“…Where are we going?”

“Well now, where should we go?”

“…”

Silence fell inside the car speeding down the road. He had no destination, so why had he forced her into the car and even taken the wheel?

Astonished, Liliana averted her gaze to look out the window.

“…If you have nowhere to go, please drop me off in front of my house.”

“That might be difficult.”

The immediate refusal, coming the moment she spoke, made steam practically rise from her head. She took a deep breath in and out, struggling to maintain her composure.

“…Why are you acting like this?”

“That’s my question. Why are you so angry?”

“I’m not.”

“You must be.”

Theodoro added, turning the steering wheel with ease.

“Are you upset, Miss Moretti, because you thought something happened between me and that woman?”

His tone somehow sounded amused, and in her dismay, she could only let out a hollow laugh. 

 

Liliana didn’t even turn her head, replying coldly.

“You have quite an imagination.”

A soft, scoffing laugh was heard in return. 

 

It was as if her words went in one ear and out the other.

“For the record, there’s no need for jealousy or worry. I don’t know what you were thinking, but nothing happened. Unlike ‘some people’, I know how to be faithful.”

“…Are you being sarcastic?”

“If that’s how it sounds, I’m sorry.”

His casual retort made the anger simmering inside her since earlier bubble up fiercely. 

 

To anyone listening, it was a sarcastic remark about her past actions, but wasn’t that all in the past? 

 

There was no need to bring it up again.

Liliana turned her head and glared at him.

“You told me you didn’t care who I saw or what I did, as long as I was discreet. Aren’t you being hypocritical? And… when did I ever beg you to be faithful to me?”

 

No. Theodoro had never been like that, and neither had she. 

 

The idea that keeping faith was the right thing to do wasn’t even funny.

 

What kind of big deal were we, anyway? 

 

Just lovers in name only, nothing more than a close cooperative relationship when you got down to it.

 

Liliana ruminated to herself at that point.

 

The reason I was upset was that the woman clinging to Theodoro’s side might become an obstacle to our future plans. 

 

Yes, that was the reason, nothing more and nothing less.

 

“Let’s just maintain an appropriate boundary. You… surely you don’t expect me to sever all ties with the Teacher now, of all times.”

 

Even as she said the words herself, for some reason, her throat tightened. Liliana averted her gaze. She didn’t even want to hear his answer. 

 

She felt she had only spoken the truth, so why did her chest feel so stifled?

 

A jumble of indefinable emotions churned inside her, making her feel like she could vomit at any moment.

 

So, Liliana failed to notice the air around her rapidly growing colder.

 

Screech!

 

A sudden, ear-splitting noise erupted.

 

The sedan, which had been running smoothly, slammed on its brakes, leaving black marks on the asphalt road. 

 

Liliana, with no time to brace herself, was thrown forward from her seat.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

With a short scream, she slammed into the dashboard. She didn’t even know what was happening.

 

In the blink of an eye, intense pain washed over her, a stinging sensation as if her body was breaking. 

 

The surroundings had already fallen dead silent.

 

The car stood still, stupidly, in a corner of the empty road. 

 

Only her belatedly reacting heart raced as if it would burst.

 

“Are you insane?!”

 

Her shrill voice was directed at Theodoro, but he gave no answer. 

 

Only the knuckles of his hands gripping the steering wheel were starkly white.

 

Only then did she sense the atmosphere was unbelievably unusual.

 

I did snap at him out of anger. But even thinking back on it, I hadn’t said anything particularly wrong. I couldn’t figure out what point had provoked him so much, and my palms were sweaty.

 

As my heart pounded, thump, thump, sensing my anxiety… a voice lower than ever before pierced clearly into my ears.

 

“Let’s be honest with each other for a moment.”

 

“…”

 

“I’ll start. Forget what I said before.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Forget about that nonsense I spouted, pretending to be magnanimous by saying ‘let’s just act appropriately.’ Let’s just consider it empty bravado.”

 

His tone was unbelievably calm for someone who had slammed on the brakes. 

 

So, it wasn’t something I could dismiss as the ramblings of someone half out of their mind.

 

As those words washed over her, Liliana’s face grew paler by the second. She had a rough idea of what was coming next and thought she had to do something—whether it was covering his mouth or her own ears.

 

But she was too dazed and missed her chance.

 

“Because I want that guy you call ‘teacher‘ so casually—whether he’s your teacher or your lover, I don’t know—gone.”

 

Now, she couldn’t move a muscle. The meaning behind each word struck her like a storm, hitting her over the head.

 

“And I think Miss Moretti now understands exactly how that feels.”

 

Theodoro slowly turned his head to face Liliana. His pitch-black eyes, offering no escape, ensnared her like a noose.

 

“If I’m wrong, then deny it.”

 

“…”

 

Liliana couldn’t form any reply. She should have confidently said ‘no.’

 

But her tightly sealed lips wouldn’t open.

 

More unsettling than the raw emotion hidden behind that impassive face… was the true nature of the anger she had felt, which Theodoro spoke of as if he knew all about it, but which even she herself hadn’t recognized.

 

Yeah, honestly, the room Theodoro had closed himself in… 

 

Just thinking about the possibility of him being intimate with Judith inside was unbearably infuriating.

 

I wanted to kick the door down and cause a scene.

 

To be even more honest… at that moment, I didn’t even think about that perfectly good reason—that Judith could become an obstacle to the objective.

 

It was an extremely simple, primal feeling—I just couldn’t stand the sight of her being next to him.

 

‘So… am I jealous or something?’

 

That can’t be. It shouldn’t be.

 

But a doubt wells up in one corner of my mind. Am I perhaps refusing to admit it?

 

‘Me…?’

 

Why? What would I be jealous of? What do I expect from that man?

 

My muddled thoughts were dizzying.

 

As if the dizziness had spread throughout my entire body, everything spun before my eyes, yet for a single moment, the distinct image of his lips quirking up asymmetrically remained clear.

 

‘Huh?’

 

There was no time to check if I was seeing things.

 

Suddenly, Theodoro flung the car door open. 

 

Getting out, he walked straight around the front of the car and opened the passenger door.

 

“What… what are you doing?”

 

Within the encroaching fear, her slender shoulders curled in, a pitiful sight.

 

It would have been nice if it evoked some sympathy, but it was of no use. 

 

An arm suddenly reached through the open door and fiercely grabbed Liliana.

 

Dragged out before she could even resist, Liliana was shoved ruthlessly into the back seat under his merciless hands.

 

“What are you doing!”

 

A large hand approached and gripped her delicate jaw as if to crush it, preventing her from making another sound.

 

“You should have spoken up quickly if you were going to deny it.”

 

She trembled, her body shrinking under the savage aura surrounding her. 

 

Had Theodoro ever been this forceful before? 

 

No matter how cold a person he was, he had never been like this.

 

Theodoro crushed her frozen form, pressing down as he forced his way into the back seat.

 

His presence filled the cramped space completely. The heavy weight settling on top of her felt impossibly burdensome.

 

Liliana sprawled back with a shallow moan… her gorgeous platinum hair spilling luxuriantly over the black seat. 

 

Theodoro gathered the ends of her beautiful hair into his hand, as if seizing the color itself.

 

“Ack…!”

 

Fear, tightening around her windpipe, crashed over her like a wave. 

 

The greatest terror was that she couldn’t even imagine what was about to happen.

 

“W-why… why are you doing this all of a sudden…”

 

Theodoro looked down at her, spitting out each word.

 

“You always tremble like this when you see me. As if I’ve done something terrible to you.”

 

His voice trembled, wrapped in a fierce emotion. As if he was feeling an indignant anger at the way she trembled helplessly right before him.

 

But how could he possibly understand Liliana’s feelings?

 

The current Theodoro Benedetti had no idea that his future self, eight years from now, would put a bullet through Liliana’s head.

 

As the final scene from her life, where he had killed her, forced its way into her mind, a chill ran down her spine again. 

 

Liliana struggled to swallow dryly and looked up at him.

 

“It’s because… I’m afraid… you’re going to do something terrible to me… right now.”

 

The corner of his mouth twisted, revealing a scornful light.

 

“Something terrible?”

 

“…”

 

His shadowed eyes, the pupils fixed right at their center, flashed with a strange light. She realized she had said something wrong, but it was already too late.

 

Theodoro grabbed her chin and descended upon her reddish lips.

 

Into the gap that was half-open, unable to close fully.

 

A hot tongue rushed in, and Liliana’s eyes widened in shock.

 

💫

 

“Hughhmp…!”

 

Inside the cramped car, heated breaths were exchanged, making the early spring night air unbearably humid.

Each time she twisted her body, the hem of her dress rode up, but Liliana had no mind to pay it any attention. 

 

Because of the warm tongue exploring the soft membrane inside her mouth, she couldn’t think of anything else.

 

Am I dreaming right now?

 

The fact that he had kissed her here, where there was no audience to see their lover’s act. 

 

No, the fact that they were still entwining tongues even at this very moment was something she couldn’t believe even if it were a dream.

 

Since when had it begun? 

 

Since when had his heart begun moving towards her, tracing a vast trajectory?

 

Before she knew it, it had arrived suddenly before her, and Liliana felt as if the bright, full moon had been shoved into her mouth, making it hard to even breathe.

 

The tangible reality of an emotion she had encountered in an instant, utterly unprepared… 

 

There was no way she could refuse it.

 

The reality her mind couldn’t comprehend tumbled away into a distant abyss, and from a certain point on, she could no longer control her body, simply exchanging thick saliva with him.