The Young Male Protagonist Who is Destined for Ruin Fell for Me - Chapter 46
The room dimmed in an instant, but Amelia felt neither fear nor apprehension. How could she, when Kyle’s bare skin, exuding an intoxicating fragrance, was pressed against hers? Darkness was the least of her concerns.
Kyleian Chield, lying there with nothing but his cologne.
The taut, muscular body partially revealed beneath the blanket was enough to make anyone gulp.
Amelia, who was unapologetically guided by her desires, had no intention of resisting Kyle’s dangerously seductive advances.
“Kyle, where did you learn such bold and sensual tactics?”
Perched above him, Amelia asked in a sultry voice. Kyle chuckled, twisting a strand of her hair around his finger as it cascaded over his shoulders and chest.
“Not from a book, I assure you.”
“Oh? Then from where?”
Kyle felt the light touch of her fingers tracing his cheek and jaw as he answered:
“…I just wanted to make you happy, noona.”
His response didn’t just satisfy her—it sent a thrilling shiver down her spine. Amelia’s eyes, now adjusted to the dark, meticulously traced Kyle’s figure.
His black hair lay disheveled on the white pillow, while his crimson eyes glowed like a predator’s, their strange radiance undiminished by the shadows.
She found herself reflected in his pomegranate-red pupils, her own tousled hair brushing against his skin as she caressed him. It was a sight she found oddly endearing.
Kyleian Chield, a man who could silence a crying baby, was now looking up at her with such vulnerability. Amelia loved the way he gazed at her. She knew it was an indulgent thought, but she didn’t care.
She gently rubbed the rim of his ear between her thumb and forefinger before playfully biting his lips, murmuring:
“You look better when I’m looking down at you, Kyle.”
“…Do I?”
Kyle’s voice came out in short breaths as he struggled to respond. He wanted to tell her she was most stunning when he was the one gazing up at her, but it felt unnecessary, even clumsy, to say it aloud.
No, the truth was that her beauty overwhelmed him to the point that words failed.
Her soft, flowing brown hair shimmered like waves of light, the curves of her figure catching the moonlight as if it existed solely for her. Her crimson lips curved into a smirk, revealing faint dimples—a mesmerizing smile that both unmoored and grounded him.
Amelia’s emerald-green eyes sparkled with the vibrancy of twenty-three autumns condensed into a single gaze.
If he could spend every moment watching her like this—eyes filled only with him, teasingly deciding when to kiss him—he felt he could endure any discomfort, shame, or pain.
Amelia had been the first to hold him, and Kyle knew in that moment the warmth he felt from her embrace was both his first and last.
Each time Amelia lowered herself to close the distance between them, Kyle’s senses reignited the memory of the night she had given him salvation.
The mere recollection of it made his heart ache in a way he hadn’t thought possible. And knowing that she, of all people, was the source of these memories made every glance they shared all the more precious.
“…”
Amelia closed her long lashes and leaned down. With every soft bite she stole of his breath, Kyle felt his overflowing happiness resonate through his entire being.
Though initially shy about it, Amelia couldn’t deny how good it felt to know someone thought of her so completely. It warmed her heart, and her feelings soon turned to action.
Light, fluttering kisses traced along the nape of his neck, eliciting subtle tension in his body. When she felt him stiffen beneath her touch, the corners of her mouth curved into a sly smile.
Kyle reached up to gently stroke the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair as he smoothed it out.
As he combed through her soft locks, he couldn’t help but imagine how they would spread like a duchess’s train across the white sheets, elegant and untouchable.
When he shifted to change their positions, Amelia stopped him.
“No. You were the one who started this seductive game, weren’t you, Kyle?”
With a playful push, she pressed him back down and resumed planting delicate kisses. Kyle, overwhelmed by her sensual dominance, resigned himself to her lead and closed his eyes.
He knew that before the night was over, they would inevitably switch roles. But tonight, time was on their side. Kyle, more than anyone, understood that this night was far from over, so he decided to savor it slowly.
＊＊＊
While Amelia and Kyle were busy exploring and reveling in each other, a bitter aroma of coffee filled the adjoining room.
The culprit was none other than Amelia’s personal guard, Vanessa.
“What time is it? A new record, for sure.”
With an expression more serene than that of an enlightened monk, Vanessa alternated her gaze between the clock and the wall separating her from the next room. Then she took another long sip of her coffee.
She couldn’t sleep. She was on night duty.
For Vanessa, night duty meant keeping a watchful eye over Lady Amelia Diane, her charge. The request had come directly from Claire Chield.
Apparently, Claire had been so impressed by the time Vanessa skewered an insect mid-air with a fork that she’d summoned her privately to the annex.
Offering double the salary paid by the Chield family, Claire had given her a simple task: protect Lady Diane during the nighttime hours.
“Honestly, these Chield people are all obsessed with Lady Diane.”
There was one thing Amelia didn’t know:
Everyone adored her. From the Chield maids and chefs to the stablehands and even the ducks in Amelia’s lake, they were all captivated by her.
For the Chield siblings, it wasn’t mere affection but borderline obsession.
When the typically icy Claire personally requested Vanessa’s nocturnal protection services, Vanessa had eagerly agreed. After all, her philosophy was simple: The more money, the better.
Besides, Vanessa rarely slept much. Her years as a mercenary had conditioned her to function on only a couple of hours of rest per day.
But the most challenging part of Lady Diane’s night watch wasn’t Vanessa’s stamina.
No, the real problem was…
“Just go to sleep already! Please!”
Kyle and Amelia’s refusal to sleep—nearly every night, and for obvious reasons.
Though the two made an effort to keep the noise down for the sake of the other residents in the duke’s mansion, Vanessa, a former elite mercenary of Aretiste, possessed extraordinary hearing. She could detect even the softest brush of a feather against a window.
Sitting with her teeth grinding against her thumbnail, Vanessa glared at the wall. Even with her ears covered, her acute focus easily picked up Kyle’s ragged breathing and Amelia’s high-pitched cries.
“Damn it, Duke Chield… Just let Lady Diane rest already. You said the last time was the last, so why won’t you stop…?”
Against her will, the unfortunate Vanessa overheard more of their private lives than she cared to. Chief among her observations was that Duke Chield seemed to possess an endless reservoir of energy.
No matter how things began—often with Amelia taking the lead—it was always Kyle who, in the end, would coax and entice her for more. Vanessa vowed to steer clear of dating any overly energetic younger men.
“I need to bring Lady Diane something nice tomorrow. She’s going to need it at this rate.”
With a serious expression, Vanessa wondered if Amelia might actually meet her end. Death from exhaustion was no joke—it was a thing.
A small frown formed between her delicate brows. If Amelia were to truly collapse, it would complicate matters for Vanessa in more ways than one.
Despite the absurdity of the situation, Vanessa was more than satisfied with her employment under the Chield family. Not only did they provide room and board, but their philosophy of extravagant generosity translated to a salary that was nothing short of astonishing.
She had initially feared that serving Amelia might prove challenging, but her worries had been unfounded. Unlike other noble ladies, Amelia wasn’t haughty or imperious.
Instead, it was Vanessa who often teased Amelia, calling her “madam” in an overly dramatic, playful tone and trading risqué jokes.
Without realizing it, Vanessa, like the rest of the Chield staff, had been charmed by Lady Diane’s warmth and sincerity.
The result? A complete transformation in her quality of life. Vanessa had once belonged to Aretiste, an organization that preached “sacrifice passion, not money.” Now, she lived a life where passion and wealth coexisted.
Naturally, Vanessa wanted to keep her job as Amelia’s guard for as long as possible. For that to happen, Amelia needed to marry her employer, Duke Chield, and live a long, healthy life.
“Noona, are you tired?”
“Kyle… You wouldn’t stop even if I said I was, so why bother asking?”
“I just wanted to hear your voice.”
Vanessa, sitting in the adjacent room, felt her nerves fray as her charge’s fiancé persisted in holding Amelia captive—figuratively speaking.
“I’m going insane. Duke Chield, please, for the love of everything, let Lady Diane go!”
Muttering to herself like a prayer, Vanessa rose and moved to the window. Whatever sweet nonsense Duke Chield might be whispering to Amelia was the last thing she wanted to overhear.
Stretching her arms, she glanced outside—and froze.
Her sharp eyes instantly caught sight of an uninvited guest.
“…What the hell are they doing here?”
Her instincts told her she needed to investigate. Without hesitation, Vanessa slipped out of the room.
Wrapped snugly in a white blanket, Amelia rested her head against Kyle’s chest, her eyes closed.
Her entire body felt drained, her limbs heavy with fatigue. Yet Kyle’s gentle fingers continued to comb through her hair, showing no sign of exhaustion.
“Romance novel heroes really are a different breed,” she mused, once again humbled by the reality of her situation. No matter how indulgent her desires, she couldn’t hope to outmatch a man built like a romance protagonist.
She laced her fingers with Kyle’s as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“Kyle, I’m thirsty. Could you call someone to bring me water?”
Kyle found her softly hoarse voice irresistible, but there was no way he’d allow anyone else to see his fiancée in such a vulnerable state.
“Absolutely not.”
If someone dared to lay eyes on her like this, he might feel compelled to gouge them out.
“I’ll fetch it for you. Rest here, noona.”
Whispering sweetly, Kyle stood and left the room. Amelia, in turn, hastily tidied her hair and slipped into a white nightgown.
That’s when she felt it—a suspicious gaze.
Having survived years of hardship and developed an acute awareness of her surroundings, Amelia’s finely tuned instincts kicked in. She swallowed nervously and focused on the source of the unsettling presence.
“The window. Is it a man? An intruder?”
The fact that they hadn’t come through the door confirmed they were suspicious. Considering how the area near Kyle’s room was designed to prevent intruders, the stranger must have scaled the walls to reach the window—a feat requiring considerable skill.
“How long have they been there? They’re too close…”
Calling for help might draw the mansion’s guards, but the intruder could act before anyone arrived.
Amelia’s eyes darted toward the decorative sword mounted nearby. She grabbed it, the hilt cold and firm in her grip.
Click.
The moment she unsheathed the blade, the window swung open, and the intruder stepped inside. A nauseating scent of bl00d drifted in with the cool night air.
“…”
Amelia didn’t show it, but she was startled. The intruder was injured, bl00d dripping freely from their body. What shocked her most, however, was that she recognized them—or rather, their identity.
“Damn it. Of all people, why you?”
The dark navy hair, metallic prosthetic arm, and piercing, brooding eyes were unmistakable. Even the way they wielded a dagger left no doubt.
“I expected him to show up eventually, but not here. Not now.”
Standing before her was none other than Marabas Rydell, the relentless villain and key character of The Fall of a Tycoon and What Followed.