Chapter 005

Episode 5

He anointed her with the finest oils, draped her in soft fabrics, and adorned her with radiant jewels. The royal chef, sparing no expense with costly spices, prepared lavish meals to nourish her.

But she no longer wore that clear smile on her face, nor did her eyes sparkle with light.

Whenever his fingers brushed against her, she flinched and shrank away, like a small bird fluttering to escape a hand reaching into its cage.

Yet she was, after all, a bird in his cage. No matter how she flapped or struggled, she was still within his cage. So it was fine.

Now he could see her whenever he wanted, touch her whenever he desired, feel her warmth, and breathe in her scent.

She was in his arms now and would remain there forever. That undeniable truth was so satisfying and intoxicating that her lost smile could be set aside for a while. It would return in time. Surely it would.

At first, his hand caressed her cheek, then her lips, and gradually slid down to her neck.

Her skin was soft, supple, warm, and sweet.

When she shivered, goosebumps rising as she twisted away, he pulled her closer, holding her tightly. The fullness of her in his arms was utterly satisfying. My thing. My lady. In my embrace.

Sometimes, even though she was there, it felt as if she wasn’t truly present, a chilling sensation. But he quickly brushed away such unease.

Now all her time belonged to him. She would always be by his side, whenever and wherever he wished. There was no need to feel anxious about anything.

To feel her even more, he pressed himself closer, burrowing into her embrace. He drew her sweet skin into his mouth, savoring it with the tip of his tongue.

More, I want to touch her more. Hold her more. From the crown of her head to the tips of her toes, every part of this warm, soft body is mine.

Oh, it was rapturous.

***

“You tried to leave again, didn’t you?”

He approached her with a frown, and she trembled, stepping back.

“Feeling stifled? I let you walk in the garden out back, didn’t I? That should be enough.”

With each step he took toward her, she kept retreating until she stumbled against the bed and sat down as if falling.

“My lovely lady, the outside world is far too dangerous for you. You need to stay safe inside. That’s the only way I can protect you.”

He reached out, gently taking her hair in his hand.

“Or is there someone out there you wanted to meet?”

His grip on her hair tightened. He felt her tremble. But he kissed her hair reverently before letting go.

Kneeling down, he toyed with her foot. Since she had tried to leave the permitted space, he had taken away her shoes, and her feet were covered in dirt.

With careful hands, he brushed the dirt from her feet, wiping them tenderly with the hem of his own clothes. The fine fabric became stained with dirt, but he didn’t care.

Lifting her now-clean foot, he gazed at it for a moment before softly kissing the top. The gesture was almost like that of a devoted priest serving a sacred goddess.

But as his large hand began to tighten, she closed her eyes in fear.

“These little feet keep trying to wander outside…”

Crack. 

“Ugh!”

A sharp, lightning-like pain shot up from her ankle through her leg. She couldn’t even scream properly, only groaning. Cold sweat poured from her body due to the pain.

As she reeled, unable to focus through the agony, he gently pushed her down onto the bed and climbed over her.

“For now, stay quietly in bed, my disobedient lady. Alright? Stay here obediently.”

With a tender smile that belied the fact that he had just broken her ankle, he caressed her cheek. She turned her sweat-drenched face away, staring blankly out the window.

Silence settled over the bedroom. For a while, neither spoke. Her eyes were fixed on a small, distant patch of blue sky, and he gazed down at her. Her refusal to look at him made his throat burn with thirst.

Finally, he turned her face to meet his gaze. Staring into her dull, lifeless eyes for a long time, he spoke.

“Why don’t you look at me?”

“…”

“Why don’t you smile at me?”

“…”

“What’s missing?”

She gave no answer. Though her gaze was forcibly directed at his face, she wasn’t truly looking at him. It was as if she were seeing through him, toward something distant and unreachable. Or perhaps seeing nothing at all.

He pulled her into his arms.

It’s okay. Even if you don’t smile yet, even if you keep trying to escape, even if you don’t look at me, the fact that you’re in my arms right now is real.

You’ll stay here.

In time, you’ll smile at me again.

***

But as time passed, she grew more and more like a lifeless doll.

It wasn’t just her smile she had lost, her tears, her anger, even her fear were fading. Most of her time was spent sitting blankly, staring past the window’s bars to some far-off place with a dead expression, or sleeping.

It became routine for him to carry her, slumped asleep in the armchair by the window or on the sofa in the middle of the room, to her bed.

She slept more and more, ate less and less, lost her vitality, and grew thinner. She would burn with fever one day, only to turn cold and worrying the next.

Despite employing the best doctors, she continued to waste away day by day.

They said her already frail body, combined with the shock she had endured, meant she needed rest and stability to recover, useless advice.

He knew she had always been frail. He had heard she often fell ill as a child and had seen her tire quickly and collapse after just a little exertion.

One of the reasons her father had rejected the marriage proposal was that her weak constitution made her unfit to be the lady of a great noble house with many responsibilities.

But even so, there was no reason for her to deteriorate this much.

She wasn’t sick with any specific illness, nor was she injured. She was kept in a warm room, dressed in fine clothes, fed nutritious food, and given the best medicine.

“If you take a bird from the forest and lock it in a cage, it may waste away and die from longing for the forest,” one doctor cautiously suggested.

The words irritated him, but they were worth considering. Though he couldn’t understand the concept, it was possible for small, fragile creatures to behave that way.

Perhaps he should have spared her mother or nursemaid.

Regardless, he had no intention of letting her slip into death after finally grasping her. So he took her back to her forest, her homeland.

If she was dying from longing for the forest, then bringing her to the forest would solve it. What was so hard about moving the cage to the middle of the forest? He was even willing to let her out of the cage occasionally. Of course, he’d tie a string to her foot.

At first, she showed little response, but one day, she began to come back to life. The fact that her first reaction was to push him away was displeasing, but seeing any response, even a negative one, after her corpse-like stillness was proof of life, and that pleased him.

Hearing her voice again, even faintly, and seeing her gaunt cheeks gradually fill out made him content.

If he spent time like this and she continued to recover, he thought he might see the bright, vibrant girl who once danced like a butterfly under warm sunlight, smiling radiantly. Well, dancing might be impossible now.

Yes, it was the right decision. With a bit more time, I can bring her back completely, he thought.

Then she disappeared.

***

Crack.

The pen in his hand shattered into pieces.

A murderous aura filled the room, causing those around him to flinch and step back.

Ha, so you gained strength because you saw a chance to escape? Was your improving health and growing flesh just preparation to run away?

Who dares take what’s mine from me?

His most precious treasure, kept deep in his heart and cherished, who dared to steal it?

Even if it was she herself, he could not forgive it.

He should have bound her tightly, locked her in a box, and sealed it shut.

What would it have mattered if she slept all day? Even if she lay with her eyes closed for a lifetime, what difference would it make? As long as she was in his castle, in his room, on his bed, that would have been enough.

All that talk of cages and forests was nonsense. He should have locked her in a vault from the start, where not a sliver of light could enter, and kept her there, asleep.

But with her frail body and broken foot, she couldn’t have escaped alone. Someone had taken her.

Someone…

That insolent commoner knight who once dared to stand by her side came to mind. He should have killed him long ago, but after letting him slip away once, his whereabouts had been elusive…

Rage surged like a massive flame. The thought of them holding hands and escaping together filled him with such intense emotion that he could barely breathe.

That filthy bastard who dared touch my lady will be slaughtered before her eyes and discarded in a field. And her, I’ll bind her and bring her back. If breaking one foot wasn’t enough, I’ll break both this time.