If I Disobey the Duke

Cut (6)

With a shaky exhale she hurriedly raised her head.

The smell of gunpowder was terrifying.
Small, sharp particles were scraping her airways and seemed to writhe in her lungs.
Her ears rang.

Lily frowned and raised her head.

The frozen Valks and the dumbfounded Rocus came into view.

She knew at once that she would be as white as their pale blue complexion.

Her arms lost their strength.

“You really… shot me.
Sister, you shot me…”

Like a father who was hit in the face by his child.
Rocus was mesmerized.

A bullet fired into the air tore apart something that had been so entwined with each other.

“I won’t go back, Rocus.”

It was different from before.
She was welcomed here.
Since she was born, she had never been treated like that.

Lily had a bright maid, a slightly mean-spirited priest, and a kind administrator around her.

The old knight who went against her every time, but in the end raised his sword for her.

Citizens knelt like waves for her.

Vlad.
It was what he gave her as a welcome gift.

It was a seat here.

Her place.

Rocus blinked and stood.
Everything stopped.

An afternoon where everyone forgot how to breathe.

Suddenly, Rocus swung his fist.
His fist, which was as strong as a blunt weapon, slammed into Valks’s jaw.

“Cough!”

The knight was also frozen in shock, so he wasn’t able to defend himself.

“Valks…!”

There was no one to support him as he stumbled.
It was because Rocus’s shadow, which had narrowed the distance with his stride one step further, consumed her.

She barely re-pointed her gun.
As her brother had previously called it, her arms were too thin.

“Shoot me again.
Just kill me.
Let’s just end it like this with our family.
Huh? Let’s all just die together!”

“It’s your fault.
You just have to get arrested.”

“I…!” Rocus suddenly stopped walking.

As Lily was stepping backwards, she slammed the back of her head on something hard.

It was as hard as a stone, but not a wall.
She knew right away.

A familiar smell stung her nose.
One that she had been longing for.

Her awareness came first, and her consciousness was slow.
Before her senses could react to anything, a low bass sounded from above her head.

“Your arms have to be stretched exactly, Lily.”

The voice rumbled through her.
It was slightly hoarse, even sensual.
It was his voice that blended in with his slow, clear breathing.

Did he get rained on? His body was damp.
Droplets ran down his skin and dripped down on her shoulder.

Time seemed to have been divided into hundreds of millions of moments.
As her eyes widened very slowly, his two large hands grabbed Lily’s wrists.

“Like this.” He raised Lily’s arms easily.

As Vlad lowered his head, she felt his breath in her ear.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

He spoke a sweet, low voice into her ear, “You have to aim at his forehead to finish it in one shot.”

A dull sensation screamed all over her body.

It was him.

Her emotions were in a rush.

Oh, my vision is so blurry.
I can’t see him.

Lily pressed back and turned her head.
She wanted to see him.

“Look ahead.” A gentle but firm command.

When he said that, Lily strangely could not resist.

Lily looked in front of her, only wanting to see the man right behind her.

Rocus looked pale.
He was terrified.
He seemed to be looking at a monster that shouldn’t exist in the world.

It was the first time he had looked weak.
He was like a child standing in front of a hunting dog with its fangs exposed.

He trembled violently, holding his breath, as if he would be bitten to death if he made a sound.

For a moment, it was as if Lily heard a popping sound in her ear.
A sound like the flapping wings of a bat or something like that.

Vlad lifted the hand that rested under her arm.
And his hands in leather gloves pulled the metal ball.

She shivered.
“Oh, I can’t.
Wait a minute….”

Bang!

A second shot echoed in the stone chamber.