Chapter – 26
Lirian thought of the villain as a “warm iced Americano.”
A bit more destructive, yes, but she thought that because of the mix of opposing elements.
“Sometimes methodical, sometimes impulsive.”
Sometimes he seemed utterly uninterested in others, yet at other times, he was unbearably persistent.
Just like now…
They were in a heated argument in the villain’s room prepared within the temple.
For a full thirty minutes.
“We clearly had an agreement, didn’t we? That I wouldn’t get hurt.”
“I wasn’t hurt, Your Highness. So this isn’t a breach of contract.”
“Oh? Then what about the gravel that hit me and drew blood earlier?”
“Your Highness, we’re going in circles here.”
The problem lay in their engagement, which doubled as a contract between an ability user and their controller.
Lirian treated it more like a manual for managing tools.
She herself was on the “tool side,” but still.
In such a manual, the most important things should be compensation for damages, amounts, and operating procedures, right?
Yet she hadn’t expected a pebble flicked by the count’s snake tail to spark such a huge argument…
“But Your Highness, look here.”
Lirian pointed to her temple, which had been injured.
The wound that had been painfully torn had completely healed, leaving no trace.
“Thanks to the clerics here, you wouldn’t even know I was hurt.”
She realized the benefit of the long-overlooked temple.
There was someone who could instantly heal her with divine power.
“The trace has disappeared. So there’s no evidence to support a breach of contract.”
Lirian was desperately insisting she hadn’t breached the contract for a reason.
If the other party weren’t a villain, what would have happened?
‘They’d probably think I was saying this because I care about them.’
In that case…
She would have honestly said she was hurt, that she had been a little scared, and that she appreciated the concern.
But since it was a contractual relationship with a villain, she kept insisting she hadn’t broken the contract.
“Phew.”
Finally, the villain let out an exasperated sigh.
He crossed his arms and stared out the window.
With his long silver hair tied loosely and a frown on his face, he could be mistaken for a sensitive beauty.
…But to Lirian, he looked more like a troubled loan shark.
A few moments later, however.
“…Fine. I admit it. I was careless.”
“Eh?”
“I didn’t realize this is how engravings work.”
“What do you mean?”
Lirian perked up her ears.
After all, engravings had been a long-forgotten practice in Pernies.
‘No one’s done it for hundreds of years, probably.’
One thing was certain.
When you engrave each other, the controller can only exert power over their partner, and the ability user must devote everything to their controller.
But the detailed effects on each other weren’t well known.
The villain stepped closer to Lirian.
“…Funny as it is, if you shed even a drop of blood, it annoys me.”
His hand brushed lightly over her pink side hair.
“Even the slightest scratch affects my judgment.”
Judgment… so he did have that.
“Regardless of what I was thinking just before that.”
“…! Then what you did to the count earlier…”
Lirian recalled the incident.
Good thing he was a villain—if he’d overreacted like that in the capital, it would have been a disaster.
And it had all been because Lirian brushed against a pebble.
‘Engravings are scarier than I thought…’
Especially with the Power of Annihilation already carrying a chronic destructive impulse.
It was truly the worst combination.
Peace-loving Lirian, who only wanted the original male lead and the villain to fight “fairly” to prevent war, sensed the gravity of the situation.
The villain sighed.
“And it’s not like it’s comfortable for me to have my emotions all over the place. It’s not even something I chose.”
“Mm. That makes sense.”
Lirian reluctantly agreed.
Sure… it’s one thing to have her heart ripped out, but if that heart keeps getting hurt… she’d be annoyed, too.
Right, her heart must be the leader wherever it goes.
It can’t be getting beaten by someone else.
“I can’t just lock you away either.”
Not that it was imprisonment.
Lirian smoothly steered the topic away from danger.
“Then I’ll be more cautious from now on and do my best not to get hurt.”
“….”
“I’ll try to avoid stepping into situations like this.”
The villain looked unconvinced.
“Does the young lady really not want to suffer losses from breaching the contract?”
“You, the esteemed prince, trying to collect fines from your subjects…”
“…Fine, just hold my hand already.”
“Going to go on a rampage again?”
“Engravings react because you’re hurt. Hurry up.”
“Yes, yes.”
Lirian took his large hand in both of hers and let out a sigh.
It felt like the founding god—or rather, a mountain spirit—of Pernies was asking her:
Lirian, Lirian.
Do you want the golden one?
The silver one?
Or is this eastern one yours?
‘No, mountain spirit….’
None of them belong to her, and she didn’t need any.
Yet somehow, it felt as if a silver coin had been tossed into her hand simply because she was “kind.”
This damn engraving.
Evren was still in a state of extreme irritation.
As Lirian had said, the wound was completely healed. It was worth hassling the frightened clerics.
Yet recalling Lirian’s injury brought back that surge of anger.
He knew he was being called a mad dog.
Still, this was a torment he had never experienced before.
He wanted to somehow lift his mood.
Evren squeezed Lirian’s hand tightly.
“Tell me about your artifacts.”
“…?”
“You get happy when you do that, don’t you?”
Evren spoke softly, coaxing her.
She had been very happy the last time he repaired her artifact.
He wanted to soothe himself with that feeling.
“Hmm… nothing comes to mind immediately…”
“Start with the very first one you made.”
“Oh, beads. Crystal beads. That was the first one…”
Lirian recounted her memories.
Through the small hand he held, emotions flowed in.
Her heart, once clouded by irritation, confusion, and anger, gradually calmed.
Meanwhile, in Evren’s heart, emotions rippled like foamy milk.
‘So that’s how it feels to reminisce about happy memories.’
It felt like he could live, just a little.
‘I need to keep Lirian Tilerd in a good mood.’
After all, the castle needed a room for her.
‘I’ll add a workshop tailored to her there.’
And as it turned out, she didn’t leave when making things because she was so focused.
Perfect.
Meanwhile, Margaret was receiving a severe scolding from Elias.
“Leading the Count of Tenebrin to the workshop. What on earth were you thinking?”
“W-Well… I, at that time, I didn’t know—”
“Not knowing is no excuse, Margaret!”
The rebuke didn’t end.
“You almost ruined the chance for the young lady to create a connection with His Highness and the Count of Tenebrin.”
If Lirian hadn’t noticed that the item was broken…
And had she unknowingly given the repaired necklace to the princess…
The princess would have suffered the same pain the count endured.
And if word of this had reached the kingdom from imperial lands…
“…Could it be that you acted on your own judgment out of pride?”
“….”
“You were the only controller who prevented His Highness from going berserk until now.”
“….”
“Surely you didn’t weigh your pride against the prince’s life?”
She had nothing more to say.
Margaret bowed her head in shame.
