V2 Chapter 4

“You’re misunderstanding it.” Cian shook his head. “If you can trust and believe my words, then please do believe me. I didn’t do anything there instead of chatting and acting having fun. I had the need to do it, to keep my image. However, I sincerely apologize beforehand if your name would be affected by it…” Right now, they are already engaged and if the people know that her fiancée was someone who was frequently visiting and playing in the brothel so openly and shamelessly, her image would surely be devastated.

Even if that happened, Sibylla didn’t care at all. Fame for her and those what others say to her was not really that important for her. Thus, she smiled, “If that is what you want me to believe, then I believe…”

“What is that? Are you saying I’m that untrustworthy?” Cian smiled bitterly but Sibylla shook her head with a warm smile. “No, it’s because I had said before, right? I shall accompany you in this life you so desired and that my life will be yours to will. That is my loyalty… whatever you said will be the truth for me, even if it was a lie…”

“… You really are a foolish woman. Going to this extent when you know what my past was and what my character is…only an idiot would do that.”

“But you are my fiancé, aren’t you?” Sibylla smiled, proud. “If I would not trust someone who would be my husband and partner in life, who else would, I trust?” Though in Cian’s eyes she looked extremely childish. She looks like a little girl trying to show that she was mature and grown up—it was comical to watch but Cian felt quite moved in her words that had pierced through his heart.

Too bad in this life, he needed to owe her a debt that he would never be able to repay even if it continues in their next lives. Because Cian was a greedy creature—he can’t throw Sitana aside and only love her.

I guess this idiot scum of my past self was quite fortunate in life, it seemed like the goddess of fortune and love owes him quite a lot. Though, if it was really the original Aanuel, surely he would just spoil this fortune and treat as garbage. That would really be waste…!

“…isn’t that why I wanted to give you the Heaven’s Fall Mansion?”

“…??” Seeing Sibylla’s confused expression, Cian can’t help but let out a chuckle. He slowly raised his upper body and then, moved his head from the ground towards Sibylla’s lap, laying his head on her lap.

This action caused Sibylla a momentary surprise but after seeing Cian closing his eyes as if enjoying his time, Sibylla’s face turned beet red, she didn’t say anything and put her hand on Cian’s hair, stroking it gently. Her touched was slightly trembling, like someone who was touching the surface of a frozen lake she was standing on, afraid that a bit of strength might cause a collapse.

She feared that this rare moment would actually be a dream and she would wake up—or something along those lines.

One of the things Sibylla, who was dreaming of having a normal, peaceful yet wonderful fairytale-like love life, is to give the man she loves a lap pillow—all while staring at the sky quietly with a harmonious atmosphere and listening to the love songs sung by the birds. And now this falling of sky-colored petals in the sky, like a shower of love, this was the most romantic scene that any girls of all ages would dream of having. Who would have known she would also experience it like this, much less together with someone who she had never thought of doing it for her.

Life is truly mysterious and unpredictable…!

Sibylla bit her lips as she continued to caress Cian’s beautiful silver hair, with a touch akin to that of a stroking a baby, when suddenly—

“…The name Heaven… do you know that it doesn’t just mean the abode of the Gods?”

“Eh?” Sibylla’s action stopped. She looked at Cian who asked her a sudden strange question.

Cian didn’t open his eyes still and seemingly enjoying the moment, he was smiling—a smile that Sibylla was first to see in her life. A smile without any motives, an only pure emotion of satisfaction, happiness, and warmth.

“Heaven can also be said to be someone above—”

“Someone above?”

“—I gave you Heaven’s Fall Mansion, not to give you materialistic things or dowry or something along those lines. Though, not as simple as that.” Cian opened his eyes and stared at her eyes to eyes. There, Sibylla saw Cian’s clear eyes with nothing hidden behind them, only pure and crystal clear eyes. His voice seemed to be filled with some sort of magnetism as he spoke, his gaze tender as he stared at her. Stretching out his right hand, he carefully stroked her cheeks as if wiping something before cupping her face and he continued, “That is my promise to you, a symbol of what I wanted to do with you—that even the one above you, obviously myself, when with you will still fall in the ground whatever situation may be.”

“…?!!”

“…Of course, I’m talking about our status, because… you who don’t dream of the heavens, are in Earth the place where I’m standing and will always remain there, and I’m the one who wanted to control the heavens, wanting to soar up. We have such differences between us—I want to fly to the heavens so of course, a misconception of me leaving you behind might appear within your mind sometime.” That is not probable…but inevitable.

Human or demons, anyone with a mind would always have such thoughts—‘Am I good for him?’ ‘Am I needed by him?’ ‘He’s too far, I can’t reach even if extended my hand’ ‘He’s leaving me behind’—negativity and such, all were inevitable to come. That is also growing up…

Hearing such heartfelt words, Sibylla felt her heartstrings being tugged. She felt her heart thud as the full implication of what Cian was talking about dawned on her.

“…But I wouldn’t be able to do it, rest assured, the fact that leaving you alone on this earth is something I cannot do. Thus, I want to make a promise to you that no matter how high I reach in the future, no matter how high the heavens I’m standing will be—when I’m with you, I will still fall to the ground that I’m still the one who you can reach and touch whenever you wanted—that’s my promise…!”

Her chest heaved up and down in emotion as she stared at Cian with undisguised joy, shock, surprise, delight—all sorts of emotions and feelings she doesn’t know what to really feel. She wasn’t an ambitious person, though if Cian really wanted to reach something high up, she was destined to follow as well.

But, she feared that with her talents, she would never be able to catch up. Someone with drive and ambition would always leave behind those someone with not—those already satisfied with what they have will always remain the same, no matter how much time passes. She feared that she will be like that as well—more so when she was a woman.

There might not be a clear distinction of genders in this world but it was already common that male overpowers women, that it was common for a male to want more compared to a woman. When that happened, women will always be left behind, longing, needing, alone within her chambers. Although if that happened to her, she thought that she would be able to endure it—as long as her beloved can soar and stand in the heights that no one could ever reach.

That would become her pride.

But even still, pain is always painful.

She wasn’t someone ambitious, so of course, her fate will always be that. But she just can’t force herself to be one—

But now, ‘If you are on earth, then me who was in the heaven will always come down just to be with you and will never let you be alone’ can also be translated as such, ‘When I reached the highest peak, that I can look down arrogantly on every creation, that all being in this world will bow down onto me—rest assured, that when I’m with you, I would not be someone of such being. That I would be a commoner instead of a king, a beggar instead of a rich, only in front of you will I always remain the same…!’ such words seemed to have echoed within her heart.

She felt jittery and excitement she couldn’t explain. Though they are mere words, empty promises—yet she only felt as though her entire heart could explode, so full of happiness she was—though she didn’t know why. Was she really falling for this mysterious and scheming prince…?

That question… probably no longer needed to be answered.

She doesn’t know that and she had already convinced herself not to think about it as she had already thought of herself as the Second Prince possession. And yet, hearing Cian’s flowery words that can only fool a little naïve girl in love—boundless and limitless happiness seemed to enshroud her in that instant and she couldn’t help but become that little naïve girl in love. Her eyes seemed to be unable to hold on to the happiness any longer, finally overflowing and dropping down, turning into a tear of intense joy...

“…Heaven would never be heaven without you…at least, that’s what I believe…” Cian added as he grabbed Sibylla’s hand and placed it against his cheek, feeling the warmth and rubbing ever so gently. (“Heaven would never be heaven without you.” ― Richard Matheson, What Dreams May Come)

So overwhelmed with happiness she was, that Sibylla failed to respond. She could only sit there dumbly, as though she had become a human vegetable, with half her soul having already flown into the skies!

With a grin, Cian just smiles at her and let her be. I might give her heartaches and pain, owing to a debt that I wouldn’t be able to repay in this lifetime and the next, but at least—let me give you the happiness you should deserve…

It took several minutes for Sibylla to calm her raging heart down but her face was still red as persimmon. Overflowing with blood within her body seemed to be, a healthy person.

All this while, Cian didn’t move and just rested on Sibylla’s lap, closing his eyes—giving Sibylla a relief of exposing her shameless flushed expression. Biting her lips, but the grin on her lips couldn’t stop from widening, “…I heard you started moving now, even rampaging a few nights ago…Mr. White Masked Phantom Thief?” she asked, trying to change the subject and with her tone being playful, wanting to hide the happiness from her heart coming out from her cheerful tone.

“So you heard about it?” Cian’s lips curled upwards.

“Of course, mother was extremely excited about it, saying that the Second Prince was completely different than the rumors. That your power and strength is so strong one can never imagine it…! She was really telling all about it, over and over again…”

“Did that raise your impression of me?”

“…yeah, it did… White Masked Phantom Thief, ‘And so when darkness consumes the moon, await me and I shall appear—holding the hand of immorality that you all sinners possess, I shall steal everything; life, bond, family, wealth—and Honor.’ Never thought you could say something like that…it has style, I like it very much.” Sibylla muttered with a wry smile. She continued to stroke Cian’s hair, gently and lovingly, her expression more of a maiden in love this time compared to before.

“…though, although a bit brutish, I particularly like the ‘—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The debt of blood must be paid in full.’ Really never expected you have a talent in literature.”

“I’m a man of many talents… you still haven’t seen all of it yet…” Cian boasted. However, it wasn’t empty, in fact, he indeed has the caliber to claim that.

“Oh really…? Now I want to see them even more…” Sibylla smiled happily. Then, as if she had remembered something, she cupped Cian’s face with both hands and said with a slightly, spoiled voice, “…hey, I heard from mother, you sang at that night. I want to hear it…”

“… …” Cian stared at her and furrowed his brows. He closed his eyes and acted like he didn’t hear anything.

Seeing this, Sibylla made a heavy sigh, lovely pouted and complain, “You can sing for someone else, but you don’t even sing for your fiancée?”

“… …”

“This is unfair! Totally unfair! ‘Heaven would never be heaven without you’ as I thought, it’s all pretenses and empty words. Heh, damn it… and here I thought, there might be at least 1 out of 10 truths of what you say… really, you disappoint me. You just go and say flowery words with those glib lips of yours and then use me all you want and then throw me after…I’m just a convenient foolish woman for you that could satisfy with just a bit of smooth talk—I see and I thought we can be together for real…”

Sibylla’s voice was full of complaint but her expression didn’t change much. However, her heart was beating extremely fast—to rudely complain like this and even softly cursed, the infamous prince would surely have thrown her like a rag—afraid that the Second Prince will blow up; she secretly stole a glance at him while a deer was playing inside her heart.

However, to her dismay or relieved, whatsoever, very complicated feelings, she didn’t see much of a reaction, he still is leisurely staring at her from below. Seeing this, Sibylla felt regretful, she pouted and said, “W, well…if, if you really can’t then…”

“… …”

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