Chapter 52
“The Emperor is surprisingly sharp. And he has extremely capable informants under his command.”
“Oh… I see. Yes, that’s probably for the best.”
Luvian was startled.
It amazed her how seriously Elion was thinking through every detail of their fake relationship.
“Well then, let’s try calling each other.”
Elion turned his head slightly and looked at her.
Luvian felt his gaze but didn’t have the courage to look back at him.
She was simply too embarrassed.
“…Elion.”
She barely managed to say it in a tiny voice.
Beside her, she heard Elion laugh quietly.
“How about trying again—this time while looking at me?”
His voice was full of both mischief and warmth.
When Luvian realized he was teasing her, she suddenly felt a spark of annoyance. She whipped her head around and glared at him with narrowed eyes.
“You’re definitely teasing me, aren’t you?”
“No. We’re practicing. Practice makes perfect, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“Go on.”
“…Elion.”
“Good.”
Elion nodded with a gentle smile.
He looked like a grandfather praising his adorable granddaughter.
Ah—he really IS teasing me!
Luvian’s eyes narrowed even further.
“Your Highness should try it too. Practice.”
“Ah…”
“Go on.”
“Lu… Luviana.”
Elion’s face went bright red.
He was the one who started this, yet he seemed even more embarrassed than she was. The sight made Luvian let out a small laugh.
Elion stared at her—dazed—watching her crescent eyes curve as she smiled.
Then, before rational thought had a chance to stop him, he leaned in and kissed her.
It felt like… two opposite poles of a magnet snapping together.
There was no room for thought or hesitation—only the natural pull of something that felt almost inevitable.
Luvian flinched in surprise, and only then did Elion regain his senses and pull away.
He froze like stone, horrified at what he’d just done.
“S-sorry. I didn’t mean to— I just… I wasn’t thinking— It’s not like that, I—”
Watching him panic and roll his eyes around in confusion, Luvian suddenly felt mischief bubble up inside her.
Half playful, half impulsive, she said:
“No. Do it again. I liked it.”
“…”
Their eyes met—smiling softly.
And then their lips met once more in a warm, tender kiss.
*
“I must be out of my mind. Completely insane!”
Late that night, Luvian lay in bed, unable to sleep.
Instead, she kicked her blanket with increasing frenzy as the memory of the kiss replayed in her mind.
“Why did I say that? Why why WHY?!”
Do it again?
I liked it?
Why had she said something like that!
At first, it had been playful.
But the moment Elion’s lips touched hers, she realized this was no longer a joke.
His kiss had been soft and sweet—
Yet at the same time deep, intense, and mesmerizing.
Nothing like the magic-exchange kisses they had shared before.
This was… a real kiss.
A kiss lovers shared.
A real kiss—!
From the way Elion bit her lower lip lightly, then sucked, then licked, then bit again—Luvian felt unmistakable affection.
The same affection was in the way his hands cupped her cheek, grazed her shoulder, then wrapped her waist tightly.
It was undeniably affection.
Nothing else could explain it.
Not that the meaning mattered much.
What mattered was that Luvian wanted it to be affection.
She wanted Elion’s touch and his lips to hold that meaning.
She wanted this man to care for her.
Just as she cared for him.
“Do I care for Elion? No—no way, impossible!”
Even now, just thinking of him made her heart race joyfully.
Her mind filled with him—
Her lips still tingled where he had kissed them.
At this point, Luvian could no longer deny it.
She had been completely overtaken by Elion.
They say affection grows from closeness.
Touching him every day while sharing magic must have stirred feelings she couldn’t suppress.
No. Get it together, Luvian! Elion is just… a passing connection. Your destined partner is someone else.
In the end, she was meant to end up with Chad.
That was the rule of this world.
Once her possession became complete—once the gap between soul and body fully closed—she would have to end things with Elion.
This relationship is just a contract born from necessity.
So she needed to shake off these useless emotions as soon as possible.
Luvian yanked the blanket over her head and squeezed her eyes shut.
In the darkness, the only thing that appeared was Elion’s flustered, blushing face.
*
“This is really… serious. I must be out of my mind.”
At the same time, lying in his own bed, Elion was suffering just as much.
He blamed himself for acting on pure instinct.
The sight of Luvian giggling with her crescent-moon eyes had been unbearably cute.
“If she’s cute, I should’ve just thought, ‘Ah, she’s cute,’ and stopped there—why… WHY did I kiss her again?!”
He grabbed his head in both hands.
He had never imagined exchanging magic could be this dangerous.
Clearly, this was the result of failing to keep the proper distance.
Elion let out a heavy sigh.
What tormented him most was that he couldn’t stop recalling Luvian’s radiant smile.
When he first decided to share his magic with her, he’d never expected this.
That he would be so shaken by this arrangement.
That he would find Luvian so comforting… and so dear.
That he would want—desperately—to continue being with her.
It’s all fake. Get a grip.
Their relationship had an expiration date.
It would end the moment Luvian recovered fully.
Only the magic exchange was real—everything else, the romance, the engagement, all of it was false.
Holding hands, sitting beside each other in the carriage, kissing, even sharing a bed—it was all for the sake of exchanging magic.
It had been like that from the start, and would remain so until the end.
A relationship with no hope and no despair.
Elion shut his eyes, resolving to lock his heart down before it was too late.
He resolved to ignore the dull ache rising from deep in his chest.
*
The next morning, the carriage carrying Luvian and Elion departed the capital at dawn.
Their destination was the Auduban region, a full day’s journey west of the capital.
Among the many estates Elion owned across the empire, the one in Auduban was the closest.
Although the Count and Countess of Payson worried about Luvian traveling for her convalescence, they eventually agreed.
Recovering in a forested territory would be much healthier than staying in the capital.
And since her supposed fiancé Elion was accompanying her, they felt reassured.
Everyone knew Elion was the strongest knight in the empire.
And no one would gossip about an unmarried man and woman traveling together—
Rumors had already spread that their engagement ceremony would be held soon.
“Rest well and return healthy, Luvian.”
“Please take good care of our Ruby, Your Grace.”
With the couple’s warm send-off, Luvian and Elion boarded the carriage.
As usual, they sat side by side, arms brushing.
But unlike usual, an awkward silence filled the carriage.
There were many reasons for it.
First: embarrassment over the far-too-intimate kiss they shared on her bed the previous night.
Second: shyness about the magic exchanges they would be performing at the villa for the next week.
Third: the unspoken effort to restrain the tender feelings that had grown far too large.
In the rattling carriage, both of them opened newspapers and pretended to read.
About an hour later—
Luvian’s head began to droop.
Nodding right, then left, then forward again.
Elion found it utterly impossible to focus on his paper.
