Chapter – 29
Evren was not someone who usually needed much sleep.
But this time, the gnawing pain inside him made it impossible to fall asleep.
“Sixty…”
He was surprised that something like this could make him so irritable. Numbers.
After all, he would part ways with this person in a year.
“‘The other shadows scored eighty,’” he recalled.
He had sixty.
“The lowest score anyone got was seventy-five.”
He had sixty.
Normally, thinking about it would calm him down. But this time, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
It wasn’t an obsession he felt as a superhuman toward his Controller.
It was, fundamentally, a very serious problem.
If someone like him, with sixty, was already on the verge of losing control, that meant somewhere in this world there might be someone with a perfect score of 100—someone who could match Lirian.
A score of 100…
That was the “fated partner” determined by the Creator God.
Meeting them would allow marriage, regardless of social rank.
No—marriage wasn’t the issue.
“‘They’d probably try to imprint immediately.’”
Should he change the clause so that Lirian would imprint as well?
“Still, that wouldn’t really solve the fundamental problem.”
If a perfect 100 appeared, it could easily break any prior imprint.
Lirian’s perfect 100 partner…
Such a person could simply be eliminated.
But what if a second perfect 100 popped up?
“Then just eliminate them too.”
But what if he missed that chance?
He hadn’t yet fully utilized Lirian’s usefulness.
At the very least, she needed to stay by his side for this year.
He couldn’t let a perfect 100 come from nowhere and take her away.
Finally…
Watching the dawn break, Evren muttered quietly to himself.
“…The fundamental solution is simple.”
Fill in the remaining 40 points, so that before he gets bored, no one could snatch Lirian away.
With a clear goal, his mind felt lighter.
He made his way to the corridor of the residence, preparing to return to the capital.
“Lirian.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Before we go to the capital, there’s something we need to discuss.”
“…! Yes, please.”
Evren extended his hand.
Lirian looked at it, then at him, puzzled.
“…? Your Highness, do you need to be controlled? Are you uncomfortable?”
“No.”
“Then why…?”
“Even when control isn’t needed, we should still hold hands.”
“…? Even in front of others?”
“Of course, in front of others.”
The folk belief popped into his mind: the more contact between a superhuman and their Controller, the higher their affinity.
There were many such beliefs in Pernies.
Stay in the same space for years and affinity naturally rises.
If there’s a unique scent perceived only by each other, it’s a special relationship…
All unverified superstition.
Close to the kind of nonsense humans bark at.
Nonsense born from blind hope and desperate wishful thinking.
Like bowing 108 times in front of a holy relic while praying.
But perhaps such beliefs arise from some unverified evidence.
‘But Lirian is smart.’
A wise person wouldn’t follow superstition blindly.
So Evren decided on a very practical explanation.
“You suddenly manifested your powers because of contact with me. Even if we know, what would others think?”
“Hmm. I guess it would be hard to believe.”
“Some might slander you, saying you used dark magic.”
“I suppose that… is possible.”
“So if you’re away from me, how dangerous would you become?”
Evren raised their entwined hands.
The more he explained, the more reasonable it sounded.
With superhuman powers, anything was possible.
Controlling air, earth, even insects to kidnap someone? That was nothing.
“And in front of the Second Empress and the Tillard family, we need to show our connection.”
“Yes… I have been… a bit…”
Evren hadn’t forgotten.
How Lirian had skillfully disrupted every auction before.
“Ha…”
Lirian pondered briefly.
“You’re right.”
She conceded.
A rational reason shone through for the sake of the superstition.
‘Why did I forget this?’
After hearing the villain speak, Lirian slapped her own cheeks twice in her mind.
‘I needed to seem closer to the villain.’
The world thought Lirian was powerless.
Who would believe she suddenly manifested her powers?
‘They’d think I’m powerless and just forced to stay beside the prince.’
She could demonstrate her abilities, but she couldn’t change everyone’s thoughts.
Then social pressure would push her back to Tillard.
‘My lineage is just unnecessarily prominent, so I haven’t been adopted into another family.’
That’s why she chose exile, though the phytoncide thing ruined that plan… Damn.
‘But now it’s time to formally break off the engagement with Karkin and cut ties with Tillard.’
As the villain said, some shocking performance was necessary.
Better to gradually practice and escalate, rather than starting off clumsily and drawing suspicion.
But… but…
“Your Highness, even this much—?”
“Yes, let’s do it.”
“Even in front of your subordinates?”
“The audience should be people we’re familiar with first.”
So Lirian’s hand was held by the villain from early morning.
The cold wasn’t too bad, actually.
‘The power of annihilation… it eats away at morals, love, emotions, right?’
But he still had a certain persuasiveness.
Surely a superhuman with such a skewed taste.
Descending the temple stairs, they encountered today’s departing party.
It was none other than Princess Meliora’s entourage.
The princess, seeing Lirian, approached without ceremony.
“Lirian! You’re returning to the capital now?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Really? That’s too bad…”
Before departure.
Though brief, the princess had grown fond of Lirian.
She even insisted Lirian show her various artifact designs.
“Time with you has been truly delightful.”
“I am honored, Your Highness. I would say the same, if I may.”
“Really? Ahh.”
Her silver-gray eyes were filled with Lirian.
“I want to snatch you away right now. Truly.”
“Oh my, what an honor.”
“Too… too bad…”
“…”
“Too bad…”
Lirian felt a strange chill, like a cold-blooded reptile.
Even at a young age, a superhuman indeed…
Before her fine hairs could even stand, the princess handed her a gift, wrapped thinly like a handkerchief.
“I’ve received too much from you, young lady. So I prepared this.”
“Your Highness, if I may ask, what is this?”
“This is my fault!”
“…”
…What should I say at a moment like this?
Luckily, she didn’t have to agonize too long to find a socially acceptable answer.
“This is a veil made from the scales of a snake-man.”
“…!”
No way!
Lirian’s eyes widened.
‘Isn’t this the disguise artifact mentioned in the original story?’
