Die Melusine - Chapter 67

It was ridiculous. The woman had come all this way, even though she could barely walk properly.

In water—whether it was the sea or a tub the size of a palm—she looked free and at ease, like a fish who’d returned to her world. But now, surrounded by tightly clustered trees, she looked like she might be crushed at any moment.

“Why can’t you answer?”

Even as he pressed her, Kieron only pulled Melusine tighter into his arms.

“Now…”

Her voice, barely audible, drew all of his attention.

“I think… I’ll live…”

The breath that escaped her lips brushed against Kieron’s chest.

[Because you’re okay. Because you’re alive.]

The rest of her words didn’t come through his ears.

Just like when her voice had earlier vibrated through the air as if from water, it now resonated with him—not as speech or language, but as something deeper, more instinctive. And somehow, he understood.

A single hot tear fell, breaking the still surface like a ripple in silent water.

“That’s your answer?”

Her shoulders, which had been trembling violently, curled even tighter into him. Melusine gasped and then went limp, her head drooping.

She may have said she’d live, but she looked on the brink of death.

Kieron clenched his teeth. He wrapped her fully in his arms and slowly lifted her.

His footsteps back to the carriage thudded heavily against the frozen ground.

It wasn’t funny. Not at all.

Melusine must have known that he would be in danger at the imperial palace. But to actually wander all the way here, not even knowing the way properly, all for that absurd reason—it was hard to believe. To collapse the moment she saw him, unable to take care of even her own body—what did she think she could do? And for what?

“Y-Your Grace? I mean, who is that…?”

The coachman stammered, startled at the sight of Kieron. Peeking through the thick cloak Kieron had wrapped around himself, the coachman could barely glimpse a sliver of pink hair.

“Move. Quickly.”

His voice was urgent—far more than usual. His bangs, slightly damp from the woods, clung to his forehead.

“Y-Yes, sir! Right away!”

Even inside the carriage, Kieron never let go of Melusine.

She knew nothing. Did nothing. And yet, without a thought for the consequences, she threw herself into the fire—like a beast.

Between his brows, a deep furrow settled. Idiot. Not her—himself.

The poisoned fish dish. The emperor’s insistence on prolonging the dinner.

He’d overlooked the possibility that it was more than just surveillance—perhaps another trap.
Even if Edvard was weak, he wasn’t a fool.

“Nnngh…”

Melusine stirred, a soft moan escaping her lips. Kieron stiffened without even realizing it.

Had she eaten it too? No—if she had, she wouldn’t be like this.

He clenched his jaw, swallowing down the curses rising in his throat. He didn’t get motion sickness. And yet his insides churned violently, like something was burning black within him.

Images of the villa aflame when he was young flashed through his mind.

Poisonings, traps, assassination attempts—none of them ever felt truly dangerous to him. He’d never feared any of it. Because the outcome, even death itself, never held meaning to him.

He’d lived with a sword in his hand since he was a child. But never had he used it to protect something truly precious. Even his own life—he’d have let it burn to ash without a second thought.

Should I just turn the carriage around and go back to the palace to kill him?

Maybe that was the only way to calm this endlessly tightening feeling in his chest, even just a little. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been able to do it before. He simply hadn’t found it necessary—something Edvard still failed to understand. Just like it had been until the day his brother died.

Sigh…

Kieron’s low breath brushed the crown of the small woman in his arms before fading into nothing.

But now, more than anything else, what mattered was getting her back to safety.

Even in her deep sleep, Melusine’s body shivered like ice, her limbs trembling from the cold.
It had gotten better since he found her in the forest, but warming her with just his body heat and clothes wasn’t enough. At least now, Kieron understood: what she needed wasn’t just him, but water.

And perhaps the most infuriating thing right now… was that fact itself.

The wave that started from a single ripple in still water had grown—becoming larger, heavier, and crashing toward him.

No matter how fast the carriage sped, it felt agonizingly slow to Kieron.

Even that clumsy rocking—he wouldn’t let it touch her. He pulled the woman in his arms closer still, shielding her completely from the world.

***

It was warm. Just like coming home.

Melusine instinctively reached out her arms to find the body that had been holding her just moments ago. Was it just her imagination? Was no one actually there?

Getting out of the garden had been easy, but everything after that became difficult. After wandering aimlessly for some time, Melusine realized she’d been going in circles. No matter where she looked, the scenery was the same. The scent of trees and grass filled the air, erasing all other smells.

A sudden wave of fear washed over her, and her breathing grew more ragged. Her head spun, and her vision blurred. What if she never found him again? What if they never met again?

Then, not far off, she caught a familiar scent in the wind—Kieron’s presence. The man walking toward her had the same overwhelming presence as the first day they met. And just like that, the anxiety and exhaustion weighing on her heart finally began to settle.

She gathered her breath and whispered softly: You’re okay. I’m so, so glad.

She remembered calling Kieron’s name with all her heart—but strangely, she couldn’t recall anything after that.

As she tried to piece together the hazy memory, her hand reached out across the empty bedsheet— Only for a large, bony hand to gently cover hers.

“You’re awake now?”

“Kie…ron?”

Blinking several times, she forced open her heavy eyelids—only to find the man leaning against the headboard, quietly gazing down at her.

“Ah, right… Kieron…”

Thank goodness. It wasn’t a dream. He really was okay.

Melusine shifted her body closer to him.

“You kept twitching uncomfortably, so I put you down for a bit.”

Without another word, Kieron gathered her up against his chest again and wrapped the blankets securely over them both. Her light, delicate frame pressed against his heart with a warm weight.

Since returning to the western wing, he hadn’t let go of her—not in the bath, not in bed, not even once. Her temperature had taken longer than usual to recover, keeping them up through the entire night. Even after returning to bed just a little while ago, he’d held her close.

“Don’t ever do something like that again.”

“Hmm?”

The thudding of his heart against her cheek was louder than ever.

“Running off on your own.”

“But Kieron, I—”

It wasn’t fair. She’d only done that because she was so worried about him. And now he was scolding her like he always did, with that cold, emotionless voice— It stung.

As she lifted her head a little, she noticed a deep scar running beneath his collarbone.

“Mel.”

Realizing where her gaze had gone, Kieron gently lifted her chin.

“Answer me.”

Stop getting distracted.

“…No.”

“What?”

The tightly focused blue eyes looked up at him with surprising boldness.

“I’ll do it again.”

Maybe he’d gone too easy on her lately. Kieron brushed the soft corner of her eye with his thumb.

“If something happens to you, Kieron… there’s no way I’m just going to sit still.”

“And if you don’t sit still…”

Tap, tap. His fingers slid from her cheek down to her plump lips and rested there.

“I’ll go anywhere. I’ll find you and tell you. I’ll do it.”

Ah. A low sigh slipped from his lips.

“There’s no need for that.”

“Why…?”

Because I’ll never leave you alone again.

“Mm, nn….”

Kieron seemed to say something just then.

Lowering his head, he slowly covered Melusine’s lips with his own. She closed her eyes before she realized it. The warmth of their breath, the feel of his lips—it all burned hotter than ever before.

Kieron gently parted her lips and found the soft flesh within, eagerly drawing it into his mouth.

As their tongues entwined and their bodies pulled closer with no space left between them, he thought:

Sweet.

So sweet it numbed his entire mouth.

Perhaps… the strongest poison Kieron had ever tasted in his life was this woman.

A beast from the sea, yet she had torn through decades of resistance— Unfastening even the last buttons he’d kept so tightly done up around his throat.

All with nothing but her bare skin, And the simple, effortless way she made him completely addicted to her.