Chapter : 55
How many people had I seen over the course of my life who let themselves get swept up in emotions like that and ended up ruining everything?
Compared to such unreliable feelings, a curse that had endured for several hundred years was a far more trustworthy restraint.
‘Even that curse has weakened with time, though.’
The Sun Mage had anticipated that as well and left behind a method to strengthen the curse.
Recalling the magical formula I had memorized, I looked up at Harten.
The two eyes that met mine were glowing more warmly than before.
‘If Harten said he wanted to lift the curse, I was planning to use that formula…’
Harten clumsily brushed my cheek and whispered,
“I’m sorry I made you come all this way. Something like this will never happen again.”
“……Then may I take the records the Sun Mage left behind?”
“Of course. I couldn’t really read what was written there in the first place.”
Harten nodded readily and lightly kissed my forehead.
“If there’s anything that can ease your anxiety, I want to do it. So don’t hide it—tell me whenever.”
‘Anxiety?’
Was I… anxious?
A beat later, my rational mind kicked in.
‘Now that I think about it… I was more restless than necessary.’
Objectively speaking, this wasn’t a time when I desperately needed Harten’s obsession.
Even if he lifted the curse and his fixation on me disappeared, I could handle it well enough.
‘At his core, Harten feels guilty toward me. Even if the curse is gone, we could easily maintain our relationship through an agreement.’
For example, a contract engagement—an engagement maintained for a fixed period.
After all, I had a firm grip on the Duke and Duchess’s weaknesses, so there was no risk of my funds drying up.
What I needed most right now was a solid identity as the fiancée of the Young Duke of Seind, and a stable position that would let me blend into high society.
‘Right. There was nothing to rush about… so why was I…?’
I…
Blinking rapidly, I buried my face in Harten’s chest once more.
I didn’t want to show him this confusion—one I couldn’t even understand myself.
After the brief commotion had settled,
Since we were already in the capital, I asked Harten to show me the resort electric vehicles he had developed.
The vehicles parked beneath the company building had been completed exactly according to the design I had commissioned.
Instead of the carriages commonly seen in the Empire, they had open sides, allowing passengers to fully take in the interior of the resort and the island scenery.
Seeing the electric cars lined up side by side lifted my mood.
‘Great. Securing convenient transportation across the massive resort grounds—done.’
Fortunately, developing the electric vehicles hadn’t been difficult or particularly expensive.
That was because Harten had already been looking into inventing “automobiles” as a new business venture.
‘Good timing.’
After placing protective magic on the vehicles, I drew a massive teleportation circle and sent them to Tadibna Island.
Watching this, Harten’s eyes sparkled.
“As expected of someone with the makings of a Grand Mage. Your skills improve every time I see you.”
After reading the Sun Mage’s records, Harten had learned that I possessed the talent of a Grand Mage.
Thanks to that, he wasn’t overly surprised even when I casually used high-level magic.
‘That part is convenient.’
After resolving the electric vehicle issue smoothly, we returned to the ducal estate.
As I stepped once more into the Seind residence in the capital under Harten’s escort, an interesting scene unfolded.
Unlike our visit earlier that afternoon, all the estate’s servants—including the butler and the head maid—were gathered together.
“Welcome back, Lady Nacelle. Young Duke.”
They even addressed me before Harten, greeting me with utmost respect.
Seeing this, Harten murmured in confusion,
“This is strange. Why does everyone look so frightened?”
Leisurely, I surveyed the servants gathered in the central lobby of the entrance hall.
They kept their heads bowed low, barely breathing, afraid to even meet my eyes.
At the sight, the corner of my lips lifted slightly.
‘Yes, this is what’s normal.’
The person they had mocked, oppressed, and tormented in the past had returned in triumph.
Any human would be terrified in this situation.
‘Especially since I immediately dismissed the maids who blocked my path.’
Desperately hoping the fallout wouldn’t reach them, they prostrated themselves before me.
Looking at the tightly disciplined servants, I spoke lazily,
“Well. Maybe they saw something scary~?”
Chuckling softly, I led Harten away from them.
Surely, among those servants were people other than the maids I dismissed today—people who had bullied Eani Nacelle.
But I didn’t bother dealing with them.
Not only would it be difficult to identify them all, but I hadn’t personally experienced their abuse.
‘If the real Eani Nacelle were here to punish them herself, that’d be another story~.’
After retrieving the Sun Mage’s records I had left in Harten’s study, the day ended peacefully.
The next morning,
I heard an interesting story from Celine, who was helping me get ready.
“Maybe because they saw you in person, Lady Eani? All the people who directly tormented you were plagued by nightmares and insomnia last night…!”
“Is that so?”
“They said it wasn’t just ordinary nightmares! They dreamed they suffered exactly what they’d done to you!”
“Hmmm~. I see.”
I replied casually, looking at Lere, who was dozing inside his cage.
Lere, who hadn’t been around all night as if he’d been busy somewhere, only returned to my side early in the morning.
He lowered his head heavily and slept without pause.
A faint trace of magical energy could be felt from him.
“They’re saying it was just one night of nightmares, but they’re in a frenzy trying to brush it off.”
“I don’t think it’ll end as just one night.”
“Yes?”
I turned my gaze away from the cage and to the side.
There lay the records left behind by the Sun Mage.
‘When I returned to the estate from the railway company and opened that book again.’
On the page that had been left open was a curse formula that granted eternal nightmares to its targets.
And that day, Lere hadn’t followed me to Harten’s railway company.
‘And then, at this exact timing, only those who tormented the real Eani Nacelle had nightmares…’
“Was it a coincidence, or were they really punished?”
“Yes?”
I brushed off Celine’s question with a smile and packed my belongings, including the records.
I hadn’t brought much with me in the first place.
‘I never planned to stay in the capital long.’
With the resort opening just around the corner, this much distraction was more than enough.
After finishing preparations, I boarded the carriage headed for the station.
Naturally, Harten sat beside me.
“…I didn’t think we’d be going back this soon.”
Saying that, Harten fiddled gloomily with the paper in his hands.
Peeking over, I saw it was a checklist of famous tourist spots and date courses in the capital.
Celine had said Harten stayed up all night, too.
‘Goodness. So this is what he was making overnight.’
Piyo.
At some point, Lere had woken up. Seeing Harten and the checklist, he snorted mockingly.
Ignoring him, Harten looked at me with lingering regret.
Then, just for a moment, his gaze lingered on my lips.
Whoosh!
His face flushed bright red, and he sharply turned his head away.
“Ahem! Ahemhem!! Ahemhemhem!”
Watching Harten cough in a panic, I chuckled softly.
‘He kissed me first yesterday.’
Did all that courage disappear overnight~?
Looking at Harten’s bashful 모습, I spoke gently.
“Let’s try what’s written here next time, once the resort is fully settled.”
We’ll have plenty of time together in the future~.
At my words, Harten’s face brightened.
“Right. We’ll stay together.”
His voice, promising the future, was brimming with excitement.
Seeing that, a quiet sense of relief crept up from the corner of my heart.
‘I still don’t know why I tried to hold onto Harten more than necessary.’
But since I knew he wouldn’t change, I decided not to dwell on it.
‘If I stay by his side, I’ll gradually come to understand this feeling.’
As usual, we arrived at the station while flirting lightly, and I got off the carriage under Harten’s escort.
We had arrived just in time for the locomotive’s departure, so we headed straight toward the boarding gate.
It was then—
Piyo—.
Lere, who had been quietly preening his feathers in the cage, let out a small cry while staring at something.
Naturally, I turned my head in that direction as well—and my eyes met those of a man I had never seen before.
In that instant, I couldn’t take another step.
‘…Purple eyes?’
That couldn’t be.
In this world, violet eyes were a unique trait possessed only by direct members of the imperial royal family.
