“Watch the fireworks.”

He deliberately left it open before starting the affair.

The bustling chatter and music flowed even to this distant place. If anyone were in the back garden of the annex, they would likely hear the sound of the two bodies intertwining. The woman, covering half her face with her hands and peeking through the window with fearful eyes, resembled a frightened squirrel.

Sadism filled him.

If he had a desire to show off his woman to others, Leon might have completely lost his restraint and committed irreversible actions. In the midst of the engagement ceremony, he would have stripped her naked and attacked her in front of everyone.

From head to toe, her body would turn red with humiliation, then likely pale with terror.

She would likely plead, digging her body deep into him to hide from the lustful and scornful gazes of the people. The womam would scream and curse at him like a livestock dragged to the slaughterhouse, ultimately ending up trembling like a corpse with dead eyes.

Her spirit would be broken in an instant by the man toying with her.

It would be quite entertaining.

Unfortunately, Leon did not possess such desires… still, there were countless ways to torment her. As he stopped his movements and laid the woman down, a hint of relief flashed across her flushed face as if she thought it was all over.

“You like it, don’t you, honey?”

He whispered softly into her ear. The waist that started moving again was far from gentle.

“Heup… Ah, huht, do-don’t.”

She removed her hands, which were covering her mouth, and pushed against the bed. As he slipped his fingers one by one, the woman’s nails dug deep into the spaces between Leon’s knuckles, causing a sharp, exhilarating pain.

“Let, go, heuk…”

“Make some noise. Let it be heard even at the hall. Someone, please help! Captain Winston is r*ping me! Shout like that.”

The woman’s face turned pale, then her eyes quickly reddened.

‘Is it hard for you to deny it now?’

Her trust in her family and comrades was slowly diminishing.

“Your biological father would probably…”

“…Stop.”

“If you had cried out for help during the day and ran down the stairs, your father would have tried to take you away from here. You’re smart enough to figure that out.”

He whispered in her ear. Their chests touched heavily, and the woman’s breath became rough.

“Why did you run to my bedroom if you knew? You were hiding in my arms, Leon, protect me like this.”

Leon knew well.

It wasn’t that the woman didn’t want to leave his embrace, she just wanted to escape from the shocking truth. Nonetheless, telling the plausible thing, not the truth, was what brainwashing was about. He was trying to strip off the brainwashing the rebels had imposed on this woman.

“Think about it carefully. You’ve been voluntarily throwing away chances to get away from me time and time again. I know you don’t actually want to run.”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

The woman retorted fiercely. The more frightened she was, the fiercer she became.

Leon slowly recounted recent events to the woman, who was already scared. The incident where his mother came to his office, the incident where she didn’t run away even when he was drunk during his father’s death anniversary.

All were opportunities the woman had missed on her own.

“You know it too. Being with me is safer. As soon as your father rescues you, he’ll put a bullet in your head. If you go to the camp, you’ll be used to seduction and end up like a discarded orphan.”

Your comrades won’t save you.

Suddenly struck by the thought, Leon slowly raised his head as the woman glared at him with eyes that seemed to want to scream and beg.

Just as he gazed down at the moist, sorrowful eyes, through his hesitant lips, a sorrowful voice seeped out.

“I’m sorry, Grace. I love you.”

The woman’s eyes widened, and her piercing green eyes in the center flickered.

It was clear she believed that these words were his true feelings.

It was unexpected that she didn’t pour scorn on his confession of love. It was almost touching, but unfortunately, he had to tell the truth.

“Your fiance wants me to tell you this.”

“…What? You met Jimmy?”

Leon’s expression darkened, and he lowered his head.

“I’ve told you multiple times that he has never come to rescue you.”

He gently stroked her as if to comfort her, as if he couldn’t bear to see her in such distress.

“That despicable rat. That b*stard isn’t worthy of having you.”

“Wait. Then how did you hear those words…?”

“He not only abandoned his fiancé but also ordered her to die, saying he loves her.”

The woman’s questions abruptly stopped.

“Yes, your fiancé instructed you to commit suicide.”

He tenderly held the woman, who seemed frozen in time, and murmured softly.

“I just can’t understand it with my own mind.”

It was genuine. From the guy who told her to die after saying he loved her, to the girl who promised a lifetime to the inexperienced boy who couldn’t even protect the woman he loved, Leon Winston couldn’t understand any of them.

Furthermore, he genuinely felt disgusted.

“I wanted to keep you from knowing it until the end…”

Thin streaks of blood vessels spread slowly in the woman’s pale eyes that were turning blue. It resembled the crackling surface of an eggshell.

“I’m sorry.”

Feigning an apology, he buried his face in the woman’s neck. Her skin felt chilly and damp. The cold sweat she was shedding felt oddly refreshing.

The woman would never know that he was smiling.

Now, he could say it.

Leon had been closely observing her tonight and came to that conclusion.

When asked why she had gotten engaged so early, the woman fell deep into thought and then looked regretful. She wouldn’t completely submit to that b*stard now, so it was his calculation that even if the order to die had been given, she wouldn’t commit suicide.

“Don’t, don’t play games with me.”

The woman belatedly regained her senses and tried to push him away and push away the truth.

“I wish it were all just a game.”

Leon gently caressed her trembling cheek with a sorrowful look.

“You saw the box in the drawer. There were cyanide pills and a letter from your fiance inside. Do you want to see them?”

At those words, the woman hastily grabbed his coat when he made a move as if he was about to bring it to show her now. She said she didn’t trust him, yet in reality, she was trusting his words.

“What’s wrong? Huh?”

“Forget it. Why now…?”

“I’m sorry. I hid them. I was afraid you might die as he commanded.”

Leon made the most painful expression he could manage. Imagining the eyes glaring at him losing their light and the woman’s essence chilling within him… it wasn’t that difficult to make such an expression.

“Why are you telling me now if you’ve been hiding it all this time?”

“Because you need to know the truth, too. Watching you trust that bastard and wait for him without knowing anything was initially amusing. But now, it’s painful for me as well.”

‘Grace, that’s a lie. It’s been painful from the start.’

Leon gently cupped the confused woman’s cheeks in his hands and organized the conclusion of his long story for her to understand.

“Grace Riddle, the only one protecting you in this world is me.”

The woman gritted her teeth and finally parted her firmly pressed lips.

‘Try to argue against that. You can’t, can you?’

As expected, the woman only managed a murmur in response. Leon drove a wedge into the gap that had formed in her heart.

“I love you, truly.”

The man spat out the words ‘I love you’ as if he was spitting out the word ‘hate.’

Unlike the convincing acting from a moment ago, this felt like raw emotion being thrown out. Still, whether that emotion was love or hate, it was hard to tell.

Grace was merely sinking deep into the emotions the man was exuding, feeling confused.

In the meantime, Leon was basking in the triumph. The shell surrounding the woman was slowly cracking. It seemed like a hasty move, but it wasn’t. Amidst confessions of love or lies, Grace, who was feeling lonely, couldn’t tell if it was true or false.

‘…Just a little more. Then, you’ll be mine.’

However, it was easy to stumble when you let go of the tension right before reaching the peak.

“I’ll take revenge for you as well.”

The moment the man mentioned revenge, Grace snapped to her senses as if she had been pulled out of simmering water.

“…Revenge? Revenge for whom?”

She let out a scoff.

“Using me for your revenge, do you think I’m oblivious to it? Acting like you’re keeping the promise not to ask about the base, building my trust only to manipulate me into revealing everything. Did you really think I wouldn’t know?”

As the man tried to open his mouth to refute, she didn’t give him a chance.

“Wha, you’re protecting me? Like a cat with a fish? It’s not even funny. All you’re doing is protecting the prostitute who’s only setting up your things.”

Grace grabbed the man by the collar and fiercely retorted.

“Hey, Captain Winston. Forget your dirty tricks. Like a monarchy pig in heat, just c*m quickly and leave.”

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