Chapter 31…………………………………………
“I really can’t tell you that.”
Crossing through the door was my absolute last resort. If anyone found out how I used it, I wouldn’t even be able to run away.
I stayed tense, afraid he might threaten me again—
but thankfully, he didn’t press further.
“Very well. Then let’s start with the potion.”
The Duke leaned back comfortably in his chair, ready to listen. I let out a quiet breath of relief.
“I was trying to trace the origin of this potion through the Sky Ark.”
He nodded, as if he already had some idea.
“And since I pointed out the missing piece, you must have found the source by now. Is that why you’re heading out on a subjugation soon?”
“Yes. The factory was located in Baron Daisen’s territory.”
“Daisen…?”
“A house known as one of Count Uveris’s most loyal vassals.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth in shock.
Only then did the puzzle begin to fit together.
The Duke of Northdian had been searching for the potion’s factory under imperial orders from the beginning.
And it seemed he had already suspected that Count Uveris’s family was involved.
‘But he said bringing me here was a separate matter…’
I looked into the Duke’s dark crimson eyes.
‘What does this man want from me?’
Unaware of my confusion, the Duke simply nodded.
“There are many more things I’d like to ask, but for now, I understand. At least I see clearly why you didn’t want to speak.”
I hesitated, then asked as he began to rise.
I didn’t want to torment myself with pointless imagination until the next time we met.
“What are you going to do with me now? Are you going to lock me up somewhere?”
He needed me as his partner in this contract marriage.
So at the very least, he wouldn’t kill me.
But that didn’t mean he had any reason to treat me humanely.
I knew he was kind to Notch…
but would he still be kind to someone holding such a fatal weakness over him?
I stared at him, nerves stretched tight.
Depending on his answer, my actions over the next fortnight would change.
After watching me silently for a long moment, the Duke finally spoke.
“That’s not a very appealing suggestion.”
“You know what I saw now.”
I was saying it plainly:
I’m someone who knows your dangerous secret.
That night, he had sent aura flying at me and said a witness couldn’t be left alive.
So his words now were unexpected.
“Just as then, I never intended to harm you from the start. That night, I planned only to erase your memory as a witness.”
‘Erase my memory…?’
But he had still attacked me with aura.
“Oh? You don’t believe me?”
He shrugged and smiled slightly.
“I may look like this, but I don’t slaughter the innocent.”
Then he continued, voice calm.
“I was taught that family is a bond built on shared secrets. The more dangerous the secret, the deeper the connection becomes.”
A bond?
That word didn’t suit him at all.
It would have made more sense if he said I was useful because of the contract marriage.
But his expression was soft, like when he teased me—
and if I wasn’t careful, I might actually believe him.
“…Are you serious?”
“You ask that every time.”
“That’s because you always speak like it’s a joke.”
As if surrendering, he raised both palms beside his face.
“I’m serious.”
“Aren’t you worried I might reveal your secret?”
“Not at all. That would be self-destruction. But it seems you’re worried.”
“…It’s a rare ability. And my other ability too. I don’t want to be dragged to the Sky Ark.”
“I have no intention of handing you over to the Sky Ark either.”
“How can I trust that?”
“Because you know my secret. And I have no desire to satisfy their disgusting curiosity.”
Could I believe him?
The situation was still dangerous.
The misunderstanding was resolved, but now we knew each other’s secrets—
and both were deadly.
‘We might have to spend an entire year doubting each other.’
That sounded exhausting.
As I struggled to think of a solution, the Duke spoke first.
“You know this already, but I have no intention of breaking this contract. I told you, didn’t I? I don’t want to become a traitor.”
I nodded.
“And even if I wanted to break it… I can’t anymore.”
He handed me a document.
On the marriage registration form was a red seal that clearly belonged to the Emperor.
“You received His Majesty’s approval.”
So that must have been the document that made Lady Enrilke go pale earlier.
“You really do move quickly.”
Eloah Finn Northdian.
I knew this would happen, but still…
I traced the word “Northdian” attached to my name with my fingertips, feeling strangely unsettled.
“We’re in the same boat now. If you’re still uneasy…”
He pulled a dagger from his belt.
“Then how about a blood oath sealed with magic?”
“A blood oath?”
I’d heard of it.
When mages formed an important contract, they would share blood and swear an oath that could never be broken.
The collateral was their mana itself.
It was dangerous, easily abused—
used only in interrogations of criminals.
Then I realized something.
“But I barely have any mana. Wouldn’t that be unfair to you?”
Even if my mana disappeared as punishment for breaking the oath, it would hardly affect me.
But for the Duke…
his aura would be the stake.
If he broke the contract, he would lose the aura that sustained his position.
That was fatal for a Notch who ruled through aura’s power.
Yet he looked unconcerned.
“If you’re worried about my aura, it doesn’t matter. You won’t speak.”
“….”
His certainty made me feel strange.
Shouldn’t he be the one afraid?
If I was exposed, I could hide somewhere.
But if his secret was revealed, he would become a public enemy of the continent, hunted relentlessly.
The Duke smiled softly, eyes rounding.
“If that’s what it takes for you to trust me.”
In that moment, I remembered the expression I’d seen before I fainted—
as if he had truly been worried about me.
‘Why would he look at me like that?’
Thump. Thump.
My heart beat strangely.
It had been acting on its own lately, but this—
this quiet, pleading rhythm—
was new.
‘What a strange man.’
I was completely powerless here.
In this dangerous world, I had to use anything that could protect me.
And yet…
I didn’t want to betray this man’s trust.
This incomprehensible, strange man who chose, in the end, to believe me.
‘Fine. Don’t overthink it. I just won’t tell.’
For the next year, I was a Northdian too.
If I exposed his secret, I would only be digging my own grave.
“…Alright. Let’s do it.”
The Duke drew the dagger, removed his glove, and cut across his bare palm.
Red blood welled against the pale skin.
Then he flipped the dagger and offered the handle to me.
“Your turn, Miss Eloah.”
“…Me?”
“The procedure requires the blood of both parties.”
“R-right… okay. Ugh…”
I took the dagger but hesitated.
“I’ll help.”
With a small laugh, he took my hand and lightly pricked the tip of my left finger.
It reminded me of my past life, when I couldn’t afford medicine and used a needle instead.
This dagger was sharper—
but bearable.
“It’ll be over quickly.”
He drew blood from my finger, then wrote magical letters on the back of his hand.
Then, dipping into his blood, he wrote the same letters on mine.
It stings…
He pulled out a small scroll from the dagger’s sheath—he must carry it often.
Placing one scroll on each of our hands, he spoke:
“[I swear that I will not reveal Miss Eloah’s secret to anyone without her consent.]”
To my shock, I could feel his aura carried in the vow.
Whoosh—
the scroll burned away.
Then he looked at me.
Ah. My turn.
“[I swear that I will not reveal the Duke of Northdian’s dangerous secret to anyone without his consent.]”
My mana infused the oath as well.
The moment the words ended, the scroll on my hand ignited too—
blue mana spilling out, covering the letters and sinking into our skin.
That must be Beric’s mana…
The color was the same.
As I stared blankly, the Duke spoke.
“So you really can see mana.”
Before I could answer, heat flared across my hand.
“Ah—!”
I reflexively tried to shake it off, but he caught my wrist.
“It’s phantom pain caused by mana. Just endure it for a moment. You won’t be hurt.”
“O-okay…”
Just as he said, it soon faded.
The letters vanished completely, as though they’d never existed.
Amazed, I lifted my hand and turned it back and forth.
“Now our secrets are safe.”
He smiled, eyes soft and satisfied.
He really was strange.
As I rubbed the back of my hand, he held out my mother’s necklace.
“I’m sorry I damaged something precious.”
His awkward apology seemed sincere.
Unexpected.
Someone who could admit fault.
Had I judged him too harshly because of the human magic circle?
He tied the necklace back around my wrist—the clasp was gone, so the chain had to be knotted.
“…I’ll find a jeweler to repair it.”
He looked genuinely remorseful.
And somehow, the tight knot in my chest loosened.
I stroked the necklace gently and smiled.
“Thank you.”
He didn’t scoff, nor did he grin too brightly—
just a quiet, steady smile.
So he can smile like that too.
I found myself staring.
A strange man who would do something this dangerous just to earn my trust.
I still couldn’t understand him.
But oddly…
it felt like I was standing on solid ground.
Not the shattered glass floor I’d been balancing on before.
It was unfamiliar, unsettling—
and yet comforting.
My heart still beat irregularly for reasons I couldn’t explain.
Pressing a hand lightly to my chest, I smiled back at him.
“Please take care of me from now on, Duke.”
