Should she say it or not?

The conclusion that came after thinking about it hundreds or thousands of times. Livia whispered softly. She just wished no one would listen. Still, no matter how softly she spoke in the quiet bedroom, it could be heard.

“….!”

When Livia let out a small sigh and looked up, Zagnac, who had always given his back to her, was looking at her with burning eyes. He looked as if he would kill her, too. He let go of Azela’s hand and slowly rose from the chair.

“Who is it?”

“Duke Ferial.”

“Tell me who it is.”

“If you trust me and leave it to me, I will take care of this. Otherwise, it would be a waste of my hard work studying ancient magic for the past few days.”

He took a step with her words.

It was a slow walk, but with each step he took, there was a dent in the marble bedroom floor. Zagnac, who left a strong footprint on the marble, stopped in front of Livia with a growl before grabbing her pale, slender neck with one hand.

“If you don’t tell me, you will die too.”

However, despite his appearance, Livia did not blink an eye.

“What difference does it make if you kill me? There must be someone else you want to kill.”

“….”

“Leave it to me. Duke Ferial, if you step out…”

Livia lowered her gaze to the hollow marble floor.

“More people will know who you are.”

As he loosened his grip at those words, she didn’t miss the time and removed his hand, which was gripping her neck. Leaving with those words, she walked out looking bitter, but Zagnac had no time to pay attention to it.

It was midnight, several more hours later, when Azela opened her eyes. She opened her eyes as calmly as someone who had just woken up from a sleep.

“…Zagnac.”

“Azela.”

When he was immersed in those blue eyes, when that calm voice called his name, an unknown emotion welled up in Zagnac’s heart, and he almost shed tears.

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“I’m fine.”

The first thing she said after waking up was, of course, comforting him. Azela gently placed her right hand on his cheek, which had been ruined as if he was not human at all. She felt the crinkly skin in the palm of her hand.

“Don’t die. I sold my soul to you, so you can’t die to someone like that.”

“You are really…”

Azela smiled as she saw Zagnac exhaling a breath with a helpless expression.

He let out a few deep breaths, as if he had held his breath all this time, and then smiled together. Come to think of it, her memory of the last time was almost fuzzy. She remembered that Zagnac came and helped her…

Azela searched her memory.

“Who is that assassin?”

“…He’s alive.”

“Huh? Did he live?”

From her clear recollection, it seems that both of his arms and legs were cut off. As Azela tilted her head, Zagnac added his words in a small voice.

“Since all of the nutrients are absorbed by the plants, he is becoming a plant and living well.”

She frowned at his words.

The assassin said he came to kill her… Even though she had many things he wanted to ask, she hadn’t asked any yet though the assassin was already dead.

Azela looked up at the ceiling with a confused look. She wanted to talk to Zagnac, but in the end, it seemed like she would be adding one more worry to him, so she just bit her lip.

“…What about Princess Livia?”

Instead, she asked another question. As she searched for her memories, she remembered that he was talking with Livia in the dining room. It must have been about marriage.

“I don’t think that matters now.”

“That does matter. The assassin is dead anyway, so there’s nothing to do about it, even if you drag this on.”

“….”

“Did you decide to… marry Princess Livia?”

Azela pursed her lips. Zagnac’s expression did not change, making it difficult to read what he was thinking. Standing up from his chair, he gazed at her without saying anything for a long time.

“I’ll ask the chef to make something light for you. Wait.”

“…What?”

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“I’ll tell you later.”

Zagnac stroked Azela’s hand and exited the bedroom.

Marriage to Princess Livia… He smiled unknowingly at her question. Shaking his head, he walked down the hall, reminiscing about the day.

* * *

“Why did you call me?”

Livia spoke to him with an excited look. However, Zagnac looked indifferent, although he was the one calling her out. The attitude towards her was also dry, unlike before. He just poked at the food on the table with a fork, saying with his whole body that he wanted to get out of this place.

“Princess Livia.”

He called her softly, sticking his fork into the belly of the big roast turkey. The candle flickered, and although it was a moment, there was a strange sense.

Livia swallowed a gulp.

When she heard his letter calling her, she was glad that he had finally made up his mind, but nothing seemed to have changed much.

“Azela… my escort knight.”

Why did her name appear here again?

Livia clenched her fists in her lap and bit her lower lip. Azela was always involved in the matters about the two. The story of ‘them’ had always been three people.

“She asked me to marry you.”

“…What?”

She asked back, doubting her ears. Zagnac, still looking disinterested, was tapping the wine glass in front of him with his finger. On the other hand, Livia’s eyes lost their way and wandered over to the table.

“So now… are you saying that you called me because Miss Vellista asked you to marry me?”

“Yes.”

He replied without hesitation. Livia laughed at that absurd and rude behavior. Her hands were shaking. Even if it was true, he didn’t have to say it to her. Livia lifted her head and looked at Zagnac. He, too, was looking at Livia with a smile. This was intentional. It was an intentional act to deliberately hurt Livia’s pride.

“…So you’re going to marry me?”

“That is wrong.”

He flicked his fingers and knocked over the wine glass he was playing with. The tablecloth on the table was stained with red wine.

“I still have no intention of marrying you.”

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“Then, why the hell did you call me?”

“I think Azela… my escort knight, wants that. She keeps wanting me to marry you. Princess Livia, I thought I should tell you properly.”

“What?”

“Because if you give up on marriage, Azela will not want it either.”

Zagnac smiled and clasped his hands.

This was why the person in front of her was acting for the sake of his escort knight. Livia let out an absurd laugh. Still, she had to put up with it since all she needed to get married anyway.

“…If Miss Vellista wants that from you, so be it. Duke Ferial, you seem to have a hard time rejecting the words of your escort knight.”

“You will regret it.”

“What I regret is that I was happy to be invited here.”

Zagnac jumped up from the chair in which he was sitting. And in an instant, as he stepped onto the table, he seemed even more menacing as he stepped onto the table, already tall. He kicked the delicious food on the table and walked to Livia before coming down on his knees in front of her.

“Princess Livia, you know how to do ancient magic, right?”

“….!”

Livia’s eyes widened at his words. It was because it was unknown to anyone except the people of the Imperial Family. Not knowing how he knew that, she quickly dropped her gaze and shook her head. She had to deny it because it was a disgrace to her.

But before she could deny it, Zagnac spoke first.

“Ah, you don’t know if you can do it or not because you haven’t tried it.”