The Lady Only Deals With the Real Ones - Chapter 202

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

*

The Princess, who had been walking around the Etewyrn Manor that had been emptied by a round of confiscation and search, sat down in the chair of the Cardinal’s Office.

“I was always curious. What would Etewirn’s office look like, the room Mother used before marriage.”

Tap. Tap.

Ailren looked not at the Princess’s face, but at her hands.

The movement of her hand, which had been tapping the stack of documents on the desk like playing music, suddenly stopped abruptly.

Her white, smooth hand picked up a hip flask and tilted it. The sound of liquid going down her throat could be heard. Gulp, gulp.

“But there’s nothing special about it. Right?”

Her voice, not just calm but innocent, sounded somehow distant.

Ailren couldn’t answer. Instead, he recalled what had happened at the Regent King’s Palace a few hours ago, which had been the cause of the confiscation and search.

*

“Ugh, ugh, uaaaah-!”

Ailren, who had been standing still while pondering Elisha’s words, ran toward Crodil’s screaming voice.

It wasn’t out of surprise, nor to protect him.

He intended to push away his knights who might have put a sword to Crodil’s throat ahead of him out of concern for the Empire, and take the blame upon himself.

However, the scene inside the room he faced after bursting open the door was far from Ailren’s expectations.

“This, this is a dream. This is a dream.”

“If you want to believe that, I won’t stop you.”

“How could you, how could you do this…!”

“Are you curious about that? Rather than that, I think you should be more curious about what I’m going to do to you from now on.”

In front of Crodil, who was sitting collapsed without even realizing that Ailren had entered, was Eivor.

With his neck severed as it was. Floating in mid-air.

“Didn’t we make a contract? Didn’t you swear? You cannot harm me!”

Crodil shouted.

“Ah, the contract. What was it again…”

“‘The mage will cooperate to the maximum for achieving the contractor’s purpose, and when the contractor is finally satisfied, they will grant one small request from the mage’! Don’t you remember!”

The severed head laughed.

“I remember, of course. You weren’t reassured even with words that could be interpreted however you liked, such as ‘personal satisfaction,’ so you attached clause after clause.”

The familiar ‘contract’ appeared before their eyes.

[Contract]

[1. The mage cannot lie to the contractor.]

[2. The mage cannot reveal the contract contents and the contractor’s ‘purpose’ to anyone.]

[3. The mage cannot modify or terminate the contract under any circumstances without the contractor’s consent.]

[4. The mage can never harm the contractor.]

“But you see.”

The severed head laughed again.

“As you can see, the mage ‘Eivor’ is dead. And by the contractor’s hand, no less. How can a dead person fulfill a contract?”

“What…!”

“So if you had the contract in mind, you should have kept me alive. How can a contract be valid when one party is dead?”

As if to show off, the severed head spun around in place. It was an incongruously cheerful movement.

Crodil backed away with a pale face, stumbling, and finally struggled desperately.

“You, you may be dead, but I’m still alive!”

Even the shameless Crodil couldn’t bring himself to claim that the mage he had killed, leaving only the head, was still alive.

Or perhaps his mind was half-paralyzed, overwhelmed by this bizarre scene.

“That, that’s right. If you could have harmed me, you would have done so long ago. But since you can’t, you’re trying to threaten me with such petty tricks! You’re trying to make me say with my own mouth that the contract is terminated, because even in death you can’t terminate it!”

Crodil, speaking desperately, was gradually becoming intoxicated by his own unreasonable argument.

He shouted with flashing eyes.

“This unbreakable contract is still valid! Because I have never been satisfied with you!”

It was a voice loud enough to echo.

The severed head looked at him quietly.

“Is that so.”

A sneer fell.

“Then I’ll make you ‘satisfied.'”

“…What did you say?”

“You said it’s still valid, the contract. I’ll do as you wish.”

“Wait, wait-!”

Along with a cruelly gentle voice, Crodil’s limbs began to stiffen as if caught by something.

He seemed about to scream, but whether his tongue was also caught, he couldn’t make any sound.

It was when rough breathing and terrified sobbing filled the entire room.

Crodil, rolling his only free eyes, made eye contact with Ailren.

The eyes that had been colored with fear suddenly found light. It was when his wide-open eyes desperately begged for salvation.

“How happy were you when your sister the Empress, whom you had never once defeated, died suddenly, Crodil.”

The light went out.

“How ecstatic were you when you saw your nephew wailing at the funeral, when you saw the Emperor, your dead sister’s husband, suffering and his heart breaking? But that was only temporary.”

The severed head whispered most kindly to the dazed-eyed Crodil.

“You’re someone who couldn’t be satisfied with just your jealous sister’s grave. That’s why you summoned me, isn’t that right?”

Crodil’s eyelids convulsed madly. He seemed to be trying to resist.

“So what did you do?”

But it was impossible.

Crodil’s eyes darkened, and his tongue moved dully.

“A year ago, when the Emperor left for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and handed over the Regent King’s crown to me, I…”

What came from his tongue was all of his past actions.

Crodil confessed everything about what he had done to seize the Empire, how he had drawn in nobles, embezzled slush funds, and harmed those who got in his way.

“Good. Now it’s time to review the contract.”

The severed head, which had been looking down at him like a god, continued speaking.

“I have never lied according to Article 1. I haven’t modified or terminated the contract according to Article 3.”

The head spun around backward.

“I haven’t harmed you according to Article 4. What harmed you was your tongue that revealed the purpose and contents of the contract, unlike me who kept Article 2, and.”

The severed head slowly approached Ailren as it spoke.

“Your past transgressions.”

“Ah, ah…”

“Now, please evaluate. How was the contract? Was the mage ‘Eivor’ a good contract partner?”

A single tear flowed down from under Crodil’s upturned eyes.

“It was… perfect. Unlike… me…”

[Contract]

The contract was torn apart.

Looking at the frozen Ailren, the head smiled eerily.

“You needed evidence equivalent to a confession, right? So I’m giving it to you. That very ‘confession.'”

Even after his eye color changed again, Crodil continued to recite his crimes like a broken machine.

The head that had given a look nailed it down.

“I kept my promise.”

“…”

“Let’s see if you can keep your oath.”

And then, thud, it fell.

Watching the head roll away, Ailren realized he hadn’t even been breathing.

The sound of people’s footsteps could be heard.

“C-Captain? What on earth is happening here…?”

The knights and guards who arrived late were left speechless seeing Crodil confessing his sins and begging for forgiveness to thin air.

No one could grasp what situation this was. They waited for Ailren’s words with half-terrified faces.

“Crodil Etewyrn has abandoned his responsibility as Regent to protect the Empire and rule justly, betraying our trust.”

“You mean…!”

“The criminal has confessed to all his crimes. Arrest him immediately.”

The man who had been so arrogant just hours ago was now incoherently confessing his evil deeds as if he’d lost his mind, or as if he’d become a different person.

Anyone could see it was strange. It even looked bizarre.

However, since the Captain of the Royal Knights, who would choose to break rather than bend, had declared it a ‘confession,’ all doubts were instantly erased.

The knights handcuffed Crodil as if they had never been afraid.

Words like ‘finally’ and ‘thank goodness’ were whispered low along with the criminal’s confession. Crodil and the knights left, and the door closed.

Ailren was left alone with the mage’s head that had rolled into a corner where no one could see it.

Ailren’s feigned composure, which had served as a beacon for others, finally crumbled.

“…Oh God.”

How am I to understand this? What do You wish from this?

Ailren sighed.

But there was no one to give him an answer.

*

“Is it because Uncle changed the office to his liking?”

At some point, the Princess would only drink liquids from her hip flask.

Being selective about food and drinks out of concern for political enemies’ schemes was common among royalty, but she no longer had any political enemies.

Did the Princess still have fear remaining, or was it just habit?

Or was there another reason?

“Or were my expectations of Mother too high?”

But Radeyan cannot ask. Asking is Presrife’s role.

“But Count Ailren, why did you follow me?”

“To fulfill my duties as Captain of the Royal Knights.”

“Really?”

Ailren, who had been answering, raised his head.

“If that were the purpose, shouldn’t you have gone to His Majesty, who is descending the steep Mount Cartan unconscious, rather than to me?”

The Princess, who had been speaking casually, rested her chin on her hand.

“But the fact that you sent the Vice-Captain to that mountain and followed me instead—were you perhaps disappointed in His Majesty? Because His Majesty seemed to distrust the Royal Knights by not informing even you of his destination and arranging separate guards?”

“That is not the case. Please retract your words.”

“If not that, do I look like a patient who needs support because even taking a step or two is burdensome?”

“That is also not the case, Your Highness.”

“If not that either.”

The Princess’s green eyes stared at Ailren.

“Is it that what you actually want to protect isn’t me, but the person I’m about to meet?”

A suffocating stare continued.

“…Your Highness, I am.”

It was when Ailren was about to continue speaking.

The Princess, who had cut off his words with a gesture, smiled.

“I’m joking. There’s no way Count Ailren would do such a thing.”

“…”

“You’re someone who could literally do ‘anything’ for Presrife. As long as I am Presrife, there’s no way you would prioritize anything else over me.”

In the past, it would have sounded like praise. Because it acknowledged his loyalty.

However, today’s Ailren, who had no choice but to keep his mouth shut even after seeing a floating head, felt a strange sense of powerlessness from those words.

Documents were thrust before his eyes.

“These seem to be documents Uncle failed to conceal. Would you like to take them?”

They were the documents the Princess had been tapping with her fingertips.

As Ailren received the thick file, he heard knocking at the door.

Suddenly, the Princess’s expression brightened.

“Come in!”

There was only one person the Princess would welcome like this, but Ailren rather hoped it wouldn’t be ‘that person.’

However, the door opened, and,

“Greetings, Your Majesty Katarina, the Regent King.”

Elisha’s voice pierced straight into his ears.

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