Today was better than yesterday, hidden behind such crude wrapping. Marian had become a woman before he knew it. She had grown at least two spans taller than when he last saw her, and her cheeks had hollowed out making her face slender. Moreover, her now luxuriant hair gave off a sweet fragrance.

Her skin, pale as if it hadn’t seen sunlight, reflected the moonlight giving off a seductive glow like a mermaid’s. Abel bit his tongue tip slightly.

Her exposed slender neckline remained the same.

Abel asked slowly while willingly letting himself be pulled along by her.

“I saw Duke Cesare come.”

“Ah, you did?”

Marian responded casually. Then she turned her transparent eyes toward Abel. Eyes containing the blood-red sunset held a slender smile. Abel nodded, pretending to be casual. He knew well enough how to hide his twisted feelings.

“How was my magic?”

Marian asked with sparkling eyes.

“Magic?”

“Yes. I cast a very pleasant spell. I learned it from a book…… ah, no. I mean, I learned it from a book. It’s called a charm spell.”

Marian quickly changed her words. She had almost talked about the war too casually. After fighting in the war for a long time, she met all sorts of people there. Among the people she met there were those who knew many secrets of the world. There was also an old man who knew about magic.

The old man told Marian about lost magic. She also learned from the old man how to charm and deceive people. Just as trees have rings, magic had such characteristics, and the magic people could learn differed for each person. Fortunately, Marian’s magic wavelength matched and she was able to learn magic from the old man.

The charm spell was magic that was said to have been passed down from mermaids who lived in ancient times.

“If it’s cast continuously, they eventually lose their vitality and become mindless.”

Marian shrugged her shoulders.

“Though it has the drawback that skin contact is needed to strengthen the magic, it’s perfect to use on someone with such strong lust.”

“Aah.”

Abel’s lips curved slightly upward. So that’s what it was. Abel placed Marian’s palm on his heart. Through the thin clothes, she could feel his hot body temperature. It was a heart that pulsed with strong vitality like beating a drum. Marian stared at Abel with surprised eyes.

Abel whispered.

“Try it on me too. That charm spell.”

Marian blinked slowly.

Rather, it felt like Marian would fall under his charm. Her head felt dizzy. Abel gave off a dangerous scent. It felt like facing a dangerous demonic beast freshly caught from the wild. Marian trembled slightly.

“I said try casting the spell.”

Marian shook her head slightly.

“I can’t. I can’t do it on someone who already knows……”

Marian’s voice trailed off. Abel lightly stroked her wrist before letting go of her hand. Marian’s eyes reddened.

Marian held her own wrist and stepped back.

“I, I have medicine. I’ll apply it for you.”

Marian whispered in a voice like the wind. Abel chuckled. Abel stroked his own wounds. Does this hurt? Abel spoke with a voice mixed with a sigh.

“I want to take a bath.”

“Ah.”

“I’d like hot water with fragrant oil.”

Marian responded with a serious face.

“There’s no perfume…… but there should be some medicinal herbs.”

“That’s enough. Let’s heal the wounds slowly. We have time until the fighting tournament anyway.”

Marian nodded.

“Which room should I use?”

“The next room. You can use the next room, but for now, you can only use the bathroom in my room.”

“Ah.”

Abel let out a laugh. Marian was looking at Abel with such a pure expression that it was almost irritating. Slightly annoyed by this, Abel took off his clothes. Before coming, he had washed up and changed clothes at an inn since he felt too dirty.

Still, the truth was that he wanted to soak in hot water.

Abel’s top fell to the floor with a thud. Marian’s eyes widened as he stepped closer. She held her breath as Abel casually undid the button of his pants with a soft pop. At the sound, her face flushed a deep red.

This was inevitable.

Abel smirked and brushed past her.

After standing dazed for a while, Marian placed her palm on her forehead.

“I didn’t think of this.”

In her rush to rescue and hide Abel, she had overlooked one fact. That Abel and Marian had become adults. She had forgotten the implications of that fact. Marian ran her tongue over her lips. She turned around to stare at the door.

Her gaze grew cold.

Abel needed to stay here safely, pretending to be dead until the fighting tournament. If he was spotted elsewhere by mistake, everything could be ruined.

Marian let out a soft sigh.

She scratched her chin with her fingertip.

The fortunate thing was that Abel didn’t hate Marian. Even after what happened to him, Abel’s anger could have been directed at her, but it wasn’t.

‘You won’t die.’

Even then, Abel didn’t hate Marian. Rather, when everyone else had abandoned and fled from her, Abel was the one who searched for her until the end. Marian slowly exhaled.

That’s why she had chosen Abel.

At least Abel didn’t hate Marian.

From today’s events, Marian gained several insights.

‘The imperial family’s illegal funds have been cut off.’

Now the imperial family would have no choice but to become more dependent on Madrian. They would try to attach Marian to Cesare. This would create more opportunities to create a suitable hell for Yulian and Cesare.

And…

‘Princess Jains.’

A hasty approach could bring disadvantages instead. Rather than going through Princess Jains……

‘There is another route.’

If she had Liebe, that would be more convenient. She needed someone to handle Marian’s affairs outside the palace. Marian decided on the order of tasks. Tomorrow would be for finding Liebe.

**

Early dawn was just breaking.

The Emperor’s office was lit by never-extinguishing lights. The attendants who couldn’t return home last night and stayed up with the Emperor were crowded in the office. Thick fatigue had settled throughout the office.

The Emperor rubbed his temples with his thick fingers.

“Damn it. Why did he suddenly have a magical outburst?”

“We can’t know that. Though I heard the officials had been harassing Abel Drake quite severely lately…… but well, that’s always happening in such places.”

A secretary trailed off.

“Are we certain it was him?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. After examining the corpse, everything matched with Abel Drake. Not to mention, he was wearing the binding devices on his hands and feet.”

The secretary pointed to a box placed at the edge of the desk. It contained the binding devices that were still glowing. Among everything in that fire, only those binding devices remained intact. It was disgusting and repulsive.

The Emperor sighed.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t save him.”

“More regrettable than that is the revenue. The income that the fighting arena was bringing in……”

The secretaries clicked their tongues with grim expressions.

“We’ll have to raise taxes. We can’t allow any disruption to the war preparations!”

The Emperor slammed the desk.

“If not that, then find another way! Are you suggesting we give up after coming this far? Is Madrian refusing to provide more money? Still haven’t found Drake’s assets? What exactly are you all doing properly!”

The Emperor’s voice rose sharply. The Emperor kicked the desk while breathing heavily. In the past, Federico had two ducal families. One was Madrian, one was Drake.

Both families were houses based on solid wealth. Having shared a long history with Federico, they had many hidden assets.

The Emperor’s alliance with Madrian to strike down Drake was to seize those assets. While the imperial family was walking the path of decline, Drake remained strong, which was one of the reasons. With Drake’s downfall, the imperial family could catch their breath. Almost all the assets seized from the north went into war preparations.

However, they still couldn’t track down certain untraceable assets.

And now that even the heir was dead, only Madrian remained.

“I don’t know. I understand Duke Madrian didn’t even come to work today.”

“He’s not coming to work in this emergency? What kind of person is he!”

“I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I heard his health isn’t good. Ahem.”

One of the secretaries cleared his throat and spoke up.

“How about sending Princess Marian? Send her with one of the capable palace physicians and some medicine. To gently soothe Duke Madrian’s heart……”

The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched.

Though it hurt his pride and he wondered if they needed to go that far, he knew they had to. Besides, hadn’t they already decided to sell Marian to Madrian from the start?

“If Her Highness Princess gently soothes Duke Madrian’s heart, money that wasn’t there before might appear.”

The Emperor held his forehead and sighed. Everyone here knew that Cesare Madrian liked women. Hadn’t there been rumors spreading about his various women since he became a duke? Almost daily. If Marian could receive Cesare’s favor, they might be able to solve their problems.

Giving a woman to a man obsessed with women.