TVMBS 07

Chapter 7

Liziana was confused as she looked at Ian lying on the floor.

The man who had been acting as though he could devour her only moments ago was now rolling around on the floor, clutching his heart.

He groaned in obvious agony, gripping his chest as if he were trying to tear it open.

The sun-shaped mark on the back of his neck, which Liziana had not even known was there, began to glow bright red through his hair.

His eyes, twisted in pain, also glowed red.

“What on earth…?”

Liziana stepped back as she watched him from beyond the bars.

She could not understand why he had suddenly begun suffering so much pain.

Back in the Avid Empire, Liziana had never heard that Ian suffered from any other illness.

It had been the same in her previous life, and it was the same after her regression.

“Ugh….”

Liziana had been standing away from him, but the sound of his groan brought her back to her senses.

Whatever happened, he was the only man who could get her out of this prison.

“Duke? Hey, Duke?”

Even when she called out to him, Ian only groaned without regaining consciousness.

Liziana hurriedly looked around, but there were only two people in the underground dungeon: herself and Ian.

Liziana clenched her teeth.

“If you don’t get up right now, I’ll just leave you here to die! I still need you!”

Liziana moved closer to the bars.

“Damn it! Wake up, Ian Rendy Devensia!”

Her shout echoed through the underground dungeon.

Liziana reached her hand through the bars.

She had to make him regain consciousness somehow, even if she had to shake his body.

That was the only thing she could do from inside the prison.

But his body was too far away.

With no other choice, Liziana opened her palm toward his hand, which was lying right beside her.

When she finally grabbed his hand, Liziana’s eyes widened in surprise.

His hand was so hot that it felt as though it might burn her.

Then, suddenly, his groaning stopped.

Liziana quickly looked up at Ian, who was lying motionless as if he were dead.

‘Did he come to?’

“Haah… Are you the one…?”

His rough voice came out mixed with uneven breathing that was almost like a groan.

The voice that had seemed so relaxed only moments ago now sounded thick and strained.

“I couldn’t have miscalculated the time….”

The sun-shaped mark on the back of his neck had already stopped glowing and returned to its original state.

Ian’s gaze naturally fell toward Liziana’s hand, which was holding his palm.

‘How did the curse disappear so quickly?’

Ian searched through fragments of his memories.

Among the broken pieces of memory, he remembered Liziana gripping his hand.

“Hey. You.”

Ian grabbed her hand as if it were a lifeline.

His head was still spinning, but instinctively, he knew that he had to do this.

Still holding his dizzy head, Ian took another step toward her.

The sun-shaped mark had lost its light, but it was still burning hot.

That meant the curse had not completely disappeared.

Liziana felt his grip tighten around her hand and shook him off.

“Let go! I was only trying to make you regain consciousness….”

“Let me borrow your hand one more time.”

This time, his large hand gently grasped Liziana’s wrist.

Then something astonishing happened.

The sun-shaped mark, which had been burning with heat, gradually began to cool.

The pain squeezing his heart also subsided, and soon, a sense of comfort that Ian had only ever felt beside the Emperor spread throughout his entire body.

“…What is this?”

Ian alternated his gaze between Liziana’s wrist and her face.

“…This. This is unexpected.”

He did not know the exact reason, but Liziana seemed to possess a power similar to that of the Emperor of the Tenzel Empire.

Meanwhile, Liziana, who had no idea what was happening, was still filled with questions.

The man in front of her had suddenly turned into something like a beast, grabbed her wrist, and then become perfectly fine while muttering to himself.

‘He got better when I held his hand. Did I do something to him? What exactly is happening?’

Unable to fully understand how quickly the situation had changed, Liziana was quite flustered.

More than anything, Ian seemed strangely accustomed to what had just happened.

Still holding her wrist, he rested his chin on his hand and stared intently at her before speaking.

“Alright, Prisoner. Let me make you an offer.”

Liziana, lost in thought, raised her head at the sound of Ian calling her.

“An offer?”

“It’ll be difficult for you to live alone in the Empire without any help. I’ll protect you under my authority as a duke.”

“What do you want from me in return?”

He gently pulled the wrist he was holding toward himself.

“When I need you, all you have to do is stay beside me like you did just now.”

It was not exactly the kind of line one would expect to hear between a kidnapper from an enemy nation and a prisoner locked inside a dungeon.

Under different circumstances, it might even have sounded rather romantic.

“If that’s the case….”

Liziana had already been at a loss over how she would begin a new life in an enemy nation.

From obtaining the right to live as an exile to achieving her ultimate goal of taking revenge on Raiphin and her family.

Liziana’s mind began working rapidly.

‘Perhaps his pain is somehow related to me….’

If that were true, she might be able to ask even more of him.

After finishing her calculations, she lifted her head toward him.

“Alright. But I have a condition, too. First, I want you to establish my identity properly.”

“Your identity?”

“I can’t remain dependent on you forever, Your Grace. I want an identity that will allow me to travel around the Tenzel Empire on my own without any problems.”

Liziana’s eyes shone intelligently.

Ian seemed to think for a moment before readily nodding.

If it meant gaining a new life, Liziana did not mind staying with Tenzel’s Mad Dog for a while.

“Good. Then we have a deal.”

Ian’s lips curved into a long smile.

As he walked out of the dungeon, Ian gave a low whistle.

He had never imagined that he would find a way to suppress the Sun Curse like this.

Ian touched the mark of the curse on the back of his neck as he continued walking.

“Your Grace.”

At that moment, Harhin’s voice came through the round communication artifact in Ian’s pocket.

“What is it?”

“Well….”

“What is it?”

“I…”

Harhin could not easily continue.

Ian’s mood had already been sour because of Liziana.

Harhin’s hesitation only irritated him further.

“Tell me before I count to three.”

“….”

“Three.”

“……”

“Two?”

“….”

“One…”

“It’s the Imperial Family! The Imperial Family has sent a message to you, Your Grace!”

Counting to three was a habit Ian had developed whenever his patience reached its limit.

The last time Harhin had taken his time and exceeded three, he had been forced to spend an entire month living as a toad.

After that, Harhin never dared to fool around with Ian again.

He sometimes acted playfully like before now, but whenever Ian said the word “three,” Harhin obeyed him as if under a spell.

“The Imperial Family?”

“Yes…. Whenever you completed a mission, Your Grace, you always sent word to His Majesty immediately afterward, didn’t you?”

“I did… Damn it.”

The Emperor was not a particularly generous man.

Especially since this was an issue the Emperor had been paying close attention to.

“Damn it.”

Ian quietly growled every curse he could think of in the ancient language, then opened his hand and pulled out a sheet of parchment reserved for the Imperial Family.

Without even moving a finger, he inscribed elegant letters onto the parchment.

[This is Ian Devensia. The kidnapping was successful. I will visit as soon as possible. That is all.]

It was a short and concise message, but it contained more than enough information to appease the impatient Imperial Family.

Ian practically tossed the parchment to Harhin and waved his hand as if telling him to leave.

“You’re not even going to open the letter the Imperial Family sent?”

“It’s obvious what it says. If you want, you can read it.”

Harhin cautiously opened the letter.

It was filled with a veiled threat stating that if Ian failed to attend the regular council meeting, the Sun Mark would activate according to the terms of their contract.

“So throw it away.”

Harhin quietly nodded at Ian’s words and tossed the letter into the fireplace.

The Emperor would not be able to hold Ian by the leash for much longer.

Ian stared silently at the letter burning among the firewood before raising his hand toward the flames.

The fire immediately surged even higher.

Whoosh.

Burn even more.

Ian looked down at the flames with cold eyes.

The Emperor’s end would be the same.

He did not believe in God,

but he was always praying fervently.

“I can’t even tell if it’s morning or dawn.”

Whenever Liziana opened her eyes, all she could see was the ceiling.

Because of that, she could not clearly tell what time it was.

She could barely distinguish between day and night by the intensity of the light filtering in from outside.

I don’t have time for this.

She hated the reality that there was nothing she could do.

What was the point of regressing if she ended up trapped in a prison because of the one person she had thought would be her only hope?

To make matters worse, Ian casually brushed aside and ignored every proposal she made.

It was as though conversation itself did not work with him.

As Liziana stared down at the dark gray floor of the dungeon, she heard a click.

The underground door had opened.

“Prisoner.”

Ian’s tone was remarkably smooth, as gentle as ever.

As though nothing had happened between them the day before, Ian casually approached her.

“I brought you something again.”

Just like before, Ian placed a plate in front of her.

Bread and milk. This time, there was also a bowl of steaming soup.

This time, Liziana pulled the bowl toward herself without complaint.

She did not know when she would be able to leave this prison, but she needed to maintain her strength.

She would have to adapt to the harsh Tenzel Empire from now on.

Liziana scooped up a spoonful of soup.

The warmth of the soup seemed to relax her body naturally.

Ian crouched down in front of her, rested his chin on his hand, and watched her before suddenly speaking.

“Looks like you’ll be going to the Imperial Palace soon, Prisoner. What do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

Frowning at Ian’s sudden statement, Liziana held out the outer garment he had given her on the first night he kidnapped her.

“Don’t you remember the offer you made me? The Emperor of Tenzel wants to meet you.”

Since the garment had been kept in the dirty dungeon, it had gathered dust even though only a few days had passed.

Ian took the garment Liziana offered and created an extradimensional space, placing it inside.

It was a passage that led straight to the trash.

“It’s because of Gwanggakcho.”

“That’s right. Gwanggakcho blooms when infused with a mage’s power, but it seems the seeds themselves are obtained from somewhere else.”

Ian spoke again to draw Liziana’s attention away from the trash space.

There was still something important left to discuss.

“Finding its source was the reason I intended to kidnap Delisa.”

“I understand. You need evidence that Gwanggakcho is being distributed by the Avid Empire.”

Liziana readily agreed.

It seemed she would have many things to do with this man from now on.

Liziana glanced at Ian.

“How should I address you from now on? Since we’ve formally entered into a contract, we’re now contract partners. We should settle how we address each other, too.”

“Call me Ian.”

“Ian.”

Liziana quietly said his name.

“Alright. Ian. If possible, I was going to ask you to let me meet the Emperor anyway.”

“To meet the Emperor as soon as you arrived in the Tenzel Empire? You certainly have guts.”

“Yes. I came to the Tenzel Empire with that intention.”

“Then that means you came to the Tenzel Empire because there was something else you wanted.”

As expected, this man was no ordinary person. He had noticed immediately.

Liziana looked at the red-eyed man whose eyes were shining with interest and sighed.

There was no reason to hide that she had come here to take revenge on the Avid Empire.

“I swore that I would bring despair to the people there, even if I had to sacrifice my own life to do it.”

“Despair…. Yes, you said something like that before. But does that mean you have something to avenge? You, the Crown Princess of the Avid Empire?”

“Yes. I’ll crush them utterly. …No matter what sacrifices it takes.”

“……”

“Why? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Liziana asked as Ian continued staring at her without saying a word.

“What could have made the Crown Princess of the Avid Empire decide to seek such a cruel revenge….”

Ian’s eyes sank deeply.

“If I ask, will you tell me?”