In This Life, I Will Be Your Dog - Chapter 115

The pitch-black night.

Figures hidden throughout the quiet alleyways held their breath, eyes fixed on a shabby inn.

From the rooftop of a house across the street, Bellona handed a paper-wrapped bundle to the woman beside her while watching a half-open window.

“When the signal comes, cast the spell on that man.”

“You have to keep your promise to save my sister.”

“Don’t worry. As long as you cooperate, I’ll reward you both well enough to live comfortably.”

Only then did the puppeteer, casting a sidelong glance at Bellona, take the bundle. Bellona stared coldly at Graeme.

At last, after three days, the Empress had made a move.

She’d endured the rumors for two days, but once Graeme stopped appearing, she couldn’t stand it any longer and went searching for him herself.

And since Bellona had deliberately spread those rumors—about the Empress cheating on the Emperor, or the Crown Prince actually being the son of Marquis Graeme—there was no way she could simply let it go, truth or not.

No one could sit idly by after that.

With Graeme nowhere to be found, the desperate Empress had no choice but to act.

Bellona had orchestrated everything so that the Empress would move herself, and leaked word to the knights she had recruited about the inn where Graeme and Anna were staying.

And finally, the curtains rose on this thrilling play.

***

He was never one to smile much, but today Graeme’s expression was especially grave. Olivia—no, Anna—looked up at him from below with a submissive expression.

“Is something troubling you, sir?”

Perhaps because she’d been eating and resting well these days, her radiant face looked more and more like Violentia’s.

Graeme, dazed as he looked at her, suddenly ran a frustrated hand down his face.

He knew he shouldn’t see her anymore, yet he kept making excuses to return here. He hated himself for it.

He justified that he hadn’t crossed any lines, that he wasn’t betraying Violentia—but even that excuse was wearing thin.

When Olivia looked up at him so gently, with a face so like hers, he was overwhelmed with the urge to lay her down and unleash all the fury he had stored from being scorned by Violentia.

“Sir…”

The way she called him with such innocence almost made him laugh.

‘Even if she found out I was a marquis, would she still look at me with that same guileless face?’

He’d spent enough time close to women who tasted power to know how they changed. It was no surprise that he thought even Olivia, who resembled Violentia, might be the same.

And yet, her submissive demeanor, so different from Violentia, drew him in again and again.

He knew it wasn’t love, but a need to fill some emotional void.

Still, the desire to possess the woman in front of him only grew stronger.

And that made it dangerous.

His patience was nearly gone. He no longer trusted himself not to go too far.

“This will probably be the last time.”

“…What?”

“You’ve recovered well. It’s time for you to go your own way.”

At his flat farewell, Olivia looked up at him, her face on the verge of tears.

“As I said from the beginning, I—”

“I know. That’s why I won’t hold you back. I don’t want to be a burden to you.”

Her voice, soaked with emotion, trembled as she forced a faint smile.

Tears welled up and slid down her pale cheeks.

“Please allow this much. I can’t help but feel sad to part ways.”

As her tears fell, Graeme’s brow furrowed.

His heart ached strangely.

As if he had truly fallen for her.

Eventually, his rough hand, once tightly clenched, touched her reddened cheek. With utmost care, he wiped away the tears that wouldn’t stop.

“Thank you… truly. I’ll never forget your kindness.”

“……”

“Someone like me was lucky just to meet a man like you, even if only for a little while.”

Seeing the pitiful woman tearfully bare her heart, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“You’re truly noble, and… huh… such a good person, mmph.”

In the end, the man’s lips devoured Olivia’s wet ones.

Once he crossed the line, the barely restrained lust exploded forth.

His grip tightened around her small head. Their lips ground together violently, tongues hungrily entangled.

As if she’d been waiting, she raised her knees, cupped Graeme’s cheeks, and tilted her head.

Letting out a sultry moan, she whimpered as his large hand grasped her breast.

“Hngh!”

Her quivering, delicate movements sent thrills through him. The urge to lay her down and devour her whole surged violently.

As if sensing his intent, her melting body succumbed to his strength and collapsed onto the floor.

Mounting her in desperation, Graeme showered her with kisses, tugging up her thin skirt.

Just as his hand slipped under her underwear—

The door suddenly burst open.

His eyes, contorted with heat, turned toward the door, and the moment he saw the woman standing there, they widened in shock.

Then, Olivia deliberately clung to his neck and embraced him with even greater passion.

As Graeme froze at the unexpected intruder and moved to push Olivia away, Violentia’s voice rang out, laced with scorn.

“H-how dare you!”

“……!”

“You filthy beast! And I trusted someone like you…!”

At last realizing someone had entered, Olivia hastily pulled away. She jumped up, trying to straighten her disheveled clothes, when a sharp voice struck like a whip.

“Seize those two wretches immediately!”

“S-Sir!”

Glancing briefly at the terrified Olivia, Graeme quickly rose and stood in front of her protectively. He then faced Violentia with a blank expression.

“She’s a woman I paid for. So don’t take an innocent life—just take me.”

At the cold sharpness of his voice, so unlike anything she’d heard before, Violentia’s face twisted in fury.

And to think he dared defend another woman in front of her—it made her blood boil.

“You—how dare you…!”

Graeme, staring fiercely at the trembling Violentia, finally exploded with the fury he’d barely kept down.

“Not ‘you’—I am!”

His clenched fists trembled.

“I am not some filthy beast—I am your…!”

Unable to finish, his bloodshot eyes bore into her.

The mix of resentment and love twisted violently in his chest, leaving him breathless.

The heavy silence gripped the room. No one dared speak, and the knights exchanged glances, not understanding the situation.

Then, Graeme suddenly strode up to Violentia and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Startled, she tried to push him away, but before she could, he pressed his lips roughly to hers.

The stillness shattered into chaos.

The rumors had just been proven true.

Violentia, stunned by his uncharacteristic behavior, struggled to push him off—but then a voice she shouldn’t have heard cut through the commotion.

“Your Majesty the Empress…?”

Goosebumps crawled over her entire body. Shaking with humiliation and horror, Violentia shoved Graeme away with all her strength and slapped him hard across the face.

A loud smack echoed, followed by complete silence.

The knights, frozen and silent, parted to allow Caelus to enter.

“What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty the Empress?”

At the sound of Caelus’s voice, Violentia’s cheeks flushed crimson. She couldn’t even lift her head.

With a contorted face, she could only glare at Graeme. The man, struck and stunned, stared back at her.

“Has the Marquis Graeme dishonored Your Majesty?”

When neither answered, Caelus coldly commanded, “To defile a member of the imperial family—he must be mad. Arrest the Marquis Graeme at once for insulting Her Majesty the Empress!”

Startled, the knights scrambled to bind Graeme.

Even as he was tied up, Violentia merely bit the inside of her cheek, saying nothing.

Watching silently, Bellona turned her gaze toward the open window.

Far off, she spotted the puppeteer disappearing after completing her task. With a cool gaze, Bellona looked back at the stiffened Empress.

‘How does it feel, Violentia? To be betrayed by the one you trusted most? I’m curious.’