Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Chises, who was leaving the parlor, suddenly remembered something and stopped walking. He let out a short ‘Ah!’ exclamation, then turned back and glanced at Azela.

“I forgot to give this to you.”

What he pulled out of his arms was a neatly folded piece of paper. She was really sick of folded paper. Azela, with a shaky expression, respectfully accepted the paper he had given her.

It was a letter.

“…This?”

Familiar handwriting caught her eye at once on the outside of the letter bearing the seal of the imperial family. It was a blunt and cute handwriting that was hard to forget.

“It came to me yesterday, and I don’t think I’ll have time to stop by. If it’s okay with you, I’d like you to give it to Duke Ferial.”

On the outside of the letter was written the name ‘Liviahat den Argen.’ It was Princess Livia. Perhaps, because there were no replies from the letters sent directly to Zagnac, she was trying to send it through Crown Prince Chises.

Azela didn’t know it would go through her hand like this.

She stared at the Princess’ letter in her hand without answering. To be precise, she was looking at the handwriting on the outside of the letter.

‘…Why does the Princess keep sending letters to Zagnac?’

That thought was all over her head. Come to think of it, the letter seemed to have a nice floral scent. What on earth was written in this letter…?

As she unwittingly grasped the letter in a desire to check what was written inside it, Chises tilted his head and called her.

“Countess?”

“…Oh.”

Azela lifted her head, awakened by the voice calling out to her. Azela quickly hid her expression and smiled as he was gazing at her with an expression asking if there was something wrong.

“Yes, I will tell Duke Ferial directly.”

“Thank you. There seems to be a lot of stories that the Princess wants to tell of their marriage.”

“…Marriage?”

Azela, who was nodding her head, froze at Chises’ words. Not seeing her hardened expression, he nodded his head calmly and answered.

“His Majesty said that he actively supports the marriage of the two.”

“Princess Livia has just…”

“Yes, Livia just turned sixteen. But I heard that Livia is also taking this marriage quite seriously.”

…Marriage.

Zagnac’s marriage…?

She had never even thought about it. Listening to Chises’ words, Azela became numb as if she had been hit in the head. Could the Devil ever get married? She couldn’t even understand before that, why she was so surprised when she was told about his marriage.

…What if Zagnac really married Princess Livia?

So, what would happen to his contract with her? Would he sneak into her bedroom at night like Zagnac now does after his marriage? When that time came, would she have to refuse Zagnac’s visit, who was already married…?

Azela shook her head in confusion. The letter in her hand felt so heavy for a moment.

“Then, Countess, looking forward to seeing you again soon.”

Chises, who looked at Azela and smiled brightly, greeted her. At that, she hid her complex expression and greeted him back politely. Seeing this, he eventually left the parlor.

As he left the parlor, Azela sat down on the sofa as if collapsed. The letter from Princess Livia in her hand kept drawing her attention. She wondered what was written inside, and above all, she did not want to pass this letter on to him. She couldn’t figure out why.

This… Yes, it was clear she was worried that if he ever got married, he would never be able to properly fulfill his contract with her.

…Yes, because of that.

“…What am I thinking now?”

As if facing a devil hiding somewhere inside her, she put the letter on the table and smiled helplessly. What she was thinking was, after all, what Daniel and Sylvia did to her? If she did that, what was the difference between her and them?

Her head pounding, Azela walked out of the parlor, gently clutching the letter she had placed on the table in her hand.

“Prepare the carriage.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have to go to where Duke Ferial is. Send a letter saying that there’s something I have to deliver.”

“Understood. Would you like to change your dress?”

“No, let’s go like this now.”

As she walked down the hallway of the mansion, hastening her quick steps, Azalea was unable to hide her nervousness.

* * *

“I think you said you couldn’t come today.”

“I…did.”

Azela, who had almost let her words go to Zagnac without realizing it, glanced at Baharf and cleared her throat.

As she sat down on the sofa with a relaxed look, the butler, Baharf, poured tea into her cup. Having neatly prepared even the dessert on the table, he politely greeted them and left the study with a kind smile.

Unable to bear the sweet smell that filled the study, she picked up the teacup and drank. It was a wonderful tea with a flavor that was incomparable to what she drank in Todd mansion.

Zagnac, who was sitting in front of the desk working, also couldn’t stand the sweet smell so eventually got up and sat on the sofa opposite her. Unlike Azela, he grabbed the dessert first into his mouth instead of tea.

“Didn’t you say that Crown Prince Chises is visiting?”

“Yes, he visited… He had already gone back to the palace, saying he had a lot of work to do.”

“He’s finally gone.”

When he heard that Chises had returned to the palace, Zagnac nodded his head with a light-hearted look. It didn’t seem too obvious, though it looked like it was pretty annoying for him.

Yes, he was gone… Leaving her a letter from Princess Livia.

‘I have to give it.’

Azela sipped the tea and lowered her gaze. The only reason she came to Zagnac was to hand over a letter from Princess Livia. But, the worries didn’t last long. It was because Zagnac, who ate one dessert quickly, spoke to Azela first.

“You sent a letter saying you had something to give.”

“Ah…”

When Zagnac questioned, she touched the handle of the teacup and, with a sigh, pulled out the letter from Princess Livia from her arms. She placed it quietly on the table and held it out to him.

The moment he saw the seal of the imperial family, Zagnac’s brow furrowed fiercely.

“Why is this in your hand?”

“…Crown Prince Chises has asked me to hand this to you.”

Zagnac, who snatched the letter that Azela had placed on the table, clenched his chin and looked indifferent. His gaze turned to the fireplace behind her. She furrowed her brows, feeling as if he was about to throw the letter into the fireplace at any moment like last time.

“As I said before, it’s better to read it.”

“It is a letter to me, so whether I read it or discard it, that is up to me.”

“But, I was the one who delivered the letter. If the letter disappears in the middle, it’s me who gets in trouble.”

When Azela said that, Zagnac looked displeased and crumpled the letter in his hand.

Azela silently looked at the letter from Princess Livia that got wrinkled in his hand. As she looked at it, she felt strangely washed away from her frustration.

“…Are you curious about the contents of the letter?”

At his question, she came to her senses and looked away from the crumpled letter.

Zagnac, who clenched his chin, gazed at her instead of the letter in his hand. She almost nodded her head without realizing it, but she barely caught her mind. Azela shook her head, fluttering, and put a calm smile on her lips.

“Why? It’s not even a letter for me.”

Saying so, she hurriedly picked up the teacup and drank the tea, hiding her face lest she would reveal her true intentions to him.

With Azela’s reply, Zagnac nodded his head and ripped open the crumpled letter. The seal of the Imperial Family was torn off, and a letter that looked like three or more pages from the inside came out.

‘She has so much to say…’

Azela, who hid her face behind the teacup, glanced back and looked at the letter with narrowed eyes. Even though she didn’t know what was written on it, the cute curly handwriting that she could see at first glance confused her mind.

The writing stirred Azela’s heart to an unpleasant degree.

“…I’m here to deliver this. I’ll just go back. I have work to go back to.”

Putting down the teacup, she scrambled to stand up.

When Azela said that she was going to go back, Zagnac nodded his head lightly. He opened his mouth in an indifferent tone as he read the letter from Princess Livia.

“All right, be careful on your way back.”