I Thought I Didn’t Have Long To Live!

Asrahan's physical endurance did not come to an end that night, of course, that didn't mean he wasn't physically exhausted. The word 'end' referred not to exhaustion but to having had enough lust and being able to satisfy himself to a certain extent. In other words, he was content after having sex for half a day, even Lariette passed out.

"Asrahan seems a bit crazy."

Afterward, Lariette lay down and evaluated, thinking that she couldn't do it that much without being crazy.

"... I'm sorry." Asrahan started to feel uneasy as if he worried that she might end up hating him. He carefully massaged her limbs as if reflecting on it and fed her soup.

But Lariette also enjoyed it, so she couldn't be angry. If she had said no, Asrahan would have stopped. However, the problem was that he was too weak to temptation. No, he was the temptation itself, which is why she ended up being tempted and unknowingly accepting.

"It's already night."

He simply wandered from the bed to the bathtub; it was already getting dark outside. Time passed as she fell asleep at some point without realizing it and then woke up. It was a truly unproductive day; most of the time was spent in bed, but she didn't feel regret. Her body was stiff and exhausted, but her mind was relaxed. His arms, holding her from behind, were warm and comforting. She felt satisfied.

"Is there anything else you'd like to eat? If you need anything, tell me." Asrahan acted as if he had been her exclusive assistant all day. It seemed like he regretted harassing her.

"The Duke of Candel, being himself a servant, this person will soon become my husband."

Although Lariette had already accepted the proposal, she was surprised again because she couldn't believe it. When she turned around and looked behind her, she saw Asrahan, who had his eyes open and was watching her. She responded with laughter because the expression he showed was so cute.

"No, I'm fine like this, thank you. I like it."

"... Now I like it too." Asrahan smiled happily and hugged her tighter under the blanket.

He was very happy with the soft texture of the female body in his arms. Due to the small number of servants, the surroundings were surprisingly quiet. Only faint sounds of breathing could be heard, the sound of birds coming through the window, and the flowing hot spring water. Moonlight filtered into the dark blue and quietly illuminated the bed. Lariette and Asrahan exchanged stories, grateful to be able to share that scenery. There were no restrictions on the topic, whether it was the tranquility provided by the darkness or the warmth of each other's body temperature. From trivial things to secrets hidden deep in their hearts, they shared everything without hesitation.

"Would you like to have children...?"

"Hmm... What's the matter, Asrahan?" Lariette asked, thinking his question was unusual.

In the Empire, if you got married, it was expected that you would have children, and if you didn't have children, it was considered a problem between the couple, so she was surprised he asked such a question.

"... I want to know your opinion as much as possible. If you get pregnant, you will be the one who suffers the most."

Although Hallstein seemed to prioritize his heirs above all else, pregnancy exerted a lot of pressure on a woman's body. For Asrahan, Lariette was dozens and hundreds of times more precious than a child that didn't exist yet. So, if she opposed it, it would be fine not to have them. In fact, he feared that she would suffer too much from giving birth. She laughed after seeing the concerns in his blue eyes; she liked his kindness very much.

"I want to have children," Lariette said, imagining the face of a child who resembled her. "If they look like Asrahan, they will be really cute and kind."

"... It will only happen if they resemble you."

"They will be beautiful because they resemble both of us," Lariette laughed at the playful conversation.

The corner of Asrahan's mouth lifted; he was smiling, but deep within those blue eyes, there was worry. As if hesitating for a moment, his lips twitched briefly, and then he spoke seriously.

"... Lariette, there's something I want to tell you before marrying you."

"What do you want to say?"

"Well, you see..."

"What is it?"

Asrahan paused for a moment and looked at Lariette's face, anxiety about what he should do when that charming person learned his secret and wanted to leave, but he knew Lariette. He knew very well how sweet, kind, and upright she was, and he believed in her promise not to leave him anymore, so he decided to tell her that secret.

"It's the story of when I was cursed."

-------------------------

It happened 20 years ago. The Asrahan of those days was a smiling child, a very sweet child who grew up without knowing the world's wickedness.

"Mother, mother! I caught a rabbit! Look, Mom!"

"Oh, Master, run slowly!"

"Mom!"

The child carefully held the fluffy body of the rabbit and ran to his mother's room, ignoring the words of the young Hallstein, who was worried that the little one would get hurt, and ran with excitement. He thought that his mother, who lacked energy in those days, might feel rejuvenated seeing a rabbit. She was a woman who loved furry animals, so that's why he held a white rabbit in his arms.

"You will surely be happy."

But when the door opened and the woman lay on the bed, Asrahan instinctively felt that something had been wrong for a long time.

"Mom..." The child hugged the rabbit with one hand and called his mother carefully.

The woman, who had been looking out the window, seemed crazed. Slowly, she turned her head and looked at Asrahan, her eyes seemed empty. It was the first time she looked at him that way. Even though she wasn't a very friendly person from the start, the woman's blue eyes soon turned towards the rabbit in the child's arms. Her body stiffened, and he looked at her and noticed the direction of her gaze, feeling a bit relieved.

"I guess mother is tired."

He thought that and then opened his mouth.

"It's a rabbit, mother. Look, I caught it. It was running in the garden..."

"Rabbit..."

"Yes, it's a rabbit."

The woman spoke with a broken voice.

"A rabbit, a rabbit..."

Asrahan smiled and approached her.

"The Duke gave me a rabbit..."

"Eh, Father?"

"Well, my father also likes rabbits."

"I like them too!" the child added enthusiastically.

Then, the woman reached him with an empty expression. Her arms were too thin because she hadn't eaten well for a while. Suddenly, something happened in the blink of an eye.

Thud.

"Ah..." The dark hair fluttered, and the blue eyes of the child trembled.

His vision filled with the image of a weakly flying white mass. If Asrahan hadn't brought it, the rabbit would have been eating plants. Now, it had collided with the wall and fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Ah!"

His mother, no, the madwoman who had considered herself his mother, screamed and attacked the child. Her bony fingers tightened around the child's neck.

"Ah, um..."

"How could you?! Why are you doing this to me?!"

His head was clouded because he couldn't breathe properly. Her grip was strong. He couldn't believe that this weak woman, his mother, was trying to kill him. Yet, it was a cruel reality. It soon seemed like he heard an urgent voice in his ears.

"Young master! Lady! Calm down, Lady! What are you doing? Release him right away!"

It was Hallstein who had heard the commotion and rushed in. He pushed away the woman who seemed like a beast and protected Asrahan. She kept screaming at the child even when the attendants restrained her. At that moment, Asrahan didn't know.

His mother was insane. It was because the former Duke of Candel, Asrahan's father, would go outside and meet all kinds of women. Her hatred toward the beloved person turned in a different direction, not toward the guilty person. She began to hate the child who resembled her husband, as much if not more than her husband. Several months had passed since he avoided his mother.

One day, like any other, the conflict reached its climax. The child, who had grown accustomed to the hatred, walked down the hallway towards his father's room.

"Father said he would apologize to mother, right? It would be good if everything goes well."

The Duke had returned home a few days ago and explained to the child, who didn't understand anything.

"—Father made a small mistake with your mother. I lost my temper for a moment and made a mistake. I'm reflecting on it. I will apologize soon so that your mother can return to normal."

The child foolishly believed his father's words. He wanted to believe them. His mother would return to how she was before. But what the child found in his father's room was his dying body, bleeding.

"Agh..."

"Why didn't you apologize earlier? I wouldn't be so upset if you had apologized..." his mother murmured with an empty voice and thrust the sword deeper.

It was a sharp sword that precisely pierced his father's body, and blood flowed from his open mouth. Soon, his body fell to the floor. His father's trembling body no longer moved.

"My mother killed my father."

The small body of the child trembled in the face of the tremendous shock. His heart seemed to beat forcefully, and he couldn't breathe properly. His head spun.

"Ah..." A small whimper escaped the child's mouth, and immediately, his mother's gaze turned towards him.

"Yes, you are also here..." he heard her weak voice. She went and pulled the sword out of the dead Duke's body, displaying a calm expression, as if all of that was normal.

Then, she approached the child with the sword she had retrieved.

"Um... m-mother," the child stammered, sitting on the floor. He wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't respond. The face of his beloved mother was very frightening.

The child finally closed his eyes, crying, as the woman swung her sword towards him with an indifferent expression.

Clang<.

However, the sword in the woman's hand soon fell to the ground. Once again, she heard a familiar voice.

"Lady, what are you doing...? This..."

The child opened his eyes, his face covered in tears. He could see the upright figure of a promising servant, Hallstein.

The woman stared at the butler for a moment, then picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground. She didn't want to confront him. There was no need to engage in such a insignificant act against a servant who had never handled a sword before. Instead, she used that sword to stab herself.

"Lady!" Hallstein, surprised, rushed over, but it was too late. The sword was lodged in her heart.

She wouldn't survive unless a priest on the level of a Pope healed her immediately. As she writhed in agony, she looked at the child.

"You should have died too."

Asrahan trembled, and he could see the hatred in his mother's gaze. Tears of fear wet his cheeks as they continued to fall incessantly.

"That repugnant face should rot."

The blood from her body touched the child's skin, carrying that intense desire, and soon it turned into a curse, soaking his body. Finally, his mother died.

From that day on, Asrahan's body also began to rot. That was the end of that story.

Isthar: What a disgusting mother, she was a child, a frustrated woman kills the father, but leaves her son alone.

-------------------

"I want to have a child with you and live happily, but sometimes, I... don't feel very secure," Asrahan spoke, leaning against the headboard of the bed.

Lariette sat beside him in the same position, listening to the story. As he spoke, her gaze was filled with sadness.

"There's a saying that parents are reflections of their children. When I hear that, I wonder, will I be able to raise a child well, or will I pass on the terrible side of my parents to my child? That scares me," Asrahan tilted his head as if confessing his sin, and Lariette gently took his hand.

"Our Asrahan has grown up well."

"...Really?"

"It must have been difficult, but you managed to overcome it."

Asrahan lifted his head and looked at Lariette. She showed him a warm smile.

"You had a hard time."

Her smile and voice were so sweet that Asrahan was on the verge of tears. He bit his lip hard and swallowed his tears.

"I believe parents are very important to anyone. You and I have suffered and lived under their shadow."

Lariette closed her eyes and remembered the face of Duchess Blanche after a long time. It had been so long since she let go of those feelings, but even so, when she thought of their faces, her heart ached.

"In the end, we met and loved each other, but we haven't let go of those shadows yet."

If Lariette had been the one to save him from the curse, he had also saved her. Without him, she would have died, without finding any reason to live. Even if she were alive, it would have been worse than death.

"There will be many shadows in our future, but... even if we're in a bad state, we won't let go of each other's hands," Lariette smiled as she squeezed his hand tightly.

Asrahan embraced her, laughing as if he were crying.

"Warm," Lariette murmured, burying her face in his arms.

Those purple eyes contained a light as pure as the moon. Someone came to mind, a person who still remained in the shadows without anyone to hold their hand.