If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 163

Regen had not the slightest intention of interrogating Sasha about anything, so he intended to pass through this place quietly. He thought Sasha would want the same.”

 

“Regen.”

 

But unexpectedly, Sasha stopped walking on the Bridge of Oath.

 

The two of them looked at each other. It was only their gazes meeting, yet somehow a sense of tension hung in the air.

 

“It was actually this morning.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“I did a lot of thinking.” Her serious voice rang through the crisp air. It was clear that the important conversation they had postponed for a day last night was about to resume.

 

What answer would she give him? With the mindset of someone awaiting a verdict, Regen took a deep breath.

 

“What were you thinking about?”

 

“When I opened my eyes and found myself alone, I thought you had gone back to your room because you were hurt and had left me behind.”

 

“Hurt…” Repeating the strange word, Regen reflected on himself for a moment. Had he really felt that way?

 

Sasha’s voice continued. “Do you remember the last masquerade? It’s embarrassing to admit, but back then, I left you behind and went to the banquet hall alone. It was a really awful thing to do…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“…Anyway, I thought that perhaps what I felt back then was similar to how you felt when you went back to the lodgings.”

 

“I see.”

 

“You said that everything that happened at dawn was a misunderstanding and that it was all right. But I wanted to ask, just in case. Were you hurt because of me?”

 

“Am I…” He asked in a voice tinged with tension. “Allowed to be hurt by you?”

 

Being hurt or disappointed was an extremely subtle emotion. Even when the other person had committed something wrong that was not significant, it was an emotion in which the private sense of disappointment one felt simply because one’s expectations of the other had not been met became magnified. Such feelings were simply not permitted in a master-servant relationship. Only a much closer, deeply personal relationship allowed for such childish indulgence.

 

The clear, unusual light in their eyes reflected each other. They were mirrors reflecting themselves, and windows through which they gazed into each other. At last, Sasha opened her mouth. Borrowing the power of a place where no lie could be told, she put as much sincerity as possible into her words.

 

“Yes. I’d like you to.”

 

“…”

 

“I’d really like it if you expected a lot from me, as though it were only natural for you to do so.”

 

It was also her answer to Regen’s proposal from the previous night.

 

“Even if it’s because of the domination, I don’t mind. Please become mine forever. I can’t do without you anymore, Regen.” Contrary to her confident voice, desperation showed in her eyes.

 

The heart buried deep within Regen’s ribcage gave a powerful throb. An organ that usually had so little presence always became so boisterous only in front of Sasha. He thought there could be no more perfect confession of love than this. To be something the princess could not live without, something she needed inseparably in her life. That was what made him happier than anything.

 

The tension that had filled him until now transformed into a pleasant fluttering in his chest. At last, Regen was able to wear a smile on his lips. “Yes. I will. Sasha, you must have me forever, too.”

 

The man who had demanded responsibility from her in the sweetest way imaginable kissed the back of Sasha’s hand. Overwhelmed with emotion, Sasha nodded with a face that seemed to be both crying and smiling. “I will. I promise.”

 

At last, they had become a relationship that could be defined. The two who had just become lovers began walking again, their fingertips intertwined. Like the days they would spend together from now on, they looked in the same direction, matching their strides and pace side by side.

 

Suddenly, Sasha let out a small laugh. Defining their relationship clearly had not changed anything. They were still the same. In a sense, they had already been lovers for quite some time. Their solemn confession, as though they were making some grand contract, suddenly seemed a little foolish.

 

Regen took notice of her laughter. “Why are you laughing?”

 

“Mmm.”

 

“Tell me.”

 

It would have been cruel to tell him the truth after he had spent the entire day worrying. And since they were still crossing the Bridge of Oath, Sasha couldn’t simply gloss it over with a lie. Instead, she decided to draw his attention to another truthful matter. As it happened, she had just thought of a memory that seemed perfect to bring up in this place.

 

“Regen, do you remember? The first time we came to the Bridge of Oath together, you asked me a question.”

 

“…Yes. I remember.” Regen’s answer came a breath later, as he desperately tried to hide his embarrassment.

 

“Your first love. Was he handsome?”

 

“Yes. He’s handsome.”

 

“Do you still remember his face?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Do you think about him often?”

 

“Yes.”

 

The princess had given Regen permission to question her, saying that he should test the effects of the Bridge of Oath. He had used it to interrogate her about her first love. It wasn’t only the memory that came back to him. The jealousy he had felt at the time came back with it.

 

“Why are you suddenly bringing that up…”

 

“Back then, I didn’t answer your last question, remember? Do you remember the question?”

 

“Is there no other man who makes your heart flutter other than him?”

 

“I’ll exercise my right to remain silent.”

 

How could he forget?

 

“…I do.”

 

“I think I’ll answer that question again now.”

 

“…”

 

Regen was not oblivious. At this point, his mind couldn’t help but judge the situation on its own. There was no way she would bring up a love that had passed for no reason. Much less in front of him. In fact, it was something he had secretly wondered about for a long time. But he had deliberately tried not to think about it, afraid that his own wishful thinking had mistaken an unfounded hope for a possibility. Yet now Sasha had rekindled that spark of hope. It flickered like an unusual light in his golden eyes.

 

On the Bridge of Oath, Sasha revealed the truth. “I have never been attracted to another man besides my first love.”

 

“…”

 

Without moving, Regen held Sasha in his gaze. The sun was setting in the west behind her. Orange light spread across the sky, thin and wide beneath clouds as soft as feathers. The backlight it created made his eyes sting. Sasha added nothing more. Her appearance was almost as though she had handed the turn over to him and was waiting for his question.

 

Regen immediately knew what he should ask her. His hand tightened around Sasha’s fingertips. “What about now?”

 

“…”

 

“Right now, does your heart flutter?”

 

A girlish smile he had once seen filled Sasha’s face. It was a beautiful sight he would never forget for the rest of his life.

 

“Yes. My heart is fluttering.”

 

“…”

 

“To the point that my heart aches.”

 

“…”

 

As if to prove it, Sasha gently pressed one hand against the left side of her chest. The meaning piercing through all of his questions was obvious.

 

“My first love is… Ah.”

 

Just as they were on the verge of completing this fluttering moment, something went wrong. Suddenly, Sasha’s words stopped midway, and Regen’s eyes widened to their limit.

 

“…Sasha?”

 

Tap, drip. A dark stain appeared on the breast of her dress. Its color, contrasting sharply with the beige satin, was ominous.

 

Regen’s eyes trembled. No. It couldn’t be. It must have been an optical illusion caused by the sunset colors and the dress. That was what he thought, and he wanted to believe so. But the area around her lips and the fingers she had brought to her mouth were far too white for him to mistake the color. A vivid red. Blood.

 

“Why is this…? Why am I…?”

 

Sasha looked down at her bloodstained hand in bewilderment, then her body lost its balance. The sight was reflected slowly in Regen’s trembling golden eyes. The next moment, he came to his senses.

 

“Sasha!”

 

Catching her helplessly collapsing body in his arms, Regen lowered himself to the ground. Even as she burrowed into his embrace to escape the cold, blood poured from her mouth.

 

“Re, gen… M-My, he-heart…” Those were the last words Sasha spoke before her body went limp in Regen’s arms.

 

“Sasha! Sasha!” A desperate cry, almost a scream, tore from Regen’s throat. But in the end, he could not bring her consciousness back.