Crowning My Feral Prince - Ch 9

She shifted her gaze to Leone.

“Leone. I don’t like this either.”

“Ugh, ugh… Le… Huh, ugh…”

Tears fell from Leone’s eyes.

“I’ll get rid of this for you.”

She held up the hideous weapon in front of him. His frightened face was pale and blue.

“Gourden. What are you doing? Stop her!”

“Ha, just take a look. Adler, I ask you too.”

“Damn it. Stay sober. Please!”

Adler couldn’t move, and Gourden stayed still. So throwing a club out the front door and disposing of it was quick and easy.

“Leone.”

“… Hmm.”

“It’s not here anymore. I let it out the door. I won’t let them bring it back.”

Leone’s eyes widened as she stopped struggling a little calmly. Tears fell from his eyes once more. Somehow, she felt like she was going to cry too.

She learned fear and endless helplessness in that world. Every day she heard a rant from Jamie and spent the night alone in an old house where she was terrified. As he ignored her, she was too helpless. Could she live well in the future? Why didn’t she know how to do anything? She was too small, and the world around her was too huge and cruel.

So she could understand Leone’s feelings. How daunting and breathless was to barely protect the small world in front of him while hurting someone. How hard has he done to live?

“Leone. Don’t worry.”

“Great… Le.”

A light returned to his dazed eyes.

She sat on the floor to be eye level with him. Leone was weighed down by Adler, so she had to lower her back quite a bit.

“Good.”

She reached out, wanting to hold Leone’s hand. His red, swollen skin looked sore from hitting his armor. In particular, the back of his hand was injured a lot because he was overpowered every time he tried to scratch it.

“It must hurt…”

She stroked the back of his hand and spoke with her heart.

‘You’ve already smelled me, Leone. You know me. I’m not going to hurt you.’

As soon as an unfamiliar hand touched him, he squeezed and scratched her hand as if it were going to break. The look in his eyes seemed to scratch and tear her apart soon. It was scary. She could feel my pointed nails digging into my skin. It hurted, but still, that’s fine. It was much weaker than the strength that had broken her shoulders before. The whip just before hurted a lot.

She gently brushed his hand.

“Leone, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Kr……!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

She sincerely hoped that her temperature and pulse would spread to him, even though it was feeble, so he would be relieved.

‘I hope Leone doesn’t get sick.’

How nice it would be to run around excitedly, knowing that there are many fun things in the world like Deoksoon.

“I got rid of it, so don’t be scared.”

She hoped he could understand her words. She wouldn’t hurt him if he didn’t hurt her. She  wanted to tell him that there were clear skies there and that there would be many good things.

“Huh? Leone.”

What scared him so much was no more there. He nodded, making eye contact. Blood dripped from the wound on his hand and fell to the floor.

Leone stopped struggling.

“Close your eyes, sleep soundly, go for a morning walk when you wake up. When you come back, you can eat. Let’s see how pretty the world is.”

She raised her other hand and raised it over Leone’s eyes. So that darkness may fall. His breathing was unstable.

“It’s okay, Leone. You can relax.”

She moved closer and whispered. Repeating the same words over and over again. That way, Leone’s breathing, which had been unstable, slowed slowly. Fortunately, Adler and Gurden didn’t say a word. They just looked at her and Leone with widened eyes.

Their eyes seemed to pop out soon.

“… Whoo.”

A small breath was heard. Adler carefully released Leone’s body, which he was holding tightly. Leone did not attack. He just exhales steadily as if he was asleep.

“He was so excited, and then suddenly he calmed down, I think he fell asleep exhausted.”

“… That… It’s great.”

“I think you’d better move him to the bedroom first.”

She whispered in a calm voice. Adler’s face looked blank as he nodded. As the Empire’s greatest knight, Adler carried his overly tall lord casually and went up to the second floor.

“I’ll talk to you when I come back.”

She knew she couldn’t help it, but what she’d done to Leone must have made everything worse in the end. But what happened there was an act of violence and she wanted to stay and help Leone. She didn’t know if it was a good decision to stay here, but that’s how she felt.

After a while, Adler returned.

“Let’s rewrite the contract.”

For a moment, she thought he had read her mind.

“Let’s go into the study.”

By the time she realized so, Adler had already opened the study door and was waiting for her. So she followed him.

Adler offered her a seat and held out three papers in front of her. He scowled, and he looked straight in her eyes.

“Trixie, tell me now.”

“What?”

“You won’t leave this place, right?”

“Uh…”

“I understand why Gourden persisted so desperately… But I still don’t know what you’re doing and how you can do that magic.”

“It’s not magic.”

She tried to slap her hand saying it wasn’t that big, but Adler’s face was too serious.

“As you can see, it’s barely holding on. But we’re slowly reaching our limits. We need a new way. Help me. I will give thanks and treats to the fullest.”

“Oh, I didn’t…”

She opened her mouth to say that she wanted to work, but Adler hurriedly continued.

“Please listen before you refuse.”

“I’m not going to say…”

“The first time I came down to this villa was when Leone was thirteen years old. He’s eighteen now.”

He was adamant so she decided to listen to him and leaned back in her chair.

“Five years, that’s enough time for a child to become a man. At some point, we managed to hold on to Leone’s strength. Gourden was a beast breeder, so that’s what I’m getting.”

“So what is that club? What about the medicine?”

Adler sighed deeply. Fatigue appeared on his face as he rubbed his brow as if a headache was rushing in.

“He was seriously injured when he got entangled in Gourden’s club, which had been left unattended. Do you remember that time? He was intoxicated. We used tranquilizers because he often has nightmares. It can be hard on the body, so we use them as mildly as possible, but when he wakes up, he eventually becomes violent again.”

His face grew gloomy as he continued. He seemed to be doing it even though he knew it was bad.

“… You’ve suffered.”

Judging from what had happened earlier, Leone seemed to have fallen asleep on a tranquilizer without even trying. It was problematic that he had been experiencing the sensation of the world falling apart for so long. He wasn’t allowed time to mature, so he was like a thirteen-year-old kid who had grown up just his body.

“It was a long story and I got emotional, but I hope you understand.”

The problem was clear, but she couldn’t blame him. She couldn’t imagine the feeling of being trapped there for five years and despaired of the helpless situation that didn’t change. Probably all of these methods were best for Adler.

“It’s okay. How can a person always be cold.”

At her words, he smiled wryly. Adler picked up the first page of the paper and ran his finger over a few clauses.

“I’m not stupid enough to grab someone who was about to leave with nothing, so let me suggest what I just thought first.”

Adler smiled confidently.

“Do you know about the expungement of marriage vows?”

“Expungement of the record of marriage vows… What?”

She widened her eyes. In that world, divorce was sinful. Therefore, there was no divorce system. Married in love, the couple had to be faithful to each other forever.

“Are you saying that if it’s expunged, divorce is possible?”

“Yes.”

She clenched her fists and trembled. There was no such talk in the original novel.

“Such… Was there anything good like that?”

“Yes. And only I, no one else, can do this.”

Adler still had a confident face.

“This method is known only among the nobility, and only a few. It’s technically illegal, and it costs a lot of money.”

She was both surprised and angry. Those noble bastards…! Only thinking in themselves…!

“How much does it cost?”

“Twenty million gold.”

She was speechless at the sheer sum. It was an amount that even the nobles could not easily manage. His confident smile was understood. Adler not only had the means to spend twenty million gold, but he also had the power to do lawlessness and go unpunished.

“Where do you get that big money?”

“It’s that simple. It’s bribing the Grand Chancellor of the Yellow Castle. Wedding vows are entirely the remit of the temple, and we have to settle them there.”

“Haha. It’s an amazing way.”

Somehow, it was a little steamy. She thought it would come out in a great way, but religious ethics were useless in front of money in the end.

“I’m unhappy with those people being elevated to the position of High Minister, but… Usually, when you get that kind of money, you save the poor temples in the province, so you can think of it as a donation.”

The faithful imperial people were the best of the best, and most of the temples were always overflowing with donations, regardless of location. Even ‘that’ Jamie believed that God would lead my life, and brought money to the temple. But a poor temple? Without money? Old belief? It’s nonsense.

Who believed that? The words rose to the top of her throat, but she nodded without spitting it out. She didn’t have to ruin a believer’s faith!

“I’m going to ask the High Commissioner to expunge the record. Among the aristocracy, expungement is a way to avoid spending well, as there are already countless witnesses to weddings and the money is astronomical. I’d rather poison them.”

“But in my case, this is very appropriate. You can’t just go to your old village.”

Marriage records expunged. She was glad she didn’t tell him to sign first. Previously, the only way to escape Jamie was to change her identity with money and flee to a distant place. A married woman belonged to her husband, and she could have been helpless if Jamie found her and took her property. But it could be solved once and for all… Long live the money. Long live power.

“Instead, there are conditions.”

Well yes. There’s no way such a good offer wouldn’t stick to it.