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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: My Last Breath
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Unlike me, who was frozen stiff along with the atmosphere, Calius was as carefree as if he were in another space entirely.
It was as if he couldn't see or hear.
‘Is he trying to provoke Father?’
If so, he was succeeding.
Veins were popping on my father's previously indifferent face.
‘Besides, the expressions on his men's faces are too... unsettling to take his words at face value.’
Even considering that the culture and temperament of the northern people might differ greatly from those of the south, that was clearly not the look of people pleased to see someone.
‘It feels like their glares could burn a hole through him.’
Did Calius truly not know what kind of faces his men were making behind his back?
The Arental nobles frowned at Calius's words and actions, as well as the menacing expressions of his men, and began to whisper.
“How utterly arrogant.”
“Don't those men look like they're glaring at someone?”
“In a situation where they should be bowing and scraping for this lopsided marriage...!”
It was absurd.
‘No matter how much they mock me as a clown of a princess, it seems they still think I'm too good for a man from Ronheim.’
Just then, before my father could show his displeasure, Cavalla quickly shifted the mood.
“Marquis Rodrian, it warms my heart to see your people showing such favor to our lovely Princess Chloe.”
Her shamelessness was on par with Calius's.
To me, who knew Cavalla had arranged this marriage to eliminate Calius, her artificial smile only brought to mind the image of a viper preparing to devour its prey.
“Well, now that everyone has gathered, shall we get to the heart of the matter?”
As if wanting to get it over with quickly, she called out loudly to the nobles.
“I wish for all of you gathered here to be witnesses to the engagement of Princess Chloe and Marquis Rodrian.”
Then she looked at me.
“Chloe, declare it before the witnesses. Do you consent to this marital contract with Marquis Rodrian of your own free will?”
I glanced at Calius and nodded.
“Yes, I consent.”
I tried to speak confidently, but my voice sounded like an unassured mumble.
I had failed to control my volume in such a large space with so many people.
Hearing my answer, Calius's men stirred strangely.
‘What was that?’
But Cavalla immediately posed the same question to Calius, leaving me no time to worry about his men.
“Marquis Rodrian, if you consent to this marital contract of your own free will, with no reservations in your heart, please declare it before the witnesses.”
A single word of consent was all it would take.
Finally.
Growing impatient, I urged Calius on with my eyes.
But Calius's movements remained unhurried.
He turned his body toward me.
And then, he knelt on one knee before me.
“...?”
He took my hand, respectfully and gently.
His enchanting golden gaze seemed to ensnare every cell in my body.
With his eyes fixed on mine, he slowly brought the back of my hand to his lips.
*Kiss.*
The soft sound of his plush lips pressing against my skin tickled my ear, making the fine hairs all over my body stand on end.
It was just a brief touch of soft flesh, yet for some reason, the back of my hand burned as if branded by a hot iron.
The sensation was so unfamiliar that I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
He spoke, each word clear and firm.
“Chloe Idellian. I will offer you my last breath.”
Those enchanting golden eyes, framed by long lashes and delicate lines, stared straight at me.
For some reason, my breath caught in my throat.
I couldn't bring myself to meet his gaze.
‘Why say something so grand for a mere contract marriage?’
A simple "I consent" would have been enough.
Even if they were meaningless words for show, it was hard to accept such a confession.
But since I couldn't refuse, I deflected his confession from my conscience by averting my eyes.
‘Is he the type of person who always talks like that?’
I recalled the contents of the letter he had sent before.
The sentences had felt exaggerated, frivolous, and even ridiculous.
But now, his firm gaze looking up at me, his warm touch, and his deep voice layered themselves over those grand sentences, one by one.
And just like that, they were no longer a ridiculous string of words, but transformed into a heartfelt confession.
*Thump.*
My chest ached in a way it never had before.
Startled, I pulled my hand from his grasp and pressed it firmly against my chest.
‘I need to... I need to get back to my chambers and rest.’
Was it because I was nervous? My breathing was ragged and my face was hot; I must have fallen ill.
As I pulled my hand away, he rose from his kneeling position. His massive shadow enveloped me.
I thought he would turn away immediately.
But he didn't move, instead reaching out to caress my cheek.
‘Wh-what...?’
As I stood there, bewildered by his inexplicable action, I felt the scab on my cheek, hidden under thick makeup, brush against his hand.
The scab from the wound I'd gotten when the vase broke a few days ago hadn't fallen off yet.
Somehow, he had found it and was now tracing that faint wound.
This time, he whispered in a low voice only I could hear.
“No matter how fierce the blizzard, it will always pass.”
“...!”
My eyes widened as I stared at him.
“The blizzard will always pass.”
It was the same blessing Kal used to say like a mantra whenever he wanted to cheer me up or comfort me.
Calius's image overlapped with Kal's.
As if they were the same person.
‘This is... truly strange.’
Was "fascinating" the right word?
I thought they only looked alike, but to think they even spoke the same words.
I was starting to feel an excessive familiarity toward Calius.
Wary of this feeling, I shook my head.
‘It must be a coincidence. A strange one. That man isn't Kal, Chloe. Get a grip.’
I tried to think nothing of it and looked at Cavalla, hoping she would conclude the engagement ceremony quickly.
But for some reason, Cavalla was just standing there, frozen, watching the two of us.
Looking around, I saw it wasn't just Cavalla; almost everyone in the hall was the same. It was puzzling.
‘Why are they all like that?’
Cavalla, belatedly noticing my gaze, smoothly guided the atmosphere of the hall once more.
“Before these witnesses, His Majesty the Emperor and I gladly approve the marriage of Princess Chloe and Marquis Rodrian.”
Perfunctory applause erupted here and there.
* * *
At the same time, in a corner of the audience hall, a group of young noble girls who had gathered with their friends were biting their lips in silence.
These were the same girls who had been chattering nonstop with their cherry-red lips, reacting loudly to Chloe and Calius's every gesture.
They had relentlessly critiqued Chloe's dress, gossiped about her hair, and jeered at Calius's uncouthness.
But at some point, they had all fallen silent as one.
It was from the moment Calius knelt before Chloe.
In truth, they weren't the only ones who had gone quiet. Cavalla and the other nobles had also been momentarily stunned by Calius's action.
It was just that the change in these girls' emotions was faster and more distinct.
‘What...?’
Though they didn't share their thoughts, they were all thinking something similar.
‘Don't tell me I've fallen for that barbarian?’
When Calius respectfully kissed the back of Chloe's hand, the girls found themselves admiring him without realizing it.
From that moment on, to them, Calius was no longer a 'beastly barbarian in shabby attire' but a 'person.'
And once they perceived him as such, their vision, once hazy as if veiled in mist, cleared.
Into their brightened view, Calius's handsome face, his wonderfully proportioned body, and his restrained, courteous actions were imprinted.
All the background surrounding him no longer seemed to matter.
Watching his hand kiss, the girls swallowed dryly several times without realizing it.
It was a simple hand kiss, yet his action possessed an intensity that made one's heart swell just by watching.
Just moments before, they had been giggling and betting on whether Chloe would collapse from fear of Calius.
But now, they had completely forgotten they had even made such a bet.
‘Why... does he look so handsome?’
The girls' hearts swayed back and forth like reeds in the wind.
It was the moment a new idol, one they could never speak of to anyone, was born in their hearts.
* * *
Completely unaware that he had set the hearts of many young girls aflame, Calius left the audience hall a short while later and mounted his horse.
From the moment he left Chloe behind, his expression had hardened.
“...”
He stared silently at the fingertips that had caressed her cheek.
His gaze was incredibly fierce and cold.
‘What was that?’
At first, he had noticed the wound on her cheek and touched it without thinking.
To draw blood from this fragile body that looked like it would break with a single touch.
‘Why, who, and how?’
Calius had heard that Chloe broke the vase he sent.
But he hadn't connected that to her injury.
Instead, he suspected that Chloe had suffered some unspeakable hardship in the palace.
There was probably a reason she broke the vase, too.
‘I have to get her out of this disgusting place as soon as possible.’
A sense of urgency washed over him.
In the midst of that, the moment his hand touched her wound, he felt an inexplicable, chilling energy.
It wasn't Chloe's own innate energy.
Something unpleasant was lurking inside her, slowly eating away at her life force.
The blood of a living creature contains a great deal of information related to its life force.
Even if it had hardened into a scab, some of that information could still be discerned.
Calius had a talent for sensitively reading the information contained in blood. It was an ability inherited from his mother.
‘I don't know what it is, but it's ominous.’
Was it a curse?
Had someone placed a curse on her?
It seemed best to take her to Ronheim quickly and have a skilled shaman examine her.
At first, he had been worried that the harsh cold of Ronheim would be poison to Chloe, but now his thoughts had changed.
The damp darkness of the south was surely a more fatal poison to her than the cold of the north.
