How to Escape from My Possessive Fiancé - Chapter 55

‘This is going to be such a great prank.’

 

With that thought in mind, Sophia didn’t even realize she was crossing the line. Ever since she found that spot, she spent the whole day thinking about how to pretend to fall naturally. After coming up with about five dramatic screams, she finally led the man to the spot.

 

“Can you close your eyes for a moment? I want to give you a gift.”

 

“A gift?”

 

“Yes. You’ve helped me a lot. It’s a small thank-you.”

 

Sophia gave him a sparkling smile. Her playful look was obvious, but the man didn’t notice. He was too focused on the word “a lot.”

 

“If it’s ‘a lot’ does that mean you don’t need my help anymore?”

 

The man asked with serious eyes. Sophia quickly shook her head in surprise.

 

“Huh? No. I just meant thank you for all your help so far, and I hope you’ll keep helping me. Now close your eyes.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

He seemed relieved and smiled a little as he closed his eyes. As soon as he did, Sophia tiptoed to the edge of the cliff. On her way, she kept shouting, “Don’t open your eyes!”

 

The man stayed obedient, but he still sounded confused as he raised his voice to ask,

 

“Why are you getting farther away if you’re giving me a gift?”

 

“I hid the gift over here earlier!”

 

“That’s the edge of a cliff. Be careful.”

 

At that, Sophia flinched and stiffened.

 

“How do you know that? You’re not peeking, right?”

 

“I’m keeping my eyes closed like you told me.”

 

Sophia narrowed her eyes and stared at him with suspicion. But no matter how she looked, it really seemed like his eyes were shut.

 

‘I’ve heard that some knights can sense movement even with their eyes closed…’

 

Sophia sighed. If that was true, he might hear her land after she fell.

 

‘I need to scream really loud.’

 

Thinking that, Sophia started her act. It wasn’t hard. She just had to go, “Oh? Oh?” and then scream and fall.

 

“Ahhh!”

 

Sophia screamed as she dropped down. The drop wasn’t that high, but she almost twisted her ankle. Her scream wasn’t fake, her heart was pounding. Still, she didn’t want to miss his reaction, so she stood on tiptoe and lifted her head.

 

The man still had his eyes shut, looking around just by listening.

 

“What’s going on? Are you hurt?”

 

“……”

 

“Why aren’t you answering? If you don’t answer by the count of three, I’ll open my eyes. One, two, three.”

 

He shouted in the silence and then opened his eyes. Sophia held her breath and watched.

 

She had expected him to start shouting her name in panic, and maybe go call someone for help. She planned to jump out dramatically after the tenth time he called her name.

 

But when it actually happened, it was strangely quiet. That didn’t mean he left he looked around briefly, then started walking toward the spot where she had fallen, without hesitation.

 

‘Wait, could he already know there’s something down here?’

 

Pressed flat against the wall, Sophia grew uneasy. The sound of his approaching steps felt dangerous.

 

‘No way…’

 

She tried to shake the thought, but it seemed true. The man looked like he was going to jump down. Her heart pounded even harder. If he didn’t jump carefully, he could fall off the real cliff. Sophia quickly tried to stop him.

 

“Hey, wait, don’t—!”

 

But it was too late. His body flew through the air and dropped down smoothly. Sophia stared in shock with her mouth open and then screamed.

 

“Kiel!”

 

She called his name, but he had already landed on the other side. Really. Seriously.

 

“……”

 

Sophia sat down, dazed, staring into the air. She slowly crawled to the edge.

 

“No way… Is he really dead?”

 

It was a pointless question to ask a dead person, but she couldn’t help saying it out loud. Her body trembled as she moved closer and thankfully, she saw fingers gripping the edge of the cliff.

 

“I’m not dead.”

 

And that calm, neat voice of his.

 

Sophia froze and let out a sigh of relief. Tears welled up. She tried to reach out to help him, but the man easily climbed up the cliff without needing any help.

 

“What was that.”

 

Sophia’s voice shook, full of disbelief.

 

“Were you messing with me?”

 

“You were the one playing the prank.”

 

The man replied with a straight face. Sophia wiped away a tear rolling down her cheek.

 

“I mean, yes, I started it. But still, how could you jump like that? I really thought you were going to die.”

 

“If you hadn’t screamed, I would have just jumped.”

 

“What?”

 

Sophia repeated dumbly. The man shrugged and said casually,

 

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? It was a pretty big drop.”

 

“I’m fine, but…”

 

“That’s good to hear. Still, this place seems too dangerous. Let me help you up.”

 

The man changed the subject so naturally that Sophia almost went along with it. But she couldn’t just ignore what he said earlier.

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“Mean what?”

 

“What you said earlier that you would’ve jumped if I didn’t scream. What did you mean?”

 

“I meant exactly that.”

 

The man looked up at her with calm eyes. The sun came out from the clouds and lit up his face. Behind him was a breathtaking view, and the sunlight made his face look almost holy. Sophia frowned, unsure if it was the brightness or something else she didn’t understand about him.

 

“So you weren’t pretending to jump just to tease me?”

 

The man stared at her with a deep, unreadable gaze and finally said,

 

“I will never let you die alone again.”

 

“……”

 

“You can’t imagine how hard that was for me.”

 

Sophia blinked in confusion.

 

‘Again?’

 

That word made it sound like it had happened before. Sophia couldn’t help but remember that dream.

 

*“It doesn’t matter anymore. My life is in your hands now. No matter what happens, I’ll be with you.”*

 

*“Please live. Ezekiel.”*

 

A man who said he’d die with her, and a woman who pushed him away to save him.

 

The place, the words—it all reminded her of that dream. Her frown deepened. She had once thought this man looked like the one from her dream.

 

Ezekiel.

 

Sophia felt that name hover on her lips and asked,

 

“Who… are you?”

 

“……”

 

“What do you know?”

 

A short silence passed. The man shook his head.

 

“I can’t tell you yet. God doesn’t want me to.”

 

“God?”

 

The sudden mention of God drained all her energy.

 

So all this time, had everything he said been messages from God or something? What did God have to do with this?

 

But the man stayed calm.

 

“Yes. Sophia has to find out for herself—who I am, and what the duke is.”

 

“The duke is just the duke.”

 

“Yes.”

 

But now Sophia felt confused.

 

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘what the duke is’?”

 

She asked, frustrated. The man just smiled.

 

“Let’s go. It’s getting late.”

 

His firm tone made it clear he wouldn’t say anything more. But he had already dropped a stone into Sophia’s still pond.

 

“Sophia has to find out for herself. Who I am? What the duke is?*

 

Why did he say who I am but what the duke is? Was he implying the duke wasn’t even human?

 

No way.

 

Sophia quickly shook her head. But as they returned, she couldn’t stop thinking about the duke and the man.

 

She remembered things only started getting strange after she drank the poison. That poison had been passed down in the duke’s family. It caused sleepwalking, strange dreams, even visions of the future.

 

They said it made people confuse dreams and reality.

 

People said Sophia and those around her started acting strange because of that poison.

 

But now that I think about it… I haven’t felt anything strange since coming to the palace.

 

Sophia realized suddenly.

 

It might have been because she kept taking the duke’s medicine, but even when she didn’t take it at the count’s house, she still often felt something off. She had felt disconnected from her family and others.

 

But since coming to the palace, all of that stopped. No strange smells, no odd feelings from people—everything felt normal.

 

Was it all because of the duke?

 

Sophia had that thought for a moment. But she had lost too much already by doubting the duke, so she forced the idea away.

 

I can’t doubt him. Who knows what might happen again if I do.

 

With that, Sophia turned her head away.