Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Falling into a bottomless pit may be the best description of how one feels when they succumb to their impulses and frivolous feelings.

Only those who had experienced it understood how emotions could trigger their impulses.

No illusion could warp reality in such a way.

Making a moment feel like an eternity, and a simple smile can be as blinding as the sun.

Making a word feel like a guillotine blade was also a distortion made by emotions.

Can a confession be any clearer than this?

Ravia’s heart raced as she watched the man who became so frail, confessing his love while his head rested on the shoulder of a woman smaller than him.

‘Tidwell.’

You love me.

It was not until she heard his confession that Ravia realized the root of her anxiety.

Because she hated playing a losing game.

She worried that she couldn’t be sure how to gain the upper hand in this relationship.

Why? Because in a relationship, the person who loves the most loses.

She didn’t realize that she was constantly seeking confirmation.

His fervent gaze and kisses.

Every word and touch that yearned for her.

Now she knew that victory was in her hand. Even if she loved him, she would not lose in this relationship.

She was confident that his devoted love would not strangle her in the end.

And her conviction prevented her from dismissing him coldly.

‘But his love is not enough to salvage my life.’

At least, it was enough to resist her fate.

So, instead of answering his confession, Ravia reiterated what she said before.

“You talk like I’m some kind of bad drug.”

Opposing her words, her hand gently stroked the man’s hair.

Ravia recalled the conversation she had before leaving the ‘Cheshire Cat.’ Before she got up from her seat, she asked Rette,

-Summer prophecy is a prediction that produces results. Rette, can you tell me the result confirmed by your prophecy?

-All of them?

-Anything that has to do with me.

Rette thought for a moment about the prophecies she had made, then bent her little finger to begin counting.

-First, Herod succeeds in finding a spring user, and Unnie won’t die until then. The prophecy said that Herod would get what he wanted from you.

-It must be referring to the deal we made at the banquet hall.

-Yeah. The prophecy is most likely fulfilled this way. Second, there is the awakening of the winter user and our encounter with him.

There was a reason why Ravia asked this. She wanted to check something.

-But you’re certain that the process to achieve that is still unknown, aren’t you?

-Yes, but…what I said outside of my prophecies was based on the literature.

Rette wanted to add that her words rarely go wrong, but Ravia was one step faster.

-If there is any room for a minor deviation, then that’s all we need.

If there was room to wiggle, there would be numerous possible ways to find.

Even the fact that Ravia was standing here was also the result of finding another way.

She thought the only way left for her right after the Cheshire Phenomenon was to die or leave the family.

But wasn’t her current situation completely off the track?

Tidwell loves me. He can’t kill me.

Under those two convictions, Ravia decided to resist.

I’ll try to find a way to not destroy my relationship with Tidwell or my own life.

The word resistance felt somewhat grand, but there was nothing else that could eliminate this mess as cleanly as that word.

“…Maybe I’m also high on drugs.” So she said, stroking his hair slowly.

On the surface, it may appear to be a love confession, but it was more of a revelation.

“It’s hard for me to not get lost and maintain my sanity when I’m high on drugs. But I’m afraid of waking up, so I’ve been keeping my eyes closed. But now it’s time to wake up.” Ravia whispered.

In fact, it would be more accurate to say she was speaking to herself rather than Tidwell.

It was a resolution.

I vowed to myself that I would not let myself suffer in confusion simply because I didn’t want to wake up from this sweet dream.

There must be a way to make things work without taking the situation to such an extreme.

Ravia was determined to find it.

At the end of Ravia’s confession, Tidwell looked up at her. He had a more subdued gaze than before. It might be his first time hearing her confession.

But there were also signs of distress and confusion on his face.

With his quiet gaze still fixed on her, his hand moved to sweep her hair.

Was it because his hands are big, or was it intentional?

It would be more accurate to say that he stroked her cheek than her hair.

By the time the hand that ran down her long hair fell and wrapped around her waist, the distance between them had narrowed.

At that very close distance, the man tilted his head and opened his mouth.

“Sister.”

He whispered.

“I love you.”

Ravia laughed instead of answering. The man who had gone crazy earlier than her looked somewhat pitiful.

She cupped her hands on his cheeks and drew him closer. The man, as usual, followed without question.

In the first place, they were already so close that it didn’t seem strange if their noses touched, so it didn’t take long for their lips to touch.

Ravia kissed him.

The sweet scent of magnolia permeated the tip of her nose. No, more like it permeated her mouth.

Unlike previous times when he was desperate, he was slow and persistent enough that she could count how many breaths she took each time their kisses broke.

She should have been able to breathe more easily if they kissed slowly, but because he wasn’t desperate this time, his kisses were rough rather than gentle since he wanted to swallow her thoroughly.

With his hand supporting the back of her head, his head tilted when he leaned even closer, and chewed the soft flesh of her mouth.

He swallowed her red lips as if they were some kind of dangerous fruit.

Even until Ravia stepped inside, the firewood burning in the fireplace made an occasional noise like a hail hitting windows. But it was quickly overshadowed by the wet sounds of flesh and cries of pleasure.

Ravia’s chest heaved up and down, breathing heavily until her face turned red.

Her hands were weak as her arms wrapped around his neck; the same thing happened to the legs that he held up.

No, his behavior was rather vulgar.

While Ravia was overwhelmed by the kisses that skillfully entangled her breath and barged into her mouth, he lifted her skirt, revealing her white thighs.

Tidwell, with a lustful gaze, watched Ravia panting heavily with lips soaked wet, and he bowed his head again to covet her mouth.

Her red, swollen flesh sweetly clung to his lips even in their brief contact.

The dizzying sensation caused him to forget that he was supposed to go in for another kiss, but instead, he squeezed into the gap between her lips with his tongue, giving her no chance to breathe.

No matter how many times he tasted it, it was too tempting to let go.

Ravia winced at the sudden deepening of the kiss and let out a small moan as if protesting, but that obviously wouldn’t work against a man who went insane from lust.

Her reaction probably excited him even more.

His desire to do more than kiss grew stronger over time.

Tidwell began to slide his hand up the thigh inside her skirt. He felt the woman in his arms wince in surprise.

Ravia was barely able to break the kiss and gasped for air with her brows furrowed.

“T-Tidwell, put your hand down….what are you doing…”

“This isn’t your first time hugging me. Are you pretending to be naive? Isn’t it obvious what I’m going to do?”

There was only you and me here. And coincidentally, there was a bed large enough for two people.