Chapter 162

It was a moonlit night.

Luciel sat by the window and waited for the little owl, Bell. She went out in the early evening, but Bell has not returned from her long hunt.

Perhaps she wanted to take a long flight because she hadn’t no chance to send letters lately.

She lifted her head and looked out to see if she could hear an owl in the distance, but no one came. There was nothing but silence.

The fact that there was no one by her side at this time made her feel very empty.

‘That guy must have a lot on his mind.’

Above all, the Duke’s words she heard during the day caught her heart.

‘Kizef……’

Come to think of it, these days she hasn’t even given a small note to Kizef. She can’t send one right away, but Luciel sat at her desk and held up a quill.

She went up to Kizef’s room with a heartfelt letter she wrote.

He’ll come when it’s a holiday, so let’s leave it here so he read the letter.

‘Or should I hide it somewhere?’

Luciel smiled and quietly looked around his desk. On the bookshelf, instead of the numerous magic books that were originally placed there, thick swordsmanship guides were seen.

There were two boxes in the corner of the desk. One was a pretty box that didn’t fit with the rest of the room.

‘What is that? Maybe a gift for someone?’

One shouldn’t touch other people’s things, but Luciel slightly opened the box with rounded eyes of curiosity.

Inside was a pile of letters in familiar handwriting. These were the letters Luciel had sent in Ted’s name.

She had a smile on the corner of her mouth.

‘You have gracefully kept the letters I gave you.’

It felt like a part of her chest was warming up and Luciel put her letter inside it. Then she got out and returned to her room.

The room was cold because the window was kept open for Bell, that didn’t come back yet.

Luciel, who went into the carriage bed with a plop, completely lowered the canopy cover to block the cold and covered herself with a blanket.

As the warm warmth spread, Luciel quickly fell asleep.

Not long after, Kizef crept into Luciel’s sleeping room. He put Bell that was sitting on his shoulder in the cage, then shut the cold windy window tightly and lowered the curtains.

When he saw that Luciel slept with the cover of the bed down, it seemed that it was quite cold. Still, she left the window open for the owl…….

A smile crept across his lips for a moment. The regret to just go out as is was too great for him, so he stood looking at where the bed was.

He had no intention of coming this far, but the moment he met the owl that flew near the Knights Order, he came as if dragged away like a lie.

‘I missed you…….’

He had come secretly, but his mind was in a mess. Master Kurantiel’s sullen voice seemed to be coming from somewhere.

‘It’s a long way off. You are weak. What can you do with that kind of mindset?’

‘You’d better make choice. Will you stay by their side now, or will you build up your strength and protect the future?’

He was right.

‘I still don’t have enough power. To protect Luciel.’

Because it was true that he borrowed Raven’s power when subduing the Prince in the Imperial Palace, and even when scolding Maximus.

He must protect Luciel purely with his own strength.

‘Being praised for being a magical prodigy was not enough.’

It was not simply because of the lack of mana or swordsmanship.

It might be because he didn’t have the courage to hurt anyone yet.  He thought over and over again that he was going to kill them, but he was not confident enough to cut off their breath at once.

‘I can’t do anything like this.’

In order to kill all the people Luciel had written on that little list, he had to kill the fear inside him first.

The Marquis Cavill and the Prince were not everything. Behind them, an unknown enemy called Baluk lurks.

He will be so strong that no one can look down on him. A strong man that even the monarch of a country cannot easily deal with him.

Like my father. Maybe stronger than that. No, not one that would be called a person, but something that might be called a monster.

And Kurantiel showed me how.

‘Go to Dracan, the land of dragons, inherit the dragon’s blood, and learn its swordsmanship. If you repeat the battles to protect yourself from the monsters rushing to the border over and over again……You will become much stronger than you are now.’

Kizef clenched his fist. Through Raven, he looked into each and every detail of Luciel’s past.

‘I will definitely take revenge on anyone who inflicted even a little pain on you.’

The Prince was ordered to go to the monastery, and there was still time now that Baluk has disappeared.

Time to grow up enough so that I’m not afraid of death…….

Kizef lifted the bed canopy that Luciel had covered. In her sleep, he saw Luciel’s pale face with the blanket removed.

‘Even though I’m watching, it already feels so sad.’

At the thought of being away, his chest seemed to be already stuffy and tight.

To protect Luciel, the contradictory situation of having to leave her was ridiculously funny and a self-help smile came to his face.

It was all because of his weakness.

Kizef kept Luciel’s white face in his eyes for a long time.

‘I don’t care if I become a monster to protect you. So I’ll definitely come back stronger. Bye.’

The inside of his heart throbbed. He had to bite his lips to bear the unnecessary emotions that seemed to pour out at any moment.

Forcing his heart to move, he lightly kissed Luciel’s soft cheeks.

Suddenly, the ring on Luciel’s tiny finger caught his eye.

It was a wedding ring, enchanted with a spell to move to each other at once. If he goes to the land of Dracan, this ring will have no effect.

Because it was the land of another realm.

‘Still, on the days I miss you, I will always try to use the ring.’

It hurt my heart to think that maybe Luciel might use it like that too.

At that point, he tried to remove the wedding ring so that it wouldn’t happen at all, but he stopped again. He couldn’t do it.

‘I don’t think…………I can leave this behind.’

Kizef pressed his lips to the ring finger.

The breakup he chose for the first time in his life was so difficult that he didn’t know what to do, but he finally created a spatial circle to go to the Knights Order.

Pah.

As he was about to take his foot inside the green glow, Kizef stopped and stiffened at the soft touch that came from behind.

“……Idiot. What if you just go on like this?”

“…… Luciel.”

Kizef turned around and smiled, trying to face her as if nothing had happened.

“You woke up because of me. Sorry.”

She had a hoarse voice and heavy sunken eyes.

Luciel immediately sensed that there was an unusual change in him and asked.

“What……What’s going on?”

When Luciel’s clear eyes looked up at him, Kizef didn’t say anything and tried to avoid her gaze.

“Kizef!”

“…….”

As he turned his head to his left, Luciel scrambled to the left and waved her hand.

“It’s frustrating. Look at me.”

At Luciel’s words, Kizef slowly met her gaze.

“……I heard you have a problem, is it because of that?”

Kizef quietly nodded his head, then licked his lips with difficulty.

“…… Luciel, I have decided to go to Dracan.”

“……What? Suddenly? Why?”

Luciel’s eyes fluttered wildly as her heart sank at Kizef’s words.

“……As Master said, I am too young and weak.”

Having said that, Kizef’s gaze turned to Luciel.

‘I’m going to protect you, so I’m going to become stronger.’

“No way. I……I never thought that Kizef was weak. No, you are rather, you are strong.”

She was trembling inside, but somehow the words came out lightly. At her words, Kizef smiled and stroked her hair.

“I wish you could remember that. I will go to Dracan and inherit the Dragon’s power.”

“How long……?”

“I don’t know how many years it will be.”

“……I see.”

Luciel had a lot of thoughts about his sudden farewell.

“Have you told the family?”

“Yes. I’m going to do it for lunch tomorrow.”

“When are you leaving?”

“……As quickly as possible.”

Luciel somehow felt unfamiliar with his tone of voice. But she didn’t have the right to stop Kizef’s growth.

Luciel was also busy with her schedule, and the two were just a contract couple.

‘If Kizef goes to Dracan and spends a few years there, the contract marriage will be shorter.’

A thought suddenly came to mind.

Indeed, even though it was a contract, they had been quite close. Now, it may be that the relationship that she originally proposed was worthy of being called a contract marriage in this way.

While every corner of my heart was filled with disappointment, she was stunned. Luciel shook her head.

‘Kizef is trying to make himself stronger. Don’t be sad, let’s cheer for him.’

“……You said you were worried about your future path, but in no time you had decided everything. That’s great. I will cheer you on to do well.”

Luciel smiled brightly, but Kizef had a face that suddenly lost his energy.

“Cheering……Yes. Thank you, good night.”

Kizef, who mumbled lowly, turned around with a wounded face.

He struggled with it for several days but Luciel doesn’t even show any signs of sadness at the words he confided with difficulty……

He seemed to be angry, and his chest was stuffy and choked as if something had been squeezed hard. Kizef left Luciel’s room as it was. But he came back in less than three seconds.

No matter how hard he tried to put up with it, he couldn’t understand it. Kizef walked up to Luciel again with his blushing face.

“…… Luciel, your husband is going away. Is that all for your reaction? Seriously?”

“…… Kizef, what do you mean? Can you tell me so I can understand?”

Luciel, who was lying on the bed, pulled down the blanket she was covering herself with and Kizef furrowed his eyebrows as if in trouble.