Chapter 7
7
‘This is how it ends. I don’t want to suffer anymore.’
Yes, it was truly over. Once dead, there would be no need to harbor betrayal, resentment, revenge, or lingering attachments to life. How comforting. She had boldly warned Henry that she would inflict Divine punishment upon him, but it was all useless.
For whom? She had nothing left… Would inflicting Divine punishment on Henry really bring her dead parents back to life? If so, she would vow revenge a hundred, a thousand times. The quickest way to end the pain was to join her parents. Maria smiled as if liberated from all suffering and anguish, and willingly threw herself into the abyss of the black cliff.
It was then. Whirr! A long rope flew from somewhere as if swimming, wrapped around Maria's body, and pulled her up from below in one swift motion.
“!”
The situation of floating in the air was the same, but with a slight difference: instead of a dizzying cliff, her body was soaring upwards. Soon, Maria landed not at the bottom of the black cliff, but in the arms of a man with windswept red hair.
“Ah!”
She thought she could escape the cruel reality, but it was a foolish thought. This man had saved her with that rope, only to ensnare her. Before she knew it, Maria was on horseback with him.
‘Gunther Paisley. Why is this man…?’
Maria resented Gunther. If she had a knife in her hand, she would have cut his rope and run away immediately. Anger and relief rippled simultaneously in his jewel-like turquoise eyes.
“Why? By whose permission!”
Gunther shouted fiercely. Maria's heart sank as she faced his marble-like, rigid face contorted with anger. Gunther's rage blazing like fire was more frightening than throwing herself off the cliff.
“Ugh… ugh.”
Maria finally burst into tears like a child. In fact, she wasn't just crying out of fear of Gunther. It was because of the pain in her chest, which was filled with complex emotions. Maria caressed his sculpted face with tearful eyes and pleaded.
‘Please, let me go.’
It was unlike her usual self, but there was no time to assign any meaning to it. Moreover, the current situation hardly felt real. It seemed she wanted to confirm whether Gunther, who had saved her life only to plunge her back into despair, was real or a phantom.
“You cannot die without my permission.”
Gunther shouted, grabbing Maria's hand that was touching his face. How dare she try to die in front of him? One hand was enough. It wouldn't take much strength to break her slender, weak neck. But even at this moment of revulsion, he was angry at himself for craving her. He also felt relieved that he had barely saved her.
‘A barbaric man, why is this person treating me so carelessly? What is his relationship with me?’
He was a man she didn't remember at all, but the feeling wasn't entirely unfamiliar, which was the problem. She should hate and fear him, but he wasn't terrible or scary. Instead, he even felt familiar.
“I have many ways to kill you.”
“!?”
Gunther's lips covered Maria's in an instant. He bit her lips as if punishing her, chewing them like a hungry beast. He swallowed even the clear saliva flowing down her chin and fiercely invaded her mouth.
“Ugh.”
Could she be killed like this? His tongue entered like a sharp spear, licking her tender mucous membranes and then roughly sweeping over them. The two masses of flesh tangled together, causing a throbbing pain that made it hard to breathe. For a moment, her body became so hot that she forgot why she was angry. Before she knew it, he gently released the throbbing flesh and pecked at her lips like a baby bird. He wanted to kill her, but his desperate desire dominated his reason.
Suddenly, a bitter liquid flowed from Gunther's mouth into hers. She didn't know if it was medicine or alcohol, but it was so bitter that her tongue tingled.
“Ugh… ugh!”
As Maria shook her head repeatedly, Gunther blocked her mouth even more fiercely.
“Swallow it.”
As soon as he said those words, the bitter liquid swept down Maria's throat.
“I know where you are, even if you’re just breathing.”
“……”
“Don’t mistakenly think I’m only seeing you with my eyes.”
Tears welled up in Maria's eyes. She should have cursed and resisted this ruthless man who was violating her so carelessly. But she, who had given up all hope, didn't even have the will to do so.
‘Go ahead, mutilate me as you please. Chew me up and spit me out in the middle of nowhere.’
Just a moment ago, her body was running towards death, but now it was lying in a field full of wildflowers. His red hair poured over her bare chest. Gunther's hot breath tickled Maria's slender neck, round shoulders, and straight collarbone.
“……!”
Her head tilted back, and a strange moan escaped from her white teeth. She felt her body relax for some reason. Her tense nerves loosened, and her vision gradually blurred. He kissed her white skin, leaving red Bruise everywhere. Once his breath broke out, it heated Maria's entire body as if determined to see the end. He also trembled with pleasure, repeatedly wetting and warming her.
The problem was that it wasn't just this man's vulgar act. Maria stared at Gunther with hazy eyes. Soon, her hands caressed his bronze muscles. Every time he moved, the Red Dragon that Maria had carved on his back long ago wriggled.
‘Does he remember me?’
It was only for a brief moment, but it seemed like Maria had recognized him. It was as if she had noticed something as her hand traced the Red Dragon tattooed on his back. It was a familiar picture since she had carved it herself.
Then, Maria dropped her hands powerlessly and turned her head to the side.
‘Is it still too early?’
It was the moment when his expectations were dashed. In the end, it was just a vain delusion.
Gunther shook his head violently to shake off the old, bitter feelings.
“I want you to be ruined in any way. I wish you would become a fool who only looks for me.”
In addition, a contradictory desire to see her smile brightly like before.
‘How much more ruined can I be? I’m already half-crazy.’
A normal woman wouldn't throw herself off a cliff. But she vaguely knew. She would probably have a hard time breaking free from the leash of obsession that Gunther had thrown. So, rest was a luxury for her.
“Ugh… ugh!”
The angry Red Dragon lewdly explored her skin. As he moved, she breathed with him, exhaled, and unknowingly moaned lewdly. Every time she did, he became angrier and acted more violently.
“Don’t throw yourself off a cliff anymore.”
She probably didn't know. No, it didn't matter if she didn't know. It wasn't easy to trust someone. He knew that best of all.
‘I’ve really become a fool who can’t do anything.’
She laughed self-deprecatingly at the situation where she couldn't even die as she pleased and was instead swept away by her desire for him.
‘It would be faster to kill this man.’
Even that thought was absurd. He was a man with sharp eyes that seemed to see through her inner thoughts, a massive physique, agile movements, and animalistic senses. Killing this man, who was hundreds of times stronger than Henry, was just a bluff.
Maria had already changed her position and was lying face down in the flower field. Gunther began to bite Maria's exposed back painfully. Wherever his lips passed, dark red Bruise bloomed, and blood flowed where his teeth were embedded.
“Ah……!”
Maria groaned at the cruel pain.
“Gasp……!”
Before long, a fierce groan burst from his lips. Maria probably didn't know how much more beautiful he had become than he was 10 years ago. The scent of a mature woman wafted from her skin. A very sweet and seductive fragrance. Even her ruined appearance was dazzling. At least in his eyes, she was still as radiant as she used to be.
Gunther reached out towards Maria's graying hair. But why couldn't he reach it?
‘I lived like hell every day for 10 years to have you.’
Moreover, Maria was the first to weave the threads of fate. She touched his body as she pleased and even marked it as her own. Who told her to appear in front of him and shine like a star without permission? His life was only about staying alive, but why did she arbitrarily create a goal in his life? So, it wouldn't end until they both died.
At that moment, a possessive desire for Maria surged in his heart. Soon, he grabbed her white ankle with his rough hands. Then, his hands brought Maria's face to him and kissed her again.
‘Is this hell or heaven?’
Clear tears flowed down Maria's cheeks. But her surging heart gradually calmed down like a tranquil surface. Only then did Gunther take his body away from Maria. It seemed that the medicine was finally taking effect on her. Gunther properly dressed Maria, then held her in his arms and headed for the carriage.