Chapter 22.1

“Drink.”

“…”

He offered her a full glass, but Livi refused to take it. Instead of showing the courtesy of offering a second time, he grabbed her wrist holding the quill and yanked her up.

With his height and strength, she was forced to dangle at an awkward angle.

“What are you doing? Let go of my arm.”

“Hm.”

But instead of letting go, Dominic lifted her arm even higher.

“Ugh…”

Pain flickered across Livi’s face. She rose onto her tiptoes to relieve the strain, but even that couldn’t stop the red marks blooming around her wrist.

Dominic sneered at the woman as she wobbled unsteadily.

“You know, using a task I assigned you as an excuse to defy me makes you look rather foolish, wife.”

“Why did you give me this task in the first place?”

“Why are you so curious about that? Ah, don’t tell me you’re asking if this is some kind of trap?”

Livi pressed her lips tightly together. Her silence was an answer in itself, and it made Dominic let out a short, derisive laugh.

“If that’s really what you think, I’m disappointed. I thought you at least had the sense to choose your questions more wisely.”

Clicking his tongue, he dragged her by the hand toward the sofa. Livi stumbled as he tossed her down, and before she could regain her balance, he straddled her legs, pressing down on her thighs as she struggled.

Pinned down by his strong grip, Livi could do nothing but glare up at him. Dominic leisurely took both her wrists in his hands, holding them above her head.

“I heard you went to the training grounds. Robento Palmer’s been dealt with properly, so he won’t be mouthing off again anytime soon.”

“What?”

The color drained from Livi’s face. She stopped struggling, her eyes wide, her arms frozen midair.

The image of that other knight, half-dead as he was dragged away from the inn, was still fresh in her mind, and now he’d done it again?

“Why… why would you do that? That knight was only loyal to you. There was no need to go that far—”

“I’m the one who decides what’s necessary. It’s not something my wife should concern herself with.”

“How could you…”

Livi’s lips trembled soundlessly.

Robento might have been insolent toward her, but he was loyal to Dominic. All of his actions were for Dominic’s sake, and while he might have deserved some reprimanding for his mistakes, he didn’t deserve to be crushed like this.

“Then why go on this campaign yourself? If your subordinates’ lives are so expendable, there’s no need for you to go with them—”

“Did I ever say I was going because I valued their lives?”

“Then why on earth…”

Livi’s eyes widened with sudden realization. She shook her head over and over, as if trying to physically reject what she’d just heard, and finally forced out a thin, breaking voice.

“You’re not saying that you decided to go to war because of me, are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Dominic replied, a mocking smile tugging at his lips.

“I step away for a while, and you get to move around more freely, don’t you?”

Terror instantly swallowed her whole. She had no idea what Dominic, this cruel and unpredictable man, truly intended to do with her.

She twisted her wrists, her body jerking as she tried to pull away. She did everything she could to put distance between herself and him, but Dominic merely stared at her as if she were ridiculous. Then, he leaned in even closer.

The rustle of his shirt brushing against the neckline of her dress left a wrinkle behind.

“My wife, do you know how you capture prey alive and uninjured when hunting?”

His free hand touched just above her navel. Pressing firmly, his finger dragged up her skin like it was carving a path. Even fully clothed, she felt like she was being stripped bare.

“First, you learn its habits. What food it eats, what kind of environment it feels safe, what frightens it, and what it likes…”

“Take your hand off me.”

“Next, you get close, so quietly the prey never notices, and slip a noose around its neck.”

Dominic’s gaze slid to her throat, then without warning, he latched on and sucked hard. Her slender shoulders jerked in surprise.

“Get your hands– mmpf!”

“I won’t go all the way, so behave.”

He clamped his hand over her mouth again, his eyes dropping unabashedly to her breasts. Beneath the fabric, her quick, uneven breaths made the curves rise and fall, causing the dress wrinkle around her waist.

Stroking the reddened marks on her neck, he resumed his words.

“One should never try to capture it all at once. Pull too hard and your prey might choke and die. You loosen the rope… then tighten it again. Over and over, until it’s exhausted—until at the final moment, it can’t even move a single toe.”

His gray eyes were so cold they almost looked blue. There was no need to question who his “prey” was. It was obvious enough to feel foolish for even considering it.

Livi forced herself to stare directly at him, her gaze filled with seething fury.

“You seem awfully sure I can’t kill you. If you leave like this, you’re giving me—”

“Mm.”

Dominic cut her off with a snicker.

“Have you never considered the possibility that I might not care if I die?”

“Of course not. Someone like you could never understand the meaning of consequences,” Livi said, drawing a firm line.

Dominic, as he always did in the face of her defiance, responded with mockery.

“Think whatever you like. Just as you always have, wife.”

He released her wrists as if discarding them. The leather of the sofa made a grating sound as he stepped back. Even after the sound faded and his heavy footsteps disappeared down the hall, Livi stayed slumped where she was for a long time.

‘Think whatever I like?’

His eyes were colder than ever as he spoke those words. Livi let out a dry laugh.

What a ridiculous lie.