Chapter 69
“Did what?”
Marked her and made her miserable?
Edward turned his head, baffled, but Tepe’s eyes went round.
“Weren’t you planning to bind her tight through marriage and then drain her holy power?”
That was the conclusion Tepe had come to once he’d regained his senses.
‘His Grace is marrying a temple test subject he’s only just met?!’
And a woman he’d openly found irritating, more than once?
At the announcement, he’d been too shocked to think deep. He’d run around spreading word that a little duke was already on the way.
But once his reason returned, it looked like something Edward had done for efficiency.
‘As expected, our duke excels even in quick thinking.’
By taking the test subject as his wife through marriage, he’d keep a purifier with holy power firmly at his side while spiting the temple.
On top of that, under the name of husband and wife, he could watch, pressure, or torment her at any time.
‘She must have really gotten under his skin if he’d bind her close just to make her suffer.’
Well, she had run her mouth about the duke’s secrets…
“Punish her that way, and when her holy power runs dry, divorce her. Truly an excellent choice.”
But hearing that, Edward’s already crumpled face twisted harder.
“…You think my proposal is tormenting her?”
“Pardon? Yes.”
Even the simple answer grated on him.
It was true he’d once talked of using Lucy’s holy power and throwing her away.
Still.
‘What nonsense.’
How could his proposal be torment? Lucy liked him that much.
To paint their married life as something cold and miserable…
His fine mood sank in an instant.
Edward curled his lips, sulking.
“You speak of my marriage so coldly?”
“Well, Your Grace…”
“Come to think of it, the capital nobles talk like that too. That marriage is just business.”
“Pardon?!”
In an instant, Tepe had been lumped in with the capital nobles, and his face soured. But Edward had only spoken the truth.
“But Your Grace, will you not marry? There is Lady Sepina. You must carry on the incarnation’s line…”
“Ah, no! I didn’t mean to anger you! Please put my son down!”
“Haha! We misspoke. The duke is wise. Marriage is a grave, a grave! My wife nags so much! I can hardly even see my friends…”
“Marriage among nobles is business, pure business! Who does it for love?”
When it came to yapping about marriage with Sepina, they’d run their mouths freely.
But once Edward fixed his eyes on them, they’d broken into sweat and babbled that not marrying was the wise choice.
Of course, Edward had never understood them.
‘If it’s such a grave, then don’t marry.’
They’d wanted it themselves, so why run their mouths like that?
If they hated it that much, they could divorce and cough up the dowry. But the moment he suggested that, they’d panicked.
The nonsense those men spouted with such distaste felt no different from what Tepe was saying now, and it scraped at him.
It stung worse when he remembered that his own marriage with Lucy was, in truth, a contract marriage no different from their “business.”
The mere thought that Lucy might find this marriage cold soured him. And now hearing it called torment, worse than cold…
Edward snapped, lashing out near unfairly.
“Next time I’m in the capital, I’ll introduce you to some kindred spirits, Tepe.”
“Ugh! Don’t say such vile things! Lumping me with those irresponsible trash who try to use you at every turn…”
“You just lumped me with those irresponsible trash.”
“Never!”
Tepe jumped, yet he still tilted his head, not quite convinced.
“But… didn’t you say you’d throw her away once her holy power ran dry?”
“…”
“Once her use was gone, she’d be of no more need… And the marriage is to keep the purifier firmly in hand.”
…Put that way, it did make him sound like irresponsible trash.
“I did.”
“Has that changed?”
Edward looked at himself in the mirror once more.
Then answered, calm.
“I suppose so.”
No one knew better than he how much he valued efficiency.
So there was no point denying it now.
Though…
‘Holy power is something that refills on its own, so long as it isn’t wrung too dry.’
If he drained her bit by bit, sparingly, it would never fully run out.
‘If I hold back a little in receiving purification.’
Fifty years. Maybe sixty.
If all went well, even more than that.
Just as a divorce clause meant nothing if he never divorced her, the same went for throwing her away when her power ran dry.
‘If it never runs dry, there’s no problem.’
With that settled, Edward smirked at the mirror.
“Isn’t that right?”
Tepe shrugged, as if he’d expected it.
Then he quietly added.
“It was also a first for you to say you’d wash someone yourself. And a first for you to look in the mirror like that. So I wondered…”
“Wondered?”
Tepe swallowed the words that had come to mind.
He didn’t want to get thrown.
“No, I thought you might be worrying your charms had dulled…”
“B******t.”
“WellâĻ It was b******t, yes.”
Tepe scratched at the back of his head and added.
“Ah. Still, since it’s your marriage, and she’ll be the duchess, Gorgo and I will serve her loyally.”
“Obviously.”
It was then.
“Your Grace.”
An attendant entered and bowed, announcing the departure.
“I’ll be back quickly.”
Edward strode out the door, not even noticing the wicked smile hanging on his lips.
* * *
“This way, over here.”
“Okay. Coming.”
Patter, patter.
Lucy moved her feet quick to keep up with Clara, who walked ahead.
Their destination was the west wing of the ducal castle.
‘There’s probably some kind of trap.’
But she had her reasons for following Clara all the same.
Of course, a small, tiny part of her wanted to see Edward’s childhood.
Okay, a big part.
‘But I needed this anyway.’
A strand of the Grand Madam’s hair. Or a nail.
It sounded like the sort of grim thing you’d need for a curse doll. But it was one of the materials needed to make Edward a complete incarnation.
Specifically, they needed a body part from someone connected to the incarnation by blood.
Likely because they, too, had inherited the dragon’s vow or blood.
‘In that sense, a piece of the former duke would be the surest.’
But she didn’t want to go so far as to dig up the former duke’s grave.
‘The Grand Madam still meets the condition of blood kin.’
Even if not the Grand Madam, the building used by the former duchesses would hold traces of his grandmother and great-grandmother.
It would be fine to wander about and slip a trace or two from whatever room she saw.
There was a reason she wanted to do this herself, too.
If she asked Edward to get a piece of the Grand Madam…
‘…I have a feeling it would end in something violent.’
She remembered how harshly the Grand Madam was dealt with in the original.
Of course, knowing this might be a trap, she hadn’t come alone with Clara.
“Gorgo. I’m not taking up your time, am I… no, am I?”
“It’s fine.”
Gorgo, walking beside Lucy, shook his head.
“The west wing is empty now, so there aren’t many guards. An escort is proper.”
“That’s a relief. Are you all right too?”
“Yes, my lady.”
The young maid walking behind Gorgo bowed and followed.
Both of them were people Lucy had grabbed as they happened to pass by.
