CHAPTER 144……………………………..
“What are you still doing that for?”
Chloe leaned her face close and smirked, telling her to at least try making a frustrated expression.
If she could, she would have grabbed her head and shaken it until every expression was twisted, but even that wouldn’t have been enough.
“No wonder I thought there must have been a reason you refused when I made the suggestion.”
“You made a suggestion to the Captain?”
“Yeah. And you didn’t even pretend to listen calmly—so I figured you must have already sealed the deal.”
“…I see.”
So that was it.
Chloe laughed freely at Adel’s muttered words.
It wasn’t exactly the reaction she had wanted, but having her dazed and distracted like this wasn’t so bad either.
Her messy hair got even more disheveled every time she laughed and fell backward.
“I was worried for nothing, thinking that someone who had been locked in the palace until over ten years old couldn’t possibly know much about the world. I didn’t realize you were so meticulous.”
“Is that funny?”
“What?”
“That a child was locked inside the palace?”
Chloe frowned at Adel’s expressionless words.
Seeing that Adel’s point of anger was different from hers, she shook her head in disbelief.
“You’ve really fallen hard for this, haven’t you? Well, I suppose it wouldn’t have been pleasant to be deceived by the crown prince you trusted completely, but to be so infatuated… If you still don’t understand, should I explain again?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
“……”
“Balrog. Come here.”
Ignoring Chloe’s passionate speech, Adel withdrew her hand from the chair and slowly extended it toward Balrog. When Balrog emerged from the bushes, letting out soft grunts, she offered the slightest smile.
“I don’t know about my husband’s story, but if this really is a dragon, there’s no need for anyone to explain it.”
“What are you doing right now?!”
“A true dragon does nothing it can’t for the master it’s bonded to, right?”
Placing her hand on Balrog’s red head, Adel looked at Chloe with a quiet, thankful gaze.
Chloe stepped back in sudden anxiety, but Adel’s lips were already at Balrog’s ear.
“Bite, Balrog.”
If this were a fairy tale with dragons, an adventure would be essential.
And among those adventures, the scenes where the dragon spews massive fire and spreads huge wings to defeat enemies were the very highlight.
“Not the torso, Balrog. It would be a waste if it died all at once.”
Screech!
“Take it bite by bite. Chew slowly and thoroughly.”
Adel gently nudged Balrog with an encouraging touch.
With the easiest way to test what she said right in front of them, there was no need to get angry or scream.
“Wh-what are you doing… aaahhh!”
…Grrr.
And unfortunately, it seemed Chloe’s words were true.
As soon as Adel gave the command, the spikes that had been growing along Balrog’s body sharpened.
Since it wasn’t fully grown, it didn’t breathe fire, but it was certainly threatening enough to swallow a person whole.
“G-get away! Someone help! Aaahhh!”
Even as Chloe fell screaming, Adel didn’t even smile. The sadness in her eyes, quietly watching Balrog, was unmistakable.
But the way she bit her lips tightly revealed a strong determination not to look away from reality.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Rrrgh, rrrrgh!
With blood smeared on its mouth, Balrog looked convincingly dangerous.
Behind Chloe, clutching her bitten arm and screaming, other figures finally appeared.
“Are you alright, sister-in-law… ah!”
“Adel!”
Aaron arrived first, but Killian quickly overtook him.
Moving at a terrifying speed hardly human, Killian reached Adel and embraced her.
“Adel!”
“……”
Seeing Adel quietly staring at him without a word made Killian’s chest tighten.
Aaron, a step too late, sighed at the rare sight before him.
A woman sprawled among torn bushes and scattered blood.
A cold, overwhelming woman silently watching her.
“Uh, sister-in-law.”
It was blood—but not Aaron’s sister-in-law’s—and though relieved, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had touched something wrong.
Chloe reached out as if asking for help, and Aaron quickly extended a hand.
“Please, save me! Your Highness! This cruel woman—she’s—”
“Take your hand away!”
Aaron shook her off, as if ridding himself of all attachment, and Chloe shook her head in disbelief.
Ignoring the pain from her bitten arm, she glared at Adel as if she wanted to kill her.
“This is all your fault! Your fault!”
“Hah…”
Aaron frowned, having seen the depths of her, but his attention was inevitably drawn to the revealed Balrog.
A sacred being he had never seen before.
He approached Adel, clearly Balrog’s master, far more impressive than he had imagined.
“Are you really alright…?”
“Excuse me, could you step aside for a moment?”
At that moment, Adel cut off Aaron.
“…Pardon?”
“There’s something I need to ask him.”
Adel looked at Aaron over Killian’s shoulder, who was holding her. Her expression was difficult to describe in words, and Aaron had no choice but to nod and step back.
Chloe didn’t need to be dragged out—she had already fled on her own.
“Phew.”
As the greenhouse door closed, Killian exhaled the breath he had been holding.
He wanted to hold her tightly but feared pressing too hard and breaking her.
“Adel, are you really alright? Your face is like this—”
“…Captain.”
Adel, quietly looking in the direction Aaron had gone, turned to Killian slowly at his urging.
Her expression was impassive, like a statue, despite the burning distress in him.
Killian reached out and rubbed her cheek, helpless against his own frustration.
“Madam, you should come inside and rest. I have something to tell you as well.”
“I have a question too.”
“……”
“Is our Balrog really a Red Dragon?”
Her unusually quiet voice echoed through the glass garden.
Even as Killian’s lips tightened, Adel only blinked, unaware of why she made such a face herself.
“I want to hear it from you. So please answer me.”
“……”
“Did you know Balrog’s identity from the start?”
She had more pressing questions but chose to remain silent. The atmosphere was different from the last time he had revealed he was the crown prince.
“Did Your Highness need Balrog?”
“Adel.”
“…I see.”
Adel smiled faintly, brushing her hair from her cheek.
But instead of soft hair, she felt wet warmth streaming down.
“……”
Her mind went blank, all thoughts fading.
What is this?
The heat against her fingers felt foreign, almost as if it didn’t belong to her. Adel blinked at Killian in confusion, and he cupped her cheek with a worried expression.
“Adel, please… don’t cry.”
“Cry? You mean I’m shedding tears?”
It made no sense.
She was pale, as if too exhausted even to shake her head, like someone wounded but unaware, feeling another’s blood instead.
Drop.
A clear tear fell at her feet. Adel wiped her eyes repeatedly, but it did no good—the pain didn’t vanish just because she confirmed it was hers.
“Ah… I see. So this is what it feels like.”
“Adel.”
“I didn’t know… it’s been so long.”
Adel leaned against a large tree, needing something to hold onto or she would drown in her own tears.
Seeing her barely holding herself together made Killian’s heart ache.
“Adel. I’ll explain everything.”
“Did I seem ridiculous to you?”
Finally, she spoke words she had tried not to say.
Biting her numb lips, she gave a faint smile and slowly looked at Killian.
“To plead for marriage from someone hiding their identity… to pretend not to know Your Highness’s status… to struggle so much, yet always be ready to forgive when you turn back.”
Her silent crying grew more intense.
Uncontrollable tears, a heart shattering into pieces she couldn’t express, brought more pain than words could convey.
“I tried to be with you again in any way I could, making excuses, waiting, and waiting some more.”
“Adel.”
“Who else is as foolish as me?”
Tears hanging from her tightly pressed lips, Adel stepped back further.
Her pale face smiled at him, painfully beautiful in its sadness.
“You liked me, didn’t you?”
The relief: she didn’t deny the time and feelings they had shared.
And yet, that made it all the more tragic.
“As a woman, as a contract partner, Captain—you liked me.”
“……”
“Knowing that we both understood… I thought I knew your heart well enough even without a confession.”
Her heart felt like dry, cracked soil. Not a drop of moisture left.
Unable to bear Adel’s lonely, desperate smile, Killian grabbed her again.
“Adel, you are my everything.”
“……”
“From the start until now, not a single moment has been otherwise.”
His voice grew desperate, as if losing her now meant never being able to hold her again. Golden vines wrapped around their hands, but not tightly enough to restrain her like before.
“Ah…”
The mark left on her pale skin, red like a wound at even the lightest touch, was different from last time.
Adel simply observed it without a sound.
When Killian recoiled, the glowing vines that had no place to touch circled her desperately before disappearing.
In that unbelievable midsummer night’s dream, Adel’s laugh felt hollow.
“Even now… I liked this.”
Because it felt as if she belonged to him, a tie that could never break. She had checked her arms in sleep to confirm it.
Even without intending to, the bond that could not be broken gave her a sense of security.
“Adel, I—”
“I liked you, Captain.”
“……”
“More than you could know, far more.”
It wasn’t light enough to say casually, but if not now, there might be no other chance.
Her eyes burned with heat, but she didn’t look away.
“But even that, I think, was an illusion.”
“What do you mean?”
Every sweet word from her red lips wrapped around him like a curse.
How could “I liked you” sound so terrifying and despairing?
“I said, what do you mean?”
“If our Balrog can save Your Highness’s fate and lift the curse, it would be wonderful—it must be. But I am not happy.”
Adel’s pained gesture separated them.
At least the tears blurred his vision, a small mercy.
“Perhaps, as I wished… our feelings weren’t that deep.”
“That’s impossible. Adel, no. You alone have always been…”
Crash.
As Killian reached for her, the greenhouse door shattered loudly.
Balrog at the door didn’t growl, so it must be someone familiar.
“Sis!”
Of course. Kaiden shouted. His steps shook the remaining glass, clearly finding her instantly.
“Why here? That beast… and this human…”
“Kaiden.”
Kaiden stopped abruptly when he saw Adel’s tears. No further explanation was needed; seeing his sister cry for the first time sufficed.
“…What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Her sad eyes turned to Kaiden from Killian.
It really was nothing.
Her voice, almost a wish, was calm.
“So there’s no need to be angry. Come here.”
“Sis!”
“Could you take me to my room? It’s hard right now. Can you do that?”
She never refuses what she asks for. Yet, doing nothing else would let the tears and heat consume her.
When Adel extended her hand, Kaiden lifted her effortlessly, suppressing his boiling blood.
“…Adel!”
“Don’t worry. I know well what remains between us.”
Her firm voice stopped Killian from interfering.
Even facing his misplaced anger and helplessness, she only smiled faintly.
“A contract is a contract.”
“……”
Let’s go.
Adel tugged Kaiden’s clothing, hiding her face in his chest.
Exhausted beyond opening her eyes, her hands trembling over her abdomen as if protecting something.
