~Chapter 126~
“Your Highness…!”
I was so surprised that I tried to get up from bed to greet him properly.
But as soon as I moved, everything went white and I lost strength, maybe because I’d lost so much blood.
I almost fell, but luckily Damien caught me in time.
“Ruby, don’t push yourself. You just woke up.”
Damien sounded really worried.
“But I should greet His Highness properly…”
“It’s fine. No need for that here.”
Leonie walked into the room, calmly stepping over the mess Damien made with the water bottle and towels.
He didn’t seem like the type to force a sick person to stand up.
‘It’s good that he’s here. I needed him anyway.’
To meet him right after waking up felt like fate.
I whispered quietly so only Damien could hear.
“Did you call him?”
Damien nodded.
“Yes. I thought we might need magical help.”
I agreed.
Magic, a miracle that only a royal with royal blood could use, might change things.
‘And Leonie also wants the soul contract completed.’
He had good reason to help.
“Let’s do your check-up first. We can talk after that.”
Leonie nodded, not in a hurry to leave.
Damien quickly rang for the doctor.
The doctor, who’d already been waiting in the mansion, rushed in and checked me carefully.
“Your throat is damaged from coughing up blood. You seem dehydrated too. I’ll prescribe iron supplements.”
The doctor told me to take special care of my health.
During the check-up, Damien’s face kept getting darker with worry.
He hadn’t done anything wrong, but looked guilty anyway.
“Damien, I’m really okay. I was the one who wanted to try again and again, remember?”
Only then did Damien’s face relax a little.
“Did I look too gloomy? I just worry when you’re sick… I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
“Sorry for making you worry. But I’m really okay now, so don’t worry anymore.”
I smiled softly. Damien finally smiled back.
The check-up ended in a light, warm mood. The doctor left.
“I heard you collapsed during the soul contract ritual,” Leonie said, getting straight to the point.
“The Duke told me the ritual failed, so I came.”
“That’s right.”
“How far did the ritual get?”
I explained everything that happened.
“The magic circle glowed, and ghost butterflies appeared. We said the spell, had the vow’s kiss, and I felt our hearts connecting. But then it suddenly stopped.”
Damien added,
“When we tried again, the Duchess coughed up blood. She kept feeling pain near her heart every time she repeated the spell.”
“So, the ritual didn’t fail from the start, but in the middle?” Leonie asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“We definitely felt our souls syncing, but then it suddenly broke off.”
“Then what do you think was the cause?” Leonie asked.
Damien and I looked at each other.
How much should we tell Leonie, who was not part of the Maledictus family?
“I think I’m carrying some kind of curse,” I said.
I only told him I had a strange curse inside me that was interfering with my soul.
I didn’t say what kind of curse it was or that I could erase curses.
Leonie looked surprised to hear someone who wasn’t a Maledictus could have a curse.
But he quickly hid his expression and listened seriously.
“So, it was blocked by the curse.”
“Do you think magic can help?” Damien asked.
Leonie adjusted his glasses.
“I’d have to investigate to be sure. This is my first time seeing a case like this.”
He looked at me with calm, green eyes.
“Still, you two know about curses, and I know magic. I think we can find a solution together someday.”
Leonie promised to help.
It was much easier than getting help from the Devourer.
‘We don’t have the answer yet, but at least I have someone on my side now.’
I clenched my right fist tightly.
‘I will find a way.’
I swore to succeed in the contract and live happily, just like everyone else.
“Didn’t you have a contract marriage with the Duchess?”
After making sure Rubiana could rest, the two men left the room to talk.
“But to the public, it looks like a love marriage.”
“No way. We got married after just a few weeks,” Damien replied.
“Maybe not a love marriage, but I fell for her at first sight.”
“What about her?”
Damien didn’t answer.
“Well, whatever,” Leonie said smoothly.
“I was just curious.”
“About what?”
“How did a contract marriage turn into something so close?”
He’d wondered this since he saw the two of us risking everything for each other, even though we started as a contract couple.
It had surprised him that after marriage, Damien showed his face more and started acting more open in public.
Seeing how close we’d become, Leonie was even more curious.
“I got lucky,” Damien said softly.
“The Duchess came into my life like a gift.”
For the first time, Damien’s eyes, which had grown darker each year since becoming a Maledictus, shined brightly.
Leonie looked away and said,
“For the first time, I’m jealous of you.”
As the first prince, he rarely showed his true feelings, but this was one of those rare moments.
“Having a partner who’s always on your side, no matter what.”
Damien watched him quietly.
With his father, he always had to be perfect, and with his brother Lennard, he was always competing. Leonie had no one to truly share his feelings with.
Damien understood how he felt.
When he met Rubiana, he’d found someone who really understood him for the first time.
He knew what a huge comfort that was.
“Someday, you’ll meet someone like that too.”
For once, Damien spoke not as the Duke of Maledictus, but as Leonie’s cousin.
“I hope so,” Leonie said, with a bittersweet smile.
At the same time.
“Hurry up! Tomorrow, Leonie gets the right to search here!”
Lennard rushed his servants, making them run all over.
‘Damn it.’
Leonie hadn’t even been officially announced as crown prince yet, but he’d already set up everything to trap Lennard.
The palace was ready to search Lennard’s residence at any moment.
Lennard tore at his blond hair in frustration, angry at how slow his servants were.
“Your Highness!”
One of his aides, who had lost his status after using forbidden magic, called out urgently.
“It’s about Rubiana Maledictus.”
He handed Lennard an old book.
Lennard snatched it from him.
After reading it, his expression changed sharply.
