Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"If you don't wake up now, I will leave you."

Even when her mind was going insane, she knew what to do in order to live. Her instinct for survival was sharp. Selena opened her eyes and sat up abruptly.

Kalcion, who finished dismantling the monsters, is now wiping away the blood from the blade he used. Selena noticed that the number of infernal beasts that had been dismantled earlier increased.

"Are you done with your work?"

"I think this should be enough. I don't feel any disturbances around us anymore."

"...Ye-Yes. Thank you for your hard work."

Kalcion found himself dumbfounded at such an unfamiliar remark that he had never heard in his life before.

"I didn't expect to hear that I had a hard time working for a change of mood."

Although it bothered her that the results of such exercise were quite cruel and horrifying, Selena stopped herself from even visualizing the details. It would become more difficult for her if she thought about it harder.

"So now, are we going back?"

Seeing Kalcion raising up his head, Selena also directed her eyes towards the sky. It was so cloudy that she even had difficulty in spotting the moon.

'Come to think of it, the air is somewhat humid.'

"It looks like it's going to rain on our way down the mountain, so let's find a cave. In this way, we can talk more."

As soon as Kalcion had finished his sentence, he began to walk off. Selena hurried after him.

Kalcion drifted away quickly. He was not someone who would kindly wait for her to follow him. Even if he had found someone 'useful', he wouldn't take any trouble for her.

"Oh, wa-wait! Wait for me!"

However, he was too fast.

"This mountain has no proper roads!'

Kalcion seemed to be walking but his legs were so long that Selena had to run to keep up with his pace.

He was much taller and had longer legs than any normal person.

Even deers would feel very upset if they stood next to giraffes. Now, it was her opportunity to feel the sorrow of being a short person. Of course, she was not grateful.

Selena started to climb the steep hillside. She had always been so proud all her life, but her physical strength was not very cooperative at the right moment. Furthermore, the mountain was being too rough on her.

The mountain was so steep that it seemed as if she was rock climbing. She had to climb up a tall rock using both her arms and legs. Moreover, at some places, she had to jump up a tree. There was no other way.

Kalcion strode at a steady pace as if this was all natural to him.

'Would I be wrong if I call him a monster?!'

She thought as she followed him. Indeed, the stamina of this monster was endless. She was starting to feel exhausted.

'I don't want to die this way.'

No matter how much strength she puts on her legs, she couldn't be fast enough to catch up to Kalcion. Thanks to the limit of a human's vigor.

'He is not doing that on purpose, is he?'

At last, Kalcion crept into a cave that was located between the cliffs.

Getting into the cave was no ordinary job for her. If she slips, she would fall into the depths of the trench. The place was again covered with fog, so she couldn't even see where the floor was.

Selena gulped and managed to throw herself into the cave.

"Ahhh!"

How many times has she found herself between life and death in this short period of time? Entering the cave, she saw Kalcion polishing the blade of his sword while leaning his back against the cave wall. Some wood had been placed at the center of the cave that was now burning.

"You are pretty good. I thought you wouldn't catch up."

"...You did not even wait for me!"

"Why do I need to wait for you?"

'Hah, what a bunch of beautiful words!'

Anger surged up in her. She was attacked by a monster and was nearly killed by a mountain trench. She almost died twice already. When she heard his cold words, which stung like needles, harsh words came out of her mouth.

"Ha! You foolish Northern Duke....."

It was the most 'cursed' word Selena could have said to him.

As soon as she entered the cave, it began to rain heavily.

'It's going to take a while for the sky to clear up.'

Selena shook her head and went to sit at the opposite of Kalcion, leaning against the wall. Kalcion opened his mouth as he lit the sword blade with a strike of a rock, blankly.

"Let's just keep talking."

"About what? My role?"

Kalcion did not look at her. He went straight to the point.

"No big deal. You just have to pretend to be my lover in social gatherings or die."

.... Turns out he actually had a different motive.

...

"

Selena kept her mouth shut.

She did not know where to begin with. Not a big deal? Pretending to be his lover? His girlfriend? But, the threat of murder was the biggest problem.

"....Pardon?"

After all, she was out of ideas.

"I don't think there was anything wrong with the interpretation device. You have to pretend to be my lover...."

"Um, wait, I think this is broken."

Selena hurriedly interrupted Kalcion from speaking and hit the bracelet quite hard. If it had the ability to speak, it would have cried out, "You're beating me up since you cannot hit the Duke!"

"Or I could just kill you."

"Wa-wait. I think it's definitely broken....."

"Your reaction shows that you heard the right thing."

But she desperately continued to act like she did not understand a single word he's saying.

"From what I heard, I think you just told me to die."

"I did not tell you to die. I just said that you will be killed if you do not follow what I say."

"What if I die?"

"I will be very sorry."

"So it didn't matter to him whether or not I was dead.'

"Wow, I.really.appreciate.it."

She blurted those words out rather roughly even if she has never said anything in that manner. But, that was also interpreted for him.

How dare she behave arrogantly in front of the Duke? Kalcion frowned. Selena kept her mouth shut, pretending she didn't see it.

"I am already struggling to live here."

"I did not tell you to die. All I want to do is to find the criminal."

Selena cocked her head to the side.

"Criminal?"

Kalcion's eyes became heavier and sharper at her question.

"My soon-to-be fiancée is dead."

"Oh...."

She should have known that Kalcion would push her to risk her life. It was also the basic option around the Northern Duke.

"Ah... I pray for the peace of her soul. You must be very sad."

"I was rather angry."

"Of course. You are mad as the one who was supposed to become your fiancée was killed. That's why you want to find him."

Kalcion furrowed his eyebrows, turning his head.

"I think you misunderstood."

"What? Aren't you angry because you lost your beloved fiancée?"

"We were not in love. She was just chosen by me."

"...What?! Oh, so was it a political marriage?"

"There wasn't much of a mutual exchange for it to be a political marriage."

"Then, was it like a blind date?"

"It was more like selection than a blind date."

.... It was more humane for them to marry like that than a political marriage.

"So you just chose someone to be your wife right after seeing her?"

"Qualifications of a spouse can be fully understood by documents and thorough investigation."

Selena's mouth fell wide open in shock.

She realized that here, in this world, people got married in a different way. Whether they were married or engaged, there was no emotion in it. And even Kalcion's attitude to take it for granted was impressive.

"...Wow. You are a real Northern Duke."

"I don't think saying that I'm a real 'Northern Duke' is a compliment. What did she mean by that?"

He muttered to himself in astonishment, but when Selena heard, she replied back.

"It means you are handsome."

She answered proudly without hesitating. She didn't even blink. The point was to be confident when lying.

"You answered so abruptly that I doubt it."

"That's not true. I have been thinking about it, and it just popped out of my mouth."

That kind of a lie did not make the other feel bad even though it seemed obvious that it was a lie. The evidence was Kalcion smirking briefly.

"And."

"What? There's more?"

"Would all men be handsome if they were Northern Dukes?"

...He must be very curious.']

She was not the top actress for nothing.

"Oh, not just handsome. They would all have the strength of beating monsters with a single strike and have that kind of charisma in their eyes. They would also have that mysterious gray hair, those deep-seated blue eyes and white skin like jade. Don't you think?"

"Are you the only one, or do all the people in your world live with that kind of gibberish?"

Kalcion smiled again. But it was brighter than before.

Selena smiled inwardly, but all she could see was the truth.

"I just stated the fact."

"I have never seen anyone be so brazen in front of me."

"...Really? How would you feel if you were the Duke ?"

"Well...first of all, I could never act like..."

Selena tried to say more, but she couldn't. She bowed her head gently and carefully.

"Hmm? go on."

".....No, nothing."

"It was fun talking to you, wasn't it?"

"....Yes."

Selena replied, gazing at the fire. Kalcion shrugged, returning to his business.

"Also, the North was probably out of interest because it was far from the capital."

"Was?"

"A gold mine was found in this region a few days ago."

Selena couldn't stop her eyes from twinkling.

"Yes, that was usually the reaction of the marriage candidates. Think about how much desire their families have to acquire it."

"I'm sure they have....."

A young, handsome Northern Duke and a bunch of gold. They had to try their best at least once.

"So I picked one of the most influential and easiest barons to deal with."

"Pardon?"

Kalcion's eyes shone menacingly.

"Dead."

"Huh?"

"On the night before the wedding. How do you think was I able to take this?"

Only

Although he was overwhelmed by the mention of a man who

was dead, his eyes were getting dangerously excited.

Kalcion meant he would kill anyone if they got caught. If anyone can kill a person with his eyes, it would be this person.

She understood at once why no one dared to mess around with him. Kalcion grinned, showing his pearl white teeth. Selena felt chills running down her spine.

"I took this as a challenge as the Duke of Renbird to threaten to kill anyone who could not pass."

"Go-got it...."

"Since I have threatened you too, I believe you are prepared to get onto your act?"

Selena kept her mouth shut. It seemed like she was freezing to death.