I read the final part of the diary in the carriage.
I could feel how happy she’d been. The demon dragon—no, Sarichel—was happy. Because Karusien, who would become the first Duke Zieten, had sworn eternal love.
He said he wanted the Dragon’s heart, and she could give it to him without hesitation. The diary ended with her happiness, unaware that Karusien would stab her after she gave him her heart.
“Karusien is a rotten bastard.”
If he obtained a Dragon’s heart, he should have cherished it and treated her tenderly for life.
How could he k*ll her so miserably? And seal her on top of that. I cursed the first Duke Zieten for a while.
I got off the carriage. In case we couldn’t break the curse and had to fight the demon dragon, the merchant guild brought plenty of weapons. Caslan and the other soldiers might need to use them.
While checking if the weapons arrived properly, I spotted a carriage with a familiar crest heading this way.
It was the Liliet family seal. Her family, a great merchant house, had also provided support to the demon dragon subjugation force this time. When the door opened and Liliet stepped out, I waved my hand.
“Liliet!”
“Louelle!”
Liliet approached me.
“Have you been well?”
I nodded.
“Of course. I’ve been working hard on my appearance to meet Fazel.”
I’d even done a face mask this busy morning. Liliet smiled.
“You’re finally meeting him. How long has it been?”
“Um, almost two years.”
I hadn’t seen Fazel for two years. I’d ground my teeth over the Zieten family curse. Liliet and I waited for Fazel to arrive.
The time when the curse weakened was one week. If I couldn’t break the curse, meeting him might only last a week.
That can’t happen. I clenched my fist tightly.
Shortly after, the knights and soldiers who would subjugate the demon beast arrived. Unlike those transporting supplies, they’d gathered from the capital.
At the very front of the unit were Fazel and Caslan.
I wanted to approach Fazel, hold his hand, and embrace him. Fazel’s gaze turned toward me. Since I’d sent a letter, he must know we could be together for a week. Fazel got off the carriage and walked toward me.
“Fazel, it’s been so long.”
I spoke with deep emotion, and Fazel quickly pulled me into his arms.
“Louelle.”
He called my name softly.
“My Louelle.”
His shoulders trembled slightly. Held in the arms of the man I loved so much, I suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotion too. Tears came.
“Yes, my Fazel.”
Round and round we went, and only now did we reunite. We’d suddenly separated because of the curse—this was our first meeting in two years.
* * *
“Is this operation really the only way?”
Caslan spoke trembling with anxiety.
“The opponent is a demon dragon that’s lost its reason?”
Liliet shared the same opinion. However, Fazel firmly pushed the operation I’d devised.
“If I fail, attack then.”
“But what if Fazel gets hit by the demon dragon’s breath and dies?”
Caslan asked in a worried voice.
“Sword Masters don’t die that easily. And Fazel is Duke Zieten.”
Dragon blood flows through him. Caslan narrowed his eyes.
“Do you have something you’re counting on?”
“That’s right.”
Caslan sighed. Fazel and Caslan were appointed as joint commanders, and I had to persuade him to execute this operation.
“Good grief, I came to catch a demon dragon, but now I’m shooting flowers with arrows.”
I’d prepared flowers along with weapons. They were specially dried to withstand wind well and not wilt easily. The flower’s name was Nartien.
It was the flower Sarichel had grown with Karusien before becoming a demon dragon. The flower’s meaning was eternal love.
I told Caslan, “Help me.”
He sighed.
“If the demon dragon goes berserk, I’ll attack with sword energy then. Even if Fazel becomes endangered.”
I was glad he gave permission.
“Louelle, are you really okay?”
I nodded.
“Of course. This is something I want to do.”
I squeezed Fazel’s hand tightly. Fazel’s hand was trembling slightly.
“Leave this matter to us.”
I spoke confidently.
* * *
They say when the demon dragon’s sealing stone cracks, a strange pattern is drawn in the sky.
Fazel walked slowly, recalling the pattern he’d seen in the documents Louelle obtained for him. He’d come near the sealing site.
The diary Louelle gave him was in his bag. Thanks to it, the cold energy was less than before.
Louelle. I’ll return the power and go back to Asnel territory with her! Louelle had said so too.
The demon dragon’s sealing site was in the form of a single jewel embedded in the ground. He could see cracks slowly forming in that jewel.
Behind him, Caslan, Louelle, Liliet, and other soldiers were watching. Louelle in particlar must be watching with a pounding heart.
The wind blew gently. Unlike the urgent situation, nature was peaceful. Fazel walked forward with a determined expression and broke the seal.
The jewel shattered and yellow energy rose up. That energy circled around Fazel.
“D*mn it.”
It was a tremendous cold energy. He could feel it because he inherited the Zieten ducal family’s blood. Louelle said this was her resentment.
She said it was cold energy formed from tears shed after being abandoned by the man she loved, frozen and lingering. Thinking of it that way, this terrible cold energy didn’t feel entirely resentful. Rather, he wanted to offer comfort to her who must have suffered this much.
He felt this way because he too had someone he loved. The yellow energy gradually took human form. A blonde woman stood before Fazel with empty eyes.
“Karusien?”
She asked softly. They said the demon dragon went mad and rampaged, but she had reason.
“I’m Karusien’s descendant.”
Fazel conveyed his will to her.
“Take back your power!”
Suddenly words wouldn’t come out. Just as his limbs moved on their own trying to attack the demon dragon, Fazel barely stopped his actions with strong will.
“What is this?”
Fazel broke out in cold sweat. He thought it might be another curse. Then the demon dragon whispered.
“He still tries to k*ll me.”
The demon dragon spoke while crying sadly.
“All I can do is die.”
Fazel was shocked.
Then! He’d thought it was the demon dragon’s curse. But cursing one’s beloved, feeling cold energy, seeking women—it all seemed designed to make one’s beloved unhappy and leave.
No way!
Fazel looked at his own hands.
“It was the ancestor’s curse.”
Fazel finally realized. All of this wasn’t the demon dragon’s curse, but the first family head’s curse.
You mustn’t hand over the power. He heard a voice from within.
Then our family’s glory will disappear! A man’s cry was heard.
“So that’s why they failed.”
Louelle said that for some unknown reason at the end, the Dukes couldn’t give up the power. They had no choice. The first Duke Zieten’s specter was here.
Even wanting to give the power, he couldn’t. Fazel retreated from the demon dragon for now.
“Louelle, start!”
Louelle threw flowers with arrows.
It’s strange that a demon dragon who gave her life for her beloved would truly cast a curse. It’s also strange that the Zieten ducal family’s Dukes gave up power for generations.
So what will you do?
Just in case another variable arises, let’s suppress your power just a little.
My power?
Yes, that power might not be Fazel’s will. It could be someone else’s will lying dormant within.
Louelle had clearly grasped this curse. She predicted something else would happen and sought the cause in the Zieten ducal family’s blood.
Nartien flowers flew with arrows. Sealing stones that sealed magic were embedded in the arrowheads. A magic circle was drawn around Fazel so he wouldn’t get hit by the arrows.
The Zieten ducal family’s magic was gradually weakening. The demon dragon’s eyes widened seeing the Nertian flowers.
Whenever the Zieten ducal family’s Dukes tried to return the power, the first Duke’s specter remaining in their blood attacked the demon dragon and sealed her. To prevent the power from being transferred.
So all previous attempts had ended in failure. Like the Dragon Lord said, there was originally no way to break the curse. Because this wasn’t a curse the demon dragon cast.
Then they had to weaken the power remaining in the Zieten ducal family’s blood. Light shone from the magic sealing stones surrounding Fazel. A massive sealing stone pressed down on Fazel’s power.
No! He heard a scream from within.
“I see.”
The destructive actions he’d wanted to take toward Louelle all this time were all Karusien’s will.
“Not as Karusien, but by my own will, I declare.”
Fazel declared to her.
“Please take back my power.”
Sarichel smiled gently.
“Then you’ll become an ordinary human—is that okay?”
Now that Karusien’s will had weakened, this was the perfect opportunity.
“Of course.”
“No!”
Two voices came out simultaneously.
“Shut up!”
Fazel spoke roughly.
“Is hurting your beloved lover something a person should do!”
Fazel rebuked his ancestor. Sarichel looked at the flowers. Beautiful Nartien flowers surrounded her.
“His descendant has a wonderful love.”
Sarichel smiled and stroked Fazel’s head.
“If you truly want to give it up, the power will disappear.”
Fazel looked at his past. His sad past. His happy past. In the time that passed, countless people existed.
Now what he desired was only one thing—to be by Louelle’s side. Suddenly the cold energy seemed to disappear.
“What is this?”
“It wasn’t all because of Karusien that they failed. Some of them, deep in their hearts, failed because they couldn’t give up the power they possessed.”
Sarichel kissed Fazel’s forehead.
“You truly don’t want the power. I wish I’d met a man like you.”
She smiled.
“The flowers are beautiful. Thank you.”
“My lover prepared them.”
“Tell your lover for me.”
She slowly disappeared. Fazel looked at the spot where Sarichel had vanished.
“In your next life, may you meet someone who truly loves you and live happily.”
Because at the end, Sarichel seemed to be crying. Fazel prayed for her soul’s rest.
Though the wind wasn’t blowing, flowers were scattering. It seemed like she was answering that she would.
* * *
The Dragon’s power disappeared and the curse ended. I ran toward Fazel as he walked over.
“Fazel!”
“It’s over.”
It was truly over. Fate didn’t take Fazel to death. It brought him to a future where he’d live with me.
I embraced him and cried quietly. After learning the curse’s true nature, I cursed at Karusien too. Fazel’s formidable magic had disappeared, but he was still a Grand Mage and Sword Master.
Even though he gave up power, he was still strong.
“What I earned through effort remains.”
Fazel was satisfied with the current situation, so we held a belated official engagement. And on the engagement ceremony day.
“Fazel!”
He kept kissing me. I accepted him.
“Fazel, I think we’ve spent too much time in this room.”
Fazel quickly came to his senses. After he fixed my ruined makeup, we opened the door and went out.
I changed Fazel’s fate of becoming unhappy. No, Fazel and I changed it together. I looked at him with proud eyes for giving up his power and squeezed his hand tightly.
Many things would happen in our future. But if we respected and loved each other like now, we would spend happy days.
* * *
Epilogue
A wedding ceremony was being held. I in a wedding dress… no, Liliet was entering holding my hand.
Liliet and Caslan got married faster than me. Fazel, who defeated(?) the demon dragon, became a hero, and Caslan’s judgment in making the decision together received attention.
Caslan’s reputation grew day by day. He immediately proposed to Liliet. Of course, in that process, I also passed on various tips to Caslan for winning love.
Fazel gave up the Duke title. He abandoned everything and came to me. He said he would live as the husband of Count Asnel.
Still. A nation’s Sword Master is my husband. Hehe, I’m a successful Count.
The person who officiated Liliet and Caslan’s wedding was surprisingly Trean. Caslan, who came to respect Trean after hearing his love story, had asked him. Trean gladly officiated his wedding.
I caught the bouquet. I held his hand and said.
“We need to have our wedding soon too.”
My and Fazel’s wedding. We decided to do it in spring. To remember the day we first met.
When spring comes, we’ll be married. I smiled watching the male and female protagonists’ happy wedding.
The unhappy mastermind had become my fiancé holding my hand. A happy fate was waiting for him. No, waiting for us.
I smiled thinking of the future I would create with him.
fin.
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daisen
There was no need to renounce the title of duke – he deserved it. And anyway, the emperor uncle likely wouldn’t have been against it. He did hand over the way to lift the curse, after all.
Thanks a lot for translating!