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Chapter 06
“…Pardon?”
What is he talking about?
Lucy stammered, completely unable to follow the conversation.
Without another word, Edward simply continued walking.
Huh?
‘That’s it?’
She had just revealed something incredibly important.
That the Saintess, Sepina, was a fake.
That the Temple was falsely presenting her as his destined mate.
‘And he’s just… accepting that?’
For Edward, who had practically been forced into intimate contact with Sepina all this time, that should have been earth-shattering news.
‘Why doesn’t he seem surprised at all?’
His reaction was astonishingly calm.
Judging from the wonderful personality he’d displayed earlier, Lucy had honestly expected him to storm into the Temple and set it on fire for deceiving him.
‘To be honest… I was kind of hoping for that.’
But that expectation fizzled out like a burst balloon.
Feeling that something had gone terribly wrong, Lucy cautiously spoke.
“Um… Your Grace?”
“…”
“I feel like we left our conversation unfinished…”
She had barely begun when—
“You don’t want to leave this place?”
“What? No! I absolutely want to leave!”
“You can leave immediately if you become mine.”
Well…
That was technically true.
“I’m being exceptionally merciful right now.”
‘…Somehow that also sounds true?’
Confusing as he was, compared to the way he’d treated the guard earlier, Edward currently resembled a lion that had just finished eating.
“And I’m in a good mood.”
“Uh…”
“So?”
“Do you still dislike the idea?”
It’s not that I dislike it…
She hesitated, unable to answer.
A faint chuckle came from beneath his helmet.
“Then it’s settled.”
Shrugging as if telling her to seize the opportunity while it was being offered, Edward continued walking.
‘Did I…’
‘Actually survive?’
The moment that thought crossed her mind…
“Urgh…”
The tension vanished all at once, and nausea surged through her.
She had finally reached the limit of what her exhausted body could endure.
‘I’m going to faint.’
Even so…
There was still one thing she needed to know.
“W-Wait… just a moment…!”
‘You’re not going to kill me, right?!’
She wanted confirmation.
After all, he could always decide she was too troublesome and throw her away later.
‘At least promise you’ll spare my life—’
That was what she intended to say.
“Haa…”
Edward let out an annoyed sigh.
Then—
Click.
Without warning…
He removed his helmet.
Rustle.
Moonlight poured over hair of dazzling platinum.
Long eyelashes blinked lazily, tiny specks of light catching on their tips.
His features were so breathtaking they practically proclaimed that he should have been a prince rather than a duke.
A perfectly sculpted nose.
An elegant jawline.
Between them, vivid crimson lips curved into a dangerously beautiful smile.
“Still?”
“…”
“Even now…”
“You won’t come with me?”
I’m this handsome, after all.
His expression seemed to say exactly that.
Lucy could only gape.
‘Yep… definitely the male lead.’
But at this moment, something else mattered far more.
“So you’ll…”
“I’ll take responsibility.”
“You’re mine now.”
The instant she heard those words…
‘I’m alive.’
Snap.
The thread holding together both her nerves and her stamina finally broke.
* * *
“Yaaawn.”
Inside an elegant black carriage parked before the Grand Temple—
“How long has it been?”
“It should be about time for His Grace to return.”
After checking his pocket watch, Tepe stretched lazily.
“He’s been finishing his purification sessions faster and faster lately.”
Across from him, Gorgo frowned.
“…That’s not a good sign.”
“I know.”
“But what can we do if His Grace doesn’t want to stay any longer?”
Both men fell silent.
As Edward’s closest retainers and personal knights, they had been increasingly worried about his condition.
‘This is bad.’
‘It’s becoming obvious that controlling his berserk episodes is getting harder.’
That was also why the duke had begun insisting on wearing armor that completely concealed even his face.
Whenever the early signs of a berserk episode appeared, dragon scales would emerge across his skin.
People who saw them inevitably panicked.
‘Funny.’
‘They’re quick to praise him as the Dragon Incarnation…’
Yet the moment they saw those scales…
They looked at him like a monster.
‘His Grace doesn’t care, so it’s difficult to get angry on his behalf.’
Ironically, Edward himself couldn’t have cared less about being treated like a monster.
The real reason he hid his face was simple.
If civilians panicked after seeing him, evacuation took longer.
And that only got in the way of fighting.
His retainers, however, were furious.
‘Those people owe their lives to him, yet they don’t have an ounce of gratitude.’
Tepe pouted.
Gorgo remained much more serious.
“If the intervals between his attacks become any shorter…”
“Even we’ll have trouble stopping His Grace.”
“I know.”
“When that time comes…”
“We’ll have to risk our lives if necessary…”
“Let’s not have such gloomy conversations.”
Trying to lighten the mood, Tepe grinned.
“Well, the chances are practically nonexistent.”
“But if the Temple is right and Miss Sepina really awakens as his true mate…”
Bang!
The carriage door suddenly swung open.
Only one person could approach without two elite knights noticing.
“Welcome back, Your Gra—”
But then they noticed the unconscious woman cradled in the duke’s arms.
“…Your Grace?! What in the world happened?!”
Tepe practically leapt like a cat startled by a cucumber.
Did our duke finally lose his temper and commit murder?
Gorgo immediately offered a calmer explanation.
“Did this woman offend you somehow, Your Grace?”
Looking more closely, the woman was clearly still breathing.
Offend him?
That actually sounded much more plausible.
Tepe relaxed slightly.
“What was it this time?”
“Did she throw herself at you just to touch your hand?”
“Or was she aiming for your lips?”
Monster or not…
Edward was still Edward.
His extraordinary looks.
His towering physique.
His title as Duke Tesseron.
His status as the Dragon Incarnation.
There were countless lunatics of every age and gender obsessed with him.
Some even found the dragon scales attractive.
Those people had no shame whatsoever.
The more daring ones openly threw themselves at him or pretended to “accidentally” touch him.
If the woman in his arms was one of those…
“Did you bring her back to punish her personally?”
Edward ignored the question and calmly stepped into the carriage.
“It’s the burden of being too attractive.”
Although he had been briefly surprised when she fainted…
He had quickly reached a reasonable conclusion.
She must have passed out after seeing his face.
It wasn’t the first time someone had collapsed from being overwhelmed by his appearance.
“Well, yes… to certain perverts, Your Grace’s very existence is a crime…”
“But seriously.”
“What happened?”
Gorgo asked.
Tepe kept stealing glances at the unconscious girl.
She looked filthy.
Tiny.
So skinny she looked like she might snap in half.
She was, by far, the frailest person who had ever thrown herself at the duke.
Wait a second.
His Grace isn’t even showing any disgust…
He carried her here himself?
And she’s still alive?
This is the same man who hates even performing purification rituals with Miss Sepina.
Only then did Tepe realize how strange this was.
“It seems…”
“This little thing belongs to me.”
“…What?!”
“So I picked her up.”
Tepe’s eyes practically bulged out of his head.
His gaze bounced repeatedly between the scrawny girl and the duke.
Normally…
When a man said something like that about a woman…
“…Don’t tell me this weak little thing threw herself at you, and you couldn’t push her away because she’d die if you touched her…”
“…So the two of you ended up going all the way—”
“How far exactly has your imagination wandered?”
“So that’s not it?!”
“Your Grace, don’t tell me you brought her back because you’re taking responsibility…”
While Tepe continued inventing increasingly ridiculous scenarios…
Gorgo, who had been quietly observing the girl, finally spoke.
“When you say she belongs to you…”
“Do you mean she is something that was meant for you?”
“That’s right.”
“Then…”
“Is she one of the Temple’s experimental subjects?”
“…”
At those words, Tepe immediately straightened.
To anyone else, Gorgo’s conclusion would have sounded completely unrelated.
But Gorgo had always been like this.
He skipped every intermediate step and jumped straight to the answer.
And somehow… he was almost always right.
Since Edward didn’t deny it…
Gorgo’s guess appeared to be correct.
Tepe looked at him expectantly.
Gorgo calmly explained.
“We’ve always known…”
“…that the Temple has been conducting some sort of secret experiment.”
