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Chapter 10
The Villainess Is Imprinted with the Male Lead
‘How am I supposed to give him a signal like this? I’m not exactly running a business, so if I recklessly approach him, I’ll immediately stand out.’
Especially if she caught the attention of the noble ladies who were sending admiring gazes toward Licht, it was obvious that by the next day rumors like “I heard Lady Leslie is interested in Duke Cassio” would be spreading.
‘I need to leave some kind of sign telling him to go ahead first…’
Why did he only leave a message saying to meet at the balcony when he was usually so thorough?
While Luciana was hiding in a corner and worrying over the matter, Licht, who had been searching for pink hair the moment he entered the ballroom, suddenly turned his head toward the inside.
“……!”
Ah, their eyes met.
His terribly emotionless gaze collided in midair with her startled golden eyes.
‘Now.’
She only had one chance.
With a gesture subtle enough that only someone with sharp instincts could notice, Luciana slightly tilted her fan toward the balcony and then turned around.
‘Was that too quick? There’s no way he didn’t notice, right?’
Since she needed to avoid attracting as much attention as possible, giving him only a brief signal was all she could do. But since they had already discussed it beforehand, anyone with eyes should have understood that much.
When Luciana reached near the balcony, she glanced back discreetly and saw Licht politely excusing himself from those who were trying to speak with him. Even then, his gaze occasionally turned toward the secluded place where she had been standing.
‘Why is he just standing there? Why isn’t he coming over?’
The faint movement of his chin, only noticeable to Luciana, seemed to say exactly that.
‘Ah, thank goodness. He must have understood the signal properly.’
Only then did Luciana relax and hurry away.
‘Why does he keep looking over there?’
A few perceptive nobles followed Licht’s gaze and glanced toward the back of the ballroom, but the fluttering figure had already disappeared.
Licht finally managed to shake off the nobles clinging to him like insects and went in search of Luciana.
There was a reason he had arranged their meeting with nothing more than a simple promise to meet at the balcony, unlike his usual careful self.
The Imperial Palace was a place where, even if someone disappeared, no one would notice easily. Searching for someone without any means of communication was not simple.
However, just like all members of the Cassio family, Licht possessed the ability to sense his destined partner within a certain range, so finding Luciana was not difficult.
Of course, for someone who disliked the imprinting bond, seeing himself naturally move toward Luciana’s side was unlikely to be pleasant.
But what could he do? He had no other choice.
Licht stubbornly kept his mouth shut and could only obediently follow his instincts.
“……”
Then his steps stopped in front of a certain place.
The presence of Luciana, a sensation only he could recognize, could be felt beyond the closed door.
Knock, knock.
“……Who is it?”
When Licht quietly knocked, a cautious voice came from inside.
“……Lady.”
After hesitating for a moment, the duke spoke.
Only then did the door separating the two open, revealing a familiar figure.
“……!”
Thump.
Licht clenched his useless fist, desperately trying to hide the heartbeat that was pounding against his will.
A fresh floral scent gently drifted from her graceful movements.
Unlike the disheveled appearance he had seen that morning, her neatly dressed and beautiful appearance trapped him like a snare holding its prey.
The moment Licht unknowingly looked at her lips, which carried a glossy crimson hue, he realized his throat moved from thirst and tightly clenched his molars.
‘……I’m truly a fool.’
They had only met again after half a day.
Yet even that short separation had felt unbearable, and he had to desperately suppress the instinct raging beside his destined partner.
‘I need to finish what I came for quickly and leave.’
He did not want to experience this feeling of becoming someone other than himself every time he stood before that woman.
Nothing was more miserable than that.
“I have something to tell you.”
“I also have something to say to the duke……”
The two spoke at the same time and were trapped in a brief silence.
“Th-then, please speak first.”
“Very well.”
The one who accepted the offer was Luciana.
Without refusing, Licht took something out from inside his coat and handed it to her.
“What is……this?”
“Consider it a type of agreement that will prevent the family’s secret from spreading.”
“……”
An agreement…
Luciana felt mana from her fingertips as she touched the document, meaning it seemed to have been strengthened through magic.
Without a word, she began reading the clauses written inside.
The contents were simple.
If she leaked the duke family’s secret to outsiders, she would receive appropriate punishment.
‘As expected, he’s extremely thorough.’
Well, it would be strange not to prepare something like this when dealing with such a major secret.
‘There’s no reason for me to risk my life over something like this anyway.’
She had never intended to reveal the duke family’s secret from the beginning, but everyone had their own circumstances. So she quietly accepted his terms.
“So, what is it that you wanted to say?”
After confirming that the magic on the agreement had activated properly, Licht asked.
“Is there perhaps a way to break the imprint?”
“So that was what you wanted to ask.”
Ah, so there really wasn’t one.
Although she was disappointed for a moment, Luciana gave up after seeing the duke’s dry reaction and prepared to present the proposal she had thought of.
However, the answer that followed was completely unexpected.
“When I think about it, it is not as if there is absolutely no way.”
“Th-that’s really possible?!”
What?
Then why didn’t he tell her this morning?
Seeing the questioning look in Luciana’s eyes, Licht spoke in his usual calm tone.
“Death.”
“……Excuse me?”
“If you wish to avoid the effects of the imprint, you can simply take your own life.”
Huh?
Death?
It was such an absurd method that all her expectations instantly deflated.
Yet, at the same time, she understood why he answered that way.
If one’s life ended and the soul left the body, then everything achieved in this lifetime would return to nothing.
‘Still… even if the situation is terrible, throwing away your one and only life is……’
So that was why he hadn’t told her.
Because it was practically the same as having no solution at all.
‘Then the only thing I can rely on is this even more.’
Luciana was about to bring up the potion immediately, but Licht, who had been lost in thought for a moment, suddenly interrupted.
“According to the records passed down through generations of the family, there were traces of attempts to research the imprint.”
“……!”
“Among them were cases where they discussed methods to nullify the imprint, just as you suggested.”
It was unexpected good news.
Luciana’s face immediately brightened with hope, but the pessimistic voice that followed quickly crushed that fragile hope.
“But all of them failed. They concluded that removing the imprint was impossible and abandoned the research long ago. At present, no research regarding it is being conducted at all.”
“What? But how could they simply give up……”
Wasn’t this far too important of an issue to abandon so easily?
Seeing Luciana’s obvious confusion, Licht spoke self-deprecatingly.
“Why do you think that happened?”
“Because the duke said there was no possibility……”
Luciana’s uncertain voice made Licht’s gaze fall toward the wrist engraved with the mark.
“There were several cases among my ancestors where they experienced something similar to me.”
“……!”
What?
Are you saying there were other people besides the male lead who ended up in such an absurd situation?
Luciana stared at Licht with eyes filled with shock and confusion.
“The research into breaking the imprint began because of that.”
Ignoring the gaze she gave him from the side, Licht continued.
“But the heads of the family at that time all ordered the experiments to be canceled.”
“Ah……”
Luciana’s lips parted blankly as she immediately understood the reason.
No matter how much they had disliked the imprint at first, in the end, they had fallen in love with their destined partners.
That was the “fate” of the Cassio family, who carried the blood of wolves.
‘Or perhaps… it was a curse…….’
Even though Licht must have found this situation just as horrible as she did, his face remained calm, as if he were talking about someone else’s story.
It was as if he was someone who had given up on everything before even trying, choosing resignation over hope.
And that made Luciana, whose heart was already heavy, feel even more burdened.
