It's Too Late for Regrets - Chapter 10.12

The heavy rain didn’t stop even the next day. Ines stared blankly out the window, unsure whether it was day or night.

 

Thick fog surrounded the cabin, making it hard to see even a few feet ahead.

 

One good thing about the rain was that it brought plenty of water. A large pot hanging over the fireplace was filled with hot water.

 

It had been heated by the man who wasn’t here now.

 

It had been a day and a half since she was stranded in this cabin.

 

She remembered washing Rayan’s injured shoulder yesterday, receiving his tears for a while, and then sitting by the fireplace. After that, her memory was hazy.

 

She had either fainted or fallen asleep.

 

During the long night, she vaguely remembered someone wiping her forehead and cheeks with a warm cloth.

 

She thought, hazily, that the lips brushing the back of her hand were too hot.

 

When she remembered that, she checked her clothes just in case—and as expected, she had been changed.

 

She was wearing a man’s cotton shirt instead of her soaked chemise dress, and a thick blanket—origin unknown—was tightly wrapped around her.

 

It was wrapped so tightly it took a while to undo it.

 

Her body was drenched in sweat.

 

As the sweat evaporated, it took away her body heat. Wanting to wipe herself off, Ines got out of bed and moved in front of the fireplace.

 

Slip—her shirt slid down her pale torso.

 

Ines looked down at her body, revealed in the reddish glow of the fire.

 

‘…So thin.’

 

No matter how she looked, her body seemed pitiful.

 

She thought even a dry tree branch might look better than this.

 

Ines ran her hands over her body.

 

Her arms and legs were skinny, her collarbones stuck out, and even without touching, the outline of her ribs was faintly visible.

 

Thankfully, she still had a little flesh on her breasts and thighs, so at least she didn’t look like a skeleton.

 

Her limp black hair hung over her chest. The fine strands tangled between her fingers.

 

‘I really struggled to live with this body, didn’t I?’

 

Maybe it was because she had lived in healthy, beautiful Celia’s body for two years, but now she couldn’t help feeling small and shabby.

 

She let out a quiet sigh and was about to soak the cloth in the warm water when—

 

The door burst open.

 

“…!”

 

Startled, Ines turned around—and met Rayan’s eyes.

 

“Ah…”

 

A low moan escaped—she didn’t know whose.

 

Rain blew in behind him. As Rayan slowly stepped into the cabin, Ines turned her head back forward.

 

Her voice, when it came out, was dry.

 

“You changed my clothes, I see.”

 

“…Yeah. You couldn’t stay in wet clothes.”

 

“You should’ve woken me. I could’ve done it myself.”

 

The man inhaled shakily, then exhaled a long breath and muttered painfully.

 

“…You were really sick all night.”

 

She heard a couple of quiet footsteps, then the sound of him sitting against the wall. It sounded like he dropped down hard.

 

Rayan spoke in a fading voice.

 

“Your body was ice cold, but you were sweating like crazy… kept trembling, pushing me away…”

 

“…”

 

“I just went upstairs for a moment, didn’t expect you to collapse. I’m a damn fool. I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off you, not even for a second.”

 

It felt like he was being punished right away for hiding the truth from her. He’d been through heaven and hell several times in a single day—it wasn’t even worth counting anymore.

 

With a deep groan, Rayan wiped his tired face.

 

“How do you feel now?”

 

“Not sure.”

 

But Ines still sounded indifferent.

 

“Doesn’t feel too bad, maybe.”

 

“I guess yesterday was the limit of my willpower. Maybe I was shocked seeing flesh being cut for the first time.”

 

She spoke dully as she dipped the cloth into the water and began wiping the sweat from her body.

 

“Are you going to keep watching me?”

 

There was no reply, and Ines didn’t ask again.

 

The peaceful sound of burning wood didn’t match the tense atmosphere between them.

 

Even without turning around, she could feel his eyes on her back.

 

He was probably tracing her skinny back, bones poking out. Calmly, Ines recalled the events of the night before.

 

‘Was I held in his arms?’

 

She vaguely remembered a hot chest being very close to her… maybe. She resumed wiping her neck, shoulders, chest, and stomach with the warm cloth.

 

She thought about covering herself but gave up after a brief moment.

 

He’d already seen everything while changing her clothes. There was no point in fussing and picking up clothes again.

 

If she really had been sick all night, then it wasn’t a lie. She no longer had the energy to cry or resist like a madwoman.

 

Besides…

 

Ines glanced over her shoulder.

 

As expected, Rayan’s eyes hadn’t left her once. That uncontrollable heat in his green eyes was plain to see.

 

Suddenly, she was genuinely curious.

 

‘Why is this man lusting after such a body?’

 

Rayan Eleanor wasn’t the kind of man to lack women.

 

In fact, he was probably surrounded by noble ladies worthy of his status. He could just choose the most beautiful one and have her.

 

He could, and no one would find it strange.

 

So why was he reacting this way to someone as unimpressive as her?

 

Ines had no idea what was going on in his head.

 

Sometimes, he looked like he felt guilty just looking at her. Other times, he forgot all about guilt and stared at her with burning desire—like now.

 

His gaze grew bolder, tracing her slender necKrine, shoulders, and the sharp curve of her spine.

 

That gaze sent a chill down her spine.

 

“I told you before not to look at me like that.”

 

She tested him with her tone, and his answer came with a hint of helplessness.

 

“If I could help it, I would’ve.”

 

“…”

 

“If I could stay calm with you in front of me… I don’t know. I’ve never been able to do that.”

 

He mumbled randomly, then finally looked down with a gloomy face.

 

“…I know. You don’t like it when I talk like this. I’m sorry.”

 

“…”

 

“Put on some clothes. Quickly.”

 

His face looked sorrowful, but not enough to stir Ines’s heart.

 

Honestly, as long as they were stuck in this cabin, she couldn’t trust him.

 

“…When are you going to let me go?”

 

He didn’t answer her casually asked question, but she could tell he was shaken.

 

His eyes trembled slightly, his throat moved as he swallowed dryly.

 

Ines gave a short laugh. As she thought.

 

‘He has the power to leave the forest, but he doesn’t. That means he’s staying here on purpose.’

 

It wasn’t a short distance from the hunting grounds to here, yet he appeared before her like magic. The dark power he controlled, the many things he had…

 

Rayan had more than enough power to leave. What was a little rain to him?

 

So this storm and the excuse of bad weather were just a way to trap both of them here.

 

And this cabin was too comfortable to be a forgotten place. There was food, clothes, extra blankets—

 

Even medicine for a cold. Ines’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.

 

“Don’t tell me… you sent Jenaire’s shamans to me on purpose, just for this?”

 

“No.”

 

Rayan quickly cut her off.

 

“I didn’t. That wasn’t me. I didn’t expect that at all. I didn’t trap you here on purpose.”

 

“Then why won’t you let me go? And don’t say it’s because of the rain.”

 

Does he think keeping her close will make her fall for him?

 

Or does he just not want to return to the outside world?

 

His answer, mumbled quietly, leaned more toward the latter.

 

“…If you leave, you’ll never stay close to me like this again.”

 

Should she be relieved that he understood?

 

Or should she be glad that he didn’t know what she was really thinking?

 

Ines turned her head forward again and, with a showy gesture, slowly put her arms and neck through the shirt.

 

When she stood up, the blanket fell completely from her hips.

 

She stepped on the cloth like shed skin and stood tall. Pushing aside her final hesitation, she turned toward him.

 

With each step, she thought of the past she had lost.

 

With another, she thought of Caesar.

 

Another step reminded her of the power within her and the secrets about the shamans—and the next, about everything Rayan Eleanor might know.

 

And with the final step, she made her decision.

 

Ines knelt in front of Rayan and met his gaze.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

“Do you want to sleep with me?”

 

“What?”

 

Seeing his dumbfounded expression, Ines spoke clearly, each word firm.

 

“You’ve been looking at me like that. Ever since the teahouse.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you want to?”