When My Enemies Began to Regret

Fanora thought Aloken looked pitiful when he spoke with his head lowered. She involuntarily reached out her hand. Trying to remove his hand that painfully pressed against his eyes.  

“Aloken.”

When Fanora’s fingertips touched, Aloken lowered his arm in surprise.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m just not used to it…”

Looking back, he was always like this. He had no qualms about making a skinship with Fanora, but he took a step back as soon as she touched his body first.

“Because I don’t think I ever received a loving touch from anyone.”

But Aloken soon took action. He clasped Fanora’s hand, which stretched out to him with a clumsy touch. He treated it carefully as if it was a flower. And soon, he put her hand on his cheek and felt the warmth.

“It’s just I’m not used to it yet.”

Fanora remained silent, looking at his cheek. If it had been just a few months ago, she might have shaken her hand off him and shouted for nothing. But now, she just accepted all of Aloken’s actions.

“A sophisticated person like you struggles with just one touch?”

Fanora felt pity for him. A man named Aloken Jalier had more in common with herself the more they spent time together. Until recently, I was also terrified of people’s touch. All I’ve been through is violence.

Although Fanora was gifted with great empathy, she gradually lost it. To avoid being hurt by the harsh treatment of the people around her, she closed the door to her heart. Then she became cold-blooded and did cruel things. So, how was she different from the man in front of her?

“It’s difficult. So I would appreciate it if you would reach out to me often in the future.”

“…”

“If you help me, I think I’ll get used to this easily.”

Aloken slowly let go of Fanora’s hand, which was touching his cheek. In no time, the gap between the two had narrowed.

“Fanora.”

“Yes.”

His almond-shaped eyes clearly faced Fanora.

“I can’t annul the engagement like this. If you can’t love me, you can’t love anyone else either.”

  “…”

“Because the thought of you falling into the clutches of another man makes my intestines twist already,” Aloken spoke a sentence that revealed his jealousy.

Did the previous duke ever expect his son to change like this?

“Just stay by my side, Fanora.” Aloken finally said this and took her hand.

At that moment, Fanora noticed an engagement ring hanging on her hand. It was a symbol of the engagement.

“…”

It had been a while since she had received such passionate courtship. Naverius confessed that I had black hair, which is hard to see in the capital, and he fell for my unusual appearance.

Fanora didn’t answer. Her fake fiancé began expressing concerns, wondering if her health condition had worsened and if she wasn’t in the mood to converse. He also noticed that she seemed to have a fever.

But Aloken isn’t interested in my appearance. When we met for the first time, he disappeared without even glancing at me. Fanora remained silent. She could see Aloken preparing a new wet towel.

Does he really need me?

Aloken laid herself right on the bed. And he began to take good care of her. Seeing that, Fanora eventually had a change of heart.

Wouldn’t it be okay to trust him? He didn’t even look at his fated mate… Vasago.

When she thought about it, where else in the world was there a man like Aloken? He is the most wealthy man in the kingdom, and his appearance is so attractive that everyone looks at him. However, Fanora liked the inner side of Aloken more than those superficial advantages.

A person who could be cruel for my sake. His actions made her feel that he cared for her, so she couldn’t help but feel grateful.

So Fanora came to think at this moment. I want to live with him…

Revenge, shall we stop?

“…”

Originally, Fanora had been prepared to close her eyes once she had completed all of her revenge. But now everything has changed. She raised herself high in society, made easy money with her knowledge of the future, and earned Aloken’s love. She had come to a situation where it was inevitable to change.

I don’t know when I will be ruined if I continue walking this dangerous tightrope.

She was no longer an avenger with nothing to lose.

It may sound unfair to my enemies who died first. I don’t have the confidence to take revenge on the princess and her family without leaving evidence.

So Fanora began to worry. For my future, wouldn’t it be okay if I quit now?

Many bad people were living happily anyway, so it wouldn’t be obvious if she added one more. Fanora wanted to return to her normal life even though she was a wicked person who had committed many crimes.

“Aloken, are you sure you don’t mind? I might not be able to give you proper affection for the rest of my life,” said Fanora in a small voice after much consideration. Not everything had been confirmed in her mind yet, but it was a somewhat ambiguous answer.

“If it’s really okay for me to be by your side.”

“…”

“I think… I could do it.”

Fanora continued to explain further, somehow ashamed of her dry answer. “You treat me nicely, and being next to you is comfortable.”

Aloken looked down at Fanora, who was lying in bed with no expression. He thought to himself what to say and then spoke. “After thinking about it, I came up with a way to make sure you can love me.”

“How?”

Is there such a way in the world?

Fanora turned her eyes to him even though her fever was rising. Then Aloken, who was sitting next to the bed, got up from his seat and…

“?”

He leaned his upper body with one hand on Fanora’s lying hair. Soon after, the faces of the two became close, as if they were about to touch each other.

Uh. In Fanora’s field of vision, she saw Aloken. Then he tilted his head at an angle.

“!”

Fanora realized that he was trying to kiss her. However, she had nowhere else to go since she was lying on the bed. So she couldn’t do this or that, only became embarrassed.

“…”

Fanora closed her eyes tightly. Then after a few seconds, Aloken’s breath caught in the darkness of her vision.

“…”

Pfft. He burst into laughter.

“Haha.”

Gradually Aloken’s laughter faded away. Fanora carefully opened her eyes. Then she saw Aloken smiling like a mischievous boy above me.

“Did you really think we would overlap our mouths? Fanora.”

“…”

“Even if I look like this, I prefer to keep chastity until marriage.”

Aloken sat back into the little chair by the bed. Fanora was watching that scene with a bewildered expression.

“I have no intention of touching you before marriage, just like any noble should.”

“You prefer to keep chastity?”

“Yes.”

Only after hearing this did Fanora realize she had been deceived. He had no intention of kissing her in the first place. He did it just to tease her.

“T-to make fun of me…”

“I’m sorry you misunderstood. Didn’t I tell you the first time? I mean, I’ll see if you can love me.”

“…”

“And looking at your reaction just now, I think at least there will be no problems in our married life.”

His amber eyes grinned brightly. His cunning, foxy laugh made Fanora instantly turn red. She didn’t know whether it was shameful or angry.

“You!”

“Your face is red. Do you want me to call a doctor?” Aloken sat cross-legged and teased Fanora.

Fanora didn’t reply to his words but frowned. Then Aloken took another step and provoked her.

“Or do you want me to continue what I just did?”

Now Fanora didn’t even have the energy to get angry at his words. As she lay down, she started laughing. “Aloken, come closer.”

“Why?”

“I’ll hit you just once. I can’t help but be angry.”

Usually, if he teased her like this, he was bound to get angry. But for some reason, Fanora felt that his teasing wasn’t hateful. Well, just like Aloken said, his teasing proved what Fanora thought of him.

“If you want to hit me, you should have hit me earlier. Come now?”

Aloken pointed out that Fanora did not rebel when he bowed his head. He seemed confident for some reason.

“You’re a patient, so it’s not good for you to move.”

“Don’t make me laugh, and come a little closer.”

“No. Stay still.”

This was followed by a small squabble between Aloken and Fanora. Fanora raised her arm as if she were going to hit him, and then Aloken stood up and held her wrist together.

With Io, Fanora could always have escaped from this bizarre restraint, but she didn’t. She just found this situation funny, and looking back, everything was really funny.

“It tickles. I won’t hit you, so let go of my wrist.”

“If I let it go, I feel like you’re going to hit your prospective groom.”

Fanora finally let out a bright smile that matched her age. It was the first time since she laughed so heartily.

But it was then.

“Ahem.”

Suddenly, there was a coughing sound coming from the door. Fanora stopped all action and checked who had entered the room. Aloken looked back at the door at the same time.

“Duke Jalier? You said you’d check your fiancée’s condition for a second, but what are you doing?”

Vasago looked disapprovingly at Aloken, who was holding Fanora’s wrist. The scene didn’t look good. It was because he was holding his sick fiancée from above.

“Lady Fanora needs a rest now.”

“Even if you don’t say that, I was planning to leave soon, so don’t rush me.”

“You don’t listen anyway.”

“Even Princess… is not easy to listen to.”

Aloken quickly straightened up and left the room. Leaving behind the word that he would come back tomorrow.

“…”

When Aloken left the room, Vasago followed him for a moment but then turned back and approached the bedside. Vasago hadn’t said a word yet, but Fanora was the first to speak about what had bothered her.

“I apologize. Princess must have suffered a lot because of Duke Jalier. Based on his personality, he must have come to the mansion without an appointment.”

“…”

“Where did he get the news that I was hurt? I didn’t know that he would come so soon.”

Vasago looked a little surprised at this remark. “Did you say he came here without knowing you were hurt?”

“Yes. He said he ran after hearing the news himself.”

“Aloken?”

Vasago was briefly lost in thought at the words. Then a plain reply followed. “You must be glad you have a fiancé who cares about you.” However, her expression wasn’t very bright for some reason.

Seeing her face, Fanora instantly thought. According to the original flow of this world, Fanora knew whose fiancée Aloken should have.

“…”