Chapter 29
Edward’s eyes stayed fixed on the mark on Lucy’s neck as if he were spellbound.
Without thinking, he reached out to touch it.
Just thenā
“Mmm…”
“…”
Perhaps she was cold because she had kicked off all the blankets.
Lucy suddenly buried her face in Edward’s hand as if searching for warmth.
She rubbed her face against his hand a few times like a puppy before falling asleep again.
At that moment, Edward thought,
‘Maybe…’
Maybe, just like in the dream, she was waiting for him to pamper her.
In truth, the dream had been more about Lucy pampering Edward.
Still, since she liked him so much, the thought didn’t seem strange.
Of course, if she wanted it, Edward was always ready to spoil her.
‘Besides, I still need purification.’
It was the perfect excuse.
But the fact that she was weak hadn’t changed.
‘If she’s so weak that she faints from just one kiss…’
Then he couldn’t spoil her or reward her.
That would be a problem.
‘So first, she needs to become healthy.’
Whether Lucy wanted it or not, Edward was already planning all kinds of rewards for her.
She liked him this much.
Surely one kiss wouldn’t be enough for her.
It seemed he would have to increase the intensity of her training.
“D-Duke! I’m going to die!”
While Edward was seriously thinking, Lucy was gasping for breath.
He smiled sweetly and replied,
“Should I show you what really dying feels like?”
He only meant that this level of training couldn’t kill her, and that he could easily explain what actually would.
“Nooo!”
At his words, Lucy hurriedly started running again, staggering as though she would collapse.
“Tsk.”
Edward clicked his tongue as he looked at her thin white legs.
She barely had any muscles at all.
He decided he would have to start giving her massages soon.
After only a few long strides, he easily caught up to her.
“So how are you planning to continue the purification?”
Lucy flinched.
‘Is that why he still hasn’t signed the contract?’
It was true.
Surprisingly, they were still only working under a verbal agreement.
Of course, Lucy hadn’t simply stayed quiet for the past few days.
“Master! When are you going to sign the contract? Hm?”
She kept reminding Edward whenever she had the chance, afraid he had forgotten.
But every time, he gave a vague answer.
“I’m inspecting the territory today.”
“I have to spar with the knights. Come back later.”
“I’m going to hunt monsters today.”
Every time, he simply claimed he was busy and left.
‘Liar.’
She knew he had a lot to do after returning to his territory.
She didn’t think every excuse was completely false.
Still, she couldn’t believe he didn’t even have enough time to read a few pages and sign a contract.
‘Otherwise…’
How could someone who was supposedly that busy find time to personally train her every morning and evening?
And that wasn’t all.
‘…He even makes sure I eat every meal.’
After every training session, Edward always carried Lucy under one arm and took her to eat.
He insisted that eating after exercise helped build muscle.
If her arms were shaking too much to even hold a fork, he would calmly cut the meat for her and feed her himself.
There was more.
Instead of sending her to the servants’ quarters, he made her sleep in a storage room connected to his own bedroom so he could make sure she ate, slept, and exercised properly.
It was called a storage room, but it was much larger than the servants’ rooms and she had it all to herself, so she didn’t really mind.
She also got to use Edward’s luxurious private bathroom with hot water instead of the servants’ shared one.
“I guess we can’t keep bumping into each other anymore.”
“Huh?”
Edward’s strange words from earlier suddenly crossed her mind.
‘Anyway…’
He spent so much time taking care of her as though it were his hobby.
Yet he claimed he didn’t have time to read her contract.
Even now, instead of watching her run, he could have finished reading and signing it.
It felt like there was another reason he wouldn’t sign.
‘That’s it. There’s something he doesn’t like.’
Maybe he was reconsidering the contract because she had fainted that day.
‘…Maybe he thinks someone this weak can’t handle purification.’
Maybe that was also why he was making her train so hard.
‘What should I do?’
Training wouldn’t suddenly make her physically strong overnight.
Lucy thought desperately.
‘Then I need to show him another strength.’
After all, she hadn’t come here only to be his purifier.
Even while panting, she forced herself to smile.
“D-Duke…”
“What? Leaving your last words? Keep dreaming.”
“N-No! That’s not it…”
“Then what?”
“C-Can I… use the library?”
“The library?”
“Yes!”
Edward seemed to have forgotten.
But Lucy still had one more card to play.
She hadn’t come only to help purify him.
“I was thinking about looking for information on how to make you a complete Dragon Incarnation!”
That was another reason she had come.
‘The Duke’s library has to have something.’
There had to be books about dragons or ancient rituals.
‘I’ll definitely make you a complete Dragon Incarnation!
As long as you sign the contract first.’
‘Come on! Sign it already!’
Lucy looked at him with determination.
Edward smiled strangely.
“…My lord!”
At that moment, the butler, Rosendal, came running toward them.
Unlike her usual calm and dignified appearance, her face was pale with urgency.
Anyone could tell something serious had happened.
Edward noticed it too.
“What is it?”
“We just received news from the capital…”
Rosendal suddenly stopped speaking after glancing at Lucy.
“…A moment.”
Edward quietly walked aside with Rosendal so they could speak privately.
Lucy watched them from a distance.
She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could tell it was something serious.
And somehow…
She had a feeling it involved the Temple.
She carefully watched their lips, trying to read them.
‘What’s going on?’
The Temple would never stay quiet forever.
Something had definitely happened.
The thought made her uneasy.
“My lord, what happened…”
“Gorgo.”
After finishing his conversation with Rosendal, Edward calmly called Gorgo.
Gorgo immediately stepped out from behind some bushes.
Lucy had no idea how long he had been hiding there.
“What is it, my lord?”
“Take Lucy to the library… No, first, have her wash.”
“What?”
“You’ve been exercising, and now you’re planning to go into the library covered in sweat?”
“…”
“Every book in the Tesseron library will end up smelling like you.”
“…”
“Do as you like.”
He said the words casually.
But his eyes clearly seemed to say,
“Go ahead. Try it.”
Lucy quietly closed her mouth.
‘No, I should be asking something else…’
She had wanted to ask if the message had been about the Temple.
But Edward had already walked away with Rosendal.
It was obvious he didn’t think she needed to know.
‘He could have just told me.’
If it was related to her, shouldn’t she know too?
Lucy sighed.
But Edward wasn’t going to come back just to explain it.
“Let’s go.”
With tired steps, Lucy followed behind Gorgo.
And thenā
“…Is that the girl?”
Several people nearby were quietly watching Lucy with careful eyes.
