In This Life, I Will Be Your Dog - Chapter 79

A blood-soaked string fell to the floor, trailing crimson water. The red hair that had come undone dripped with the same vivid hue, now wet and heavy.

Bellona, standing completely bare, silently allowed the man pouring water over her to persist in his obstinate care.

Her gaze gradually lowered. Her eyes, tracing over the man’s captivating physique, were tinged with subtle concern.

Fortunately, his smooth body bore no wounds, a sign that his first expedition had truly been a success. Feeling a momentary relief, Bellona then noticed something stirring below. Instinctively looking down, she saw the once-dormant flesh begin to twitch and swell. Hastily averting her gaze, she changed the subject.

“Your Grace, what about Arimael—”

“Are you really asking about that after seeing me like this?”

As if to emphasize his point, the man gently caressed her flushed cheek, reddened perhaps by the steamy air.

Stepping closer, he continued, “These past few days were pure hell for me, though it seems they weren’t for you.”

Whether his words were a rebuke or a seduction was unclear, but Caelus’s touch grew increasingly languid. Bellona’s delicate green eyes trembled within his golden gaze, which seemed to imprison her. As he drew nearer, her blushing cheeks deepened in color.

“Are you nervous?”

“It would be strange not to be in such a moment.”

“And yet your tone remains so formal.”

Now so close their breaths mingled, Bellona struggled to calm her racing heart, finding it difficult even to exhale steadily.

Perhaps it was because she had become fully aware of her feelings for him. Though this wasn’t the first time they had been this close, she now felt bashful, like an inexperienced noblewoman unsure where to focus her gaze.

As he halted just short of their lips touching, his persistent stare bore into her. She looked like a small prey animal trembling before a predator, her gentle green eyes quaking. Then, he asked an unexpected question.

“Did you meet with Impes privately?”

“……!”

“What did you discuss? Did you seduce him again, as you did before?”

Her eyes widened in shock, betraying her inner turmoil. Seeing her flustered reaction, he let out a bitter smile.

“That’s…”

“Even while clinging to life, he only called your name—and so pitifully at that.”

Whether Impes’s feelings were genuine or not, it was true she had enticed him, leaving Bellona without a retort.

As her head hung low, Caelus stubbornly lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. Suppressed words lingered on his tense lips before he finally spoke.

“Is there… something I shouldn’t know?”

“No. While my words may have been sinful, that’s all. Nothing more happened. Truly…”

Her hurried explanation left her too ashamed to meet his eyes again.

She felt guilty.

Guilty for making him imagine such awful things and for seemingly hurting him in the process. Guilty for her selfish actions that might have tarnished his dignity.

Considering the emotional turmoil he must have endured to even ask her such a question, her heart ached. Yet, she also believed she didn’t deserve to like him. Not when her vengeance required her to continue deceiving him.

“It feels like another wall has risen between us.”

“Your Grace…”

Seeing the resolve in her distant gaze, as if she had steeled herself for something, Caelus urgently interrupted her.

“You weren’t sincere, were you?”

“……!”

“Nothing you say or do is without purpose. No one knows you better than I do.”

Despite the firmness in his tone, his golden eyes gazed at her with a vulnerability that made him seem almost desperate. It was as if he feared being abandoned, his unease both puzzling and heart-wrenching.

Why did he behave so irrationally? How could someone change so much after so little time together, after only a wedding?

Bellona knew their relationship had long since crossed the line of mere duty. She understood that a simple mission wouldn’t have led to them sharing a bed. Yet, his intense emotions felt overwhelming.

At first, she dismissed it as nothing more than an inability to resist desire—she had been the one to seduce him first, after all, so it made sense that he had been swayed.

No one understood better than she did how fleeting physical attachment could be, so she had resigned herself to the idea that Caelus’s attitude would eventually change with time.

But why? Why did it feel like his emotions were only growing stronger, as though they stemmed from a deeply rooted affection built over a long time?

His increasingly earnest demeanor confused her. It felt burdensome, unsettling even, to have someone who made her want to reconsider the path she had chosen.

She found herself growing uncomfortable with him—the man who made her question her direction again and again.

She knew she couldn’t let things continue like this.

“Bellona.”

“Of course, I wasn’t sincere. But it’s true that I’ve deceived you.”

If her emotions threatened to disrupt her plans, she would quash them entirely. She had no choice but to act as though nothing mattered.

Her cold expression mirrored his, causing the heated atmosphere between them to cool. Then, as if she were challenging him, she spoke boldly.

“I like you, Your Grace.”

“……!”

“I only recently realized it, but I’m certain.”

She delivered her confession as if issuing a challenge, her demeanor resolute. Caelus’s bright yellow eyes, now trembling, betrayed the rapid beating of his heart.

“But that’s all there is to it.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes. Liking you doesn’t change anything. We’re a couple bound by duty, nothing more. I may continue deceiving you in the future.”

Her brazen yet firm declaration caused Caelus’s expression to darken.

“So, you’ll keep seducing Impes?”

“If necessary.”

“For what purpose?”

“…That, I cannot tell you.”

As she averted her gaze, his voice grew harsher, pinning her in place.

“Is that also part of your plan to make me Emperor?”

“Your Grace…”

“If I weren’t necessary, if I could become Emperor without you doing such things—would you stop?”

Bellona could no longer answer. His expression, wounded pride written across it, and the desperation in his eyes left her unable to continue.

“You must think I’m utterly pathetic. Did you really see me as someone who needed to sell his woman to another man just to become Emperor? Is that why you chose me?”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Then tell me! Tell me what you’re hiding! Only then can I decide whether to help you or let myself be used!”

Whether it was due to the frosty atmosphere or the chill in the air, her body trembled uncontrollably.

rinding his teeth, Caelus suddenly grabbed Bellona’s wrist and pulled her into the large circular bathtub. As the blood washed away, the warm water, which had already been prepared, overflowed, spilling onto the floor.

It felt as though the water mirrored his emotions—too overwhelming to contain—and that thought only made her heart feel heavier.

When Bellona hesitated, startled by the sudden heat of the water, Caelus, still unable to fully suppress his anger, carefully poured the warm water over her body.

“Sit down, slowly.”

Though reluctant, Bellona obediently submerged herself.

Despite the awkward atmosphere, he seated her in front of him and gently ran his hands through her wet hair, carefully washing it.

A brief silence fell between them.

The discomfort lingering in her heart remained, but his touch wasn’t unpleasant. Suddenly, she let out a self-deprecating chuckle and murmured softly to herself.

“I am a bad woman.”

His hand paused briefly before resuming its gentle movements.

He responded gruffly, “You certainly seem to be.”

“Then stop. Stop deceiving yourself.”

“…About what?”

“Your feelings. About me. They’re an illusion.”

The man furrowed his brow and slowly turned her huddled form to face him.

The woman, who once seemed so extraordinary as she charged across the battlefield in her menacing armor, her fiery red hair streaming behind her, now appeared like nothing more than a small, trembling creature soaked in water.

She resembled a delicate herbivore in desperate need of protection, fragile and vulnerable.

And yet, her gaze—just as cold and unyielding as it had been in the past—left him dissatisfied.

“What am I deceiving myself about?”

“Your Grace’s feelings—your feelings toward me. They’re a misunderstanding.”

“It seems you’ve become a fortune-teller now, seeing right through even my heart.”

“Your Grace was merely momentarily dazzled by something novel. You were briefly enchanted by a mere knight with a bit of skill, someone foolish enough to risk her life to dare seduce you.”

Not long ago, she had stirred his heart with words of affection, only to throw them to the ground for all to see. Now, she went so far as to dismiss his feelings entirely as false, and it amused him how brazenly she did so.

“Your Grace is destined to be the Emperor of this empire. When that time comes, you will have to cast me aside. You must take a noble lady befitting your status as your empress and—ah!”

Bellona, abruptly yanked forward by a powerful pull, found herself seated on Caelus’s thigh before she could resist.

Her eyes widened in shock.

“I’ve humored you long enough, and now you’re nothing but insufferably arrogant. Not only do you have the audacity to paint me as a fool ensnared by a mere knight’s seduction, but now you presume to dictate my future as well?”

“……!”

“At this rate, it feels as though you can see straight through my future.”

When Bellona, flustered, clamped her mouth shut, Caelus’s large hand gripped her waist firmly, pulling her closer. Pressing his forehead to hers, he curled his lips into a smile.

“But it seems there’s one thing you don’t know—who I really am.”

Letting out a wicked laugh, he ran his tongue slowly and deliberately over her lips.

“I’ll show you now, just how relentless the man you’ve come to like truly is.”