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CHAPTER 21
“Even though you know… why…”
“You must have heard the rumors that Riri is living happily after entering the palace. I don’t want to shatter that happiness.”
After entering the palace, Linaria never reached out first. Even when letters were sent, the only response was to never contact her again.
He could only confirm through rumors that his daughter was doing well.
She must resent a father who was bedridden since birth. She’s happy with her fiancé now—there’s no reason she’d welcome contact from him.
He understood that Linaria would dislike him.
“So you’re choosing to sacrifice yourself?”
“I’ve fallen out of favor with the imperial family—what else can I do? If the crown prince wants me dead, and if my death means protecting my daughter, then so be it.”
Perhaps it was what his daughter wished for as well.
“The Duke has been pretending to be sick all these years just to hide the fact that Linaria made a contract with a divine beast. And now you’re saying you’ll give up your life? This situation is unjust.”
“Ricardo. Didn’t we agree never to speak of that matter?”
His daughter was an adult now—she no longer needed the protection of an adult.
And with such tremendous power, she could hide it on her own.
“Please take care of our Riri. Shamefully, at my age, you’re the only one I can ask.”
He had wanted to protect her until his dying breath, but perhaps that was just greed.
“I don’t know anything about this.”
Ricardo turned away coldly, but he knew. That boy had a soft heart.
Left alone, he slowly savored the sweetness of chocolate.
Linaria, my beloved daughter.
If what you truly want is the crown prince’s love, then I’ll make him love you—
Even if it costs me my life.
End.
A few days later, an unexpected guest visited House Obel.
“It’s been a while. No, I suppose not that long—we saw each other recently at the imperial palace.”
It was Duke Brimstone.
He was the elder brother of Margaret, Linaria’s mother.
He and Dante were not exactly strangers, yet an awkward silence hung between them.
“I thought I’d never see you again. What brings you here?”
“I came to express my gratitude.”
For someone supposedly here to give thanks, his tone was overly stiff.
He had, in fact, opposed Dante and Margaret’s marriage.
Then, having failed to prevent the union, he soon received news of Margaret’s death. It was only natural that their relationship soured.
Thus, Obel and Brimstone became inevitably and uncomfortably estranged.
Even if they crossed paths, they didn’t exchange greetings. And now, suddenly showing up to say thank you?
Dante was suspicious.
“I heard from His Majesty. It was you who gave tactical advice. Thanks to you, my son returned alive.”
“…”
“That’s a debt I can never repay.”
“You’re thanking the wrong person.”
“What do you mean?”
Dante hesitated over whether to reveal the truth. But he had no desire to take credit for his daughter’s accomplishments.
Anyone else might be fine, but the person who had received the favor directly deserved to know the truth.
“It was my daughter’s suggestion. If you want to thank someone, thank her.”
Duke Brimstone’s expression hardened instantly.
“That girl?”
His tone clearly dismissed Linaria.
Brimstone was not a man who often showed emotion.
Dante had always regarded him as a cold man with hardly any emotional fluctuation—except when it came to his sister Margaret.
In other words, Brimstone rarely looked down on others.
Yet the moment he learned it was Linaria’s idea that saved his son, he showed his true feelings.
It revealed what he really thought of Linaria.
A useless girl who couldn’t even contract with a divine beast.
That must’ve been all she amounted to in his eyes.
“Yes. The idea was entirely Riri’s.”
Dante deliberately emphasized our Riri.
He reached for his pipe out of habit, then stopped.
“I’ve decided to quit. I must endure.”
He had needed the power of stimulants to seal Linaria’s divine beast and erase the traces.
But now that he had decided to stop, there was no longer any reason to force himself into such suffering.
“You’ve been sick half your life because of me, Father. So it’s okay.”
That sleepy voice filled with sincere affection echoed in his ears once again.
Guilt and gratitude toward his gentle daughter brought a smile to Dante’s lips.
But then Duke Brimstone poured cold water on the moment.
“Even a hedgehog thinks its child is soft, but that doesn’t mean you should lie.”
“What gain would I get from lying about this?”
“It might help you launch your daughter into society.”
He was accusing Dante of trying to attach a debt to Brimstone so that Linaria could use the family’s influence to gain a foothold in the social world.
Her mother had passed, her father had been bedridden, and she had no adult to guide her—not to mention the flaw of having no contract beast.
So perhaps she was trying to cling to the Brimstone family to enter society.
“I’m not that petty.”
“If this hadn’t come from House Obel, I might have believed it. Well, whatever the truth, I still owe Obel a great debt.”
With those curt words, Duke Brimstone pulled something from his coat.
An invitation to a royal banquet.
“You’ve probably heard. It’s for the victory celebration. She missed the debutante ball, but this is still a fine place for a young lady of age to make an appearance.”
“I already received an invitation. We don’t need another.”
“Oh, you’ll need it. Because my son will be her partner.”
“…”
“Auguste is considered one of the best matches in the empire. He’ll be the perfect partner for your daughter. And since they’re cousins, there’ll be no pointless gossip.”
It was a condescendingly generous offer.
But Dante didn’t hesitate.
“I refuse.”
“…What?”
Duke Brimstone showed a flicker of surprise, clearly not expecting to be turned down.
“I didn’t do this expecting favors like this. And not just attending the banquet—choosing a partner is something the person involved must decide.”
“…”
“If Riri wishes it, I’ll let you know later.”
Brimstone’s son Auguste was a partner everyone else desperately wanted.
And Auguste was the star of the banquet.
It should’ve been a benefit, not a loss—yet Dante was making a foolish choice.
“You’ve come a long way, but I’m still not well.”
It was a clear dismissal.
“There’s no need for Duke Brimstone to repay any debt to House Obel.”
“You’re too blinded by immediate emotions to see the bigger gains.”
Duke Brimstone returned the invitation to his coat and had no choice but to leave.
At that time, Linaria was with Magnus.
There were some things Linaria, who had lived without a contract her whole life, needed to know.
“The six divine beasts have affinities with each other but no hierarchy.”
But, as always, there were exceptions.
As Magnus spoke, Linaria summarized his words.
“So basically, the beast of time is so powerful that even all the other six combined couldn’t defeat it?”
“Exactly.”
Magnus nodded at her concise summary of the information he’d repeated countless times.
“It’s said that the contractor of time can dominate the other six divine beasts, and even see them with the naked eye.”
In ancient times, people could see, feel, and communicate with divine beasts. But over time, divine beasts drifted away from humans.
Even with a contract, most people couldn’t see them anymore.
Having a divine beast contract now merely meant being able to borrow its power.
“Linaria. From now on, the only change in your life is that you have a contract. Nothing else.”
Then Magnus described the appearance of the beast of time.
It was about 5 meters long, had a dragon-like head with fearsome horns, a long ox-like tail, a deer-like body, and hooves like a horse that could cross borders in a single leap.
It also had a beautifully groomed, soft mane.
‘If you put all those features together, you have to wonder what kind of creature this even is…’
But since it wasn’t just an animal but a divine beast, she let it go.
‘There’s barely any documentation on the beast of time. It’s probably all made up from human imagination.’
Otherwise, how could such a mishmash of animal features exist?
“Then… can I also manipulate time at will?”
“There are limitations. You must have gone through some kind of major event and then returned.”
Linaria realized immediately.
It was death.
