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'How is Idris here...?'
I wondered if it was a hallucination I created, having thought of him unintentionally.
As I widened my eyes and hesitated, some of Feydan's subordinates noticed Idris and rushed towards him.
And Feydan exploited the gap created by that sudden turn of events.
"...!"
A rough hand twisted and snatched my wrist.
Feydan knocked away the dagger I was holding and then slammed me to the ground by my collar.
"Ugh...!"
"You, you dare betray me?"
Feydan, who was now on top of me, began to berate me.
The pain in my head and his shouting echoed painfully in my ears.
"How much did I love you! No matter what you did, I forgave you and reached out first, how could you...!"
Love.
It was ridiculous to hear him talk about love with such a blackened face.
In the end, I forgot the pain and burst into laughter.
Feydan's eyes grew even colder.
"...Am I a joke to you?"
"Your true colors are already out in the open, why don't you just be honest now?"
"I'm being honest—"
"No. It's not that you love me, it's just that you need me because things are getting hard for you."
"..."
"Someone who listens well, does all the work, and is now a pushover who will pay off your debts."
Feydan's face contorted in an unsightly manner as the bottom line he had hidden and rationalized even from himself was exposed.
"Feydan, you've never loved anyone. Not me, not Elise."
Then Feydan's eyes wavered aimlessly.
It meant that he genuinely believed he loved me.
It made me feel suffocated to realize how much he overestimated himself, and his love for me.
I drove a wedge into that arrogant delusion.
"And as much as you don't know how to love... you won't be loved by anyone either."
As I groped around, I grabbed a rock about the size of my fist.
I gripped it tightly and slammed it down on Feydan's head.
"Agh!"
"This isn't my fault, it's your karma."
Along with the gaslighting he used to do to me as if it were breathing.
No, is this actually true?
It was then, after pushing away Feydan, who was writhing in pain, and getting up.
"Leticia!"
With Idris's urgent voice, he hugged me and rolled to the ground.
At the same time, an arrow flew over our heads.
Cold sweat broke out when I realized that if he had been just a few seconds later, I would have been pierced by that arrow.
Another arrow flew immediately, but this time Idris deflected it with magic.
Then he grabbed me and pulled me up.
But at that moment, Feydan, who was lying on the ground holding his bleeding head, grabbed my ankle.
"How dare you run away after making me like this... Keuk!"
But Feydan didn't finish his sentence and fell backward.
Because Idris kicked him away.
While Feydan's subordinates couldn't shoot arrows for fear of hitting Feydan, Idris grabbed my hand.
"Let's go."
We ran away quickly.
But soon, we heard Feydan's voice, filled with rage, shouting after us.
And soon, many footsteps and flying arrows followed us from behind.
It seemed they had decided to kill us altogether.
Even though it was clearly a dangerous situation, strangely, I wasn't that scared.
'Is it because someone is next to me?'
Looking down at Idris's hand, which I was holding as I breathed heavily, I finally realized.
It wasn't because there was someone there.
It was because that someone was none other than this person that I wasn't scared.
But what appeared before us was a dead end.
'...A waterfall?'
A fairly high waterfall was falling down the cliff.
When I realized it was the top of the waterfall, not the bottom, and turned around.
Feydan and his subordinates had already surrounded us.
As I grew anxious and unknowingly tightened my grip on his hand, Idris grabbed my hand firmly and hid me behind him.
Feydan's eyes sank coldly at the sight.
"It seems the Duke traded his chivalry for chips at the casino. Not only does he attack women, but he also attacks the minority with a majority."
"Shut up!"
"Why don't we fight without the Lady? I heard that hundreds of years ago, there was a custom where men who proposed to one lady would duel and accept the result."
I realized after hearing Idris's words.
That he wasn't able to show his true skills against them right now.
And the reason for that as well.
'...It's because of me.'
If Idris was alone, he would have been able to handle them easily, but now that I was here, he had to protect me while fighting.
I bit my lip tightly.
So that story was just a stalling tactic.
To hold out until the knights of the imperial palace tracked us down.
As expected, Feydan ignored Idris's provocation and looked at me.
"Leticia, I'm telling you this because you seem to have forgotten. We're still married on paper."
I frowned at those words.
"That means..."
Feydan snatched a crossbow from an assassin next to him and aimed it directly at Idris and me.
"..."
"It means that if you die here, all your property will come to me."
"..."
"I'll count to three from now on, come to my side now if you still can. This is your last chance."
Feydan's face was so black that I couldn't remember what his original face looked like.
I smiled coldly.
'If I go over there, he'll take me hostage and kill Idris.'
But if we stay like this, he'll try to kill both of us.
"Three."
As Feydan began to count, the assassins surrounding us pulled back the strings of their crossbows taut.
"Two."
'I have to try to negotiate and buy time until the knights come...!'
Just as I was anxiously racking my brains, Idris grabbed my hand tightly, let go, and whispered.
"Leticia, do you trust me?"
It was a somewhat unexpected question in this situation, but I reflexively nodded.
Very much so.
Then, realizing that he couldn't see me in front of him, I grabbed his hand slightly strongly and released the tension, just as he had done.
At that moment, Idris turned to me.
"One!"
At the same time, the countdown ended.
In a brief moment, Idris wrapped his arms around me from head to toe as if to protect me. And...
"...!"
At the same time as the arrows flew in unison, he jumped down the waterfall.
We fell so fast that the splashing water and colliding wind from the waterfall hurt.
But I still wasn't scared.
"It's okay."
Just the fact that this warmth that embraced me, this kind voice that echoed in my ears was by my side.
No, on the contrary... I even felt peaceful.
Far from being scared, I even wished this moment would last forever.
Splash!
Soon, the cold chill of the water pierced through my whole body.
'I can't breathe...'
Water rushed into my nose, and I instinctively opened my mouth, suffocating.
But the more I did, the more water came into my mouth, making it even more painful.
At that moment, Idris came closer and kissed me.
The kiss, which I thought would end once, continued twice, three times.
'This is clearly just to share his breath.'
The passing warmth, the seeping breath was so sweet...
I quietly closed my eyes.
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