You, My Devil - Chapter 30

Arzen, however, silently repeated the same words over and over in his mind, hoping they would reach Heina.

I’ll save you soon, Heina. Please, just wait a little longer, my princess. No matter where you are, I’ll find you. So please, stay hidden, my Heina.

* * *

Heina gazed at her reflection in the mirror, slowly combing her hair with an expressionless face. Her wavy hair, reaching down to her chest, glistened under the morning sunlight.

Her once-rosy, plump cheeks had long since thinned out, giving her a more mature, womanly appearance. Her bold green eyes, framed by long lashes, exuded confidence, and her ample chest, barely concealed beneath a modest dress, hinted at her growing femininity.

Looking into the mirror, Heina frowned slightly. A somber woman with sharp, pointed features and a cold demeanor stared back at her, biting her lip. The innocent, lovable girl who had once captured the hearts of Constance’s people was gone.

She had watched her homeland burn in flames, been dragged to a foreign enemy’s land, and endured countless humiliations. During the barbaric sacrificial ritual disguised as a coming-of-age ceremony, she had narrowly escaped death. On her way back to Constance, she had been bitten by a venomous snake in the mountains and lost consciousness.

Her once-tender heart had hardened as if tempered by fire, and the blade of revenge she harbored within grew sharper by the day. Her eyes grew colder, reflecting her determination.

‘Arzen.’

Will I be okay?

She closed her eyes and thought of Arzen, picturing his angelic, radiant smile. Ever since she first met Arzen in the palace when she was twelve, there had never been a moment when she didn’t love him.

‘Heina, haha. You’re going to ruin your dress. Here, take my hand.’

‘Arzen, Arzen! I told His Majesty. I said I’m going to marry you, so don’t even think about attending those silly palace parties.’

‘Even if I can’t have you as my bride, I’ll stay by your side forever, protecting you.’

‘Kiss me, Arzen.’

‘As you wish, my princess.’

The sweet voice of Arzen whispering words of love echoed faintly in her ears. Arzen had been her exceptional tutor, her knight, and her kind fiancé. Now, Heina was left alone in the Constance palace, where memories of him lingered everywhere.

The faint hope that Arzen might still be alive had grown uncontrollably ever since she heard the news from the Constance physician Yuri had summoned to treat her injured foot. Georges, who repeatedly visited the palace to monitor her recovery, had shared more detailed information.

‘That day, shortly before the games began, Baron Varis sensed something unusual and switched the knight. The one beheaded wasn’t Arzen—this has become almost an established fact. In fact, I’ve heard that knights secretly operating in Nike under Arzen’s command are still active. You know better than anyone that Arzen is capable of such things.’

Heina clasped her hands tightly against her chest. Arzen. The mere sound of his name brought back the haunting image of him bleeding and collapsing in the arena.

‘Arzen, are you truly alive?’

Even if it wasn’t Arzen whom Yuri had killed that day, he still remained an enemy of her homeland. But would Arzen, with his pure and noble soul, ever forgive her for standing beside such a monstrous figure? Perhaps he would have preferred her to end her life rather than live in such disgrace.

‘No, no, that’s not true.’

Her eyes in the mirror trembled. Arzen had always been kind. He was her knight, the one who had sworn under the rose vines to sacrifice his life for her.

‘Then why haven’t you come for me?’

The fragile voice she had buried deep within rose up again, whispering doubts. Heina closed her eyes tightly and shook her head, trying to banish the thought. The fear that Arzen might look at her with disappointment, seeing her reduced to a mere trophy by Yuri, wrapped around her like a suffocating shroud.

‘No, Arzen would never feel that way.’

She forced herself to stop thinking. She had only fought to survive. She had clung desperately to hope, holding her head high amidst her miserable reality. She had endured the torment of being by Yuri’s side, gritting her teeth, just so she could live—and one day return to Constance.

That’s all it was.

She took a deep breath.

‘You can do this, Heina.’

To never show her people a broken or humiliated image of herself. To stand tall, preserve her royal dignity, and remain the Princess of Constance in their hearts. Heina believed this was the least she could do for her people who had lost their country.

‘God, if you truly exist, please grant me the courage to endure.’

The sound of a door opening behind her broke her silent prayer. She didn’t open her eyes. A familiar voice called her back to reality.

“This is no time to indulge in sentiment. The ceremony is about to begin. Come out immediately.”

Heina slowly opened her eyes. In the mirror, she saw Yuri leaning casually against the doorway, issuing his command.

He wore the traditional white robes of Nike, with a slim blue cord around his waist symbolizing the royal family’s emblem. On his fiery red hair sat an ornate diadem. Raising one eyebrow, he studied her critically.

“Didn’t I tell you to pick the most extravagant dress? What is this look? Hardly befitting someone from Constance, a nation known for its love of luxury.”

The plain navy dress she wore, devoid of any ornamentation, was more suited to the common folk of Constance. Clad in the modest outfit that concealed her entire body, Heina dryly retorted,

“What makes today such a joyous occasion that I should adorn myself in an extravagant dress?”

“Why, for me, of course,” Yuri replied with a smirk, though his narrowed gray eyes betrayed his displeasure at her defiance.

“I’ve spared you, the old royalty of a colony, rather than executing you. Your people should know how gracious I’ve been.”

Heina’s lips curled in disdain.

“Shameless as always. No matter what you say, I’ll be wearing this dress.”

“Take it off immediately, Heina. Before I rip that beggar’s outfit off you myself.”

Yuri’s voice dropped to a low, menacing growl as he strode toward her. The cold, overpowering aura emanating from him made her body tremble involuntarily.

But Yuri passed her by and yanked open her wardrobe. He rummaged through the dresses hanging inside with rough hands, discarding ones he deemed unsuitable. The rejected garments piled up on the floor behind him.

Finally, Yuri selected a dress to his satisfaction. It was a deep green gown, the same color as her eyes, adorned with glittering jewels around the chest. Holding it up, he marched toward her standing by the vanity.

“This one will do,” he said, presenting the dress to her.

Heina clenched her jaw and shook her head in refusal.

“No.”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

“I said I’m not wearing it.”

“What?”

With a sharp flick, the dress flew out of his hand and landed on the mirror in front of the vanity. Yuri’s piercing gray eyes bore into her.

“Put it on. Right now, in front of me.”

“…Stop acting like a beast. You’re losing whatever feelings I had left.”

Yuri grabbed her tense chin, trembling from indignation, with his index finger, lifting it to face him. His lips were curled upward in a smirk, but his eyes told a different story. A murderous glint flickered within them.

“Your mouth is as foul as ever, Princess Heina.”

“Aah!”

In an instant, his hands moved downward. The buttons of her navy dress popped off one after another, flying through the air. The tightly stitched fabric split in half under his hands in mere seconds. Heina was left in nothing but a thin petticoat, trembling all over. She covered her chest with her hands, biting her trembling lips so hard they almost bled.

“What… what do you think you’re doing…”

Yuri placed a hand on the back of her head, pulling her closer to him. Her cascading waves of hair barely managed to cover her body. His pale white forehead pressed against hers, his burning hot body temperature in stark contrast to his ghostly complexion.

“You seem completely unaware of just how much I’ve been holding myself back with you.”

His breath was rough, brushing against her face. Heina could do nothing but glare at him with wide, furious eyes, as though she wished to kill him with her gaze alone. Her jaw trembled, but she clenched her teeth tightly, forcing herself to endure. Yuri’s vivid red lips twisted into a cruel shape.

“If you ever speak to me like that again, I’ll make good on your insult and treat you exactly like the beast you think I am. Oh, but I suppose such a noble princess might not quite understand what I mean by that.”

“Get out of my way—”

She tried to shove him with her fists, but her thin wrist was effortlessly caught in his grip. His almond-shaped eyes narrowed even further, sharp as blades. He held her gaze, his voice dropping to a low, rapid growl.

“I’ll strip you bare and confine you to my bed. You won’t take a single step out of it. I’ll devour you until screams pour from those lovely lips of yours, like the beast you so often accuse me of being. I’ll bite and suck every inch of that pristine body until it’s littered with bruises. You’d best prepare yourself for that, Heina.”

“…”

“I’m rough in bed, you see. Like a stallion in heat, I’ll take you without mercy, again and again, until I spill Nike’s seed deep within you, soaking every inch of you. From your hair to your toes, you’ll reek of me—my scent, my touch, my possession.”

Tears welled up in Heina’s wide eyes at his vicious words.

“Well? Do you understand your place now?”

Her pale lips, pressed tightly together, trembled uncontrollably. It was as though she’d just been violated by his words alone. A dread greater than her shame consumed her entirely, for she knew all too well that Yuri was capable of carrying out every word he’d just uttered.

“I’ll give you ten minutes. If you’re not wearing that dress by the time I return, I’ll turn every one of those threats into reality.”

Releasing her wrist, Yuri turned on his heel and left the room. Her wrist ached where he had gripped it so tightly. The sound of the door slamming shut rang out, and the moment it did, Heina’s legs gave way beneath her. She collapsed to the floor, her strength completely drained, as thick tears streamed down her cheeks.

* * *

All the citizens of Lucina, the capital of Constance, came out into the streets. It was a ceremony of knights on horseback parading through the city, announcing the arrival of the Nikean imperial family, accompanied by the blaring of trumpets.

Linus, leading the way on horseback, was followed by the Nikean Imperial Guards, and at the end of the line were Yuri and Heina in a flower-decorated chariot. Heina, wearing the splendid green dress as Yuri had wished, was dazzlingly beautiful, but her eyes were bloodshot from crying so much. Yuri, leaning back comfortably in the swaying chariot, opened his mouth.

“Why don’t you lighten up a bit? Unless you think all those people came out to see me.”

Heina, her lips tightly sealed, said nothing.

“Don’t you have the generosity to sell a smile for your poor people? As the former royalty of Constance?”

Yuri opened his mouth mockingly beside her, but Heina didn’t even hear him. The city of Lucina came into her view. It was the street she had secretly slipped out of the palace as a child, her heart pounding with excitement.

Constance, which she had never forgotten even in her dreams since being taken to Nike. She never imagined she would return to her motherland in this state. Heina felt as if she was being pelted with invisible stones by the many gazes upon her.

Next to none other than the Fourth Prince of Nike, the very prince of the enemy country who had started the war with a game of slaughter. Heina felt ashamed and embarrassed by her lavishly adorned appearance.

‘You can curse me as much as you want, people of Constance…’

Heina tried hard to hold back her tears. She didn’t even deserve to shed tears in front of her people.

“All, pay your respects!”

As Linus shouted at the head of the line, the people gathered along the roadside bowed their heads. Their eyes were filled with both anger and regret. Since she was born, she had been the nation’s joy. Even as a baby, and as she grew up and stood before the people every year, the mere sight of her rosy cheeks sweetened the hearts of the people of Constance.

As if breaking the anxiety of those who were worried that something might have happened to Princess Heina, as rumors from Nike were spreading, she was even more beautiful. The citizens of Lucina, seeing Heina, adorned in splendor and seated side by side with the prince of the enemy country, were struggling to suppress their confused emotions.

Neigh-

Suddenly, a child darted out into the middle of the divided road, causing Linus to stop his horse abruptly. His excited horse raised its front hooves and snorted, breathing roughly.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

He couldn’t have been more than five years old. It was a cute little boy holding a sunflower in his dainty hand. The boy knelt towards the chariot where Heina and Yuri were seated.

“Princess Heina, welcome. The people of Constance sincerely welcome Princess Heina home.”