The Villainess Proposed a Contractual Marriage

December 31st.

Only a day remained before the new year.

This year, the imperial court was hosting a banquet to commemorate the year's end. The grand-scale year-end party had drawn numerous nobles to the capital. It wasn't just a social gathering, but an event aimed at suppressing Askalion's presence and reinforcing the imperial court's strong position.

To attend such a banquet, Harte and Ibria had just stepped out of the temple.

"Let's go, Harte."

"Okay."

They'd heard that Elphisia wouldn't be attending this year-end party. She had even wished for Harte to come to the ducal residence instead of the imperial palace. She worried he might hear malicious rumors about her.

'...I'm sorry, Elphisia.'

However, accompanying Ibria was the 'work' Harte valued most. He was too conscientious to postpone it for personal feelings.

Considerable time had passed since the charity event where Glen had killed someone. Above all, Harte had no interest in gossip, so the slander would likely pass him by.

As long as nothing occurred that would warp his perception, Harte would fulfill his duty without question.

Elphisia had no choice but to trust him.

"Ibria, do we really have to attend the banquet?"

"I don't want to go either. But if we attend, they'll release relief supplies for the poor. They're just using us..."

"That's true..."

If merely showing their faces at a banquet could fill people's hungry stomachs, it was worth it. Knowing this, Harte still couldn't shake the image of Elphisia's anxious eyes. So he cautiously suggested:

"Let's stay for a very short time. We'll just exchange a few greetings and then leave the palace."

"Oh, I like that plan. But what's gotten into you? The usual Harte would have insisted on doing things properly..."

"Me?"

"Who else would I mean?"

"...I'm not sure."

Truly, he wasn't sure.

Should they do their utmost since they were receiving poor relief supplies in exchange? Yet cooperating with an unproductive formality also seemed wasteful.

'What would the usual me that Ibria speaks of have done?'

People change, but the unfamiliarity of forgetting his former self was unsettling.

A small sense of dissonance.

He knew this dissonance was merely a narrow crack. A tiny crack that he wasn't even sure when it had formed...

But he didn't know that even a thick, sturdy embankment could collapse entirely from a tiny crack. So he neglected the small crack, and even willingly embraced it.

Harte's justice, which had seemed flawless at first glance, was developing fissures.

---

---

Even streets bustling with year-end excitement had their dark side. Not every street could be festive, so the difference between busy areas and quieter ones was stark.

Glen, forced into an indefinite vacation by Elphisia, preferred coming to such peaceful streets. Walking these near-empty roads gave him a sense of purpose.

It must have been a form of compulsion.

Having led such an intense life alongside his busy master, Glen struggled to adapt to this sudden leisurely daily life. Even now, he wandered aimlessly through gloomy back alleys, more comfortable there than in bustling thoroughfares, yet equally troubled by this unfamiliar reality.

'The stars are so bright...'

The night sky was exceptionally clear.

Just as Glen was about to lose himself in contemplation, gazing blankly at the sky.

Bang! Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, colorful fireworks painted the night sky alongside the stars. Glen's lips parted involuntarily at the dreamlike scene.

The brighter the fireworks, the more pitiful he felt, lurking in the shadows.

Feeling oddly melancholic, Glen decided to return to the ducal residence.

To his only permitted sanctuary...

"Finally found you."

But fate bared its cruel fangs at the dark assassin.

From behind, a woman with an unforgettable aura steadily closed the distance. Her vibrant red hair, as dazzling as the fireworks in the sky, whipped in the biting wind, and her piercingly blue eyes coldly reflected Glen.

"Half-dragon..."

"How rude. I have a proper name - Tina."

A fateful encounter.

The first target to ever make his assassination attempt fail. Moreover, a woman with absurd strength despite having no martial arts training.

Yet with a bright personality that made her someone he'd rather not get entangled with.

"..."

Shing.

Glen quietly drew his sword.

He had fought countless deadly battles. No matter how strong the opponent, panic was an utterly unnecessary emotion.

"Today will be the last of your evil deeds."

Tina declared confidently.

Her vitality materialized throughout her body, creating an illusion of blood dripping. Now skillfully wielding the Bloody Dragon's power, she made a gesture of pulling a trigger with her hand.

In that moment, as compressed dragon blood enveloped Glen like a bullet, their twisted fates advanced towards their promised conclusion.

---

---

"That's..."

Elphisia was observing the festive streets from the terrace of the ducal residence. As she did so, she spotted a familiar aura in a distant, dimly lit street.

"Is it that child?"

It was almost certainly the Bloody Dragon's aura. Though she had only witnessed it once, its rarity had etched it vividly in her memory.

If it was detectable even from this street, she must have been in combat stance. And there weren't many opponents Tina would face in earnest, even using her dragon abilities.

"...Glen!"

Glen was a strong swordsman, but one specialized in assassination. In other words, he wasn't versatile enough to handle a half-dragon in direct combat.

"Tch."

Elphisia quickly changed into training clothes and dashed out of the ducal residence.

It was her first time being driven by mere concern to act directly. The unfamiliar anxiety enveloping her felt strange.

She ran on foot, unable to ride a horse through the crowded streets.

Her breathing grew ragged, and heat surged through her body.

'Harte...'

She suddenly thought of her lover, who would be escorting the Holy Maiden.

She hadn't realized how unsettling daily life would be without him. If he were by her side, he would have saved Glen, even if it meant begging. The kind-hearted Harte wouldn't be able to refuse his lover's plea.

That was the kind of person Harte was.

Someone who, if you let him close, becomes a sanctuary where you can entrust your heart before you know it.

With him beside her, a surge of confidence that anything was possible would well up.

Even though he was nothing but a simpleton with an easy laugh in everyday life...

"Hah... Hah..."

Sprinting at full speed was quite taxing.

She had neglected training recently. No, she had distanced herself from the sword since formally succeeding as duchess.

It was enough for Glen and the knights to wield swords. To focus on tasks that would grow the family, training time was a waste.

Why did that now fill her with regret?

Why does regret always come flooding in all at once?

Only in times of urgency do we look back on traces of the past. The concept of karma had seemed like an illusion from another world, something she thought would never be relevant in her lifetime.

Yet Elphisia only truly grasped the karma that had boldly approached her when she finally reached the blood-soaked scene.

"Ah..."

The first thing that caught her eye was Glen's broken sword. It seemed he had foolishly chosen to confront his opponent head-on rather than flee.

If so, where could Glen have gone?

The mansion of Court Count Arwel, which Askalion was using as a base, was the most likely possibility.

In any case, even if Glen, her closest confidant, were to spill just a few words, Elphisia could find herself in serious trouble. To minimize such risks, she had focused more on reconnaissance missions than assassinations.

'No, that's not it...'

For a moment, Elphisia shook her head, calmly piecing together the puzzle.

'Most problems can be solved by destroying evidence and abandoning Glen. Moreover, do they really think they can handle the fangs of Luminel, when a cornered rat's teeth are at their sharpest?'

Even now, if she mobilized her family's power, she could topple Askalion's shaky foundation in an instant. That was the current reality.

But who would have thought that Askalion, once rumored to be a prodigy, would cling on like a drowning man?

'There's no way he could have grasped a weakness severe enough to prevent any counterattack... right? Even if I were to face myself, knowing all the family's dark secrets, that would be impossible.'

As Elphisia continued her contemplation, a chillingly cold voice grated on her ears from the darkness.

"Am I too late..."

Whoosh!

Elphisia instinctively distanced herself from the voice's owner. If pressed for a reason, it was because her survival instinct whispered to her. That if she didn't move away from this strange person right now, she might die.

As she prepared to draw her sword at any moment, the stranger removed his deeply pulled hood, fixing Elphisia with brilliant golden eyes.

"Elphisia Luminel. Is that correct?"

"...And if it is?"

"How lamentable."

The man exhaled a heavy sigh filled with regret, then continued.

"I'm too late to find that child, and all I've caught is merely an enemy. I have no face to show her."

Given the scene before them, Glen had most likely been taken somewhere.

Undoubtedly to some noble's mansion or the palace.

Searching for Glen in such places would be too risky, as it could escalate the situation. If he were to wage war against humans, he'd need to bring proper forces.

"It can't be helped."

A chicken instead of a pheasant.

At the very least, he should capture the wicked woman who had inhumanely used his bloodline.

"Tzepesh."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"We're capturing her and returning."

"As you command."

The vampire count's cloak stretched like a shadow, creating an endless dark curtain.

In an instant, Elphisia sank into the abyss without even a chance to scream.

The street where the commotion had occurred was now filled with emptiness.

The wind blew.

At the edge of the void, a crimson hair tie rolled across the ground.

It was Elphisia's final trace.