IBWCD 12

Chapter 12

“Yes, but in return… give me enough estates and titles to support myself, and I’d like to live a little happily with them, like everyone else.”

Kalian stared down at the woman’s face as she spoke.

Dazzling silver hair, green eyes as bright as pure emeralds.

The woman’s long lashes hung languidly, and she exuded an irresistible charm that made it hard to believe she was human.

If he even hinted that he loved her or wanted her heart, she’d strike him down without looking back.

It was clear to anyone who looked at him that he was trying to disturb her composure.

But what she wanted wasn’t what he’d assumed.

“Revenge, and freedom.”

Not a bad offer, even for a man under constant pressure from the Empress to marry.

If a woman’s healing powers had even the slightest effect on him, he’d be all the more inclined.

He has his doubts, but that’s something he’ll have to wait and see.

Why this perfectly aligned interest should offend his five senses is beyond him.

Considering her words, Kalian slowly shook his head.

“I will do so.”

Evelyn’s eyes widened.

“You’re…?”

She repeated, gripping his iron-hard forearm as if she couldn’t believe her ears.

“You mean you’re going to take me in?”

He didn’t seem offended by the sudden contact.

He just gave her a long, impassive stare, as if he’d been waiting.

“I wouldn’t call it acceptance,” he said, ”but a partnership of necessity, if you want to define it.”

There’s nothing like a relationship with a clear give and take.

“It’s about fulfilling each other’s needs to the best of their ability. Anytime, anywhere, any way.”

* * *

As Kalian escorted Evelyn to the outbuilding where she was staying, Benjamin, who was working at his desk, rose to greet him.

“Have you had a comfortable meal?” he asked.

There was no reply, but it was familiar.

Benjamin merely shadowed Kalian as he entered with wide strides.

He carried a stack of papers in both hands.

“As you said, I’ve put off any outside appointments that aren’t urgent for now. And these are the papers you’ll want to go over before attending the Council of State next week.”

The papers were about contentious matters within the imperial court, articles about the Gate and the plague that had begun near the port of Lycheeve.

As Lord of the North, he should be tired of having to attend to the affairs of the Empire, but his face showed no sign of it.

As if he was just doing what he had to do.

Reaching the desk, Benjamin brought a clean cloth and some brandy to disinfect the wound while Kalian quickly went through the papers.

It was to disinfect the wound.

“It is a strange thing indeed. A scar I’ve worn like a badge of honor all my life, and now it’s so faded.”

To Benjamin’s admiration, Kalian’s eyes, glued to his papers, slipped under his rolled-up sleeves.

What should have been a deep slash, a mark where the beast had torn through flesh, sprouted new flesh where it should have been thick.

The amber-colored cloth swept meaninglessly over the faint scar.

A fiend.

It called itself “Aether,” the common name for the demonic entity that parasitized Kalian’s arm, but it was none of his business.

What was the point of having a name for a demon that lurked in the body of a human and fed off of their poor quality magicka?

He cursed his alter ego bitterly, and with a quick bite of his teeth, he peeled off the leather glove that clamped his large hand.

About an hour ago now.

He’d offered Evelyn breakfast, and while waiting for her, he’d cut a deep gash in his left palm with his dagger, then donned his leather gloves.

It’s not that he doesn’t trust her abilities.

He just needed a procedure to confirm the strength of her healing powers.

He was a cautious man, one who valued hard facts over intuition, and who needed to see something over and over again to confirm it, no matter how obvious it was.

“Hmm.”

Kalian let out a long, frustrated sigh as he stared back and forth at the bloodied back of his hand, his calloused palm, and his thick, long fingers.

There was not even a trace of the wound that had deeply split his skin.

In essence, a healer infuses his or her purifying power into the target by making contact with them.

By holding hands, touching, or otherwise engaging in a physical relationship.

It stands to reason that the deeper the intensity of the contact, the better the effect.

There was also the option of radial healing, which radiated healing power, but it had long since faded into obscurity.

‘Perhaps the god is trying to play a trick on me again.’

Until now, he had never entrusted his body to anyone else.

The mere touch of a healer’s fingertips caused excruciating pain, like a well-honed blade slicing through flesh.

It was for this reason that he had believed no one but a saint could cleanse him.

But Evelyn, the woman with the common name, was different.

Despite his vow not to make any changes this time, he melted under the fullness of her healing touch.

“If it’s going to bother you in the future, just get it out of the way.”

Kalian sighed and closed his papers.

“Benjamin, fetch the maid and the butler.”

* * *

Soon the three men stood side by side at the desk.

It was unbecoming of a grand duke to bring a lady of the house, let alone break the unwritten rule of not meddling in other families’ affairs.

Therefore, the three who served him in the capital’s mansion could only wait nervously for Kalian to speak.

After signing the last of the papers, he finally rose to his feet.

Craning his stiff neck, he unbuttoned his shirt with languid fingers.

“I’m going to greet the Grand Duchess.”

Benjamin, who had been preparing his own tea, gasped and nearly dropped the teapot.

“What? What does that mean…”

Normally, Kalian was skeptical of marriage, much to his chagrin at the Empress’s command to marry a princess from a continent across the ocean.

“You’d rather go out hunting demons than show your face at a social event, and suddenly you’re getting married.”

The maid and butler’s expressions were equally dubious, but Kalian continued unperturbed.

“Next week, the Emperor will give his approval. We’ll skip the wedding, so Emma, move your bedroom and Gilbert, see that you’re comfortable.”

The order omitted the subject, but no one was unaware that it referred to the Lawrence family’s wedding.

It was followed by an order to take care not to reveal her identity until it was officially announced that she had been received.

Along with the instruction that she was to be addressed as “Lady” for the time being.

“Go out and do your work, Benjamin.”

The maid and butler, who bowed in silence, departed, leaving the two alone in the office.

Benjamin spoke, looking haunted.

“I’ve heard strange rumors among the Templars, but what really happened? If it’s her healing powers, you could hire her exclusively.”

Kalian had to set out every time there was a monster outbreak, and there were dungeons that opened periodically.

He was also responsible for closing random gates, so in the course of a year, he would spend less than six months in the castle.

He didn’t bat an eye at his vassals’ pleas that it was unbecoming of a monarch to leave the vast north unattended for so long.

“I’m sure you’re not responsible for what you think is a terrible thing for a woman to do…”

Kalian said softly, looking at Benjamin, whose voice was filled with doubt.

“Do I need an explanation for what I have decided to do?”

“Of course not, but…”

His eyes narrowing fiercely, Kalian sighed and pushed his tired bangs out of his eyes as if to cut Benjamin off.

“I want you to research one more thing.”

“Yes, please.”

“About the woman’s biological mother.”

“…Biological mother?”

“Her name is Marcella. She was taken to the temple three years ago and hasn’t been seen since. I want you to find out what family she was from, what she did, in secret.”

* * *

That same evening.

After a tranquil dinner, the two of them drank tea together in the drawing room.

The only sounds in the silent room were the clinking of teacups, the rustling of papers, and the flipping of papers.

The papers were the prenuptial agreement Kalian had prepared for her to accept her proposal.

It was Evelyn who had demanded the contract. With the request that it be enchanted with a gnome spell, as she knew the family secret.

After some time had passed, Kalian tapped his index finger on the table, as if bored.

“Anything left to look at?”

Startled by the deep voice, Evelyn’s shoulders flinched, but she quickly drew a thin smile to her lips.

“It never hurts to be cautious.”

Prudence, a word that didn’t exactly fit the woman in front of her, rolled around in her mouth, and Kalian glared at her as if to check her intentions.

“I don’t suppose there’s a clause you don’t like?”

“Not really.”

“If there is, feel free to…”

As he continued to speak, Kalian suddenly glanced toward Evelyn’s feet.

“Oh, look, the bandage is off.”

“Ah…”

Evelyn’s eyes narrowed and she blushed, unconsciously following his gaze.

Leaning over, Kalian gently squeezed her raw ankle and lifted her onto his lap.