CHAPTER 92………………………..
As soon as the spirits entered the bedroom, they rolled around on the bed, chattering lazily.
— Hey, guys, about that picture Piace drew. It’s not precognition, right?
— How could a five-year-old even know what an engagement is? Unless she saw it somewhere, that’d be hard to draw, wouldn’t it?
— So you’re saying that kid saw the future and drew it exactly like that? Gnome, what do you think? What? You’re asking what an engagement is? It’s basically marking your territory—saying, “From now on, this one only pairs with me, so hands off.”
— Ugh, why are you so animalistic? Gnome, that’s not it. Engagement is a ritual unique to humans, a promise to marry. Isn’t that just romantic?
— How about we make a bet instead of arguing? Loser has to treat the winner as “big brother.” Sound good? I’m betting it’s precognition.
— Ooh! That sounds fun! I’ll bet on precognition too!
— Yeah, it really seems like precognition… Gnome, huh? You think so too?
— (Nods)
— Aww, that ruins the bet… Lian, what about you? It’s 4 to 0 so far.
“…”
Are they teasing me right now? I’m anxious enough as it is.
I’d been lying on the bed, biting my lip, when I suddenly sat up.
— Whoa! You scared me, Lian, what’s wrong?
“Even if it is precognition, I don’t care. The future can be changed.”
— If the future changes that easily, what’s the point of having foresight?
“Why do you think God gave Piace that power? It’s to warn her of danger ahead so she can avoid it.”
— Huh, that makes sense. So you’re saying it’s not about the contract? Fine, if you lose, you have to call us ‘big brother.’ Got it?
It’s not that it might not be true—it must not be true.
If Leonhart and I actually got engaged, I might just shrivel up and die.
“He’d make my life miserable. Ugh, just imagining it tires me out.”
Honestly, I didn’t want to be engaged to someone who despised me that much.
“Every time the word ‘engagement’ comes up, he stiffens up, and now he says he doesn’t hate me as much as before? Hah! He sure talks pretty.”
Of course, the other candidates didn’t exactly like me either.
But at least they genuinely wanted to be engaged with me.
“I have feelings too, you know…”
I drew my knees up to my chest and rested my face on them.
I felt strangely melancholy.
— Lian, are you going to see Piace later?
— Today’s the last day before she turns back into a spirit beast, so you should probably see her.
— That kid’s usually dead asleep at this hour. Why bother going? Let’s just play tag instead. Gnome, you’re in, right?
— (Nods)
— I’m sick of tag. Let’s play slap cards today.
— Hah, my specialty. I’m in.
— Sylph, if you blow your cards away with wind again, I’m burning all of yours. Gnome, keep an eye on her this time. Don’t doze off like last time, got it?
— (Nods hard!)
The spirits pulled some cards out from under the bed—they’d hidden them there after playing once before.
My enemies… no, my friends. They never gave me a chance to be sad.
“You guys start without me. I’ll just check if Piace is asleep.”
— Really? Okay, come back quick!
Ding, ding, ding…
The grandfather clock struck midnight.
I transformed into a small black bird and nudged the curtain aside with my beak.
New moon.
The sky was pitch-black. Not even the moon was visible.
Leonhart lay on his bed, then quietly got up.
Moving silently, he stepped out onto the terrace. The darkness was deep.
Adrian’s bedroom was dark again tonight.
She always went to bed before midnight, so by now…
“She must be asleep.”
Leonhart carefully scanned the area around Adrian’s room, then let out a dry laugh.
The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
“When did I ever say I wanted to get engaged?”
She was the one who boldly declared she’d get engaged first—even after saying he wasn’t her type.
“At this point, isn’t she the one who dislikes me more?”
To be honest, every time she hinted that she’d given up on him, he felt an odd sense of displeasure.
He didn’t know why. Just hearing the word engagement made something twist inside him.
“Why’s she so desperate to get engaged to some worthless guy? She said she wouldn’t take me even if I were free.”
Lately, though, he’d found himself silently impressed by her more than once.
Adrian wasn’t the same person she used to be.
Without anyone asking her, she devised devices to protect wild animals and even thought about how to use them for humans.
And yet, she never bragged or asked for anything in return.
He’d been watching closely—her actions weren’t calculated.
She genuinely worried about the missing child and even touched the trash with her bare hands.
Things the old Adrian would never have done, not in a thousand years.
“Digging through garbage barehanded… what kind of noblewoman does that?”
It was amazing how much a person could change. These days, compared to her old self, she looked like a devil who’d repented.
He suspected that her bond with the spirit sword and her experience in the underworld had opened her eyes to something…
“Only she knows the truth.”
Whatever the reason, Leonhart couldn’t see her the same way anymore.
Now, what once seemed like hypocrisy was starting to make sense.
The truth was absurdly simple—she was kindhearted.
She scolded Lucpel, but quietly looked after his health.
She got angry when Owen served her, saying it made her uncomfortable, yet she never truly rejected his help.
When a child wet her dress in embarrassment, Adrian had been the first to wrap her in a cloak.
That was just how she was.
It was only her cold tone that hid it.
“She’s not used to being warm to others, so it comes out awkwardly cold instead.”
How could anyone hate someone like that?
That’s why Lucpel and Owen never took her words seriously—they knew she didn’t mean them.
And besides, wasn’t she the only one who could save Adela’s soul trapped in the underworld?
“You’ve grown strong… You really were the hidden card.”
When he heard Adrian say those words—the same ones Adela once said—it made his heart race uncontrollably.
And it confused him.
Was he moved because he heard Adela’s words again, or because Adrian was the one who said them?
Yeah, saying she wasn’t as hateful as before was a lie.
Leonhart had come to feel a genuine fondness for Adrian—as a person.
So of course, it irritated him to hear her talk about getting engaged to some random man.
“Who the hell is Dig Byten?”
The name didn’t ring a bell—definitely some nobody.
What kind of man still went by “Sir” at his age? He didn’t even have a title.
Why on earth would she want to get engaged to someone like that, with no one forcing her?
“If I don’t get engaged soon, Your Highness will be the one in trouble. Why are you so relaxed?”
At the time, he brushed it off by saying it was “a political matter,” but truthfully, he’d wanted to say something else.
“I don’t want you getting engaged to just anyone.”
What did she have to gain from that kind of man?
Adrian didn’t need to do that.
Of course, he knew the Emperor was pushing for their engagement.
And yes, he knew that, as she said, getting engaged might be her only way out of the current situation.
But still, it didn’t sit right with him.
He had despised her once—loathed her so much that even hearing her name made his skin crawl.
But lately, she’d changed. Truly changed.
Leonhart genuinely wanted her to end up with someone worthy.
“If she’s going to break it off later anyway… then she might as well get engaged to me—”
He muttered the words idly, then froze.
“…What did I just say?”
He stood still like a statue, hand over his mouth.
His heart pounded wildly, and his face flushed hot.
He couldn’t believe what he’d just said.
Sure, he had some fondness for Adrian—but never as a woman.
His heart belonged entirely to Adela.
Leonhart wasn’t a man who could split his feelings between two people.
So why did those words slip out?
“Must be the night… making me sentimental.”
He brushed it off as nonsense and ran a hand through his hair.
At that moment, the terrace window of Adrian’s room quietly slid open.
“Adrian? But she should be asleep…”
Leonhart vaulted over the railing in a swift, silent motion.
Landing soundlessly on Adrian’s terrace, he pressed his back against the wall.
He was just about to peek inside when something familiar popped out through the small gap in the window.
“…Della?”
A crow turned its head sharply and looked up at him.
Its amethyst-red eyes grew wide as saucers.
“What are you doing there?”*
