Translator: Nox

I Married the Dragon I Killed

Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Hatred and Obsession

“Wow. I’ve always wanted to step foot inside Valdrova Castle at least once, but I never imagined a chance like this would come along.”

Erdes spoke with exaggerated excitement, her footsteps almost like a dance as she moved forward.

It was a distracting way to walk, yet no one called her out on it.

That alone spoke volumes about the gravity of the current atmosphere.

“But why is it so quiet? It’s a bit suspicious that the Regent himself is acting as our guide. Did you kill everyone because they got on your nerves? Or are you preparing to stab us in the back?”

She certainly had a way with words.

“Everyone working in the castle is a civilian. They aren’t the type to handle guests like you.”

“Ah, I suppose that’s true. When your knights consist of one guy who looks like a gigolo and another who’s a blubbering mess, I can only imagine what kind of pathetic display the others would put on.”

Erdes burst into a fit of giggles.

She was acting like a flighty child, but she was not to be underestimated.

This woman was the greatest mage on the continent.

Destroying a noble house with a flick of her finger was no feat at all, and even kings bowed their heads at her appearance.

She was a living disaster, a magical vagabond.

That was precisely why Ferda had cleared everyone out of the castle.

The staff were far from formal and lacked the fortitude to withstand her overwhelming pressure.

“Anyway, being here really feels significant. Valdrova Castle is truly spacious. I actually tried to trespass once, but I couldn’t get through the barrier at all.”

“Am I supposed to be happy about that?”

“You should be. This is praise coming from the strongest mage of humanity, you know? If I couldn’t break through, it means it’s absolutely impossible for any other human.”

Ferda muttered inwardly.

Even though you were utterly crushed by me.

It was Goz who countered her claim.

“This structure was built for a dragon. It is only natural that a human cannot touch it alone.”

“Defending her just because she’s a fellow dragon? Honestly, you dragons are a mystery.”

“Watch your tongue, Erdes Roton.”

“Yes, yes.”

It was annoying, but Ferda agreed.

To think the very people who loathed Valdrova were defending her.

Was it a matter of professional courtesy, even among sworn enemies?

While Erdes grumbled, they reached the end of the red carpet.

It felt like standing at the end of a fuse.

Would this bomb explode, or would it be a dud?

With that thought, he opened the door.

The VIP reception room was adorned with gold and red marble.

A single attendant stood ready, prepared for any situation.

She lifted the hem of her wide skirt and bowed.

“Welcome. I am Ruri, an attendant serving Lady Valdrova.”

She stood poised, as if nothing were amiss.

However, her eyes were pointedly avoiding Goz’s gaze.

Goz, for his part, didn’t seem to pay Ruri much mind.

Unlike his previous attempt to seize her, his lukewarm reaction felt strangely suspicious.

Meanwhile, Erdes, still giggling, threw herself onto the sofa.

“Ugh, you’re making the atmosphere so grim. This is why men are hopeless. In a sophisticated place like this, shouldn’t we be laughing and chatting? You, maid, could I get a cup of tea?”

“I will prepare it immediately.”

As Ruri moved to comply, Ferda lightly raised his hand to stop her.

“This is tea for the greatest mage on the continent. Do you think you should be the one to prepare it?”

“In that case….”

“I shall pour it myself.”

The reason Ferda stepped in was that he was beginning to feel a sense of unease regarding Erdes’s behavior.

If left to her own devices, they would be swept up in her pace.

Ferda intended to serve the tea.

However, he did not rise from his seat.

A shadow moved beneath his feet, taking shape as it surged upward.

It was Ferda’s Shadow Hand.

Watching this, Erdes’s face hardened.

Openly using black magic like this was practically a provocation, an invitation to be killed.

Ferda remained unperturbed as he poured a cup of tea.

His etiquette was flawless.

“This is a top-grade tea from the highlands of the Western Region. Please, have a cup.”

Despite the steaming tea before her, her gaze remained fixed solely on Ferda.

Her dull, lifeless eyes looked as though they might draw a blade at any second.

“Regrettably, I’m not thirsty.”

“Did you not just say you needed something to quench your thirst?”

“That I did. Women are such mysteries, aren’t they?”

There was murderous intent behind her smiling eyes.

Ferda, however, met her gaze directly as he took a sip of his tea.

That should shut that mouth of hers for a moment.

“Now, let us talk.”

Goz adjusted his posture and leaned forward.

“About why you set foot secretly in another’s territory.”

He was trying to grasp the background of the incident first.

Ferda gave his answer.

“There was a demon research facility nearby.”

“An imaginary research facility?”

“Was there not a landslide in that vicinity recently? As if something had exploded?”

“…….”

He didn’t answer. That was an affirmation.

“I discovered the location where they were conducting their project and intended to destroy everything. That is why I had to move quickly.”

“So you mean you used a Bending Bridge to cross over and strike first?”

The term Bending Bridge came from Goz’s mouth.

That must have been information provided by Erdes.

“Why did you not inform us?” Goz asked.

“Because it had to be handled discreetly.”

“And what was the reason for that?”

“Did I not say it was for discretion?”

Goz’s face twisted into a grimace.

He looked ready to bare his claws at any moment.

“Ferda Valdrova, not only did you trespass into our domain as you pleased, but you killed his son with your own hands. Unless you truly desire war, you had best speak plainly.”

He would not flee from a war that came his way.

But he had no intention of starting one needlessly.

“As I said before, it is true that I killed Abel Silverwind. And it is true that I caused trouble. However, the outcome was not something I desired.”

Ferda added further.

“The boy was a demon follower. He sought to gain power through treason with the help of a demon.”

“How did you find that out?”

“It wasn’t even complicated. He spilled everything himself. Whether he saw me as a fish already caught in his net or mistook me for a priest in a confessional, I don’t know, but he confessed of his own volition.”

Goz didn’t flare up in anger at the mention of a demon follower.

It meant Sitri had firmly placed the seal of the contract.

The momentum shifted slightly.

Ferda decided to add a few more, albeit unnecessary, words.

“Do you know what he said? That Goz Silverwind was nothing more than a usurper. That you weren’t worthy of your power.”

“It seems there’s quite a bit of dissatisfaction on the Silverwind side? To think a mere minnow would get greedy and harbor such thoughts—”

“Be silent.”

“You know I’m on your side, right?”

Goz silenced Erdes, who was poking at a sore wound.

“Doubt regarding my strength is always possible. Challenging it is something a descendant of Silverwind should naturally do. But if it is through a contract with a demon, that is a different story.”

What they desired was pure strength.

The strength achieved through the blood passed down by the Master of Steel and Wind.

“But what does that have to do with you killing him? Are you suggesting you did me a favor?”

“How could that be? I told him that if he wanted to overthrow you, I would help him.”

A wind began to stir.

How could he not be incensed when someone was openly admitting to proposing a conspiracy to kill him?

“But he did not accept. Not because he was noble, but because I was necessary for his plan to overthrow you.”

The wind died down.

“A mere human like you?”

“He said he would lure me in and then absorb that power.”

“Whose? Valdrova’s?”

“Ruri’s.”

Goz froze at those words.

Watching Goz’s reaction, Erdes chimed in.

“Ruri? Who is that?”

“There is… such a person.”

Goz tried to brush it off vaguely, but Erdes was persistent.

She glanced at the silver-haired little maid and clapped her hands together.

“Wait, is it that little lady? It looks like I’m right. There were traces of someone small, was that her? Is she the one—”

“Erdes Roton. I didn’t bring you here to chatter.”

Goz’s slit pupils glared at her menacingly.

His gaze was even more irritated than before.

Erdes gave a sheepish smile and mimed locking her lips.

Goz’s annoyed gaze inadvertently drifted toward Ruri.

Ruri kept her back turned, unable to look his way.

Ferda continued his explanation.

“Ruri came to save me, and in the process, she had no choice but to kill Abel.”

“Hmm, then shall we call our Ruri, who miraculously returned alive, to testify?”

Do as you wish. I have nothing to hide.

Just as Ferda was about to agree to Erdes’s question.

“Enough. That is plenty of explanation.”

It was Goz who rejected the testimony.

Erdes glared at Goz for stopping her, then turned her eyes back to Ferda.

She smiled brightly once again.

“Well then, since the two gentlemen have said their piece, I suppose it’s my turn.”

Was there even an order to this conversation? I thought it was just a chaotic mess of you barging in and saying whatever you wanted.

He suppressed the urge to be sarcastic.

Erdes stretched lazily with a languid smile.

“Sure, it was a touching story, Regent Ferda. But I’m afraid I can’t take that story at face value.”

It was the reaction he had expected.

“There should be evidence that he made a deal with a demon?”

“Oh, I found it. It was hidden in such a peculiar place, wasn’t it? The heel. Well, I suppose no one bothers to check every nook and cranny like that. It’s understandable the Silverwind side didn’t know.”

She admitted it was in a place easily overlooked.

However, the look she gave Ferda was unsettling.

“But you see, I’m Erdes Roton.”

The greatest mage on the continent.

A paragon for mages, a witness to history, a war hero.

Her word was law, a lawless tyrant with no borders.

And at the same time, an authority on black magic.

They say there is a thin line between love and hate.

As much as Erdes hated black magic, she knew it intimately.

“I can spot the schemes of those flea-bitten demons in an instant. For example, the timing of when that seal was placed.”

A smile played on Erdes’s lips.

She looked like a spider watching prey caught in its web.

“The contract seal engraved on Abel Silverwind… the ink wasn’t even dry.”

Ferda hadn’t known that the timing of the seal could be verified.

He hadn’t been interested in contracts with demons.

Or rather, the nature of such things was outside his concern.

Only the methods demons used to entangle humans and how to avoid them mattered.

That was what most people focused on.

On the other hand, Erdes’s obsession was much broader.

She was obsessed with everything related to black magic.

It was a form of germophobia.

The kind of person who obsessed over every detail to scrub the disease of black magic from the continent.

Her obsession was finally cornering Ferda.

“Shall I tell you what I think?”

She began to lay out her deduction.

“Regent Ferda, you made a ‘certain deal’ with Sitri, a Great Demon of Hell. You said you came to destroy a demon facility? Perhaps that was the deal. What if it were to collapse not in days, but in hours? It would give Sitri a very convenient excuse. You ignored the proverb about not dealing with demons and quietly traveled via the Bending Bridge.”

Her words were startlingly accurate.

It was enough to make Ferda feel the pressure.

“But an unexpected event occurred. The Bending Bridge you used was closed for some reason. Regent Ferda, you were left stranded like a lone duckling, and Abel appeared. Was that unexpected event a trap set by Sitri?”

As she posed the question, Erdes smiled and stared intently at Ferda.

She was trying to see through the mask Ferda wore, and Ferda struggled to keep it hidden.

“No. No, it wasn’t. That wasn’t Sitri’s plan.”

Had she read his expression?

She continued with a different angle.

“If it were such a shallow trick, you would have noticed. Regent Ferda, you’re no fool. You would have checked the Bending Bridge for traps multiple times. But… even so, you couldn’t step into the Bending Bridge on your way back. That means you brought something out of that demon settlement. Something so important you were willing to risk your own life.”

Ferda’s throat felt parched.

She continued her words, circling her finger as if casting a hypnotic spell.

“Making you cross paths with Abel Silverwind was likely one of the traps set by that whore, Sitri. He was meant to be the one to keep you from having second thoughts, or the one to carry out the punishment if you did. He’s a good card to have, even if he dies, as he could cause trouble later. But for some reason, she didn’t use that trap. Instead, she helped you by engraving the contract seal on Abel Silverwind.”

He almost wanted to marvel at her.

Even as he was being cornered, it was that impressive.

Could hating a field so much allow someone to see this far?

It was a depth far beyond anything Ferda felt.

“Why would a demon help you? If she had just left things without the seal, Silverwind would have come looking for you to interrogate you, and you would have been sweating as you tried to persuade them. War would have effectively become a certainty. Why would she give up on the chaotic situation that demons love most?”

His mouth was bone-dry.

He didn’t let down his guard, consciously making sure his Adam’s apple didn’t bob.

“These are the three clues that lead me to my conclusion.”

Erdes said, extending her index finger.

“First, the fact that you use black magic.”

Middle finger.

“Second, that a Great Demon of Hell saved you instead of trapping you.”

Ring finger.

“Third, that the faint scent of a demon keeps drifting through this house.”

She struck right at his weak point.

Whatever the case, there was one conclusion Erdes must not reach.

‘Penelope.’

He was already walking a tightrope over whether he had contracted with a demon or not.

If it were discovered that he was hiding a demon, Erdes’s hostility would tip completely.

That hostility wasn’t just a matter of being annoying.

Erdes was someone the 1st Prince, the most influential figure after the Emperor, was trying to align himself with.

She would certainly put a brake on the development of the Far East.

Everything was tangled in a headache-inducing web.

‘That’s a problem, but….’

It would be an even bigger problem if, in the process of explaining, it were revealed that he possessed a means to hold the life of a Great Demon.

She would undoubtedly become obsessed with Penelope.

He couldn’t let that happen.

The things in this castle existed only for Valdrova.

The moment Ferda was about to open his mouth, Erdes asked with a smile.

“You’re a child of a demon, aren’t you?”