I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 56

Drury’s handkerchief emitted a suffocatingly sweet fragrance.

‘How terrible.’

Just inhaling that artificial scent made his stomach turn.

Along with the sensation of his stomach twisting, cold sweat trickled down his spine.

Cassian bit his lips hard. Thanks to the sharp spreading pain, he could barely hold onto his sanity.

It wasn’t simply that the scent was terrible. It was a smell that seemed to stimulate some madness eating away at his heart.

An irrational fear struck him that if he let his guard down, he would surrender his body to some other being that wasn’t him.

Though he wanted to burn it immediately, Cassian pushed the handkerchief deep inside his armor.

There was something he needed to confirm.

Seeing how his body was having such a violent rejection reaction, this handkerchief was evidence he needed to keep, however reluctantly.

“Now then, let the Young Count join us in raising a toast. First, shall we clear away that disgusting corpse?”

“Your Highness, though it’s regrettable news before the joyous occasion of an engagement, this is a matter I must report to you right now.”

“…It seems you don’t remember my words that I would hear it when we’re alone. Do you not care about my dignity at all?”

Though Basili’s voice sharpened, Cassian didn’t back down and slowly surveyed the banquet hall.

From the major nobles of the West to the servants attending them. The banquet, expanded in scale to welcome the 1st Prince, was packed without room to step.

“This concerns the safety of the West. Since all the key figures happen to be gathered, I don’t want to miss this opportunity.”

There were no better conditions than this for rumors to spread.

“If you’re going to be like that… I should mention there’s one more serious matter to resolve before discussing the West’s safety.”

Basili pointed to Romi, who was trembling behind Damia.

“That maid seems to have stolen my fiancée’s ring. Of all things, an imperial heirloom I bestowed.”

“…An imperial heirloom, you say?”

Damia desperately shook her head as if pleading for her maid’s innocence.

But at Basili’s single word, the atmosphere in the banquet hall changed instantly.

The eyes that had been wary of demons began to blatantly look over the baronet’s daughter involved in theft.

‘So the strange atmosphere was because of this.’

Cassian let out a short sigh and hid Damia behind his back.

“Were you interrogating my fiancée because of that?”

“That’s right. How about we settle this matter first, then move outside to discuss that corpse?”

Basili clicked his tongue softly.

“With the Young Count, descendant of the dragon slayer, here, surely no great calamity would befall the West?”

“…”

“Besides, verifying whether that’s really a demon would take quite some time, wouldn’t it? On my fiancée’s coming-of-age ceremony, I can’t wrestle with that monstrosity all night.”

Basili shrugged as if making a very reasonable suggestion.

“Let’s conduct the investigation properly and formally later. We wouldn’t want the misunderstanding that you tried to inflate your achievements by deceiving us with a beast’s corpse as a demon. Isn’t that right, Young Count?”

He wrapped the insult that the Sarkis Ducal Family might make false reports to gain achievements in the guise of concern.

Cassian let out a snicker. The bloody smile that didn’t suit the situation made the atmosphere freeze instantly.

“Well. I never said it was a corpse.”

“…What?”

“I don’t think verification will take very long either. So let’s resolve this matter first.”

Cassian strode toward the sack he had left alone.

“Stay back, Damia.”

It was a terrible sight he didn’t want to show Damia, but it couldn’t be helped.

When he put his hand into the sack, a rough leather collar touched his fingertips.

The demon with bristled fur growled softly, but Cassian didn’t hesitate and pulled on the collar.

“Kuk, kueok!”

With bizarre breathing sounds, a wolf-type demon with its long black tongue hanging out was dragged out by his grip.

“…A wolf?”

“It wasn’t a corpse but a living demon?”

The banquet hall filled with screaming commotion.

Cassian yanked the collar to make the demon lift its head.

Its rolled-back eyes were red. A definite mark of being a demon.

“If you’re curious whether it’s really a demon or just a beast that lost its reason and went mad… how about someone volunteers to be bitten as a test?”

Cassian slowly surveyed the crowd as if looking for volunteers. Everyone just held their breath and stepped back, with no one coming forward.

Cassian grabbed the demon by the scruff and lifted it up.

The moment its muzzle approached his chest, a strange vitality returned to the dying demon’s pupils.

“Kyaaaak!”

The creature that seemed to have lost all strength suddenly bared its teeth and went berserk. It looked ready to tear into Cassian’s nape at any moment.

“Kyaak!”

“Young Count!”

Screams erupted from everywhere. Even amid that noisy chaos, only one voice clearly stuck in Cassian’s ears.

When he reflexively turned his head, Damia came into view.

She had an urgent expression as if she would rush to him at any moment.

At that moment, his heart lurched again.

‘No. Get a grip.’

There was no time to be shaken by strange confusion.

“Krrrr!”

Cassian threw down the violently resisting demon and pressed its neck down hard with his shoe heel as if crushing it.

The creature screamed and struggled, but it was useless.

‘Its strength suddenly returned.’

Cassian pressed firmly against his chest. He was certain the smell emanating from the handkerchief in his bosom had stimulated this monster.

“If this were a disturbance that could be suppressed in the West, I would have handled it as usual, but if demonization is contagious, wouldn’t the entire Empire be in danger?”

“…Contagious?”

Basili’s smooth cheek hardened stiffly.

“The demons at the Harden Border Region were completely different from before. Beasts bitten by them didn’t die from rotting wounds but instead had their eyes turn red and became violent.”

“You mean beasts transformed into demons?”

“Yes. Like a plague spreading.”

Even the leisurely Basili couldn’t respond for a long while.

The murmuring nobles covered their mouths instead of screaming, and even the servants standing like decorations near the walls widened their eyes in shock.

After the mad dragon’s death, with magic dispersed, demons rarely caused trouble.

The occasional demons that appeared were just beasts accidentally poisoned by magic pooled deep underground.

But contagious? It seemed like the past calamity when the mad dragon drove the continent to destruction was reviving.

“If you wish to test it, I can prove it as much as you want.”

Cassian’s aide Alec stepped forward carrying a sack covered in dirt.

The sack containing two or three live animals in case Basili found fault wriggled.

“…If it’s such a dangerous matter, why didn’t you hurry to His Majesty?”

Basili asked in a low, sunken voice.

“I heard rumors that Your Highness was staying in the West. While it would take me several days to reach the capital on horseback, don’t you have a faster method, Your Highness?”

“…You mean the Dragon Bone Gate.”

A massive arch that ancient mages, now vanished, carved from dragon bones in the early days of the Empire’s establishment.

The Dragon Bone Gate, with complex spells carved in gold, was a passage connecting the Empire’s capital to each stronghold.

Of course, not just anyone could pass through that gate. The spell was a powerful enchantment that would burn alive anyone not of imperial blood.

Being able to cross the Empire instantly, transcending spatial constraints, it was a powerful means of solidifying imperial authority.

They could easily monitor influential families and tighten their leashes.

“Since the matter is grave, we can’t delay any longer. I’ll immediately report this fact to His Majesty.”

Basili roughly swept up his blonde hair. Undisguisable irritation showed in his twisted lips.

Viscount Soro also reluctantly declared the banquet’s closure.

“Is, is it really ending like this?”

Drury, who had been standing dazed until now, began to pant.

“It’s my coming-of-age ceremony… it was supposed to be a day just for me!”

She cried out pitifully, but it was useless. Drury was forcibly dragged away by Viscount Soro’s hand.

“A coming-of-age ceremony plus an engagement announcement with His Highness the Prince… she must have been counting down the days. How unfortunate.”

“But what can we do when a demon has appeared?”

Those around sent pitying glances, but Drury’s eyes glaring at Damia weren’t pitiful at all.

Rather, she looked like a predator memorizing the location of its prey.

She silently moved her lips toward Damia.

Before Cassian could interpret what her lips were saying, the heavy doors of the banquet hall closed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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