CH 95

“Do you really mean that?”

Leonis clung to her, contentedly laughing. Celia blushed as she looked at him, as was to be expected.

“Yeah, but I’m not going to do it any time.”

“Wasn’t the egg meant to hatch as soon as possible?”

Leonis cast a furtive glance as he whispered. He was already by her side in Celia, encircling her in his arms. Leonis was well aware of his fondness for her ample bosom.

She was cute.

Seeing Celia swaying and leaning her head against his own chest, her round eyes looking up, made him want to lock her in this room and make love with her all day.

‘Why are you so lovely?’

As Leonis tightened his grip on Celia and felt his heart race, he reflected on the moment. At first, he regarded it as a stroke of good fortune to have found a woman who could break the curse.

Even though he wanted to be by her side, he wasn’t sure he could make it to bed. It was because he thought she would despise him at the time he forced her to marry him.

From the first Duke of Cardian to his father, the previous Duke.

Leonis had no idea that he would develop feelings for Celia because all of Cardian’s blood relatives had a history of ruining romantic relationships. He also expected Celia would never develop romantic feelings for him.

Because I gave it up.

He believed it was not his responsibility to be loved or love someone.

After experiencing that level of happiness, he was not certain he would be happy living in the past. He was terrified just thinking about how happy it would make him to know that Celia loved him.

Even when he saw Celia, he was taken aback by the sudden flood of emotions that she displayed. A curse had fueled it, and madness had twisted it until a few days ago, but now that his curse had worn off, he could see her emotions clearly. 

He loved her completely and without reservation.

Life, soul, and everything else……enough to give it all away.

“…..Leon?”

Celia placed her hand on his cheek as Leonis became quiet while she was embraced. Leonis bent his head down without resisting the pull of the hand that was dragging him.

This moment was breathtakingly lovely. Enough to make him jittery with happiness he can’t afford.

On the spur of the moment, he recalled the strategy that they had devised.

Celia was a part of this dangerous and perilous plan. Celia was adamant about participating in their plan, despite Leonis’s objections to the idea.

“I don’t want the emperor or his sons threatening my life any longer.”

It worked out this time as if she was aware of her intention to marry Leonis, though she added.

Celia stated that she did not want either her marriage or her safety to be in jeopardy.

Phil harasses her without realizing that Celia is threatening his life. So was Michael. Celia would try to get her hands on Leonis’ heart now that she had captured it, believing that she would be able to control Leonis.

Just because they had such power, it couldn’t be tolerated.

In addition to the Duke of Cardian and Celia, the imperial family’s oppression claimed the lives of a great number of other people. The majority of Leonis’s assistants had either completely lost their families or seen members of their families murdered by them.

Some fell victim to the Emperor’s colossal conspiracy, while others were killed to cover up what Michael or Phil had done or because they were offended by them.

The victims hide in the Duke of Cardian’s shadow, who has suffered similarly and has finally spread his wings.

Those who held positions of authority were required to have that qualification.

Leonis already has that qualification. But not simply to rule; rather, to rule in the capacity of an emperor.

So Celia decided to put herself in danger as well. She could get a bigger cause if she stepped up and there was blood that wouldn’t spill.

She has no reason not to step forward if it means saving even one of them.

“Shall we run away like this? Just the two of us……I am confident that we will not cause trouble for them wherever we go.”

Leonis wielded enormous power as Duke of Cardian, but that wasn’t all he had. He was a master swordsman and was considered to be among the very best on the continent.

Even if he hid his identity and went to another continent, he was confident that he would succeed quickly.

Celia looked at Leonis quietly.

“What about the rest of them? You made a promise to help Nicole in carrying out her vengeance.

In the original work, Leonis was able to keep his word and fulfil his promise. He was the one who put an end to the emperor’s life.  However, because the end resulted from Amelia’s destruction, it was only a half-fulfilled promise.

“You are……”

He couldn’t bear to say that it had become dangerous. He thought it was scary to even bring it up in conversation.

Celia gave Leonis a gentle peck on his lips before beaming at him.

“You know whose lineage I am. What power can you use?”

Having a divine lineage was special in itself. Her father, Arthur Montague, did not inherit divine power even though it was a power that was only given to the women of the Montague family and was passed down.

Arthur Montague was always considered the best noble in aristocratic society, despite the fact that he was afraid of mysticism and had a narrow mind. His family with a long and illustrious history, but it was because the aura that radiated from him was different.

Because of this, the emperor, princes, and even Leonis had left the Montague Marquis alone.

“If there is even the slightest scratch on my wife…… I will never be able to forgive myself.”

“I’m not going to get hurt. I was also safe that night.”

Rather, she knocked Phil off and took the piece of the divine beast’ heart from him. Leonis smiled faintly as he remembered that point.

“That’s true. My wife is brave. But it’s because I’m not relieved.”

Celia shook her head obstinately as she watched Leonis give off another groggy vibe. Although including her in the plan would make things easier, now he has become like that, and she couldn’t be left out. Even the plans that Zeppel made will go awry!

“It’s all right. It’s not like I’m going alone…….”

The egg of the divine beast also decided to go with Celia. It was because she thought High Priest Hellion’s oracle and Celia ought to do the same thing.

He didn’t know how accurate the prophecy was, but it was difficult to dismiss because, after offering three heart pieces to the temple of the god of heaven, he began to open his eyes to her divine power.

The priest also said that it would be better to do so.

When Leonis looked at Celia, he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. . He was able to get her out of the imperial palace where the princes were, but the prospect of returning Celia there made him feel emotionally distant.

“…… When I become emperor, I will move the capital.”

“You should be. We must demolish the current imperial palace and expose the underground temple.”

In reaction to what Celia had said, Leonis took a brief pause. It was something that he hadn’t even given any thought to before.

“Do I have to go that far?”

“Well, It would be better to do that in order to get the support of the people, wouldn’t you say? Finding out what the imperial family of Hermos did to fall outside of the divine power of the god of heaven is not difficult either.”

In addition, the current imperial palace had too many secret passages, although the area was wide. It’s hard to get a sense of security.

There’s also a problem with Phil.

To be honest, since Phil had committed a great number of crimes within the imperial palace, she felt it would be inappropriate for her and Leonis to bring up their children in such a terrible place.

She hated the residence of the emperor, who was said to have tricked the saintess into enticing the divine beast.

Even though the location of Asylus is in the northern part of the country, it might not be such a bad idea for him to select it as the new capital. Located on the map.

But this was something he had to discuss with many others.

“…..Because the God of Heaven Church has a face problem, we can’t reveal anything about the saintess or divine beasts, but returning the ancient temple to the Church can earn the God of Heaven points.”

It was only natural that the divine beast’s egg would hatch there. Leonis paused for a moment before nodding.

“Do as you wishes. What can I say instead……”

Leonis, who bowed his head even more quietly, made eye contact with Celia. Celia’s face became flushed, and it appeared as though she had perceived the emotion in his red eyes.

“Would you be so kind as to reassure me right this moment? I want to feel you with all of my body…”

The voice that was barely audible was an open invitation to temptation. Celia accepted the invitation with reluctance, fully aware of the repercussions of sleeping with him.

✦ ✦ ✦

The news that the Duke of Cardian had returned to the duchy with his wife quickly spread throughout the capital. Phil, who had already been kicked out of the position of prince, was enraged by the news.

‘That bitch must have harmed me!’

Phil had just been released from jail, and rather than spending the next three months in a dungeon, he would spend the next year working under Michael’s tutelage instead.

He was unable to go back to the second prince’s palace because he was no longer the prince; therefore, he stayed in a room that Michael had provided for him in the first prince’s palace. It was better than prison, but Phil took out his frustrations in the room, which was otherwise identical to the room of any typical aristocrat.

“Why the hell did I have to suffer like this!”

It is abundantly clear that Michael is the one who harmed Duke Cardian by employing the monster. In the meantime, he was only attempting to amuse himself by kidnapping the Duchess of Cardian, but he was unlucky and exposed all over.

Even the Duchess of Cardian seemed to have safely returned to her duchy, so Phil was not playing any of them for fools.

‘Michael was the one who planted these false accusations against me and the Duke of Cardian was the one who directly harmed me!’

I wanted to bring these two down immediately, but there was no evidence to support my claim.

Michael tried to get the spy who informed him that he was going to work that day and tortured him to force her to vomit the truth, but he managed to get away before Phil was arrested.

He was completely in Michael’s hands.

‘I fell for your tricks and ended up like this, but this is not the end!’

What Phil was worried about was whether the Duke of Cardian were friends with Michael. In that scenario, the Duchess would discover that he could no longer use his ‘healing’ ability.

Or the information reaches Michael’s ears.

Either way, it was fatal for Phil. So he wanted to kill the Duke or Duchess of Cardian, but it was not possible.

‘Curses… that damn curse!’