A Lifelong Contract of Love
Cecilia’s mood was thoroughly foul. She had carefully steered Victor to a place prepared in advance so they would not be interrupted, and she had been in the middle of unfolding the words she had so carefully rehearsed. Just one more step—one single step further—and she would have reached it.
“Heh… heheh…”
“…”
Just what was this man cackling like a madman right in front of them—Boris Finnel?
“This place already has occupants. Leave at once.”
“…Ha. Giving me orders now, are you? Feeling confident? You beat me once and now you think you can look down on me?”
“You bastard… what the hell have you done?”
Victor’s face twisted at the crimson haze of mana rising from Boris’s body.
“You… don’t tell me…”
“Ha… haha. That’s right. Come to think of it, thanks to that book you found back then, I took another step forward. Leaving without a proper word of thanks would be rude… no. You dared send a letter to the Magic Tower—to my master—slandering me!!”
“Slander? It was a perfectly justified protest about what you did. Do you feel no remorse for your actions at the Academy?”
“Shut up! Shut up! Everything went to hell the moment you showed up. That woman who should have been beneath me looking down on me—all of it! All of it is your fault!!”
Boris thrust out his hand. Flames erupted from his palm and streaked toward Victor.
Boom!
But the fire never reached him. An ice wall sprang up in its path. Victor glanced sideways at Cecilia, who stood beside him with a gaze cold as winter, fixed on Boris.
“Cecilia.”
“Lord Victor. In a mage’s battle, a mage should answer.”
“…”
“Please wait just a little. I’ll finish this quickly and then… the words I couldn’t say earlier…”
“How dare you stand there making small talk in front of me!!”
Once more flames left Boris’s hand, this time aimed at Cecilia.
“…”
Boris ground his teeth as he glared at Cecilia, who casually blocked the fire that burned with the same fury as his rage.
“Urgh… you… I’ve hated you from the very beginning. Master and Elysia both keep looking at you—do you think you can take the place I rightfully claimed?”
“I never did.”
“Don’t lie to me!!! Did you think I wouldn’t notice you using that man to covet my position?!”
“…He’s completely lost it.”
Victor clicked his tongue at the blackened eyes that appeared only when someone had been fully consumed by a black magic tome.
Damn it. I should have gotten rid of that grimoire somehow back then. To think this idiot would end up like this.
In the original story, Elysia’s role had been to heal Boris’s fragile heart so that inferiority, jealousy, and resentment would not devour him. But in this world, Boris had become a twisted incarnation of possessive love, clinging to Elysia while envying everyone around him.
“First Ryan, now Boris… just how does she twist the male leads to make them fall this hard into darkness?”
“Haaah!”
Dozens of flames rose into the blue sky and began raining down on Cecilia all at once. An unavoidable spell that poured out every scrap of Boris’s mana—Rain of Fire.
With the power this spell has now, stronger than before, even Master…
“How crude.”
“What?”
Thud!
Cecilia stamped the ground. Ice erupted from beneath her feet and shot upward, intercepting the falling rain of fire one after another.
“Impossible… the magic I spent my entire life perfecting… so easily…”
“To attach the word ‘lifetime’ to something this meager. Was that really all you had?”
Boris could not answer. He watched Cecilia walk slowly toward him and found himself taking an involuntary step back. The emotion in her eyes was emptiness, and at the same time, disappointment.
“I… I’m afraid? Of Cecilia Roeyental? Don’t make me laugh… I… I!!!”
A mage throwing a punch was almost laughable, but it was the only resistance—the only defiance—Boris could still manage.
“Enough.”
Thud.
Crack-crack-crack!
Cecilia’s heart was not generous enough to kindly accept such meaningless rebellion. The cold that began at her fingertips raced up Boris’s fist and spread through his entire body. And then—
“Ah… aah…”
Boris was sealed inside a prison of ice. The last thing his eyes saw was Cecilia quietly watching his downfall.
“We are truly sorry.”
Once the incident was settled, mages from the Magic Tower arrived at the Academy. The moment they examined Boris, frozen solid by Cecilia, they approached us and bowed their heads in apology.
“We never imagined the Sage’s disciple would lay hands on a black magic tome and that something like this would happen.”
“…I already sent a warning, but it seems you arrived far too late.”
“…”
“Thanks to that, my fiancée had to dirty her hands.”
“Regarding that matter, we are truly…”
“I’m fine.”
“Cecilia.”
I let out a sigh at the sight of Cecilia smiling as if nothing had happened, then nodded.
“If Cecilia says so.”
“…My lady, if it is not too much trouble, would you please undo the spell?”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“Until the Sage himself comes.”
“…”
“Boris Finnel will remain sealed in this state.”
“Understood.”
The mage from the Magic Tower nodded and withdrew. He looked thoroughly dissatisfied with Cecilia’s decision, but what could he do? Boris had attacked first, and Cecilia had acted in legitimate self-defense.
“Haa…”
Once the people around us had left, Cecilia finally seemed to let the tension go and rested her head against my shoulder.
“The Spring Festival… really has been filled with nothing but chaos.”
“To think the first day was the most peaceful…”
“Hehe. True. Though I did get to see another side of you, Lord Victor. That was nice.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes.”
I scanned our surroundings. There were still too many people, and there was no telling when someone would appear to bother Cecilia again.
“Cecilia, will you come with me?”
“Pardon?”
I took Cecilia’s hand and led her toward the Academy’s teleportation gate.
“Um… Lord Victor?”
“To Walterheim.”
“Yes, sir.”
The mage managing the gate adjusted the destination at my request. A moment later we stepped through and arrived in the Walterheim territory.
“Um, Lord Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Is there a particular reason we’ve come to the North so suddenly?”
“I heard you had something you wanted to say.”
“Yes.”
“Then this time I want to hear it somewhere we will absolutely not be interrupted. And I have something I want to tell you as well.”
“…”
Cecilia’s face flushed at my words. She nodded. I took her hand and headed for the Walterheim manor.
“Your Grace?”
Jester looked briefly startled by our sudden return, then broke into a gentle smile and guided us inside.
“Where shall I take you?”
“To the greenhouse. Prepare tea for Cecilia and me.”
“Understood. I’ll have it ready at once.”
Leaving the beaming Jester behind, Cecilia and I settled in the greenhouse of the Walterheim manor and simply looked at each other. So this was what it felt like when time slowed to a crawl.
“Please enjoy yourselves. Ah, Your Grace.”
“Yes.”
“…And the bedrooms?”
“Separate.”
“Um… together…”
“…”
“…”
“Hahaha.”
Cecilia’s ears had turned bright red. She ducked her head and began sipping the tea that had been prepared.
“Huu…”
Once Jester left, I tilted my head back and stared blankly at the greenhouse ceiling, trying to reclaim a measure of composure. We each took a moment to gather our feelings.
“…Lord Victor.”
“Yes.”
“I am in love with you.”
The words she had been holding in her heart all this time finally spilled out, thick with emotion.
“I like you so very much. Even now, just looking at you makes me happy.”
“…”
“If you weren’t here, I…”
“Cecilia.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“…”
“So I thought keeping my distance was the right thing to do.”
“Is… that so.”
Cecilia lowered her head at my words.
“…But I… even if I get hurt… I want to be with the person I… the person I love…”
“Because I love you, I wanted even more for you to live happily somewhere safe, with someone better than a man like me.”
“Did you truly think that was possible?”
Cecilia glared at me with the faintest hint of anger. A blue haze shimmered behind her—proof that her emotions were running high.
“At first, yes. But not anymore.”
“Then tell me.”
She was waiting for my words. She had laid everything bare for me. Then I had to answer her in kind—with the words and feelings I had been hiding.
“I… like you.”
“…”
“I know it’s selfish. Because of the duties I carry, I might wound your heart. But still.”
Even so—
“I like you. Right this moment I want to pull you into my arms and whisper that I love you against your ear.”
“Then do it.”
“…”
“Victor.”
Moonlight poured through the greenhouse glass and settled over Cecilia Roeyental. Her beautiful, gleaming purple eyes were fixed on me. I reached out, took her by the shoulders, and—
“Ah.”
—pulled her straight into my arms. Soft and delicate, yet warm. The scent of greenhouse greenery and medicinal herbs clinging to her filled my head and made it spin. Nestled against my chest, Cecilia looked up at me with those purple eyes. Warmth radiated from the hands that had slipped around my shoulders.
“I love you.”
“…”
“Cecilia, I love you.”
“…”
“I don’t want to lose you. I want to love only you for the rest of my life.”
“Me too.”
As if answering me, Cecilia lifted a hand and gently stroked my cheek.
“I only want to look at you. When the long night ends and morning comes, I want the person beside me to always be you.”
“Yes…”
“Forever looking only at me, fretting over me.”
“…”
“And I will look only at you, fretting over you.”
I tightened my arms around her, terrified of letting her slip away.
“That will never happen. Absolutely never.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
“Victor.”
“Yes, Cecilia.”
“Our contract ends here.”
“Yes.”
“Let’s make a new one.”
“Tell me.”
Cecilia slipped free of my arms for a moment, then settled onto my lap and wound both arms around my neck.
“A contract to love each other for life.”
“Of course.”
“A contract to share each other’s sorrows.”
“Yes.”
“A contract to never let go of the hands we’ve joined.”
“Yes.”
“Will you promise me?”
“Yes. I promise.”
I lowered my head until my forehead rested against her pure white brow. Close enough that our noses nearly brushed. Cecilia’s moonlight-filled purple eyes filled my entire vision. Her lashes trembled ever so slightly.
“…Ah.”
A soft sigh escaped her, and then Cecilia whispered against me.
“Don’t carry everything alone anymore.”
“…”
Those steady eyes declared that the words held not a single speck of falsehood. She was so lovable—so unbearably lovable—that I brushed her bangs aside and pressed a light kiss to her snow-white forehead.
“Ah… aah… ah…”
“Haha.”
The sight of her face turning scarlet made a laugh slip out before I could stop it. She puffed out her cheeks in a tiny pout and thumped my chest with her small, clenched fist.