Your Majesty, I’m Not that Man - Chapter 9: Plea (1)

Levinia opened her eyes two days after the day of her abduction.

Drawn to warmth, she had buried her face against someone’s chest. As her foggy vision cleared, she tilted her head up and saw golden hair shimmering in the sunlight.

“Levinia…”

The voice, tinged with relief, made her blink. She couldn’t tell if she was dreaming or awake.

“Cassion… no, Your Majesty,” she croaked, her voice rough and broken from illness. Her throat ached as she spoke.

“Just Cassion is fine,” he said softly. “I was worried about you, Levinia.”

Cassion pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before sitting up to fetch her some water. He handed her a glass filled with clear water, which she accepted without hesitation. After she drank, he set the glass aside and examined her closely, his expression calm yet watchful.

“…I’m alive,” Levinia muttered, her voice tinged with disbelief.

She had been certain she would die in that forest—whether from poison, a wolf attack, or sheer exhaustion. Yet here she was, alive. It was clear that Cassion had been the one to save her.

Letting her head fall back against the pillows, she let out a long sigh. After all her struggles, she had ended up back at Cassion’s side. The irony of it all made her feel both angry and absurdly resigned.

“What a pointless ordeal,” she murmured to herself.

“There was no way I’d let you die.”

Cassion gently ran his fingers through Levinia’s hair, his touch careful and tender. Levinia, her expression distant, gazed up at him.

She didn’t appear angry—not even a trace of frustration. Thinking back, even when he had been chasing her down in the mountains, her demeanor had been strangely calm, as if she hadn’t been running from him at all.

“Could it be… was that explosion at the atelier? Did the escort knights get attacked while I was chasing her?”

The idea began to take shape in her mind. The individuals who had attacked her before she could use the teleportation scroll—what if they had also gone after the knights? It would explain why Cassion seemed to think she had been caught up in the blast and was subsequently fleeing for her life. It made sense, especially if he had followed Albert’s lead.

“Did Albert cover for me?”

Levinia realized she couldn’t speak recklessly. If Cassion believed the lie that she had been abducted and managed to escape on her own, his kindness suddenly made sense.

But…

“The truth will come out eventually.”

The lie had too many holes. First, the outfit she had been wearing when she fled. The servants would recognize it as one of her original dresses, not something she had changed into at the Pompadour atelier.

Then there was the bracelet—her magical artifact. Inside, it contained supplies for long-distance travel. If Cassion examined its contents, he would immediately realize what she had been planning.

And lastly, there were the knights who had been with her at the atelier. Levinia had no way of knowing if they had all perished in the attack. If any of them survived, they might have noticed her escape.

“And then there’s William… he knows about the secret passage in the dressing room. If he’s still alive, he must have figured out that I tried to run away.”

Tears welled up in Levinia’s eyes as she looked at Cassion. His gaze immediately darkened with concern as he placed his hand on her forehead, then moved to check her neck and wrist for any signs of lingering illness.

“Does it still hurt? I heard the poison was fully neutralized…” he said softly, his tone laced with worry.

“Your Majesty,” Levinia murmured, her voice hoarse.

Would speaking the truth get her killed? Would his kindness turn to anger, and would he decide to take her life?

But Levinia was exhausted. She had no strength left to keep up a façade, to lie to the very man who had saved her life. For a fleeting moment, she had thought of doing whatever it took to survive, but now, she didn’t want to deceive him.

“I don’t know what misunderstanding you may have, but…”

Cassion’s expression froze. It felt as though he already knew what she was about to say.

“Levinia…”

Don’t say it.

“I tried to run away from you,” she said plainly, her voice shaking. “So… please, don’t be kind to me.”

The warmth that had swelled in his heart moments earlier turned cold, as if snuffed out by her words. Cassion’s mouth opened, then closed again, as if he were grappling with the weight of her confession.

This was it—the moment to ask the question he had avoided for so long.

“Why?” he asked, his voice low and restrained.

Standing beside the bed, Cassion didn’t dare approach her. Despite the instinct to climb into the bed and hold her close, something held him back.

“I did everything for you. I know the beginning wasn’t… ideal. But I’ve cared for you since then. Unless…” He hesitated, his voice faltering. “Did I… harm someone important to you?”

Did I kill or injure someone you love?

If that were the case, he knew there would be no going back. Some wounds were too deep, too irreparable to mend.

But Levinia shook her head, denying it. Relief flooded Cassion, but it was short-lived, leaving his chest tight with unease.

“Then why…?”

Levinia exhaled softly, her voice trembling with raw honesty.

“Your kindness makes me happy, but… I’m terrified of the moment it disappears. I was afraid that one day, your whims would turn against me—that I would be discarded, injured, or even killed.”

Cassion stared at her in stunned silence. To him, Levinia was the most special person in the world, but he realized that she had no way of knowing that.

He thought of the concubines he had taken in the past. Many had been forgotten, their faces and names a blur in his memory. It wasn’t out of cruelty but rather a deliberate act—like wiping away the scars of vengeance he had enacted through them.

Those relationships had never been about love or even need. Though they had consented, their presence had been a means to an end, a way for him to reclaim his pride and strike back at the humiliations he had endured.

Cassion hadn’t anticipated that his past actions would come back to haunt him in such a way. For the first time, he truly regretted the choices he had made. Back then, he never imagined he’d one day fall in love.

“…You said you were afraid of me, so why didn’t you lie?” he whispered, his voice tinged with a mix of sorrow and bitterness. “If you had told me any lie, I would’ve believed it—willingly.”

“Leave me alone!”

The memory of her words on the mountain struck him like a blade. Now he understood: it hadn’t been the fever talking—it had been her genuine feelings. That realization cut deeper than anything else.

It was clear now. Levinia had never trusted him, and the truth of her fear was a wound that left Cassion’s chest hollow. Yet, even with his heart in pieces, he couldn’t bring himself to give her up. Levinia was the one light in the endless darkness of his life.

With a hardened expression, Cassion climbed onto the bed. Though his arms ached to pull her close, he didn’t dare. Instead, he sat beside her, his gaze locked onto her face.

“I could never hurt you,” he said, his voice low but resolute. “And this feeling I have for you… it will never disappear. If it were something I could erase, I would have done so long ago. But I can’t.”

He wanted to reach out, to hold her hand, but fear held him back. His face twisted with desperation as he poured his heart out.

“I’ll prove it to you. I swear, over and over, that my love for you will not change. And I will keep swearing it until you believe me.”

The tremor in his voice betrayed how deeply he needed her to understand. Levinia, watching him with wide, disbelieving eyes, felt her heart tremble at the sight of his trembling hands.

“I love you, Levinia,” he said, his tone achingly sincere. “I won’t demand that you love me in return. Just… don’t leave. Don’t reject me.”

For the first time in his life, Cassion had discovered an emotion so profound that it consumed him entirely. Levinia wasn’t just a part of his world—she was his world, the single drop of water in his barren desert of a life.

But as Levinia listened to his words, a strange feeling of déjà vu crept over her, and her brows furrowed in confusion.

“I love you, Albert. I won’t demand that you love me in return. Just… don’t leave. Don’t reject me…”

“Wait… why does this sound so familiar?”

Her heart pounded as a growing sense of unease took hold.

“If you want something, I’ll scour the ends of the earth to bring it to you,” Cassion continued, his voice filled with pleading sincerity. “If you want my imperial crown, I’ll take it off and place it on your head myself.”

“If you want something, I’ll scour the ends of the earth to bring it to you. If you want my imperial crown, I’ll take it off and place it on your head myself,” Albert’s voice echoed in her mind.

“I’ll give you any riches or luxuries you desire. Levinia, please… just don’t say there’s no chance for me to win your love.”

“I’ll give you any riches or luxuries you desire. Albert, please… just don’t say there’s no chance for me to win your love.”

Levinia froze, her breath catching in her throat.

“What… what is this?”

In the story she had read, Albert had once spoken those exact words to Cassion. And when Cassion rejected him, he had been driven to despair, ultimately slaughtering the entire Wendell household and severing any possibility of reconciliation.

“He’s saying this to me now? Don’t tell me… don’t tell me…”

Like a bolt of lightning, the realization struck her.

“I’m in Albert’s position?!!!”

Cassion, his expression raw and pleading, lowered his face to her palm, pressing his cheek against it. His desperation was palpable, and Levinia could only stare at him in stunned silence, her mind racing.

“Is this even possible?”

One thing was clear—answering incorrectly now would be catastrophic. If this continued down the wrong path, it wouldn’t just be her who suffered. The lives of everyone in the Wendell household, no matter how much she had distanced herself from them, were at stake.

“Why won’t you answer me?” Cassion asked, his voice cracking. “Levinia… please, say something.”

His pitiful tone and the sight of his broken expression made Levinia’s heart ache. She thought back to how hard she had fought to resist his charm, to protect herself from being swayed.

If only she hadn’t feared that Cassion’s feelings might one day change, she would have accepted him long ago.

“I still can’t fully believe I’ve become the main character…”

Levinia swallowed nervously, staring at Cassion. Even with tears glistening in his eyes, he was breathtaking. With his status as the strongest man in the world and his striking beauty, it was no surprise that even his sorrowful expression was captivating. She couldn’t help but think, “To reject someone like this… Albert must really only like women.”

“Th-that’s not to say it’s impossible…” Levinia stammered, the words stumbling out awkwardly.

As she tried to backpedal from her previous stubbornness, a wave of embarrassment swept over her. Her countless missteps and resistance felt humiliating now that she was wavering.

“Really?” Cassion’s sharp blue eyes lit up, his gaze locking onto her with intense focus.

Though his intensity made her slightly uneasy, Levinia managed to steady herself and spoke carefully. “But… if your feelings ever change, or if you fall for someone else… you must promise me. You cannot harm me, nor anyone around me. You must let me leave safely, unharmed, and ensure no harm comes to my people. Do you swear?”

Cassion’s brows furrowed, not out of reluctance but frustration. He couldn’t even fathom the idea of his feelings for Levinia changing. Compared to the uncertainty he had once felt about his own heart, the certainty he felt now was a monumental shift.

“My feelings will never change,” he said firmly. “But… if swearing this promise is what it takes to ease your worries, I will swear it. Even if my heart were to waver—which it won’t—I would never harm you or anyone dear to you.”

“And the other part,” Levinia added, her voice steady but resolute. “You must let me leave the palace.”

Cassion’s lips tightened. The thought of Levinia leaving the imperial palace was something he couldn’t bear to entertain. Yet, if he refused, she might reject him entirely. Suppressing the displeasure bubbling inside him, he reluctantly nodded.

“If… if my feelings change, then fine. I’ll allow you to leave the palace. I swear it. Is that enough?”

“Yes,” Levinia replied, nodding.

Though she wasn’t entirely sure how much she could trust him to keep that promise, she believed in his role as a leading character of this story. Protagonists, after all, were bound by their convictions—unless they were outright villains.

Seeing her sigh with relief, Cassion wasted no time. He pulled her into a fierce embrace, tears streaming down his face as he held her tightly, blanket and all.

“Your Majesty?!” Levinia exclaimed, startled.

“I truly thought you’d reject me,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. His arms tightened around her, as though afraid she might slip away.

Levinia blinked, startled by the vulnerability in his expression.

“I’m a murderer,” Cassion confessed. “These hands are stained with blood—so much blood. I thought it was inevitable that you would despise and abandon me.”

Even as he had prepared for her rejection, he had clung to a fragile hope. Their time together in the Hyacinth Palace had been fleeting but filled with moments of happiness, moments that had made him dare to dream.

“Thank you for giving me hope,” Cassion said, lifting his head to meet her gaze. “I will treat you with nothing but love. Whatever you wish for, I will grant it. I will help you see how deep my love for you truly is.”

As he spoke, his tears fell freely, but the smile on his face was radiant—so beautiful it left Levinia momentarily speechless. How could a man so masculine also possess such captivating, otherworldly beauty? It was almost unfair.

“Tell me anything, Levinia… I love you.”

Cassion’s voice softened into a whisper as he lowered his head. When his lips met hers, Levinia’s eyes fluttered shut, her heart pounding erratically in her chest.

“Why does this… feel kind of nice?”

His kiss deepened, his tongue slipping past her lips with an insistence that made her face flush bright red.

“Well, of course, he’s like this—he is a male lead from a dark romance, after all!”

Despite her flustered thoughts, Levinia couldn’t deny the pleasant warmth that spread through her as Cassion’s kiss grew more fervent. She found herself yielding to the way he passionately explored her mouth, his kiss relentless and consuming.

As her mind spun, a single thought grounded her amidst the chaos: At least I avoided the massacre at the Wendell estate. That’s a win… right?

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