<Episode 34>
“There’s… kind of a reason for all that,” Melody said weakly.
Her heart clenched at Deonis’s cold voice. He stared at her, calm but firm.
“No matter how much His Highness offers, I’ll pay more. How much do you want? Ten thousand gold coins?”
“W-what?!” Melody’s jaw dropped.
“Twenty thousand,” Ryan cut in sharply.
“Thirty,” Deonis answered without blinking.
“Forty!”
Melody glanced back and forth between them, eyes wide. Technically, this wasn’t a bad situation for her, but the heavy atmosphere made her want to run back to her workshop and bury herself in magic formulas. She just wanted someone to tell her the final number so she could sign something and escape.
Finally, Ryan snapped.
“You said yourself—there’s no comparing the palace to the Duke’s estate.”
“Does the palace even have that kind of money?” Deonis replied.
“You think I’m beneath you? Just because you have some far-off land?”
“Then fifty thousand,” Deonis said, still sounding casual.
“You forget who my father was?”
Melody blinked in realization.
Right—Deonis’s father was from House Theodel, one of the empire’s founding families. They owned all the jewel mines in Balcaras. There was even a famous story about gifting a sword made entirely of diamonds to Emperor Fiona.
Fifty thousand gold was more than enough to buy a small province. Ryan’s face twisted into something unreadable.
Melody had been holding her breath, hoping not to draw fire to herself. But now she couldn’t stay silent.
“Then… I’ll just continue working for the Duke. If that’s all, I’ll go back now—”
“Where are you going?”
Ryan grabbed her arm. Melody froze.
But then smack—his hand was forced off. Deonis had shoved him away.
“Looks like His Highness forgot my warning,” Deonis said, voice sharp and cold. “Don’t test my patience. Calling a priest might not be enough next time.”
“You insane mutt—how dare you threaten me?!”
“You barge into my house, demand I hand over my person—and expect me not to bite?”
Melody stared at him, stunned. My person, he’d said. Even in the novel, when Rohan betrayed him, Deonis had said he’d never thought of anyone as “his.” But now, he had called her that.
“All of this empire belongs to me,” Ryan growled.
“Not yet,” Deonis replied.
“Damn it…”
Ryan turned to Melody with eyes full of something new—desire. A burning need to take her from Deonis.
“Melody Liwood. Didn’t you beg me to meet you next week? I’ll allow it. You wouldn’t lie to royalty, would you?”
Melody had, in fact, begged him—anything to get him off her back. She couldn’t exactly refuse now.
“I remember, Your Highness,” she said quietly.
“Then I’ll see you next week.”
With that, Ryan turned and walked away.
Once he was gone, Deonis stumbled. He looked like he was barely holding himself together.
Melody rushed to support him.
“Seems like a lot happened while I was gone,” Deonis muttered as they walked through the corridor.
He’s… misunderstanding this, Melody thought nervously. He probably thought she’d betrayed him for money. She tried to explain.
“Your Grace, I like money—but I love magic tools even more. And besides, I have a contract. How could I work for the Crown Prince?”
He stopped walking and exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself. Then, without a word, he extended his hand so she could hold his wrist.
“Tell me… why did you say you’d become Ryan’s person?” he asked—not angry, just… hurt.
“Because he showed interest. I figured if I played along, he’d leave me alone until you came back. And it worked.”
“So if anyone shows interest, you’ll give yourself away like that?”
His voice turned harsher.
“No way! I’m valuable, you know. But he’s the Crown Prince—he only wants what he can’t have. So I acted like I was giving myself away.”
“He had interest. Real interest.”
“That’s only because he thought you cared about me. He probably assumed I was just some useless tool maker you were protecting out of pity.”
Deonis tilted his head slightly, studying her.
“But don’t worry,” Melody added. “He’ll lose interest soon. That always happens.”
Once Rihelyn appeared, all attention would shift. That would solve everything… well, mostly.
“So just pretend you don’t care about me for a little while,” she asked.
“I can’t.”
The answer came fast—and it surprised her.
When she looked up, his eyes were filled with something heavy, something lost.
“I try not to care. But I keep looking at you.”
He looked like someone who didn’t know what to do with his own heart. Melody couldn’t say anything back.
“…So you still want to keep seeing me?” he asked softly after a pause.
“For now,” she said, lifting her chin. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”
Her voice was full of confidence.
The rumor that the Duke and Crown Prince had nearly gone to war over the magic tool maker spread like wildfire among the Duke’s staff.
But for Melody, nothing had changed.
“This isn’t working…!”
She slammed the gem down and ran her hands through her hair.
She had used up every single stone, yet she still couldn’t figure out how to combine the magic core and sacred power properly. She wasn’t stuck completely—there had been some progress—but she hadn’t found a true solution.
“This is the last one I’ve got left…”
And even worse, the sacred energy stones were running out much faster than she’d expected.
Then again, if this had been easy, she wouldn’t have struggled so much in the novel.
“I just want to finish it… even one day sooner.”
The last blue gem slipped from her hand and rolled weakly across the desk.
“…How’s the Duke?” she asked.
Anna, who had been flipping through a spellbook nearby, shook her head.
“Still no change.”
Right after that argument, Deonis had collapsed—and three days had passed since, with no sign of him waking up.
Strangely, no one seemed especially shocked.
Apparently, even before Melody arrived, it wasn’t rare for Deonis to vanish for days at a time, overwhelmed by pain.
Learning that made her feel even more anxious.
“Now that he’s met Rihelyn… he’ll probably visit the temple more often.”
If things went the way they did in the novel, soon the sacred barrier would collapse, and monsters would pour into the lands in a massive disaster.
To fix it, the temple would launch a huge plan to reinforce all the barriers across the empire—and ask for Deonis’s help.
As part of that alliance, Deonis would set out on an expedition… alongside Rihelyn.
And that was how their relationship would begin to deepen.
