Chapter 8
Chapter 8
To the retainers, Aslan's decision to take Vivian as his wife was far too sudden.
He had chased after the lady, who had caused a suicide scare, into the forest. Then, he hadn't shown his face for three days.
The retainers and knights were all pacing back and forth in anxiety when Aslan reappeared, carrying the unconscious Vivian Eleonora in his arms.
Aslan declared that he could not let her stay in a hotel or anything of the sort and immediately ordered the purchase of a mansion.
There could be no objections. To the retainers, Aslan's demands were like the commands of God.
They did their best to meet their lord's expectations.
They decorated the already luxurious mansion even more splendidly. Veteran servants, summoned from the capital for Vivian, were also scheduled to arrive soon.
Aslan nodded, seemingly satisfied, as he listened to the retainer's explanation.
"You've done well."
"Then, when are you planning to depart for the North?"
"It will be difficult for the time being. I plan to stay in the South until Vivian's condition recovers."
"Pardon?"
The man walking alongside Aslan stopped as if he had heard something he shouldn't have.
"Is there a complaint?"
"No, it's just a bit unexpected. I thought you would be moving separately from the mistress..."
"So it seems that way to you too."
Aslan slowly swept back his hair. A bitter smile flowed from his hardened lips.
He knew why Vivian was refusing to marry him.
For the past three years of their engagement, he had ignored her very existence. From the beginning of their relationship, political interests were intertwined, and he had no right of refusal at the time.
Thus, instead of protecting her as his betrothed, he humiliated her in front of people and ridiculed her as a heartless woman.
Without even knowing she was dying.
Now that he thought about it, ignoring Vivian's existence was his last desperate act.
To rebuke himself for secretly following her as she walked away each time they met, he had hurt her, who was innocent.
'It's only natural that she can't trust me. I can't tell Vivian anything. Absolutely nothing.'
A secret he couldn't confide in anyone. A precarious castle built on lies and hypocrisy. His frail and lovely fiancée trapped in its depths.
But he couldn't just say it casually.
That he had held her in contempt and now held her in his heart. That this hideous Demon Hand had dared to commit an unforgivable act.
"But that doesn't mean I'm going to let her go."
"Pardon?!"
"No, it was just a soliloquy. More importantly, there's something I need you to do."
Aslan stopped walking. His eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
"Investigate the Eleonora Family again from the beginning. This time, dig into every detail of their private lives."
"Understood."
The current Duke Eleonora was a son-in-law from a collateral branch of the family, and he was an eighth cousin to the Duchess Eleonora, a direct descendant.
The late Duke took in a son-in-law even though he had a daughter to succeed the family.
She was talented in many ways, but she was born with a weak constitution, making it difficult for her to handle important responsibilities.
However, the late Duke's decision led the family down the path of ruin. This was because the current Duke Eleonora was incompetent but greedy.
Thus, the late Duke's inheritance skipped over the current Duke and was directly inherited by Vivian and her brother.
'The Duke won't just stand by and watch that.'
Aslan's intuition told him that something was wrong.
Why was Vivian's exceptional swordsmanship so thoroughly concealed? Why did the family take no action while Vivian's reputation was falling to the ground in aristocratic society?
Why did no one notice until the young lady of the ducal family was on her deathbed?
'If what I suspect is true, then...'
＊ ＊ ＊
It was a deep night with stars twinkling in the night sky. Everyone was asleep, but Vivian alone could not easily fall asleep.
Having dismissed the maid who offered to attend to her, she sat by the window and organized her current situation.
'The biggest problem I'm facing right now is, of course, Consumption.'
She was on borrowed time, with her death date already set. She suffered from severe symptoms of Consumption, and she would sometimes faint when her condition worsened.
The doctor said one year, but that wasn't the absolute limit of her remaining lifespan. If she overexerted herself, she could die at any time before that.
But she was still alive.
'What on earth happened?'
She had been caught in the rain and wind naked in the mountains and even stabbed by an assassin's blade.
She was sure she would die, but her expectations were pleasantly mistaken.
No matter how much she racked her brains, she couldn't find a reason. At best, she could only come up with the foolish idea that it was a miracle of a transmigrator.
Well, she had even transmigrated into someone else's body, so what couldn't happen?
'It's good to be alive, of course. It's really good. It would be even better if I could live a long, long time.'
In fact, a cure for Consumption was developed in the middle of the original story, <The Curse of Astaroth>.
This was the first thing she thought of immediately after transmigrating. But there was a significant problem with that cure.
'The person who developed the medicine is none other than Aslan's comrade. There's no way he'll give me the cure.'
The reason the cure for Consumption was mentioned in the original story was merely a line to announce that 'the male lead had gained a capable ally who could even cure incurable diseases.'
So she had virtually given up on getting the medicine. This was because she knew that Aslan hated her like a bug.
'But the situation is different now. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that Aslan is asking me to marry him.'
If she stayed close to Aslan for a year, until the cure was developed, and preserved her physical condition, she might have a chance to secretly contact his comrade.
A path to escape this wretched Consumption would open up.
'It must have been incredibly painful, but what on earth was Vivian doing until her body got to this state?'
She wasn't in a position to complain to the original owner of the body from the standpoint of a transmigrator, but she couldn't help but complain after suffering from the wretched symptoms of Consumption for over a month.
Vivian shook her head, ruffling her hair.
"There are so many stars in the sky. It's beautiful."
"I didn't know you enjoyed the night view."
Just then, a voice came from the direction of the garden. Aslan was standing right below the bedroom window where she was sitting.
His jet-black hair, like a lion's mane, was wet with sweat, as if he had been training.
He was shirtless, and his broad shoulders, firm chest, and thick-veined arms all felt threatening.
Amidst all that, his shining golden eyes. He was like a beast lurking in the darkness.
"If I had known, I would have come out with you."
"No, I was just thinking."
"I can't take my eyes off you for even a moment. The night air is chilly..."
"It's okay. Ugh, cough!"
The expression on his face, as he looked up at Vivian, momentarily distorted.
He threw down the sword he was holding and jumped over the high balcony in one leap. It was a full two stories high.
Vivian, surprised, took a step back, but Aslan was quicker to grab her shoulders.
"See, you're not okay."
"It was just for a moment. I couldn't sleep..."
"Where's the maid who's supposed to be guarding the room?"
Aslan's eyes narrowed as he looked around. The atmosphere was such that he would punish her for leaving her post right away.
Vivian quickly shook her head.
"Please don't. The maid was just following my orders."
"What orders?"
"I don't like having anyone around when I'm resting. So I sent her out first."
"If that's what you say..."
Aslan, who had been narrowing his brow as if to determine the truth, suddenly picked her up.
Vivian, who had suddenly been embraced by the man, struggled to be put down, but Aslan strode over, pulled back the blanket, and put Vivian down.
"What else is there?"
"Pardon?"
"Tell me everything, Vivian. There's so much I don't know about you."
"Your Highness?"
That couldn't be. In the novel, Aslan planted spies in the Eleonora Family and thoroughly investigated the actions of its members.
By the time Duke Eleonora realized the situation, the entire family was already in his hands.
Aslan had even found out about the existence of an illegitimate child before Vivian, who was a member of the family.
But what came out of Aslan's mouth was a little different.
"Even just today. I thought you would gladly accept my marriage proposal."
Of course, the Vivian in the original story would have. She did not hesitate to use any means to marry Aslan. Her villainous reputation could be said to have arisen from that process.
'But it's different now. Aslan's proposal is a double-edged sword for me.'
The fact that he received the curse of Astaroth and turns into a Black Lion is top secret.
The Curse of Astaroth was an extremely sensitive issue for the entire Imperial Family, to the point where even Aslan's political rival, the Crown Prince, would immediately send assassins to deal with him if the existence of the curse was exposed.
'And I'm the one who's presumed to be a witness.'
Before she lost consciousness, Aslan, who had been a Black Lion, was back in human form when she woke up again, so he must have returned to his original form in the process of escaping the mountain.
If she had been an ordinary person, she would have been killed immediately just for being there.
But the maid had told her earlier.
'Aslan is being politically attacked because of my will.'
Vivian happened to have inherited a vast fortune from her deceased mother and maternal relatives. She was also one of the wealthiest women in the empire, second only to the direct imperial family.
Such a person wrote Aslan's name in her will, saying she was going to commit suicide, so it was only natural that he would be suspected by his usual rivals.
"I thought a lot about being rejected by you. I've always gotten everything I wanted by force, so I wondered if I should do that this time too."
Aslan's eyes gleamed as he muttered that.
Like a herbivore in front of a beast, a chilling thrill ran down Vivian's spine.
"In fact, my plan is still valid. I want to make you my wife as soon as possible. A real wife who doesn't have to worry about anyone's eyes when spending the night like this."
"W-Why would I have to worry about anyone's eyes when spending the night..."
Aslan's eyes curved alluringly as their eyes met.
