Chapter 34
With a crash— the crystal shattered into pieces on the floor.
Elysia’s eyes slowly widened.
Her heartbeat pounded in her chest.
“What do you mean, Your Grace? A prank, you say?”
Gréa’s lips curved into a smile. Was the drink drugged? The mere thought of what could have happened if she had actually consumed it made her mind go blank for a moment.
“You should carefully consider what exactly you were trying to make my fiancée drink.”
Andreas grasped Elysia’s frozen wrist and pulled her outside. At the same time, Gréa’s expression transformed in an instant—turning into that of a victim.
“I—I didn’t know! Truly!”
Her frantic voice trailed behind them, but Elysia barely heard it. Her ears were muffled, as if she were submerged underwater.
By the time she regained her senses, they were in the garden. She found herself staring blankly at Andreas, who had dragged her there. Only when he turned back to face her did she suddenly snap back to reality.
“Are you out of your mind? An omega, blindly accepting a drink handed to you like that?”
Andreas was angry.
For some reason, he had chosen to protect her. It would have been far easier for him to use this as an excuse to expose his fiancée’s flaws.
“Even if you’re dominant, you need to be more cautious… Are you even listening to me?”
His voice wasn’t gentle. It was laced with irritation, yet it was strangely softer than ever. Elysia trembled slightly.
“Elysia? Hey.”
He gripped her slender arms and leaned in to peer into her face.
Her pale cheeks flushed a sudden shade of rose.
Her heart pounded unexpectedly, making her feel like the protagonist of some dramatic play.
Andreas clicked his tongue as he noticed the nobles who had followed them outside. Annoyed, he narrowed his eyes before suddenly closing the distance between them.
Unlike when they danced, his large hand seized her waist with a firmer grip. Elysia stiffened.
Andreas bent down, his lips pressing near the delicate curve of her nape.
A warm breath—slow and deliberate—brushed against her skin, spreading through her like the comforting heat of tea on a winter day.
Elysia tensed even further, her body trembling. Her fingertips curled inward, her mind struggling to function. She had been caught so off guard that she forgot how to breathe.
His pheromones, so brazenly unleashed, sent a sharp ache through her lower abdomen.
Her barely open eyes clenched shut.
The surrounding nobles seemed just as shocked. Their hushed whispers filled the air as they quietly slipped away from the garden.
Elysia shivered, her posture shrinking in on itself, as if she were a small creature about to be devoured by a predator.
Her previously steady breath was now uneven, her blue eyes flickering with turmoil as she bit down on her lip.
A chill ran down her spine, raising the fine hairs on her skin.
Just as she attempted to push him away, her body overwhelmed by its own reaction—
“You really shouldn’t use cheap perfume.”
Andreas chuckled low as he pulled away.
Elysia thought his deep voice might as well have been a bell tolling inside her head.
This had taken an entirely unexpected turn.
“You owe me now.”
His eyebrows twitched slightly as he said it, his deep green eyes sweeping over her dazed expression.
What if he realizes?
Elysia hastily raised an arm to cover her flushed cheeks, but Andreas smirked.
“You’re quite the sight.”
His expression made it clear—he had already figured out that she had no resistance to things like this.
Her lips, which had been tightly pressed together, finally parted.
“Andreas, I…”
The subtle smile lingering on his lips sent her heart racing.
It pounded wildly, like a freshly caught fish flailing for breath—or perhaps, like the frantic beating of a bird’s wings, desperate to escape the hunter’s grasp.
“If you had been like this from the beginning, things might have been different.”
Andreas, perceptive as ever, immediately caught onto the shift in her demeanor.
He closed in on her again, tilting his head slightly as if to confirm it.
It felt like a final blow, a confirmation of her own instincts betraying her.
Her body, her very being—wanted him.
Her lips quivered, releasing a staggered breath.
“Is this the kind of thing you enjoy?”
His voice dropped into an intimate whisper, as if sharing some forbidden secret.
Elysia, oblivious to the fact that she was already being played, pressed a hand against her chest in an attempt to steady herself.
But her heart—now unshackled—showed no signs of settling.
“You can no longer deny our connection.”
“…The same goes for you, doesn’t it?”
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