Mikel hummed, his sharp eyes prowling the woman's gentle face and her playful expressions. His hand traveled up to clutch a handful of her silver hair, pulling her head back.

He then bent down to capture her mouth and kissed her fiercely as if he was punishing her for teasing him and not paying attention to his serious words of warning when he was trying to talk about life and death.

He sucked her dry, nibbled her lips until they turned red, and left her gasping for breath.

"You don't want your freedom anymore?" His own breathing was ragged and unsteady. "Are you willing to live and die with me?"

Sylvia panted, trying to catch her breath to answer him, her breasts and her waist heaving up and down, grazing the man softly as she did.

"Why..."

"Why are you saying this?"

"Why will you..." She huffed.

"Because I am planning to kill. To commit murders." Mikel answered her as a matter of fact.

He stood up from the bed from atop her and walked away to lean against the window.

"And not just anyone. I am planning to massacre the entire royal family including my father, the King."

Mikel paused and turned to look at the woman, to see if his words finally got through to her.

Someone like her didn't belong with him. She deserved a life far better than he could ever give her.

He would only be dragging her to hell if he let things continue between them. He thought that he had already made up his mind about this.

He even tried putting up walls in between them, but his selfish heart just couldn't remain resolute at the end of the day.

He had somehow allowed his mind and his heart to waver and his emotions to control his actions.

When it came to her, he failed again and again. He wanted to keep her at an arm's length but she still managed to get to him.

Mikel looked at her, staring at him utterly shocked and wide-eyed. He wondered what was going through her mind.

She must be thinking the worst of me, a sad melancholic smile crept on his lips.

He had told her everything. He had revealed to her his deepest darkest secret. Would she still want to stay by his side?

Definitely not… He chuckled and turned away.

After all, they had not known each other for a long time and the strong attraction they felt for each other was just that, an attraction, an infatuation.

How could she possibly still stand by his side?

He was someone who was doomed to be hunted by the entire mage council as a criminal, as a villain. This was his life and there was no turning back.

Who in their right mind could possibly stand behind someone like him? Love someone like him?

"I told you… I have nothing to offer you… No life… no future…" Mikel hummed gazing out the window, staring at the neatly trimmed garden, filled with roses.

"You should leave…" His words, however, were cut short by the warm hands that wrapped around him from behind.

"I can make my own decisions," Sylvia muttered and hugged him tightly.

This was not an embrace that was driven by the need in her body, which she didn't understand, but rather this was something from the bottom of her heart.

She just couldn't stomach seeing him so alone and lonely.

She was not a stranger to loneliness, which was why she had put up with her distant family as much as she did, at least until they sold her.

Her entire world had turned upside down in just a single day, but this man had come from nowhere, taking her world by a storm, and finally, things were beginning to make sense once again.

He might need her for his own reasons but that didn't mean that she didn't need him as well.

She didn't understand why but she knew that deep down she needed him like she needed the air to breathe. Without him, she could feel that she would wither and die.

It was an insane thought and notion which was completely devoid of any reason, but she just knew it to be true.

Sylvia sighed and tightened her embrace. Her lips slightly parted and she mumbled in a low voice. "If you have a plan to kill someone like the King… then I am sure you have to plan to escape."

Hmmm? Mikel turned around and hummed in amusement. "Stupid little kitten."

He patted her head and when he saw that her eyes were glistening, he sighed and rubbed them gently with his thumb.

"Of course, I do. But I am not strong enough, baby. I cannot assure that things will go as I want them to."

"Mmmm… It's alright. I will help you." Sylvia said, making the man almost choke with laughter. He wanted to say something mean in return, but he refrained from doing so.

"I am sure you will." Mikel patted her, hugging her back tightly. "You…" He hesitated slightly. "Don't you want to know why?"

Sylvia looked up to see him, lifting her face that was buried inside him, and gave him a warm smile. "Tell me when you are ready."

She knew that someone like him probably had his reasons, but she didn't want to pry. She didn't want to take advantage of the time when he was being so vulnerable with her.

For now, she just wanted to ease the pain and suffering swirling within him, even if it was just a little bit.

So she just silently held him without saying anything else and without badgering him with any more questions.

Mikel pulled her closer, smelling the fragrance that wafted out of her hair, he mumbled in a low voice.

"I am sorry for being so selfish…"

"Mmm… I am selfish too…"

Sylvia tip-toed to quickly reach his face and kissed him, erasing the last trace of sadness that lingered on his lips.