Chapter 94

Elysia left Ramote, who was still watching her on the cliff and looked around with Cassian. She didn’t know if Peloit had run away while she was killing the monsters or if he wasn’t here in the first place.

“…It looks like it was made from a living person.”

At Cassian’s words, she turned her gaze in the direction he was staring. There, she saw a small house and people held in chains in the yard.

“They could have been used as a sacrifice.”

Elysia answered calmly, and she hurriedly moved in that direction.

The five people caught appeared to be residents of a nearby village. Some were carrying pouches of medicinal herbs, and dried-up pieces of bread were lying on the floor as if they had been given that to eat.

Then, she cut the chains and looked down and stopped.

“These people…”

They were all out of focus and with their mouths open, drooling or muttering incomprehensible words.

Cassian held her and walked past them with his sword in his hand.

“Don’t mind them.”

Elysia, who was about to say that she could just walk alone and that it was okay, shut her mouth as Cassian walked into the house without hesitation. Even though there was no presence in the house, her body stiffened with tension at the thought of what Peloit might have done.

The smell of dried blood stung her nose.

Looking around the house to make sure that it was safe, he dropped her off.

“I think he has been experimenting until recently.”

There was still undried blood pooling next to the desk.

Elysia walked over to the desk and looked at the papers that appeared to have been written by Peloit. There were several characteristics of vampires listed. A strong body and resilience were written on it, and a line was drawn over the word vampire written at the end.

“I don’t think he ever thought he’d get caught here.”

Otherwise, he couldn’t leave these materials behind…

As she let out a small sigh, Elysia moved on to the next page.

[ Has fangs, but only bites, and doesn’t suck blood. ]

[ No intelligence. ]

She thought it wasn’t a complete vampire, but when she was confirmed that it was true, the corners of her lips rose in relief. Elysia found some time to relax, and as she turned to the next page, she saw a portrait that appeared to have been drawn from her.

Cassian, who was looking at the paperwork behind her, laughed bitterly.

“I really want to kill him.”

Elysia felt the goosebumps, and she tore and burned her portrait.

Was it because he was angry, or was he just out of control again…? Cassian pulled her back as the flames soared to the ceiling.

“Careful.”

She said that as she almost burned out all the papers on the desk.

Cassian took the papers from her hand and kissed her here and there. Elysia wondered why she was suddenly rained with kisses she looked at him puzzledly.

“It’s just… It’s cute that you can’t control it every time.”

“…That sounds like an insult.”

“No.”

Cassian said it was real and gestured as if he wanted to finish the paperwork quickly.

The rest of the papers were just things with magic circles drawn on them. It seemed difficult to grasp this by herself, so she thought she would have to take it and look at it with Ramote. When Elysia put everything on the desk and looked elsewhere, she saw a magic circle drawn on the floor.

Picking up one of the blank papers, she copied the magic circle as well. Moments after, Cassian lightly swung his sword and broke the magic circle.

“…You.”

“Did you redraw them all?”

“That’s right. It seems like it took a while for you to destroy the original black magic.”

“Everything is fast.”

He was arrogant, but there was nothing to refute.

Elysia patted his back and laughed. At that, Cassian grabbed her wrist and said, “Suddenly? It’s a bit weird here.”

“No. It’s not what you think it is. It was just a compliment.”

She shook her head, pulled her hand out of his grip, and walked out of the house again. It looked like she had looked at everything she needed to look at, and she got what she needed to bring.

“What about these people?”

“I’ll send the knights separately.”

It seemed that their condition was not good, so she was thinking about leaving the chain as it was, but she saw Ramote.

“Old man!”

“Did you break the barrier?”

Ramote, who came a short distance, wrinkled his face as he watched the people being held captive.

“Huh? No. Oh, by any chance, the magic circle that was broken earlier…”

“Looks like that.”

After hearing what Cassian and her had to say, Ramote asked in a slightly serious voice, “Did you break it?”

“No? Cassian did.”

Hearing his voice, Elysia wondered if it mattered to whoever broke it.

“We’ll talk about that later and go back.”

Ramote looked at Cassian with a worried expression. He looked like he was judging something and seemed to have something to say about the barrier, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it now.

Elysia waited for Ramote to look around the house one more time, and then they returned to the capital together.

* * *

After returning to the mansion, Cassian went to his office after taking a bath.

“Lloyd.”

“Sir, this is a report on Marquisate Aiden.”

As soon as Cassian arrived at the office, he raised his eyebrows at the report that Lloyd gave him. It was a report on Marquisate Aiden, and on the first page of the report, things about the delegation were written.

“It seems that some of the recent delegations all intentionally approached our family.”

When he looked closely at the report, he noticed that recently, there were places where he and Elysia’s marriage were talked about to the extent that he thought it was strange.

“…So, was all that marriage talk intentional?”

“That’s right. Marquisate Aiden’s words were all-reaching.”

“Since when did Marquisate Aiden exert such influence?”

“They have been making a lot of money by succeeding in all of the businesses they recently started in other countries.”

“It’s all money.”

Elysia was a target who Lady Aiden could get rid of at any time, but when she found out that she is a transmigrator like her, she seemed to want to talk openly.

Nonetheless, he thought differently. Cassian had a gut feeling that she might be a tougher opponent than Peloit.

“Is the financial strength difficult for us to contain?”

“No. It doesn’t seem that difficult because they were concentrating on collecting money by all means and methods, but it will take some time.”

He thought it was smart to see them only touch on businesses that were going to be amazingly successful. Even thinking about moving Marquis Blanche to make Elysia eat the poison or using Lumiere…

Cassian thought she was sloppy for something like that, yet she also hit him in the back in a place he didn’t expect. Because of that, he decided not to underestimate and turned the report to the next page.

“Isn’t the Crown Prince doing well with the vice-commander?”

“The day after the banquet, he hadn’t seen Dame Jane once since he met Lady Aiden.”

“On the first day of the banquet, he spent the night with the vice commander.”

…Was he continuing to meet Lady Aiden?

Thinking that, Cassian put down the report and fell into his thoughts.

In the past, the Crown Prince would have liked Lady Aiden more and moved on. But now that he thought about it, the Crown Prince seemed to have calmed down after meeting the vice-commander. Why were things going like this again…?

“Call some of the maids planted in Aire Palace.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Elysia’s head was complicated, and she tossed and turned, unable to sleep for a long time, on her bed. She seemed to have been quite shocked by what had happened today. As she thought of the vampire burning blankly, she could feel a hand pulling her in.

“Oh, when did you come?”

Elysia hadn’t felt his presence before coming in.

Cassian said with a dissatisfied face, “A while ago. What are you thinking?”

She did not answer right away. It was because she had too many thoughts. The biggest part was, again, about vampires.

“…I wondered what would happen if the vampires created by Peloit attack the Imperial Palace.”

“There will be very few people who can face them, so there will be a ness.”

“It must be so… I am a little anxious.”

Anxious that her own identity may be revealed because of the things Peloit had created. So, could Cassian survive?

Suddenly, Cassian gently reached out and placed a palm on her left chest.

“They didn’t have a beating heart. Even if that was true, it’s not you now.”

“It is.”

“The temple will cooperate. There will be no ties with you.”

These were facts she already knew, but hearing them from his mouth made her more relieved and secure about the situation. Elysia smiled a little and dug into his arms.

“Is it because I came to this world to meet you?”

He gazed at her with a slightly complicated face.

Elysia seemed to know a bit about what he was thinking, so she kissed him without saying anything. Closing her eyes, his lips rushed to her in anticipation. As the kiss with Cassian deepened, the greed that had taken root in her grew bigger and bigger.

It may or may not succeed…

…How could she live without this person?

The vampires created by Peloit came to mind as they painfully contorted their faces the moment they were decapitated. That way to die was the most painful, and if they didn’t die, they have to live eternal life whether they like it or not.

She kept wanting to be with him.

Elysia was going to tell Cassian that there was a way, and she wanted to try it when she was ready. Still, she didn’t want that kind of life, so she didn’t say anything.

At the same time, Cassian parted his lips and clasped her chin to meet his gaze. He spoke to her in a quieter voice with serious eyes for a while.

“Living a life like you…”

Did he even read her thoughts?

Her body seemed to stiffen at the sudden words. Did he want to try that method…?

“It’s not that I don’t want to say anything.”

“….”

Could it be that she couldn’t control her facial expressions, or was Cassian mind-reading? Elysia was unable to respond to the words that came in like a hit to her head.

“Once everything is sorted out, I’ll try that way or whatever. So, don’t get hurt alone.”

“Was it obvious?”

“There is nothing I don’t know about you.”

Saying so, Cassian smiled languidly and tilted his head. He gently licked her lower lip and opened his mouth again.

“Whether it’s you or I, or the incident with the Second Prince, everything will be fine.”

‘I’ll make it that way. So don’t worry about it.’

His whispers sounded too sweet.

Cassian ruffled her hair and said in a friendly voice, “I know that you’ve been put in so many dangers that you won’t believe it.”

Elysia shook her head.

“I believe you.”

If it was not him, who would she believe…? Even if it was not okay, Elysia knew how much he had been trying for her since she met him.

Thinking that, she unbuttoned his shirt and pulled one side of it off.

“I thought you were going to have a hard time today, so I was just going to let you sleep.”

“So, I’m going to eat you first.”

Cassian raised the corners of his lips and pulled her closer.

Elysia planted her lips on the nape of his neck and set her teeth. She felt him clenching his teeth as he took off her slip and moved his hand slowly.