Chapter 46

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TN/N: Thank you for waiting, I got my first dose of vaccine, so couldn’t translate for a while. Enjoy.

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Vivian was speechless at the old woman’s attitude.

“How do you know that?”

The woman narrowed her eyes at her sharp inquiry. The small folds on her face made her look much more ugly.

“I used to…  I know it well because I’ve dealt with that thing.”

Vivian quickly realized what that thing meant.  She must be referring to black magic that had recently become a hot topic.  Dealing with it meant that the old woman was a warlock. Vivian’s face turned white.

“Of course, it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like that.  Right now, I can’t even perform any simple magic.”

When the old woman had finished speaking, she grinned. Unlike Vivian, who was hardened, the old woman smiled brightly even though she had confessed her astonishing past.

Vivian stared at the old woman with wary eyes.

“…  Are you a warlock?”

Instead of answering, the old woman just let out a weak laugh.

“I could report you to the authorities, why are you so open about this?”

“I can’t leave this place.”

There was an unknown sense of guilt in her muffled and murky voice. It was as if her feet were chained here.

“Why?”

“There is so much to atone for…”

The old woman murmured as she stared into nothingness. Vivian gave up trying to ask more about the old woman’s past.  Rather than that, she thought that asking about her condition was the priority.

“… Can you read the dark magic energy in my body?”

“If you leave it as it is, it will coalesce like poison inside you.  So soon… I recommend getting the purification magic.”

The old woman ignored Vivian’s question and said only what she wanted to say. She couldn’t have had more of an unruly attitude.

After the old woman had finished speaking, she closed her eyes as if she had died, so Vivian had to leave the old bookstore without being able to ask anything more.

Before leaving the bookstore, Vivian studied the old woman’s face. It had a lot of age spots and wrinkles on it.  After confessing to her past as a warlock, it was like a poison bloomed within her as the price for coveting evil powers.

Vivian stood in front of the bookstore for a long time. The conversation she had ran around her mind again and again. She belatedly regained her composure and set off to the bustling market area.

Contemplating the old woman’s words, Vivian didn’t think about her destination, moving her feet mechanically.  She walked like that until she came to her senses. She was on an unfamiliar road.

‘Where am I?’

Looking around her, there were many general stores that seemed to deal with magical items, so Vivian rolled her eyes, lest she be lucky enough to meet Roger and Daniel.  But she could not find their familiar faces among the strangers.

At that moment…

“Hey, miss.”

An unwelcome group approached Vivian, who looked like a lost lamb who had strayed from her flock.

“I’ve been alone for so long.”

“Did you come out here to cheat on your man?  Huh?”

It was a bunch of mischievous thugs.  Wearing dark brown robes, they strode closer, considering the wandering Vivian prey.  Vivian glanced at them, suppressed a sigh, and looked away without answering. When she tried to pass by, they blocked Vivian with their full frames.

“Move.”

She snapped in a low voice.

Vivian was gentle and kind, but she wasn’t gentle or kind enough to show manners to such low-quality people. Just by looking at them, she could tell they were men whose brains were built for s*x and nothing more.  Seeing Vivian’s slender physique made them think they had the upper hand, so their response to her sharp reaction was a whistling cat-call.

“Your voice is beautiful. Do you have a beautiful face too?”

The man in the middle greedily glanced at Vivian’s exposed skin under her hood.  Vivian couldn’t contain her rising irritation and sighed. Despite her clear attitude of annoyance, the thugs were busy giggling and harassing her.

‘Shall I use my powers?’

The number of men gathered was so great that it was impossible for her to break through them by combat. She could use her powers, but she didn’t know if she could use her abilities here.

The reason she became Roger’s fiancée and the reason she quietly came to the West was to hide the fact that she was an animist. She’d probably attract attention if she used her powers in the village openly.  If that happened, she couldn’t guarantee that no one would ever find out about her identity. It would have been better if she’d met these dimwits in a dark alleyway.

“Why don’t you just give me some time? I can make you happy.”

Vivian’s patience was getting shorter by the second. Surrounded by vulgar laughter and desire, she didn’t want to be here any longer. Whether she was identified or not, she wanted to get these disgusting misfits out of her sight at once. With that thought, Vivian gently raised her hand to begin using her powers.

“What’s going on?”

A familiar low-pitched voice rang out from behind her.

Vivian was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled back with such force that her head smacked into something hard. When she lifted her eyes, she saw Roger with a cold expression like the frost in the middle of winter.

“Huh? Is that your brother?”

At the sudden appearance of an uninvited guest, the thugs seemed offended.  As Roger was almost 190cm tall (6 feet, 2 inches), their gazes naturally had to turn upward.  Roger clicked his tongue, pulling Vivian closer to him. He looked terrifying. The click of his tongue was so low that the men couldn’t hear him, but as she was held in his arms, Vivian could hear him clearly.

“Are you acquainted?”

At Roger’s question, Vivian quickly shook.  The coldness in Roger’s eyes deepened at her instantaneous answer.

“Go away.”

Roger warned the men in a gloomy voice.  Some of the thugs flinched at his bitter aura. The others rolled their eyes and examined Roger from head to toe.

No matter how you looked at him, Roger was by no means an ordinary person. His muscular body was hidden beneath a robe, but his stature and cold energy were brilliantly clear. Those characteristics naturally suppressed the energy of any enemy.

The thugs faltered as they realized they could not possibly beat him.  However, they did not back down because their self-esteems were hurt.  A man standing in the midst of the group shouted loudly.

“Who are you? Appearing suddenly.”

Roger slowly closed his eyes and then opened them. His eyes gleamed sharply at them before slowly and painstakingly checking Vivians body for injuries. Once he was satisfied, he gently lowered his arms around her shoulders and pulled her behind his back, so she was hidden by his robes. Vivian was startled by his sudden and explicit contact and stopped breathing.

“I’m her fiancée.”

Roger said, with a very shameless and confident expression. Vivian’s cheeks burned with fire.  Her burning ears were fortunately covered by her hood.

It was the first time he had spoken of their engagement in public since coming to the West.  It was only a nominal* relationship, but oddly enough, her heart reacted strongly.  It was such a strange feeling that she was ashamed and excited.

[*E/N: nominal means ‘in name only’]

“So knock it off.”

Roger was diligent in his intimidation.  The most important thing for him was to get rid of the men who flirted with Vivian. The men were at a loss for words when he said that he was her fiancée, so they grumbled and turned away.

Thinking it was fortunate that this didn’t become a big commotion, Vivian pressed her chest.

“Are you okay?”

After a while, the arm that had been shielding her from the men pulled back. His harsh tone towards the thugs had long since disappeared. His tone towards her was as soft as a spring breeze.

“Yes. Thank you for helping me.”

Vivian greeted him, ignoring her agitated heart.

“What were you doing here?”

Roger looked down at her quietly. He had an expression that cleadly did not understand why Vivian, who was going to take a look around the market, was standing blankly on the side of the road.

“I got lost while walking. So I was looking around to see if I could see either of you nearby…”

After all, how would she know what caught the eye of a thug?

“Boss! Are you not coming?”

At that moment, Daniel’s voice was heard behind Roger.  As Vivian tilted her head slightly, she saw Daniel waving his hand at the two of them.  It seemed like Daniel was looking for Vivian so they could go back to the mansion.

“Did you get everything you needed?”

Roger nodded his head.

“Yes.  Let’s go back before it gets darker.  It would be back if cracks appeared while it was dark, like last time.”

Vivian remembered the nightmare of that day.

A crack that seemed to be alive and beasts that kept pouring out with no end in sight. The beasts had an aggressive attitude that was very different from how they acted during the day. The fortress wall that shook your entire body. Even thinking about it made her break out into a cold sweat. As he said, it would be fatal if a crack emerged in her absence.  Vivian followed Roger back to the carriage.

As they were approaching, a fine sandstorm blew. Vivian stopped and screamed.

“Agh!”

Young Lady?”

Perhaps hearing the agony in her voice, Roger, who was leading the way, immediately turned around and approached her.

“What?”

“The sand… I think it got into my eyes.”

Vivian couldn’t properly open one of her eyes as she spoke.  The inside of her eye stung. Tears welled up in her eyes, trying to flush out the foreign object.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“It stings a bit…”

Roger grabbed Vivian’s hand, which was moving towards her face. She wanted to rub the corners of her eyes.

“You must not rub it. It could hurt you more.”

As Vivian twisted her hand in his grip, he sternly reprimanded her. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed her chin and lifted it slightly.

“Don’t touch it, just close and open your eyes little by little.”

His steady breathing blew across her face. At Roger’s suggestion, Vivian carefully closed her tingling eyes and then opened them. As tears flowed down her cheeks, Roger’s long fingers quickly wiped away any tears. After she repeated the action a few times, the stinging subsided and embarrassment took its place.

“Sir Knight, I’m fine now.”

She didn’t realize she was so engrossed in his sand-filled eyes, but his face was so close that it was burdensome.  It wouldn’t be strange at all to say that his lips overlapped soon.  Vivian tried to pull out her gripped hand as her fluttering thoughts struggled to calm her heart.

“…”

Normally, Roger would quickly back away if she gave him this kind of attention. But today, he didn’t.

TN/N: I just love this couple.

(づ￣ ³￣)づ