In This Life, I Will Be Your Dog - Chapter 81

Caelus had gone mad.

Yes, there was no other way to describe it.

Bellona had made the mistake of touching something she shouldn’t have, and she was now paying a harsh price for it.

She had no idea how much time had passed. She remembered the faint light peeking through the curtains disappearing completely, only to return again.

But beyond that, she had neither the strength nor the chance to glance at the window. The last conversation she had with him before all of this came to mind.

“If it’s too much, you can beg for mercy anytime. I might consider sparing you.”

“Don’t underestimate my stamina. I could ride for three days and nights without faltering.”

“Good. If you win, I’ll grant you anything you desire.”

She hadn’t realized how accepting his challenge out of sheer competitiveness would lead to such a disaster.

To be fair, all she had meant was that she could ride a horse tirelessly.

And yet, because of a single slip of the tongue, she had spent nearly two days as both a cavalrywoman riding a massive man and then as the very horse carrying him.

Now, completely reduced to the role of a mere steed, she was sprawled out, utterly motionless, panting heavily from the ferocious passion they had just shared.

Her limbs still trembled violently from having endured his relentless thrusts from behind.

Her insides ached from being repeatedly filled with the monstrous length he had claimed as his own and refused to withdraw.

The pristine white sheets had long since been ruined, smeared with the fluids they had spilled over and over again.

Apart from the brief moments she had fainted from exhaustion, she had never been given a proper break. For the first time in her life, Bellona felt completely drained of strength.

And the realization that she had lost only made it worse.

Their most recent round had only just ended, yet the man had already recovered and was now absentmindedly caressing her backside again. Feeling utterly exhausted, she squeezed her eyes shut.

He’s a monster.

For the first time, Bellona cursed her own arrogance.

“If you fall asleep, that will be a problem. There’s still a long way to go before three days are up.”

She shut her eyes tightly, playing dead.

Praying that he would take pity on her, she even forced her breathing to slow. She knew full well this pathetic act wouldn’t fool him, but she hoped he would at least pretend to be deceived.

But he had no intention of stopping. It was as if he was exacting his revenge for the wounds she had inflicted upon him.

Bellona knew.

She knew how to soothe this tenacious and relentless man’s anger.

Yet, even knowing that, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Admitting it out loud would mean acknowledging something she wasn’t ready to face. It would mean surrendering to emotions she could no longer control.

As his hand slowly slipped between her legs, her brow furrowed deeply. In the end, she abandoned her weak attempt at deception and turned to glare at him with narrowed eyes.

He smirked, clearly amused.

“Please, just stop already.”

“Then why did you pretend to be asleep?”

“Can you blame me? If you know why, then—!”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have gotten a taste for it. It was fine when I didn’t know, but now that I’m addicted, it’s hard to hold back.”

His brazen shamelessness left her utterly speechless.

Even now, his hands roamed freely over her body, groping her chest as he pressed his growing arousal insistently against her thighs.

At last, unable to endure it any longer, Bellona abruptly sat up.

But before she could escape, the towering man easily pinned her down, hovering over her on all fours.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m hungry.”

“I fed you plenty. And you’re still hungry?”

Had he truly lost his mind?

She had known he was neither prim nor proper, but this was the first time she had seen him like this.

Her eyes sharpened dangerously. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Doing what?”

“Tormenting me on purpose.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Then why—”

Her words were abruptly cut off as his lips pressed against hers.

Fortunately, he only kissed her briefly before pulling away, smirking at her with a lopsided grin.

“I told you, didn’t I? I wanted to show you just how relentless I can be.”

So this was his revenge.

This was his way of pettily repaying the wounds she had inflicted upon him.

“You’re shameless.”

“You still don’t know me. I tend to follow the way people see me. If you call me shameless, I’ll gladly be shameless. What do you want to see next?”

She glared at him as he smiled mischievously, her lips twitching slightly in frustration.

His absurd threats made her insides boil with irritation, yet she couldn’t carelessly snap back at him.

If she provoked him any further, there was no telling what punishment she might suffer next.

Her eyes narrowed as she hesitated for a moment before finally coming to a decision.

Taking a deep breath, she parted her lips and spoke, “You’re… an amazing man. Handsome… and charming. Generous, considerate, and incredibly magnanimous.”

Once she started, the flattery poured out effortlessly.

“I have never seen a knight as skilled in swordsmanship as Your Grace. It was impossible to look away from your extraordinary presence.”

His lips, which had been firmly pressed together, gradually loosened and twitched.

Bellona, desperate to soothe his anger, praised him with whatever words came to mind.

But then—

“Even in the most difficult situations, Your Grace never lost your resolve. Watching you, I learned so much. If I were given another life, I would want to serve under you. That is how much I admired you.”

She had spoken too thoughtlessly.

At first, they were just words to flatter him, but before she realized it, she had uttered the genuine feelings she once harbored in the past.

The warmth in his expression disappeared, hardening in an instant. Realizing her mistake, Bellona panicked and scrambled to amend her words.

“T-that is to say… Ah, that was how I felt when I first met Your Grace during the vice commander’s examination.”

Her green eyes, lost in confusion, wandered aimlessly in the air.

He stared at her in silence before letting out a bitter, inexplicable smile and asking again, “Is that the truth?”

“…Yes.”

Another silence fell between them.

Her throat felt parched in the oppressive atmosphere when he finally spoke again, his voice heavy with an unfamiliar weight.

“And is it also true that you’ve come to like me?”

“…Yes.”

She answered without excuse or evasion.

She had no way of knowing how her response would affect his emotions or what complications it would bring to her plans. Yet, she refused to wound him with lies once more.

“In the end, you’ve made me a fool again.”

Not even allowing him to resent her now—was she truly such a wicked woman?

He had never imagined that the woman who had once looked at him with nothing but hostility had harbored such feelings.

If he had known earlier, perhaps everything could have been different.

Regret washed over him.

He despised himself for not trying harder to persuade her.

“Do you acknowledge that I won the wager we made yesterday?”

At the abrupt question, she frowned slightly before reluctantly nodding.

The fact that he no longer seemed eager to push further gave Bellona a sense of relief.

“Then I’ll state my wish.”

“What? Wait, I never agreed to that—”

“Do you not know the basic rules of a wager?”

His words were as unreasonable as ever, stirring her competitive spirit again, but Bellona lacked the energy to argue any further.

With a look of reluctance, she muttered irritably, “What is it?”

Suddenly, he lowered his upper body and pulled her cold, bare body into a tight embrace. The warmth radiating from him softened the twisted emotions within her, melting her tension.

Soft lips pressed against the delicate nape of her neck, lingering as if savoring the moment. He buried his face there and let out a deep sigh.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, his smooth lips brushed against her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

“Continue liking me.”

His earnest voice made her fingertips tremble slightly.

“Even if I did something bad, even if I deceived you, even if a day comes when you hate me so much you could kill me, promise me you’ll stay by my side.”

For a brief moment, her heart ached unbearably. She could feel how much Caelus’s emotions had grown since the previous night.

Recognizing his feelings made her realize something else—her own emotions had changed as well.

She had meant to erase unnecessary feelings that had no place in her plans, yet she had only ended up fostering them even more.

Feeling overwhelmed, she shut her eyes tightly.

A weary voice, thick with emotion, whispered against her skin.

“And believe in me. The man you once admired is not so weak. I will prove to you that your choice was not wrong. I swear on my life.”

“……”

“So come with me. I will walk the path you choose.”

‘What makes you think you know where my path leads?’

How foolish.

Though their paths might seem aligned, their destinations were entirely different.

His end was a glorious future, while hers was a bloodstained abyss. The road she had chosen was treacherous, possibly leading only to death, and yet he was saying he would follow her there.

How laughable.

How foolish of him to make such a wish for someone who would deceive him until the very end.

A bitter smile flickered in her clear green eyes, and as emotions surged beyond her control, hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

Startled by her own reaction, she bit the inside of her cheek.

Bellona dismissed her irrational emotions, blaming the war-like night they had shared and the fleeting sorrow of seeing it end.

Soon, her damp eyelashes slowly closed.

Before facing the real battle that awaited them, she allowed herself a brief moment of rest in Caelus’s embrace.

Moments later, the hurried footsteps of someone ascending the stairs shattered the quiet peace between the grand duke and duchess, stopping just outside their door.