my heart disturbed my ears.

It felt like only Damian and I were the people that existed.

I opened my lips and said what I craved most.

“I don’t want to go back to what we had before.”

I want you.

I’m tired of constantly lying to myself.

I don’t want to be your friend anymore.

I…

I want to be your one and only.

At that moment, Damian hugged me tightly.

***

That night.

Damian and I happily crossed the boundary.

We spent our time just being together.