Chapter 106

Chapter 106

‘…Huh?!’

The woman sitting across from her smiled coldly at the sobbing Minase. Then, with one hand, she slowly pulled back the veil that had been covering her face until now.

‘Th-that person…!’

And at the sight of her exposed face, Min-ha inhaled a sharp breath.

It was because the woman who had so bluntly told Minase the whole truth, leaving her in despair, was the Grand Duchess Blaine. She was so surprised that she quickly walked over and put her hand on the Grand Duchess’s shoulder as she glared at Minase, who was crying as she pulled back the veil that covered her face.

‘Wait a minute! Wh-what the hell is this…?!’

However, the moment she touched the Grand Duchess’s shoulder, the body of Princess Blaine that she touched dissipated like smoke. Then, the space that had surrounded her up until now was distorted before a blindingly strong light began to pour in, followed by a fierce blossoming wind.

‘…What the hell is this?!’

As she waited for the intense light and blustery breeze to subside, Min-ha squeezed her eyes shut.

“….”

After a moment, the blinding light and the gusts of wind that threatened to blow her away soon stopped. Only then did she cautiously open her eyes.

‘My dream… it changed.’

This time, the landscape was completely dark.

Unable to adjust to the sudden change in environment, Minha blinked her eyes while she tried to figure out what kind of situation she was in.

‘Uh?’

At that time, as she had adapted to the darkness to some extent, she could see familiar figures, which were a man with light purple hair and Minase Persen. This was definitely an extension of the dream she’d had in the carriage on the day she was taken to the capital.

Min-ha quickly approached them as they were having a conversation.

“The contract is concluded. Now, Duchess, tell me first what you want.”

Coincidentally, the two were continuing the conversation she wanted to hear.

‘…Will I be able to hear all the conversations I couldn’t hear back then?’

Thinking so, she stood next to the two of them and listened to their conversation.

“Stop those who try to bring my soul back to this world. That is the last thing I want.”

“In other words, are you asking me to stop the half-soul spell I placed on the Duchess from breaking?”

“Yes. If the spell succeeds, and this body contains the soul of someone other than me, Rupert will surely recognize the changed me after a while, and then he’ll try to bring me back to this world.”

“…I see.”

“So I need you to stop Rupert from doing that.”

What Min-ha didn’t expect was what Minase Persen wanted as she created a new contract with a calm expression.

‘The condition is… to prevent her from coming back to this world again? And she wants him to stop it because Rupert will find out?’

Upon hearing Minase’s decision to truly ‘disappear from this world,’ Min-ha gave up hope to the idea that she might be able to return to her original life, and on the other hand, realized that all her hardships had been for nothing.

And at that moment, she felt an ambivalence of deep sadness and relief.

‘…Even though I’ll never meet my parents and friends again, the possibility that I might one day leave Seth’s side is gone.’

Overwhelmed with both sad and happy feelings, she focused all her attention on hearing the terms of the man who was now talking to Minase.

The man smiled seductively and slowly opened his mouth.

“It shouldn’t be difficult, I’ll listen. Well, now it’s your turn to pay for this contract.”

“What do you want in return?”

“Give me the feelings of love which the Duchess staked her whole heart.”

“…What?”

In exchange for granting her request, the man wanted neither wealth nor title, but ‘feelings.’

Min-ha frowned at the rather absurd statement.

‘…How can she give him the feelings of love? Were emotions something that someone asked for and could be given to them?’

Could it be that he meant by turning to love himself?

Meanwhile, Minase asked the man with a frown as if Min-ha wasn’t the only one who couldn’t grasp the exact price the man demanded.

“When you say feelings of love, what does that mean?”

“Literally. I want you to let me eat up all those feelings.”

“Eat those feelings…?”

“Yes.”

“…In what way? And if I hand over the emotion and you eat it up, what will happen after that?”

“Hm… If you accept and I eat the Duchess’s emotions in return, the Duchess will lose them completely. By ‘eat,’ I mean literally digesting them in me.”

“Does this mean I’m going to lose all my feelings and memories of loving Rupert?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The man chuckled lightly at her surprised question.

With a puzzled look on her face, Minase asked him again as if she hadn’t expected it.

“…Does it have to be that way?”

“That’s right. It was obvious that what the Duchess wanted would be quite troublesome for me. If you can’t pay me that much, then there’s no need for me to get involved in that troublesome business, right?”

“….”

When the man responded with a shrug, Minase gave him a troubled expression before letting out a deep sigh.

After that, she said nothing as she lowered her head, lost in thought. The man looking at her in distress could only smile with interest. Compared to her, the face of the man looking at her in agony was only smiling interestingly.

How many minutes had passed like that?

After a short but long hesitation, Minase gazed at the man with a stiff face and answered.

“Very well, I will give you all the heart that loved Rupert.”

“Are you sure?”

“If you keep your promise, there’s nothing I can’t give you.”

“Compared to what you say, you’ve got a face full of regret. So, let me ask you again, are you sure you don’t mind?”

Despite her determined answer, the man asked teasingly as he repeated his question. It seemed as if he was mocking Minase, who hadn’t been able to get rid of her lingering feelings until now, or as if he was testing her resolve.

At the man’s demeanor, Minase snapped coldly as if she was choked up.

“And you’re asking me this… is it because you want to laugh at her for being a foolish woman who can’t let go of lingering feelings even in this situation?”

“Well, I don’t really feel that way at all. As you might have guessed, I don’t understand human emotions, so I find it both fascinating and intriguing that you can be so brutally betrayed and still not let go of that tender place in your heart…. to the point of wanting to taste it.”

“In that case, when I said I would give it to you, just accept it. Don’t entice.”

“Haha. All right, I’ll take it right away.”

“….”

“Well then. Would you extend your left hand to me, Duchess?”

When she shot back sharply, the man held up his hands and smirked before he held out his hand to her. Minase hesitated for a moment at the man’s action but soon placed her left hand over his palm.

Squeezing her fingertips, he closed his eyes as he began to recite his spell.

As the strange incantation continued, neither spoken nor sung, a small leaf-like symbol began to bloom from the man’s fingertips on her hand. The mark grew longer and longer with each successive incantation, stretching up her arm and extending to her chest.

“….!”

And the moment its tip touched Minase’s heart, the sigil disappeared with a dazzling purple light.

As the light faded, the man released his grip on her hand and said with his amethyst eyes twinkling.

“Minase Persen, hereby, the second contract with you has also been fulfilled.”

“Really? The feelings inside me haven’t gone away yet…”

“That’s because we’ve set the point in time for the contract to be established after the half-soul spell for the Duchess was successfully completed.”

“…I see.”

In response to the man’s answer, Minase stared at her left hand with a complex expression on her face.

And then, the man suddenly turned his head around.

“….!”

Minha’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight. If she wasn’t mistaken, the man was staring straight at her, who was standing right next to Minase. In addition, he even smiled at her as she was surprised as if he could see her.

Then, with his gaze still fixed on her, he spoke to Minase in a low voice.

“By the way, Duchess.”

“What is it?”

“Could you tell me exactly what that ‘secret hiding item’ is?”

“…Why are you asking such a thing?”

“I thought it would be easier to fulfill the ‘second contract’ if I knew what that item was.”

Minase frowned at the man’s sudden question. Answered with a short sigh, she soon pointed to a bookshelf in one corner of the room.

“The back of that bookcase leads to the secret passageway Rupert used to meet me, and in the fake book on the third shelf, I have all the letters and tokens I shared with him. Does that answer your question?”

“….!”

“Hoo, I see. Does that mean that all the secrets are in there?”

“Yes. Everything Rupert used me to plot and everything he did with the other woman.”

‘…All the secrets are in there?’

Listening to her answer, Min-ha turned her head to look at the bookshelf Minase pointed to as the man smiled meaningfully. At the same time, at the man’s deflected gaze and strange smile, Minase twisted her expression in displeasure and glared at him.

“Keep in mind that I’ve told you this secret only because I have faith that you would never betray me. If by any chance you betray me and break all of our contracts, then…”

“Don’t worry about that. I swear by this wizard, ‘Merlin,’ my mother Medea, a dream demon*, and my father Alphonso, an archmage.”

[ T/N: The author used the word ‘’ (mongma) to refer to Medea, which refers to ‘a demon that appears in a dream, including incubus and succubus.’ Similar to ‘Mare,’ which is a malicious entity in Germanic and Slavic folklore. ]

At Minase’s threat, the man uttered his ‘name’ before planting a quick kiss on her fingertips.

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