Embrace Me, Then Kill Me - Chapter 1

“Don’t take your eyes off me.”

His crimson eyes blazed with a fervor that seemed to claim her entirely.

The man grasped her chin and parted her lips rather roughly. A scorching wet intruder began exploring every corner of her mouth.

The faint scent of tobacco mixed with a provocative tang of desire, making her head spin.

I can’t breathe.

An inexplicable desperation seized her.

No one—no one—had ever stirred such chaos within her. Yet this man before her swept her whole being with a heat she couldn’t contain.

“Haa…”

He lingered against her, pressing close, then broke away for a brief moment, exhaling hotly.

The emptiness hit instantly, like dusk after sunset.

It was a loneliness as biting as midwinter, making her shiver all over.

“It’s so cold.”

At her words, he smiled a dangerous, magnetic smile.

His laughter radiated intensity.

“If you need my warmth, just say it. Tell me to embrace you.”

She needed a heat that could melt the ice around her heart.

Here and now, she wanted him to thaw her coldness, to revive the stalled beat of her heart so that, at last, breath might rise in a blaze and carry her to the edge of life itself.

She craved him more than ever.

“Embrace me.”

The man looked into her detached hazel eyes and let out a sigh. Then, like a blazing sun, he pressed down on her.

A momentary sting, followed by an unsettling comfort that washed over her like paralysis.

Glee stretching faintly into eternity.

It was akin to the sensation of standing at death’s threshold.

The very moment of reprieve she had longed for.

Breathing became difficult. Her mind swam in haze. It felt as if she might combust, leaving only ashes to scatter.

The long-forgotten exhilaration made her feel… ordinary. Human, in the most fragile sense.

A human who could die in peace.

She embraced her last hope and closed her eyes.

Ah… Just kill me like this.

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“Sara Lindes Valentine, princess of the Kingdom of Eustania. Fulfill your duty.”

On the day she was sent to the battlefield, the king called her name for the first time.

Born the king’s illegitimate child, Sara had always been ignored, a shame upon the royal family, a presence that mattered to no one.

So, in that instant, how joyful she felt. Though he had sent her in his place to war, fearing for his own life, still, she was glad.

For once, it felt as though her existence had been acknowledged. She went willingly to the battlefield.

Grateful for the extraordinary magical aptitude she had been born with, she fought fiercely to claim victory.

Foolishly, wholeheartedly.

When she returned, bearing news of her triumph, the king greeted her with a wary expression. That was when she realized…

“Ah… what you truly desired was not the victory of the kingdom, but my death.”

The Dancer of the Battlefield.

That’s what people called her.

Even on blood-soaked battlefields, her movements were said to resemble a dancer performing a fluid, haunting choreography.

When she cast her spells, hundreds fell with a single step, thousands vanished with the sweep of her hand, and the once-green hills were transformed into pools of dark, coagulated blood. Some said that with her unchanging expression, she resembled a terrifying, lifeless doll.

She could sacrifice everything for the glory of her homeland.

If her deeds on the battlefield benefited the nation, she would comply gladly, even if it meant being exploited.

“Surely, our elder sister would return bearing news of victory with ease. After all, she is unmatched in her command of magic.”

“A half-blooded royal strutting about…”

As the kingdom’s prominence soared, so too did envy and resentment toward her. Even the young prince, worried about losing his claim to the throne, along with the rest of the royal family, treated her as an obstacle, a nuisance, wishing her death on the battlefield.

Yet she fought relentlessly, guided solely by the conviction to strengthen her country—cutting down enemies, pressing forward, killing without pause.

By the time the kingdom grasped dominion over the continent, she had earned a following that praised her. Some lovers wished to stand beside her. She served her nation loyally for the sake of those she loved.

Then the dragon appeared, and everything was swept away.

The dragon, a being of unmatched power among monsters. Its rampage sent the entire continent into terror. As always, the royal family pushed her to the front lines, placing her at the vanguard of the expedition.

How could a mere human, fragile and finite, dare oppose a dragon at the pinnacle of magical power?

With a premonition that this would finally be the end, she reached the monstrous creature. Its vertically slit, rust-colored pupils acknowledged her faint presence. The oppressive weight pressed down, warping her magic into chaos, making her feel as though she would be devoured without escape.

I don’t want to die.

In that instant, her mind filled with sheer will to survive. She could not end here. She had to return alive to her homeland, to those she loved, to the people who followed her.

She forced her magic into a concentrated strike, plunging it deep into the dragon’s body, and overcame the maddened beast.

The relief at having survived was brief. The creature’s now-stilled heart erupted in a strange, eerie burst. A cold sensation wrapped around her, freezing even her own heart. For a fleeting moment, the alien intimacy of merging with its power made her stomach turn.

When she spat out the bloodied mass and regained her senses, she realized her body had changed. Every sense felt heightened; the mana of the earth converged in a single point—her heart.

“Sara… how is it that you remain completely unchanged? I am aging, yet you… How is your face always the same? You terrify me more than anything!”

“Older sister… No, at this rate, you’d look more like a granddaughter to me. I envy your eternal youth, and yet I fear it. How can one see you and call you human?”

“The princess does not age at all. Extraordinary as she is, this… this is almost monstrous, is it not?”

The world moved swiftly around her. Everyone shared the same flow of time—except her. She alone lived in a different, solitary current.

The partner she had vowed eternal love to had abandoned her.

Her once-young brother had grown into a white-haired old man.

The people no longer praised her unwavering form. They feared her, seeing her as a monster.

She had once been an object of reverence, a symbol of fear, and then a figure of rejection. The glory and honor that had once been hers faded into a distant past.

When she realized her homeland no longer wanted her, she lost all sense of purpose.

“No one wants me. There is no place where I belong. If the nation does not need me, if there is no one left to protect… then… what reason do I have to live?”

Emptiness and despair engulfed her. Even her unaging, flawless hands now repulsed her.

An unchanging body. Eternal time. Was this punishment for trampling tens of thousands of lives? Or a curse left by a dragon enraged at a mere human daring to defy it? With this unwanted power, this inhuman life… perhaps it would be better to just…

A fleeting thought made her laugh bitterly.

She had fought to survive, yet now she wished for death.

But she could bear it no longer. The thought of enduring eternity alone, watching everyone leave, stole her breath.

“Grant me the rest that only death can bring.”

The tip of the blade touched her heart. Sharp, cold… it pierced deep. Pain followed, searing, and a silent scream escaped her parted lips.

Yet still, her heart thumped fiercely, overflowing with life.

It was alive.

Alive.

And it reminded her that she would live on…

Forever in solitude.

Hello! I’ll be your translator in this journey called Embrace Me, Then Kill Me, hope you like it as much as I do! Feel free to leave a comment, rate on NU, follow in Discord for updates and other announcements, tip me on Ko-fi, or read my other projects! ♥