Chapter 26
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Why Did I Do That?
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I wonder why I did that.
The dragon's blood had mostly been absorbed by Yuria,
and I'd left control of the remaining kin to her.
After that, things proceeded smoothly. Using the demon attack as an excuse, I showed the dragon's corpse to the nobles and shocked them.
I managed to gloss over my own magic use with a bit of hocus-pocus spellwork.
Rachel, the unsung hero and a veteran dragon hunter, lent the whole thing real credibility, so no one batted an eye at anything else.
And along the way, the Rachel I'd run into...
"...Ian."
was waiting for me all the way in front of my office.
Something urgent must have come up for her to track me down here.
"Your exclusive maid Yuria is waiting in your room right now. Thank goodness the imperial folks took the dragon clone's blood back with them... but can you take responsibility for this?"
Rachel's face was deadly serious as she asked.
The sheer volume of pure mana ranked high even among top-tier demons.
But what was I supposed to take responsibility for? If you hadn't sealed her down there... No, I couldn't say that—not after seeing just how much she'd suffered these past few days.
The way she was addressing me now said it all.
She'd called me "Ian" not long ago, but now it was "you"—a step more formal, more distant.
Her haggard look gave her away: dark circles she couldn't hide, hair a frazzled mess.
"...You're pretty mad, aren't you?"
She nodded.
If she was nodding at that, then I was well and truly screwed.
Her lips twitched upward just a touch, but her eyes sank cold as ice—reminding me of Yuria.
Why were all the women around me like this...?
Cold sweat beaded along my spine.
"A little... no, very mad."
There was one thing she'd taken issue with above all.
A vampire. Yeah, she got that—it made sense. But still.
Why hadn't I come to see her even once, bedridden and gravely injured as she was?
"I suspected vampire, sure, but I never dreamed it was real. And a high-ranking survivor at that. You knew full well how dangerous it is to hide something like that in the family, right? My head could've rolled for it."
"......."
I clamped my mouth shut.
She was right. If word got out that we were sheltering a vampire of that caliber, heretic inquisitors would swarm from every corner and wipe out House Britna entirely.
Honestly, Yuria had saved our asses by mixing her magic with demonic energy to make it look like devil tricks. If not for that, House Britna would've been dust long ago.
"Got nothing to say?"
She tilted her head with a sly smile, and chills raced up my back on instinct.
Her expression screamed: You knew the situation and still didn't bother visiting me once?
I'd been busy. Dodging Yuria took priority.
Rachel let out a deep, weary sigh and gripped my shoulder.
"An order's come down from the Holy Kingdom."
"..."
"...What's this important order?"
"It's about lifting the curse a dragon put on the Holy Kingdom's Saintess..."
"And?"
"Put simply, you have to form a bond with her."
"A bond?"
"Copulation."
"...Have you lost your mind?"
Now they wanted me to bed the Saintess.
The "holy" in Holy Kingdom sure didn't mean this.
Sure, I could nod and go along with it, but I already had two ticking bombs: my illness and her.
According to Rachel, though, the Holy Kingdom had tried everything but sex and come up empty.
The timing was rotten. With the dragon that might've held the key now dead at our hands, they figured it was worth a shot.
And we had zero room to refuse.
"It's not like you have to screw her. Just find another way."
"Guess I have no choice. For your sake, if nothing else."
Her voice brimmed with earnest concern as she spoke gravely.
Choose sex, and she'd lop it off.
Rachel and Yuria.
...Why me? Why always me?
If I thought about it seriously, it was a dire situation.
The Holy Kingdom's Saintess was cursed by a dragon.
What if that dragon went berserk in their lands?
They wouldn't come begging us for help without reason. It was probably corrupted by demonic energy too, rampaging out of control.
And with no clue when it'd hit, we couldn't prepare.
Killing the Saintess outright? Not an option.
Tying a hero capable of slaying Lv. 5-plus monsters to guard duty 24/7 for months on end? Flat-out impossible.
Leave her be, and a whole city could vanish from the map overnight.
She apparently wanted to die, but the curse wouldn't let her.
So why me and not Dillon? Why the guy with the incurable disease?
Simple: Rachel had sung my praises until she was hoarse, while Dillon faded into the background this time.
And crucially, the Holy Kingdom promised massive support for my treatment. Win-win.
Politically, refusing was off the table. This was a must-accept commission, and for whatever reason, it fell to me.
"Guess... I have to."
"Find a way besides sex. You must.
If not, I've got a special method in mind."
"..."
"Just cut it off."
The way she smiled saying it made it all the more terrifying—like she meant every word.
...
The first thing Yuria saw upon stirring was...
"...He's not here again."
Lately, he'd been avoiding her.
Every day, every single day, she waited in the bed in his office.
But the room felt empty now, his warmth gone—leaving her alone as the maid poked around.
"Master Ian."
She tried heaving herself up from the bed. The dragon's blood, not fully subjugated yet, fought back fiercely, yanking her down.
Yuria collapsed weakly onto the mattress, tears welling as she clutched the pillow where he'd lain.
It hurt so much.
Where on earth had he gone?
She'd endured her body being torn and shattered.
Blood alone wasn't enough anymore.
She needed his seed.
They'd made a promise.
'I can't keep him locked in the dungeon forever.'
She gnawed at her thin nail, brows furrowing slightly.
Lately, it felt like he was even rejecting her hugs.
In the midst of that endless wait,
-Ia....n, Holy Kin...
a familiar low voice echoed in her ear.
That woman was talking right outside the office.
Magic soundproofing blocked it out, but a vampire's transcendent senses pierced right through.
Her ears perked at Ian's presence after so long.
True, it grated that he was speaking with someone else, but right now she'd take any scrap of his voice.
Until she heard those words.
-A relation. You must form one.
"...Ha?"
Her red eyes turned icy at once.
The room's temperature plunged by the second.
And as if feeding on her rage, the dragon's blood—which had shown no signs of yielding—began to submit.
Master Ian must be right outside the door now.
Those words continued, and any light in Yuria's eyes snuffed out.
Nothing but crimson darkness remained.
The butler she'd been watching froze solid in that instant.
"Physical... relations?"
What does that mean?
She shot the question at the butler beside her.
A torrent of killing intent raced down his spine, raising gooseflesh; the head butler stifled a hiccup before answering.
Harzen smoothed his graying hair, wiping away cold sweat as he replied.
"Truly lo-loving partners who care for each other sha-"
"........."
Killing intent
billowed up.
The butler's words cut off abruptly.
Yuria's eyes had sunk even colder than before.
"Young Master Ian only enjoys it if it's not someone he truly loves. Duties sometimes leave him no choice..."
At "enjoys," her furrowed brows eased a fraction. The crushing pressure lifted, and Harzen exhaled in relief, feeling a decade younger.
She still looked peeved, but something else occupied her thoughts.
"Is Master experienced?"
"Y-Yes... Ian lost his virginity ages ago, back when he was youn-"
"I'm asking if he's ever had a partner he truly loved. Head butler."
Her narrowed glare and sharp tone made him swallow hard.
Acting high and mighty after just a few days at a higher station...!
"..."
"You think he's done it with someone he truly loved?"
He... couldn't bring himself to say it.
"No guarantee he won't in the future."
"Exactly. So I need to claim it now. I'll be the wife someday. I have to take center stage in his heart. If that's impossible..."
"Impossible?"
"Then I'll destroy it. With these hands, cleave that long shaft lengthwise."
"..."
"But first, I'll take him inside me and bear his child. I remember reading it in a book—animals guard their females from rival males. Master's genes are superior, so same principle... Better to eliminate the threat than let her steal first."
...She was comparing him to beasts?
She's lost it.
Forcing the analogy when she just wants to fuck.
Harzen, who'd watched her for years, could tell.
Yuria was crossing lines more and more.
Her obsession with Ian grew fiercer by the day.
Opening her eyes and hunting for Young Master Ian right away, or rummaging through his office under pretense of cleaning.
Any underwear, diary, or traces she found? Straight into her clutches, not a single one spared.
"Head butler."
"Y-Yes... what is it?"
It felt like facing that infamous madwoman of a young knight captain twenty years back, bossing around someone a decade her senior.
She rose from the bed, eyes ablaze as she shoved at his back.
"I need to kill the saintess... no, I want to be alone with Master. Get out."
At that very moment, oblivious Ian swung open the office door and bumped into Head Butler Harzen.
Who shot him a look full of pity.
Why? What now?