Chapter 93
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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Dear, I believe you may be misunderstanding.
Chapter 93
"Grace...!"
Lucas called out to her urgently.
Despite the power of the Royal Hall leaving every nerve in his body rigid and taut, Lucas forced himself to move.
He gritted his teeth and seized her wrist. It was a remarkable display of willpower.
"Don't... get hurt. The paralysis will fade soon."
Grace read the genuine concern burning in Lucas's eyes.
Though she felt sorry for him, the conviction that she needed to act now dominated her thoughts completely.
She gently removed his hand that held her and pressed her lips to his.
"It's alright. Everything will be fine."
Her feet carried her forward.
Grace's hands moved before her reason could catch up.
Those hands that had been burning with searing pain just moments before.
"Grrr...!"
Trisha bared her massive fangs in a threatening display toward Grace, but the lingering force of the Royal Hall seemed to prevent her from moving easily.
"Kraaagh!"
-Don't come closer! Stay back!
Trisha's anguished cry pierced the air.
-I really don't want to hurt you!
Grace smiled softly and reached out to embrace the wolf's neck, fangs bared and all.
"...!"
The moment she touched the wolf, the searing pain across her hand began to subside.
Trisha seemed to feel something too, for her cries ceased.
Or rather, she seemed to have stopped breathing altogether.
'How strange.'
But unlike with Lucas, she didn't return to normal.
'I thought I could do it...'
Puzzled, Grace turned to Lucas with a question.
"What's needed for the Onium Family to return to normal?"
"...What do you mean?"
"Just as the Black Family needs a bridle, the Onium must have one too. What is it?"
"A muzzle... A muzzle is required."
A muzzle, then.
Grace stared at Trisha with a troubled expression.
Hiss, who had been observing the situation, added his words.
"The Onium muzzle is typically held by the captain of the Onium Family's knight order. It would be fastest to summon him at once—"
Before Hiess Cerviente could finish speaking, a commotion erupted from beyond the door.
"Your Majesty! What has happened? The Royal Palace has trembled twice!"
A contingent of knights rushed through the doorway.
Nobles had been gathering within the Royal Palace for the wedding banquet, and the tremor from moments before had thrown those assembled in the Banquet Hall into disarray.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, may we enter? If you are unharmed, please speak!"
"...What happened?"
"Who are you...! Rowen?"
"Something seems to have occurred within. Are Your Majesty and the Princess unharmed? The heads of the Onium, Black, and Serviente families are also present inside, are they not?"
'Rowen Ganash?'
Upon hearing that name, the silver wolf's eyes widened in shock.
"Kiiing...!"
-What do I do! He's here, he's come!
Trisha began to fidget in confusion.
Ludwig, who had been coughing, finally managed to open his mouth.
"I, I'm fine! It's nothing serious, everyone withdraw!"
"...Are you truly unharmed, Your Majesty?"
"I am fine. Withdraw!"
Fresia, regaining her senses belatedly, rose to her feet to manage the situation.
Since much of the royal aura had dissipated, all three of them could move their bodies to some degree.
But the wolf remained motionless, sitting in bewilderment.
"Since His Majesty has ordered withdrawal, everyone leave. Rowen? Why aren't you moving?"
"I shall stand guard nearby. Only until I confirm everyone's safety...."
This was troublesome.
Insisting further that he withdraw would seem suspicious.
If this continued, I couldn't leave to fetch the muzzle.
The wolf rolled its front paws anxiously.
Grace hesitated for a moment before whispering to Trisha.
"I'm sorry. I'll take a moment."
Her hand suddenly clamped down on the wolf's long, thick snout.
Trisha's eyes went wide in surprise.
"Kii, kiiing...?"
-...Did she just grab my snout?
The silver wolf let out a bewildered whimper, completely disarmed.
"...Hmm, this isn't it?"
It was ambiguous—uncertain whether it would work or not.
But something felt like it might work.
She deliberately gripped the snout tighter.
The curse mark glowing on the back of her hand flared with greater brilliance.
Lucas finally grasped her intention.
'Perhaps....'
Lucas hesitated before calling out to Grace.
"Try hitting it, Grace."
"...What?"
"Inflict pain on me."
The Curse of the Seven Great Houses manifests through emotion and is subdued through suffering.
While the form varies by family, the nature remains consistent.
The Onium Family controlled by a gag so tight it aches, the Black Family requiring the lash, the Zerox Family forced to break their wings and squeeze into cramped cages—and so forth.
Yet it was possible that Grace's small hands grasping the muzzle of that enormous wolf might not suffice.
Then again, a few blows from Grace's hands weren't particularly painful either.
Still, just to be safe...
Grace nodded vigorously at Lucas's words, as if understanding something.
She then murmured a small apology to Trisha, spread her hands as wide as she could, and brought them down with all her strength against the wolf's head.
Smack—!
"Kin...?"
Whether Grace possessed more strength than expected or the wolf had been caught off-guard by the sheer absurdity of it, the beast's head snapped violently to the side.
"Ah..."
As everyone watching stood frozen in shock, a blinding light erupted from the wolf's body.
* * *
"...Aaaaagh!"
Rowen, pacing anxiously outside the door, suddenly jerked his head up at the familiar voice that pierced through from within.
That scream unmistakably belonged to Trisha.
Forgetting that this was the King's Private Chamber and that the highest powers of the realm were gathered inside, he slammed his palm against the sealed door with a thunderous crack and cried out.
"Trisha!"
The sounds from beyond the door ceased momentarily, then resumed with murmuring voices.
The guards stationed at the entrance could not bring themselves to forcibly restrain the Temple's Commander of the Knights and stood in helpless agitation.
"Stand down, Commander Ganash. No one may enter until His Majesty gives his command."
Rowen was not ignorant of this protocol.
Yet anxiety was beyond his control.
'Another man? ...Well, it's about time Lady Trisha gave up on Lord Rowen anyway.'
'She's been harboring unrequited feelings since she was eight? Thirteen years? Remarkable.'
'And yet Lord Rowen pretended not to notice all this time. Even when they promised marriage, he kept postponing it.'
Rowen had his reasons.
But his blunt manner of speaking was a problem, and his own anxious heart was another.
And in the meantime, what? A lover appeared?
He couldn't believe it, and he didn't believe it. Especially when the rumored man was that 'Norman Oellin.'
Impossible.
He knew that even hundreds of such men throwing themselves at Trisha would not earn so much as a snort from her.
He remained unmoved.
Yet last night, a mysterious note had arrived.
[I possess a certain intimate item left behind by the silver wolf. I hear there are depraved creatures who collect such things... If you come apologize to me directly, I'll return it to you.]
Along with the note were a few strands of silver hair enclosed within.
He had not believed such a threat to be genuine.
But I became determined to catch that contemptible wretch who dared use Trisha as a bargaining chip.
So Rowen went to the location specified in the note.
However, for some reason, no one appeared.
Instead, strange powder suddenly exploded from thin air.
My skin began to sting, and bizarre wounds erupted across its surface.
I immediately covered my face and returned to the Temple.
The symptoms resembled a contagious skin disease, so I was isolated in a room and received treatment.
During that time, Trisha came to visit.
She called for me several times, but I was too preoccupied with treatment from the priests to even realize she had come.
Because I needed to reach the Royal Palace, I had to undergo rapid treatment and instructed that no one be allowed inside.
There was no benefit in letting word spread that I had been injured, so I couldn't explain the reason.
'Trisha came to visit?'
'Yes, sir. Lady Trisha looked terribly disappointed. Are you certain you're alright?'
Rowen rushed immediately to the Royal Palace and anxiously searched for Trisha.
But she had been summoned upstairs by His Majesty and hadn't come down at all.
Then, at a loud crash, I hurried upstairs to find...
"...Eeek! Don't look!"
"What are you staring at? Bring clothes at once!"
Trisha was screaming from inside the room.
Suspicious vibrations, screams, and incomprehensible murmurs.
Unable to endure it any longer, just as I was about to knock on the door again.
The closed door burst open, and out rushed Hiess Cerviente—a beautiful man with mysterious white hair.
"Oh, dear..."
Hiess looked at Rowen, who had nearly collided with him, and laughed awkwardly.
His crimson eyes gleamed strangely.
Rowen's gaze swept past his smile and looked over his shoulder.
"...!"
Trisha, dressed in little more than nothing, was nestled in the arms of some woman.
Rowen lost all reason without thinking and rushed into the room.
Hiess ordered one of the guards to bring clothes, then closed the door and stepped back inside.
"What in blazes is happening here!"
"R-Rowen...!"
Trisha, her face flushed crimson, looked up at him upon his arrival.
Rowen quickly unfastened the crimson cloak he wore and wrapped it around Trisha's body.
Grace, who had been holding Trisha wrapped in her skirts, spoke hurriedly.
"No, the situation here is..."
"What possible situation would have a family head standing naked in the middle of a room? Damn it!"
Trisha, her face nearly buried in the cloak, whispered that it wasn't like that.
But Rowen, burning with rage from head to toe, heard nothing.
"Listen here, Lord Rowen Ganash. Why are you shouting at my wife? She was the one who helped the troubled Trisha Onium."
Lucas Black wrapped his arm around Grace with a wry expression and spoke.
"If your wife were lying naked and unconscious in this place, wouldn't your eyes roll back in your head?"
Ah... Well, that's true.
Lucas found himself persuaded by Rowen's pointed remark.
But conversely, there was someone who suddenly lifted her head that had been bowed down in response to his words.
"Rowen, am I your wife? Did you just say that? Are we really getting married now?"
"Damn it, Trisha! Now is not the time for——!"
"It is the time! It absolutely is! The most important thing you could possibly say!"
She desperately clutched at Rowen's sleeve and clung to him.
As a result, the cloak wound tightly around her slipped loose, leaving her bare shoulders and the nape of her neck fully exposed.
Rowen, startled, held her even more firmly in his embrace.
"Rowen, answer me."
"I believe how you came to be in this state is far more pressing."
"I-I'll explain that later! So about what you said just now——!"
"Then I shall explain later as well."
"I don't like that! That won't do!"
"Trisha...."
Just as Rowen was about to sigh.
Someone cleared their throat with a deliberate "ahem, ahem."
"I must say, the royal authority and sanctity of this ceremony seem to have vanished entirely."
"Y-Your Majesty...!"
Belatedly aware of his surroundings, Rowen quickly knelt before the King and Princess.
Ludwig rose with Fresia's support, his face pale from the exertion of releasing his power.
His gaze fell upon Grace standing beside Lucas. Then everyone's eyes turned toward Grace.
It touched.
Fresia, Hiess Cerviente, Trisha, and Rowen all looked upon her.
Grace clasped her right hand, which had stopped aching entirely and glowed with a soft luminescence, tightly with her other hand.
All eyes were questioning her.
How had such a thing even occurred? Who exactly were you?
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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