“No, wasn’t that story already over?”
Roisel looked around.
Tariya’s words were something he had already heard once during the meeting.
But why was she repeating the same story?
However, Tariya replied to Roisel’s question with a voice full of confusion.
“Yes? What do you mean by that…?”
Even the rest of them had expressions that showed they didn’t understand what Roisel was talking about.
‘Strange.’
Roisel tried to recall his memory.
He was sure he had stayed alone after the meeting. And then Tariya returned, and that terrible thing…
‘Could it all have been a dream?’
That nightmare, which had been so vivid.
The terrifying moment when Tariya took off her clothes to seduce him, and in the end, turned into a monster and sucked out his life force.
But now Tariya was standing there perfectly fine.
‘Yes, let’s just say that was a dream.’
Even if Tariya turning into a monster was a dream, was everything they discussed also a dream?
No matter what, the problem was that the words he heard in his dream matched exactly.
Could he have had a precognitive dream?
“Ah, no. I think I was just mistaken for a moment.”
After that, the rest of the meeting content was all things Roisel had already heard.
That Berk had obtained weapons.
And that in the process, they received help from someone named Necros, who controlled the back alleys of the Sail Empire.
‘It’s exactly the same.’
Roisel got chills from the parts that flowed in a completely identical situation, to the point where he couldn’t believe it was a dream.
“Lord Roisel? Are you not feeling well?”
At Tariya’s worried expression, Roisel shook his head.
For now, it was a meeting, so it would be right to finish the meeting.
“I’m fine. More importantly, investigate Necros.”
“Understood.”
And so, the meeting ended.
“…”
Everyone left the basement, and Roisel was left alone.
He folded the map on the table, burned it, and cleared his mind.
‘It was a really strange dream.’
But for a dream, it was too realistic.
Above all, it was unsettling that the conversations he heard in his dream perfectly matched reality.
“I must be too tired.”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t had proper sleep for days.
Perhaps that was why he was having nightmares. Even now, his body felt heavy.
Just then, he heard familiar footsteps from the basement entrance.
‘Who came back?’
As his thoughts reached that point, Roisel tensed up for a moment.
‘…Could it be?’
A familiar silhouette appeared from the darkness.
“Tariya?”
Subordinate Officer Tariya slowly descended the stairs and walked towards Roisel.
“What is it? Did you forget something?”
Roisel was surprised by his own words.
Didn’t it match perfectly with what he saw in his dream?
His hand trembled slightly. The feeling of the dream becoming reality overwhelmed him.
Tariya did not answer. She just smiled.
That smile he saw in his previous dream. But this time, it was deeper and more seductive.
“Tariya, why have you returned? If you have something to say, say it.”
Roisel’s voice now clearly showed his caution.
But this time too, Tariya approached him without saying a word.
She said nothing until the distance between them was almost gone.
“Lord Roisel…”
Her voice was like sweet poison. Her voice echoed in Roisel’s ears as if whispering.
“Didn’t you want to see me?”
Tariya took Roisel’s hand and guided it towards her chest.
“What are you talking about, let go of my hand-”
Before he could finish, Tariya lightly pressed her lips against his mouth with one hand, cutting off his words.
With her other hand, she seemed to wish for him to caress her soft body.
“Now is the time for action, not words.”
Her voice deepened.
With a single elegant movement, Tariya shed her top. Her skin shimmered golden under the candlelight.
It was clearer and more beautiful than he had seen in his dream.
“This… this is a dream.”
Roisel knew well that this was a dream.
Tariya was a capable subordinate officer.
If the Tariya before him was the real Tariya, she wouldn’t act like this at a time like this, with a major event imminent.
But Roisel’s eyes wouldn’t leave her body.
Tariya smiled at his gaze.
“If it’s a midsummer night’s dream, shall we enjoy it a little more?”
It was the devil’s whisper. She continued to undress.
With her lower clothes also removed, Tariya was completely naked.
She moved closer to Roisel and straddled his lap. Her body heat ignited Roisel’s.
“Everything you want… I know it all.”
Tariya’s hand traced down Roisel’s chest and began to unfasten his belt.
“Tonight, give me all of you.”
Her lips trailed down his neck. His reason was rapidly crumbling.
“This is… wrong.”
Contrary to his words, his hands were already around Tariya’s waist.
His last resistance vanished as Tariya’s lips met his.
Time seemed to stop. The candlelight flickered, casting long shadows of the two of them on the wall.
Tariya’s touch moved like fire across his skin.
Their breaths quickened, and their hearts began to beat with the same rhythm.
In the darkness illuminated only by candlelight, their two bodies became one.
Even the cold air of the basement could not cool their heat.
“Deeper… deeper…”
Her voice seeped into Roisel’s ears like sweet poison.
At the same time, Tariya’s fingernails dug into Roisel’s back. The sensation wavered between pain and pleasure.
Their movements grew more intense.
Drops of sweat glistened on their skin.
“…Urk.”
At the moment of climax, Roisel felt his energy draining away. It wasn’t mere fatigue.
Soon, their bodies separated, and Roisel lay on the floor, as if exhausted.
His vision blurred and then sharpened again. Tariya was on top of him, looking down.
“Now you are mine.”
Her voice had changed. It was no longer sweet.
Tariya began to open her mouth.
At first slightly, then wider and wider.
Her jaw gaped unnaturally. As if a snake were about to swallow its prey.
Roisel’s eyes widened in horror.
Only then did his reason return.
Something was wriggling inside Tariya’s mouth.
Hundreds, thousands of tiny worms.
They tangled and squirmed, pouring out of her mouth in ever-increasing numbers.
Soon, they began to fall onto Roisel’s body.
“No!”
Roisel tried to push her away, but his arms lacked strength.
The worms crawled onto his arms and chest. The feeling was incredibly vivid.
It wasn’t just the worms.
Tariya’s mouth now exuded the stench of rotten corpses, not a sweet scent.
The smell was so intense that Roisel couldn’t breathe.
“Ugh!”
Nausea washed over him.
Immediately, Tariya’s face began to contort. Her skin seemed to rot and drip away, revealing a skull-like form underneath. Her eyes had turned completely black.
“Aaaah!”
Roisel’s scream erupted. He struggled desperately.
“Lord Roisel! Lord Roisel!”
Someone was shaking his shoulder.
Roisel gasped and opened his eyes. Before him stood Berk, with a worried expression.
“Are you alright? You suddenly screamed…”
Roisel looked around.
He was still in the basement. Beside Berk, Tariya and others were looking at him with surprised expressions.
“I… I had a dream.”
Roisel barely managed to say.
His whole body was covered in cold sweat, and his heart was still racing wildly.
“It’s alright… I just had a nightmare.”
His voice lacked conviction. He was now finding it difficult to distinguish between reality and dream.
Most importantly, why did Tariya keep appearing?
‘Could it be a dream manifesting my desires?’
Of course, Roisel was also a man.
It would be a lie to say he didn’t notice Tariya, the only woman here.
However, he was a man who knew restraint.
He knew how to separate work and personal matters.
He couldn’t ruin things because of some petty desire.
But having such intense dreams of desire twice in a row was clearly strange.
‘Even if the first time was like that…’
His gaze fell upon Tariya.
Why did Tariya always turn into a monster at the end of his dreams?
‘I don’t understand anything.’
Could the situation he was currently experiencing also be a dream?
If so, the cold stone walls of the basement, the smell of mold, and the faintly burning candlelight all seemed clear.
It was too vivid to believe it was a dream.
So Roisel decided to conduct a test.
“Where did we leave off?”
“Yes, you said we would proceed with the plan to coincide with the change of imperial soldiers in three days.”
That meant it was Tariya’s turn to report next.
But this time, Roisel preempted what she was about to say.
“Right, the time when the imperial guards are weakest is four in the morning?”
He had heard this story twice already. He remembered it vividly.
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
Tariya looked surprised that Roisel was saying what she was supposed to say.
“The plan was to take advantage of the weakened vigilance during the soldiers’ shift change to easily retake the Grand Garden, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right. How did you know that…”
Roisel didn’t stop there. This time his gaze turned to Berk.
“Berk, do you know the name Necros?”
This time, Berk looked surprised.
“How do you know the name Necros? I haven’t told you yet… By any chance, Lord Roisel, did you also visit the black market?”
No, Roisel hadn’t gone anywhere.
He had simply said what he saw in his dream, and it was all true.
‘Is it really a dream?’
Even that was a question.
“We will end the meeting here today. For now, we will also suspend the planned operation.”
“…”
Roisel’s words, as the leader of the rebels, were absolute.
No one uttered a word.
And so, the meeting ended.
* * *
Everyone left, and Roisel remained alone.
Only the flickering candlelight in the basement watched him.
He leaned against the table, clutching his head.
‘Am I going insane?’
Scenes from his dreams were becoming reality, and names heard in dreams actually existed.
He couldn’t distinguish whether this was a mere coincidence or if there was some problem with his mind.
‘Is this also a dream? Perhaps even this moment of being awake is a dream.’
He bit his palm.
He felt pain. But wasn’t it said that pain can be felt even in dreams?
Above all, the night he spent with Tariya was still so vividly enchanting.
Just then, he heard footsteps again from the basement entrance.
Light footsteps descended the stairs.
“…”
Roisel slowly raised his head.
His gaze turned cold.
