Chapter 62.2

Chapter 62.2

“If none of that works, then I’ll give up. It’s not too late to stop then.”

Before he could deliver another sharp refusal, Ara rushed to explain, piling on excuses as fast as she could.

“You think I’m not scared? I’m terrified. But…”

“But what.”

“How can I just stand by and do nothing when I know what’s happening?”

If she had never learned the truth, she might have gone on living in ignorance. But now that she knew, she couldn’t pretend otherwise. Not even the Goblin King could turn back time.

“So… can’t you help me, just a little?”

She bit her lower lip, watching him carefully.

“If it ever looks dangerous for you, I’ll stop right away. I’ll make sure I don’t drag you into it too deep.”

“And how exactly will you manage that?”

“Somehow. If I have to break the contract, then… I will.”

Her words weren’t even finished when his brows drew sharply together.

Growing nervous, Ara clasped her hands tightly.

“If you want, I can return everything I’ve been paid. Every bit of it…”

“I’ve always wondered,” Seok-kyung cut her off coldly.

“Why do some humans insist on staking their lives on conviction?”

He looked at her with a blank, almost weary expression, but there was something wounded in his eyes too.

“They know that foolish sense of righteousness might hurt them, strip them of what they have, even lead to death. And yet…”

“…”

“Between cowardice that lets you live and courage that brings you to die, why do they always choose the latter?”

Ara suddenly felt that his gaze wasn’t truly fixed on her.

“Someone I wanted to ask that once,” he said quietly. “But I never got the chance.”

The way he said it, it sounded as if he were talking to someone buried deep inside himself.

“So tell me, Na Ara. Why is that?”

For a moment, Ara wondered who that question was really for.

And then, she stopped wondering.

It didn’t matter who he was seeing in her. Whoever’s shadow Seok-kyung thought he saw, the one standing before him was Na Ara, an ordinary human woman.

“Because I don’t want to regret it.”

Even if that answer didn’t please him, it was the only one she could give.

“My grandmother used to tell me not to live committing sins. Everything comes back as karma.”

That unbending kindness was one of the few weapons Ara had relied on to survive a harsh, twisted life.

“If I hide under your protection and live while everyone else suffers, I’ll spend the rest of my life secretly blaming myself.”

The world admired the easy and cowardly choices. Too much honesty, too much faith—those things were mocked and undervalued first.

By those standards, Ara was a fool. Someone who couldn’t take the shortcut, who walked the long, winding path instead.

“I don’t want that. It would hurt too much.”

But fools have their own way of living.

Ara didn’t want to lie to herself. Even if she deceived the whole world, deceiving herself was something she couldn’t allow. That would be the cruelest punishment a human could give themselves.

“Do you think that pain will hurt less than fear of death?”

After a long silence, Seok-kyung finally spoke.

“Fear is uncertain. Pain is certain,” Ara answered without hesitation.

“Gambling only works when you believe in the hand you’re holding.”

Then she smiled brightly, just as she had that first day they met in the ruins of the Maze Garden, with a winning hand laid out before her.

Seok-kyung said nothing. He ran a hand over his face, then fixed his deep eyes on her with a look that was almost consuming.

Maybe he still wouldn’t agree…

Just as Ara began to think that, Seok-kyung slowly stood.

She looked up at him, half-lost in the shadow that fell over her. That cool, distinctive scent that always surrounded him grew stronger in the air.

Was it possible to get drunk on the scent of someone’s skin?

Ara took in a slow breath, as if hypnotized. The chill of him ran through her chest as she exhaled.

Seok-kyung leaned closer, closing the space between them.