CH 7

Chapter 7 ( Respond To Date Request )

Lariette indirectly warned the maids and returned to the room. She completely forgot what she was looking for her luggage.

If it had been in the Duke of Blanche, it would never have ended so lightly, but punishment for the servants was entirely the owner’s authority, so she refrained from doing so.

However, if there was a similar accident in the future, I had no intention of letting it go. She sharpened her knife in her mind and prepared herself for bed.

The unfamiliar bed was awkward, but for a short time, after lying on the luxurious bedding after a long time, she became sleepy.

Lariette woke up early in the morning when the sun had just risen.

While at the Duke of Blanche, she got up every morning and dealt with the Duchess’s affairs. Because it was a long-standing habit, I still woke up at that time.

When she rang the bell to announce that she had woken up, the maids came in and helped her dress. As for the dressing, there was nothing great about it. Because she didn’t have many clothes or accessories in the first place.

Moreover, there was not much maidservant in the Duke of Kandel. There was no need for a hostess to accompany her, and the maids who came in often ran away because they were afraid of the Duke of Kandel.

“… Where is the maid who guided me yesterday?”

Lariette secretly asked the maid who combed her hair. Usually, the maid in charge wouldn’t change, but it was because she was puzzled that she disappeared overnight.

At her question, the maids exchanged glances for a moment, then bowed their heads.

“Sorry. I don’t know.”

“But in the future, we will take care of the lady.”

I see Lariette replied briefly. It bothered me for a while, but I didn’t really care.

What I was more concerned about was what kind of clothes I wore today and how I styled my hair. It was my first meal with Asrazan, so I wanted to prepare it without shortage, but I didn’t have much to do. 

For the first time, I missed the dresses I had left behind at the Duke of Blanche.

“What time does breakfast usually start?”

“Yes? You can eat it whenever you want, but…”

“What?”

Lariette’s eyebrows rose in response to the unexpected answer. The maid looked at her with a bewildered expression as if she was wondering what the problem was.

It was then that she remembered that Asrazan wasn’t the kind of person she expected. Just like that moment yesterday when he looked at her indifferently as she got off the carriage.

Then it was her turn to visit again.

* * *

Asrazan was sitting leaning on the sofa in his office. He was wearing a black tee with half of his black bangs up and down to the bottom of his lips.

The image of him drinking coffee while looking at the documents with his eyes drooping as if exhausted seemed to have jumped out of the painting.

“… Do you have anything to say?”

“Ugh! Did you know I was here?”

Asrazan looked at Lariette with only her eyes raised in that posture. After staring blankly at his face for a moment, she smirked slyly.

“Asrazan. I have something to tell you.”

Lariette walked up to him quite proudly and put both hands on the table in front of him. Asrazan kept his indifferent face as if to say something.

Her expression is so serious. She was full of impressions, but in his eyes, she was just a bunny rabbit.

Asrazan, who wanted to ask a question about the curse, unknowingly grabbed the handle of the coffee cup tightly in response to the next question.

“Why don’t you eat with me?”

“… Yes?

“I was waiting for you! Of course, we know that we will have breakfast together.”

Lariette’s plump lips popped out like a whimper. Asrazan leaned back involuntarily at her approaching face.

“I usually eat alone. Whether it is  breakfast or dinner.”

“I want to eat with Asrazan.”

“… You seem to have a good stomach.”

“Yes?”

Lariette asked in a curious voice, but there was no answer.

He folded the papers he was looking at, put them together neatly, looked up and looked at her. His eyes were still cold.

“Let’s talk about something more productive. You seem bored.”

“It’s not that I’m bored…”

“Wizard.”

Asrazan cut her words in a cold voice. It seemed that he had decided on a name to call her instead.

“How much do you know about my curse?”

“… Not at all. All I know is that it is powerful enough to drain my mana in an instant.”

Lariette sat down on the sofa at the same time and answered honestly. The way he talked about the curse was so serious that she couldn’t even play around with it anymore.

“It is the curse of the dead. It was left behind by the caster at the moment of death.”

“Ah, so…”

“Yes. So it’s more powerful, and it can’t be solved by killing the caster.”

“When did it happen?”

“At the age of seven.”

Asrazan explained in a low voice and carefully loosened the bandage on his right hand.

It was an unavoidable action in order to show the state, but he kept hesitating without knowing why.

It’s because the wizard’s eyes are too clear to see what he’s doing. He considered excuses and avoided her gaze.

“It is a curse in which the skin of the whole body loses its strength and rots. So far, I have summoned many purification wizards, but only to slow down the curse.”

The white bandage slowly loosened, revealing the flesh inside the bandage. It looked completely different from the clean left hand.

The wide back of his hand was rotting like a corpse left unattended for a long time. Through the tattered flesh, a bare stomach was exposed, and a foul odor spread in an instant.

His bandages were enchanted to prevent odors, so it was much better than usual. But as soon as the bandages were removed, the scent of death quickly filled the surroundings.

“Asrazan….”

Hearing the voice calling out his name, Asrazan slowly moved his gaze towards Lariette. Her eyes were drooping and her forehead was wrinkled.

‘Is it that terrible?’

It was the reaction I expected, but my heart ached. But there was an unexpected response.

“Did it hurt…?”

Tears welled up in her pure purple eyes. Even his bubbly voice was full of weeping.

“… You have to be patient.”

“I think it hurts a lot.”

Lariette really wanted to cry. She resented herself for seeing the curse as a good way to approach him.

Facing such a terrible curse at a young age, she could not even imagine.

What kind of heart had he been living with for about twenty years under the curse? It was sad for her to end her life at the age of twenty-two flowers, but it was even more sad for Asrazan, who would live like that for the rest of his life.

She vowed to break the curse in return for taking his curse lightly. And at the same time, I carefully placed my hand on his right hand.

Swoosh-

The white light she had seen yesterday spread out from her hand.

However, unlike yesterday, it did not penetrate into his body. It was just a light glance.

Lariette’s eyelashes trembled again, with her eyes closed. Unlike yesterday when mana was full, the body had not yet fully recovered.

“Stop.”

“A little bit more…”

“Wizard, please stop.”

Asrazan spoke softly and grabbed her wrist with his left hand and pulled it off. It didn’t look like she was in good shape, but it was unreasonable to continue.

Asrazan’s right hand had not changed at all. He let her go and started bandaging it again.

“Today, I am low on mana. I just confirmed it once.”

“… Confirm?”

“It’s the left hand. Everything seems to be getting better, but the purification power of yesterday still remains. Hah. I feel like I’m still purifying from the inside.”

Lariette exhaled intermittently hot breaths while speaking. It was because of the crowd with Mana, who had not returned in a while.

Asrazan, who listened to her, poured water into a glass on the table and handed it to her. Lariette gave a brief thank you, drank water, and started explaining again.

“So I added more power to confirm and purify, but I think there is a limit to the power of purification that Asrazan can hold in his body. So… Until the left hand part is completely cleansed, there is no other place to cleanse.”

“Is that so.”

He lowered his long eyelashes and replied. It seemed particularly pitiful to see him, so Lariette quickly grabbed his two hands.

“Don’t worry! I’ll take responsibility and fix it all before I die!”

“Before you die?”

“Um, I mean… as soon as possible!”

Lariette’s eyes twinkled with determination. Asrazan silently looked at those tiny white fingers that held his two hands together.

“Ah! Sorry. Are you hurt?”

Realizing the direction of her gaze, she let go of his hand in surprise. It seemed like an idiot that she immediately forgot when she asked if he was in pain until just now. Of course, it’s a strong grip to her but it was tickling for Asrazan.

Asrazan licked his lips as he recalled the figure of Lariette, who was holding on to his ragged hands.

“You…”

Asrazan shifted his gaze again and faced Lariette’s face.

A body that seems to be rotting and weathering at any moment, a terrible smell of death. Even though there was no way she couldn’t be seen or felt, her face was just so bright.

“You’re not afraid.”

The voice of the maid who was talking about the monster Duke reverberated in his ears. He had already been beaten and left the Duke, but the words were still in the air.

Aren’t I terrible? He wanted to ask this as well, but his pride did not allow him to go there.

“Is there any reason to be afraid?”

Asrazan licked his lips again, but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to say it. Because there were too many questions he wanted to ask.

Lariette continued to speak by folding her fingers one by one.

“Rumors of war demons? What kind of demon? You’ve barely won a losing battle, so it makes sense to spread rumors like that? They don’t know if you’re a national hero!”

It must be a conspiracy made by the imperial family because they are jealous of Kandel’s power. Lariette mumbled dangerous words without fear.

“The best sword in the empire. Of course, it’s not scary, it’s cool.”

“…….”

“And the curse. This is also ridiculous.”

Lariette pounded her chest as if expressing frustration. Asrazan had a trembling pupil, and he did not miss a single image of it and captured it in his view.

“You should be afraid of the person who cursed you. Why are you afraid of the person getting cursed!”

Oops, I’m sorry! She screamed as if it had happened to her. And bravely, she stretched out her hands to Asrazan’s face.

Slowly, with her fingers, the black neck pole slid down his chin. Soon, a soft touch wrapped around his cheeks.

“Asrazan. I’m not afraid of you. Except for the fear that Asrazan won’t date me, I’m not afraid at all.”

Lariette’s declaration was so dignified that it even made him sad.

Asrazan met that straight gaze and bit the inside of his lip.

“… Let it go.”

“Oh, sorry.”

I’ve lost the atmosphere. After making an excuse with a smirk, she quickly removed her hand.

As if waiting for her to let go of her hand, Asrazan got up from the sofa. And then he hurriedly walked out to the exit of the office.

‘Hey, are you mad?’

Lariette licked her lips as she looked at his distant back. She was so excited that she regretted that she went out too far.

Asrazan, who seemed to disappear without saying goodbye, stopped just before leaving the door. He hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“… Seven o’clock. See you at dinner.”

“…..! yes!”

It was still a cold voice, but the words was what she had hoped for.

Lariette answered with a big smile on her face, excitedly. I’m afraid he might not be able to hear her, who is leaving so quickly.

* * *

Asrazan had eaten alone since he was very young, so he was used to it. After the death of his mother, the former Duchess of Kandel, no one was humbled with him.

Therefore, it was awkward for him to eat with other women. He had mastered the etiquette so clearly and perfectly, but he was worried about entering the actual practice.

Maybe a new etiquette emerged after I finished studying the etiquette. Even Lariette was five years younger than him, and Asrazan mainly dealt with the old man of the imperial family.

“Master, this….”

Halstein, a butler who had been working for the Duke of Kandel even before Asrazan was born, secretly handed him a book as he was changing clothes on his own.

Asrazan looked at the cover of the book he had received with an expressionless face.

<Guidelines for a great date with her>

“……?”

One of Asrazan’s eyebrows curled in disbelief. Halstein just smiled and handed over the bookshelf by hand.

“Put away the useless thoughts.”

“What useless. In the 27 years of serving the master, it has never been as useful as it is now.”

Asrazan lightly ignored his words and threw the book on the table. He then concentrated on the closure of the shirt buttons he wore over the bandages.

The butler did not give up and opened the book himself and began to read the contents.

“Let’s see, it’s polite to take out the chair… Do you know all these things? I will only read the essentials.”

“Halstein. Are you bored?”

“You have to keep eye contact while eating and look at each other with kindness and affection. Don’t have those dead eyes like you have now.”

“Could the eyes of the corpse be alive?”

Asrazan muttered and then he put the long coat hanging on the hanger over his shirt.

“Aren’t you going to dinner? You don’t even need to wear a coat….”

Even if a cool spring breeze blows in the morning and evening, it was clear that it would be hot unless we had dinner outdoors.

But he ignored the butler’s words and left the room with his coat over his shoulders.

‘I’ll stop the smell of the corpse even a little.’

Lariette didn’t say a word about the smell from him, but he was even more concerned as it was a meal. Even if she was upset and left first, there was nothing to say.

Asrazan fluttered the hem of his coat and walked down the hallway of the Duke of Kandel’s residence. The servants who found him quickly bowed their heads, and some trembled in fear.

‘That’s a normal.’

He opened the dining room door with lifeless eyes like that of a dead fish. A large door full of flashing decorations opened, revealing what was inside.

“Asrazan!”

The well-dressed Lariette stood up from her seat and called out his name. She seemed to be very welcome as she knew that even the wind would hit him.

“Wizard, take a seat.”

“It’s not a wizard, it’s Lariette….”

She even wants a nickname!

She sat down in her chair, still muttering at his behavior for not calling her name.

Even for a moment, Lariette hurriedly took out a piece of paper she had prepared.

“By the way, I would like to make some changes to the contract. Can you see it?”

“Please give it to me.”

Do young people these days get to the point as soon as they sit down like this? Asrazan pondered for a moment, but could not find an answer.

“Honestly, I use that much purification magic, but I think the pay is a bit lacking.”

Lariette insisted in a confident tone, but with a slight glimmer, she looked into his eyes.

He accepted the contract carelessly because he didn’t think it was wrong. Even if I asked for money to buy a small country,  he would give it to her. But again, the contents of the contract were something he could not have imagined.

<In return for purging the curse, B provides A with room and food for 3 months.>

<Addition 1: B has a mandatory meal with A once a day.>

<Addition 2: B responds to A request to go on date twice a week. B will pay the cost accordingly. However, the limit of the cost is set by A.>

Contrary to the idea that an astronomical amount was written on it, the revised contract was only puzzling.

Asrazan frowned slightly and asked a question.

“A request to go on a date means…?”

“Yeah, of course it’s a date!”

Failure to do so will result in termination of the contract! Lariette insisted naively.