IBWCD 14

Chapter 14

Kalian didn’t give her a chance to answer before he strode away.

Evelyn followed after him, unable to shake off his hand.

Suddenly she had a question.

‘I thought you said it was terrible to touch someone…’

How many times has his hand touched her since she met him?

She knew it was inherently healing, that it would fill the other person’s mind and body.

She’d heard that some people became obsessed with contact with the healer after tasting its addictive, extreme relief.

But that didn’t sound right to him now.

‘If it twists your judgment,’ she thought.

It was then.

“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

A figure stepped in front of her with a friendly greeting.

The handsome man with ashen eyes, a black leather patch over one eye, and brown hair pulled back into a bun was instantly recognizable.

“Benjamin Uliel.”

He was the man who had stood by her in her previous life, refusing to be swayed by public opinion, when she had been ostracized for her unwillingness to join the Grand Duchy.

After a brief moment of reflection, their gazes met.

Then Benjamin smiled a pleasant smile and bowed to her.

“I am Benjamin Uliel, His Highness’s aide-de-camp, and I am truly honored to meet the prospective Grand Duchess.”

“It is a pleasure, Sir Benjamin. I look forward to serving you well.”

“I’ll be sure to take good care of you, and more than that…”

Benjamin stared at Evelyn, mesmerized, like someone mesmerized by something.

“You are even more beautiful than I thought you would be. I sincerely thought the High Priestess had descended, with a light behind her back…”

As Evelyn stammered, not knowing what to say in response, Benjamin, who had been acting so bewildered, came to his senses and politely extended his hand.

“Would you like to come with me, then?”

“Yes, please.”

Evelyn’s left hand, which had been clasped in Kalian’s, naturally shifted to Benjamin’s.

One of Kalian’s eyebrows raised in disapproval, but in that brief moment, they had moved away.

“Did you find the ride to be untidy? Was the carriage not uncomfortable?”

Benjamin’s soft-spoken, sticky chatter was as unrelenting as the endless road.

When the conversation turned to the story of Kalian’s bare-handed defeat of a supreme variant at the age of ten, Evelyn couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

“You’re still the same.”

“What, you mean me?”

Evelyn, feeling a bit embarrassed by the question, tried to deflect it.

“Oh, I’m just worried about whether I’ll ever be worthy of the position of Grand Duchess.”

“You need not be afraid. There will always be a butler and a handmaiden to take care of you, as if you were their own.”

‘Of course, I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t,’ Evelyn thought.

She was only a substitute, a purposeful outsider.

What others thought of her didn’t matter in the slightest, as long as it didn’t get in her way.

In a way, Evelyn liked Benjamin very much.

His unwavering support for her was reassuring, given the circumstances that had led to the sudden rise of an out-of-wedlock earl to the position of grand duchess.

‘That must mean he has great trust and loyalty to his lord.’

Benjamin slowed his pace, knowing that he would need to maintain as friendly a relationship with her as possible in the future.

“The building at the end of this street, right next to the harness shop, is your destination. I’ll be waiting outside.”

She followed his greasy fingers, and her gaze fell on a ramshackle building tucked away in the corner.

“There’s a council in a place like that?”

Doubtful, she followed Kalian inside. The coolness of the long-abandoned building and the musty smell of dust tickled his nostrils.

Evelyn stared at him uneasily, then shifted her gaze to the dark interior, like the devil’s mouth.

“There’s nothing… there?”

Just then, Kalian’s fingers flicked against her hand.

*Push- push-*

A wisp of black smoke stretched out from his fingertips, and then enveloped them both.

* * *

Boom!

Soon, the smoke that enveloped them like a curtain was completely cleared, and a loud hammering sound pounded into their eardrums.

“I thought you said you were going to the council!”

Evelyn whirled around, clutching his forearm, and Kalian, his arm around her back, spoke reassuringly.

“There’s no need to be afraid, this is no mere forge.”

*Hiss!*

The heat and sulfurous odor of the forge hit them from all sides, like the entrance to hell.

A forge in the middle of nowhere when you’re supposed to be going to the council.

Besides, being teleported here means it’s off-limits to outsiders.

The fact that she couldn’t leave the place at will without Kalian made her somewhat uneasy.

Despite his calm reassurances, Evelyn’s nerves were on edge and she refused to let her guard down.

Then.

“Heh, heh, long time no see, I thought you’d finally gone to hell in a handbasket.”

In front of a furnace the size of a house.

A short man with a long, reddish beard greeted them, hammering away at a dull, forged sword.

“I’ve come to get my sword repaired. Enhance it, if possible. Here, magic crystal.”

Kalian flicked the scabbard and velvet pouch, barely big enough to hold with both hands, at the man.

Thud!

“You ignorant fool.”

The man caught it with difficulty, checked the velvet pouch, and withdrew the sword with satisfaction.

“My, you’re addicted, and the blade is out.”

The sword was dazzlingly beautiful.

The blade’s sharp tip made it seem dull, but the violet aura it emitted was mysterious enough to mesmerize anyone.

‘When are you going to take care of your body, anyway?’

As Evelyn watched, unable to step between them, the man continued his tirade.

“You will continue as you are. Unless you dream of destroying a sword that has been in the family for generations with your own hands.”

Dragging his tongue across his lips, the man hammered with all his might against the anvil of red iron.

BANG!

It was only after Kalian’s words had fallen that all eyes turned to her.

“Matthias, the man who is to be grand duchess. She doesn’t look well, so take a look at her.”

Evelyn’s eyes flickered to Kalian’s back.

“Of course.”

Matthias stroked his red beard and chuckled as he watched her frozen in place.

“I was wondering what you’d bring such a noble woman to such a shabby place as this…”

The man’s eyes narrowed after a moment of laughter.

“I see your days are numbered.”

“……?”

Matthias spat out the words, sending a chill down his spine.

“It’s horrible. The stench of it stings my nose.”

He was now within inches of Evelyn’s chin, and he glared at her as if he could see right through her.

“It’s a curse with a vengeance, and it’s a wonder you’ve survived this long without dying. I can’t help myself.”

“Uh, how can I…”

“Have you had any contact with anyone recently?”

“Contact?”

“I’m asking if you’ve ever had anything more intimate than skin-to-skin contact with a grown man.”

She has. She doesn’t know what it has to do with the curse, but it’s hard for her to think of anything other than engaging in lewd acts with a runaway Kalian.

Evelyn nodded nervously, her face flushed, and Matthias, who glared at Kalian, clicked his tongue.

“Good, because if it weren’t for that contact, you’d be a dead woman walking by now. Why don’t you sit down, young woman, my neck hurts.”

With a stern voice, the grizzled man grabbed Evelyn by the wrist as she sat in the hip-hugging chair.

‘Contact with Kalian prevented death?’

Not quite sure what to make of it, she meekly surrendered her wrist.

Matthias stared at Evelyn’s wrist for a long moment, then spun her around and placed his hand on the middle of her back.

A refreshing rush of energy flowed down her spine like cool water, and then a wave of nausea swept through her five organs.

“Ugh.”

‘What was this?’

Similar to the sensation last night, when Kalian had grabbed her ankle, but definitely something different.

Instinctively repulsed, Evelyn quickly covered her mouth and gagged.

“Magical reflux.”

The man who’d just removed his hand from her back spoke up as if he were giving her a prescription.

“It’s a curse built up in your system that causes your energy to flow backwards, slowly necroticizing your organs. At this rate, you won’t live past a year. No, I wouldn’t be surprised if you died tomorrow.”

“And if it is a disease… is there an antidote?”

Matthias shook his head wordlessly.

“Oh, no…”

Evelyn’s face turned grim.

Tears welled up in her eyes and her heart sank as she heard someone else confirm that she was cursed, even though she’d been through it once before.

‘Besides, I wouldn’t mind dying right now.’

Despair wrapped around her ankles like a swamp. A short gasp escaped her lips as the shock wore off, and Matthias, who had been looking at her pitifully, lifted his shoulders.

“Of course, it’s not as if there isn’t a way.”

“What is it?”

Evelyn asked, her eyes pleading, and Matthias glanced at her, his expression unreadable.

“Darkness cannot overcome light, but the darkness is always deepest just before dawn.”

‘What the hell is that?’

Evelyn’s face grew grave as she pondered the meaning, and her eyes slowly drifted to the Archduke leaning against the pillar.

“Just as the dawn is most beautiful when it has been endured, so too must your powers of light and darkness be properly blended.”

The deepest darkness.

‘Was he referring to Kalian, who unleashed his inherent demonic power, giving off a strong aura of darkness?’

‘And if so, in what way?’

Just as she was about to ask, a slow snort flew from behind him.

“You’re trying to spin it, lest someone think you’re some kind of archaic dwarf.”