My Beloved, Whom I Desire to Kill - 306

—Regardless of what wars we may face in life, I will be your unwavering ally. Will you be my eternal supporter, too?

She had planned exactly what to say in response to his proposal, but it all scattered into colorful paper confetti, like fireworks exploding in her mind. With the man who knew the answer but waited with bated breath before her, Giselle couldn’t delay any longer and blurted out her reply.

—I agree. I will be your ally forever.

She had only repeated his words, lacking any wit or deep sentiment. And her trembling voice sounded utterly pathetic.

Despite the uninspired acceptance, Edwin pressed his hand—the one holding the ring box—to his beating heart, overcome with emotion.

—This was the last proposal of our lives, and we are getting married.

He put an end to the —Proposal War— verbally and hammered it home with his hand. The ring slid onto her left ring finger and settled inside. From the top of the gold band, which fit Giselle perfectly, a gem resembling Edwin’s eyes radiated a brilliant, blue dawn light.

The finger wearing the engagement ring led down to the hand holding its end. Their two hands were joined, and their eyes, overflowing with happiness, met. The same brilliant smile, like a reflection in a mirror, shone on both their faces.

As soon as Edwin stood up, he instantly swept Giselle into his arms, as if he had been waiting for this moment, and spun her around once in pure joy.

The moment he stopped, their lips met before Giselle’s feet could even touch the ground. They erased their lipstick together once more to commemorate their engagement.

Giselle, who had clung to him with her arms wrapped around his neck, was startled. She could feel his strongly pulsing vein next to his prominent Adam’s apple against her bare skin. He was so excited his heart felt like it would burst, yet he had the audacity to ask, his voice teasingly calm,

—Was this proposal conventional?

—It was perfect.

In the place where she had encountered despair and thought she would meet her end, she found hope and a new life. And today, in the same spot, they marked another new beginning.

It was a perfect proposal.

The first place the engaged couple visited was the cemetery behind the village church.

Edwin had recovered the remains of her family, which Giselle hadn’t been able to properly care for, and had buried them in the village cemetery before leaving. This was the first time Giselle had visited her family’s graves since then.

Edwin stared at the Rudnik parents’ gravestone for a long time. Though no words were exchanged, Giselle knew what vow he was making to her parents.

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Edwin had matters to deal with that day, so the two decided to spend the night at a military base near Giselle’s hometown.

While he secured a temporary office to handle work in contact with Army Headquarters, Giselle went to meet a classmate from her training camp who was stationed at the base. To a pub.

With Patricia Warren, an anti-aircraft gunner whose physique was as imposing as any man’s, there was no need to worry that men starved for female company would pester Giselle.

Still uneasy, Edwin dropped by the pub as soon as he quickly finished his urgent work.

He had prepared the excuse of buying them drinks in his capacity as the former training battalion commander, since Giselle wouldn’t have revealed their relationship to her classmates, but it was pointless.

Neither Giselle nor any of the familiar female officers were in sight. Since it was barely past 9 o’clock, they couldn’t possibly have left already. Had they gone to another pub inside or outside the base?

—Ah, the female officers, you mean? They left a little while ago.

He heard the answer from the waiter but found it hard to believe.

Gathering to catch up with friends after a long time and breaking up at 9? At a drinking party, no less?

To him, who doubted it was Giselle, the waiter presented the order slip and asked,

—By the way, are you Colonel Edwin Eccleston?

They had charged the drinks to his name.

It must be Giselle.

As soon as he saw the order details, Edwin understood why they had ended the gathering early.

Because they were completely drunk. Before even 9 o’clock.

Worried, he went to the officers’ quarters and asked a passing female officer to check if Giselle was in her assigned room.

The door was locked and there was no answer. Was she just sleeping drunk? It would be fortunate if she had at least locked the door, but he still couldn’t feel entirely at ease.

Edwin finally felt relieved and turned toward his own quarters only after calling Patricia Warren and hearing that Giselle had entered her room.

It had been a long day. But it was also a day too special to end in a simple, ordinary way. He wanted to hold a small private party to celebrate his engagement with Giselle, but he was destined to celebrate alone.

How should he celebrate?

Without Giselle, things like alcohol or food were meaningless. It had been so long since he had celebrated alone. No method came to mind at all.

Should he start by defeating the heat with a cool shower?

The moment he unlocked his assigned room door and flipped the wall switch, his solo party was canceled.

—Mmm…

A woman lying on the single iron bed curled up and hid her face under the gray blanket, as if the light was too bright. A surprise gift was waiting for Edwin.

He turned off the ceiling light, approached the nightstand, and switched on a small lamp. His eyes traced the familiar curves of the silhouette created by the thin fabric, and he let out a small, amused chuckle.

He had given Giselle a spare room key, but the intention was for her to release him from his handcuffs in the morning, not to warm his bed.

When he sat on the edge of the bed, the blanket stirred. A white hand emerged from the corner and stroked Edwin’s lower abdomen.

As he stroked the head resting on his thigh, admired the slender arm wrapped around his waist, as if everything belonged to her, he suddenly realized her skin was bare. He lifted the blanket slightly: the woman was only in her underwear.

Sensing his gaze scanning her body, Giselle peered at him through her languidly drooping lashes and warned him petulantly,

—I took off my clothes because they smelled of cigarettes, so don’t get any lewd ideas.

Wasn’t creeping half-naked into a man’s bed late at night a lewd act itself? Thus, he hadn’t misunderstood anything.

—Did you smoke?

Giselle shook her head. In any case, her answer, or rather, the question of whether she had smoked, was no longer the important thing.

—I’ll have to inspect you.

Edwin bit her smiling lip as he turned on his side and burrowed into the blanket.

—Open your mouth.

He slipped in between her slightly parted teeth and entangled their tongues. The taste of strong alcohol stung his taste buds. But there was no smell of cigarettes. The inspection was technically over, but since that wasn’t the goal anyway, Edwin didn’t withdraw his tongue.

As they passionately explored each other, Edwin stripped away the things that got in the way, one by one.

Clank.

He first removed the dog tag, which made a metallic sound, and put it on the nightstand, but he left the four-leaf clover necklace on her. As he slipped his fingers between their joined chests and played with the pendant, which held her body heat, he couldn’t help but recall the other piece of jewelry he had given her.

Edwin fumbled in his inner jacket pocket and took out the ring box. He found her left hand, which was gripping his tie. Giselle extended her ring finger, already used to the routine. After placing the engagement ring—which she had removed before coming to the base, saying the stone was too big and would draw unnecessary attention, and entrusted to him before going drinking—back in its place, he sighed with relief and broke the kiss.

The bed was too narrow for both of them, so he pulled Giselle tightly into his arms. Even on this hot night, his lover’s body heat was purely comforting. Edwin voiced a complaint that masked his pleasure.

—You said you went to your room, so why are you here? That means a drunk woman walked around alone at night. That’s dangerous.

The woman, who was delicately sucking on his prominent Adam’s apple that bobbed whenever he spoke, leaned her entire weight on him without warning. Although she wasn’t heavy, Edwin, sensing her intention, readily let himself be pushed back until he was lying precariously against the edge of the bed.

Giselle ascended onto the man, her chin tipped haughtily like a conqueror. Gripping his waist as if holding the reins of a stallion, she looked down at Edwin and licked her lips, which were slick with his saliva instead of lipstick, with the tip of her full tongue. As if she intended to devour him.

—You know the odds of me attacking you are higher than anyone attacking me? Now, who’s the dangerous one?

Edwin was quite willing to be devoured by the woman who smiled provocatively and unbuckled his belt. However, Edwin Eccleston was too sensible to become a beast consumed by lust.

—You’re drunk.

—I took a nap, so I’m completely sober.

By the time he realized he’d been tricked, Giselle had already started rocking her hips above him, where he was sitting propped up against the headboard.