Chapter 122
“It’s scary… But seeing you with another woman is just as terrifying, huh.”
Macy covered her face with her hands. Drops of water spilled from between her fingers, dripping down her cheeks.
“I feel like I can’t breathe. No, I’d rather someone just choke me to death. Why did you save me just to make me suffer like this? What did I do wrong…?”
“…”
“Treat me like a person. Even if your name is on me, I’m still a human. Don’t treat me like an object, cherish me. Just love me…”
Her desperate sobs soaked the forest around her.
There were times when she viewed Eren as her savior. Falling for the person who freed her from the fear of death seemed far too easy and natural for Macy.
The thought that she could also be a strength to Eren made her heart race. As she felt his warmth for the first time, like the faint glow of the fireplace seeping into her skin, she had nurtured those feelings for him.
She thought she might die from happiness.
But now, that very emotion was tearing Macy apart. It felt as if mold were spreading in her heart, slowly decaying.
She had resolved to give up before she fell deeper, yet here she was, begging for affection, feeling pathetic.
Soaking her face in the midst of his engagement celebration, she felt like a mess. Who said love was glorious?
No matter how much she had been mistreated and abused at home, she had never felt this small and miserable before.
“What difference does it make if I love you?”
His dry voice crackled in the night air.
“Even if I love you, nothing will change in our relationship.”
That voice felt unusually rough and cold. The stark difference in their temperatures made Macy feel like she was losing her mind.
“It doesn’t matter. If you just liked me, I wouldn’t feel this miserable.”
Macy slowly removed her hands from her face.
“I wouldn’t feel like I was suffocating and wanted to die.”
She expected Eren to look at her with his usual dry expression, but there was something subtly different about his demeanor. Did he seem defeated?
“Do you think I don’t love you?”
“Of course. How could you tell a woman you love her to be your mistress without a second thought? You can’t be that oblivious to my feelings.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Eren replied lightly, as if finding everything amusing. Why did he have that expression? He was the one who was shaking her life to its core.
It felt as if he was playing the victim. Macy couldn’t understand Eren.
“Go back.”
“I told you I don’t want to.”
Eren grabbed Macy’s arm. As she tried to pull away, he intertwined his fingers with hers, ensuring she couldn’t escape.
“Come with me. Do you still not want to?”
“What about the engagement party…?”
Her eyes, red and swollen from crying, filled with confusion. A fleeting sense of hope appeared, and Eren chuckled as if he found it absurd.
“When a woman you love is crying and clinging to you like this, shouldn’t you soothe her, even if it’s at the engagement party?”
“You don’t love me.”
“No, I do love you.”
“That’s a lie…”
It was a longing that had been building for a long time. Knowing it was a lie only made her choke on the word ‘love’ coming from his lips.
The unbearable emotions made her jaw tremble.
“Really. I’ll be with you tonight. No, let’s stay together as long as you want.”
“I, I don’t trust a word you say anymore.”
“Then how can I prove it? I’ve always been more honest with my body than my words.”
Eren whispered as he kissed the swollen skin around Macy’s eyes. The tears that had threatened to stop began to swell again.
Macy couldn’t answer as she was out of breath.
“I’ll take you somewhere we can be alone. I’ll tell you I love you all night long. I won’t let you ask for love so casually again.”
“Huff, no…”
“It doesn’t seem like it would be that hard for me to love you.”
Eren muttered ambiguously as he kissed her again. Macy’s foolish heart beat helplessly.
* * *
Eren removed his coat and wrapped it around Macy. He buttoned it up tightly before heading to the stables.
“Du, Duke. How did you end up with Macy…”
Morgan, who had been talking to a servant from the Duke’s household, approached in shock after seeing them.
“Did Macy fall somewhere? Let me help her.”
“No. Bring out the carriage.”
“Excuse me?”
“Get the carriage from the Krygen estate. I’ll ride with Macy.”
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