STM 112

“Lower your voice.”

I looked around and hurriedly tried to warn him, but Rick, who was in shock, shouted as if he wanted the whole world to hear.

“What on earth was the Grand Duke thinking, skipping something that important!! No matter if it’s Salvation, this is unacceptable!”

Unlike Rick, who was getting more and more worked up, my heart turned cold.

Of course. Tubain. Right, asking to sleep together had never meant anything in the first place.

I suddenly felt pathetic for grabbing Rick and having this conversation. I was about to turn around and leave, but Rick’s continued wail stopped me.

“If your bodies don’t match, how are you supposed to spend your whole life together!? You have to try it now and call off the engagement…….”

What? Call off the engagement? I gave him a murderous look, and he swallowed the rest of his words. Honestly, I was speechless.

“I’m Salvation, you know?”

“But you’ll be making a vow to your partner at the wedding. That means you’ll spend your whole life as partners. Just imagine if you don’t match with that person! How do you think our Grand Duke would feel?”

I really hadn’t wanted to say this to anyone else, but I felt wrong and my true feelings came out on their own.

“I’m really good.”

But the look in Rick’s eyes as he stared at me couldn’t have been colder.

“Do you think I don’t have ears? I heard everything. You’re pretty bad.”

“Me?”

I pointed at myself. I couldn’t believe it. I’d done it so many times, how could I be bad? Was that even possible?

“They say whenever you meet someone, you just grab their genitals and rush to stick it in, you start screaming right away, and you only beg for everything without any consideration for the other person. And as if that weren’t enough, the worst part is something else. You burn out fast and cool off just as fast.”

“……Me?”

“Yes. You, Lord Lu.”

This time Rick pointed at me. My eyes wavered as I stared at his finger.

That bastard Lu was that bad in bed? And he finished fast? For the first time in a long while, I really wanted to pray for his trip to hell.

“But I still had a lot of lovers…….”

“I heard they all got sick of it after one or two times and left, or only slept with you again after a long time, once they’d almost forgotten.”

At this point, I couldn’t help but ask Mo.

‘Mo, is it true?’

[That’s a very objective evaluation.]

Damn it. So Lu couldn’t stay with one person for long, which was why he slept with just anyone. And his libido was higher than anyone else’s, too…….

I placed my hand on my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut.  Even so, I didn’t want to admit that I was so incompetent that I should call off a marriage. I barely managed to drag out one of Lu’s strengths.

“But I, hah, I’m pretty good with my thighs.”

“Yes, that’s what I’ve heard.”

Rick accepted that readily, but it just made me feel worse. Furthermore, he was taking a step back, subtly covering his crotch with his hand.

I don’t want to touch it either, you know?!

But Lu’s notoriety blocked my path, making it difficult to get angry. However, my pride was too hurt to back down, especially since Rick said it so openly.

“Ha, poor Grand Duke.”

“I might be the poor one.”

“Pfft.”

“Did you just laugh at me?”

“No. Ahem.”

Rick quickly lowered the corners of his mouth.

“Lord Lu, the Grand Duke is the very man you used to sing about wanting to sleep with every time you got drunk. Have you forgotten? The Grand Duke’s enormous……”

“Ah, not that.”

I hurriedly waved my hand to stop him, worried he’d start saying something obscene.

“Skill matters too. And what’s even more important is setting the mood……”

“Lord Lu.”

This time, he cut me off. He sighed and looked at me like I was hopeless.

“Are you worried that the Grand Duke won’t be able to do it? Then throw those worries away. You’ll become his slave the moment you spend one night with him. And tomorrow, you’ll come to me crying and asking, ‘How can I win the Grand Duke’s heart?'”

Rick shook his head as if he’d experienced it before and disappeared. Left alone in the corner of the hallway, Doctor Kim’s warning flashed like a neon sign in my head.

‘If you let your guard down like that, you’ll end up losing your body and your heart too, tsk tsk.’

And she was worried that Tairok might try to physically control me. What if that’s really his intention?!

A chill ran down my spine. Who was Tairok? Wasn’t he a sly man whose smiling face hid whatever he was plotting? It was more than possible.

Damn it. I clenched my fist and turned around. I won’t fall for it. I’ll be the one to seduce him instead.

‎

‎

Knock knock.

Rick knocked and entered Tairok’s office, his heart heavier than ever. How could he promise marriage to Adeye Lu without even making sure their bodies were compatible?

Seeing Tairok lost in deep thought, unaware that Rick had come in, made Rick’s throat tighten with pity.

So he had given up his personal happiness and made a decision solely for the sake of the family. What was he supposed to do if that man wasn’t Salvation?

As if that weren’t bad enough, Montaine had now secured another Salvation and would surely grow even more arrogant and try to attack Kun.

And it wasn’t just there. Sarne, which had at least maintained neutrality until now, realized that Kun’s divine beast had not disappeared and immediately turned hostile. That was exactly the news Rick had come to deliver.

“Grand Duke, we’ve received contact from Sarne.”

Rick didn’t want to interrupt him, but considering the importance of the matter, he called out carefully. Even so, Tairok didn’t move, his gaze fixed on the desk like a doll.

What on earth is he thinking? The document he’s looking at is… a marriage contract?

“Rick.”

Rick quickly turned his eyes away, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.

“Yes.”

“Do you know about the partner’s oath?”

Huh? What kind of question was that all of a sudden? Rick nodded, confused.

“Of course I do.”

“Do you know how it’s done too?”

“Of course. Even children know that. How could I not?”

“For ordinary people, the oath doesn’t have any binding force.”

That was true.  Only those with special powers can enforce an oath.

Divine power, magic, or the power of a divine beast. But because of that, ordinary people admired the oath even more and tried to imitate it.

“Even without binding force, if you don’t take the oath at the wedding, it isn’t considered a real marriage.”

“You also know about sharing a new name, right?”

Rick blinked again.

“Of course. Is there anyone in Tubain who doesn’t know that? Even if you don’t have a partner yet, people decide in advance the name they’ll share someday.”

“Right. Anyone from Tubain would know. Even if they lost their memories…”

What was this all about? Right now, Tairok was just as strange as Lu.

No, if he had to choose who was stranger, it was definitely Lu. Being curious about someone’s private life! What an intrusion.

Of course, what Lu was curious about was clearly Tairok’s private life. But once he actually heard it, he didn’t try to listen further. Instead, he reacted in shock and refused to accept that Tairok was good at it.

That was definitely different from the other followers of Tairok Rick had seen. Yes, it was subtly different. When those followers talked about Tairok, their eyes shone with something close to madness.

But Lu didn’t show anything like that. Why? He said he’d fallen for the Grand Duke. Just then, Tairok muttered something incomprehensible.

“God, human, or… some other unknown world?”

What was that supposed to mean? Rick couldn’t even ask. Tairok was too deeply immersed in his thoughts. In the end, as if he’d given up on an unsolvable problem, Tairok lifted his gaze.

“Rick, report.”

At the sudden command, Rick regained his senses and straightened his posture. Then he handed over the letter Sarne had sent.

Tairok read it with a blank expression, but Rick, who already knew the contents, couldn’t watch calmly. Sarne had addressed the letter to the Kun Ducal House so that Rick would check it first, not Tairok.

The intention was obvious. They wanted to broadcast their position for anyone to see. In short, this was what it said.

Since the divine beast of Borhumi had disappeared, Borhumi should be stripped of its status as a divine beast family, and the region should belong to another divine beast family.

However, they claimed to have obtained information that Kun, which currently lacked power, put forward the fake Salvation ‘Adeye Lu’ because it didn’t want to lose Borhumi. They said Kun was spreading the lie that Borhumi’s divine beast had not yet disappeared.

Therefore, until it was proven that Lu was the true Salvation, they could no longer trust Kun, and there would be no alliance going forward.

“A declaration of war.”

“Yes. It’s no different from saying they’re turning us into enemies.”

Rick asked Tairok anxiously.

“What should we do?”

“What else? We give them exactly what they want and become their enemy.”

“But Sarne has the ancient texts that can lift the curse.”

“So?”

So what should we do now? Rick swallowed dryly as he looked at Tairok’s smile. His smile was warm like sunlight, but his eyes were cold like moonlight.

“Rick, when you want something from your enemy, it’s simple. You kill them and take it.”