TAVD 13

Chapter 13

Chapter 5: Beware of Dual Contracts!

Lirian Tillard.

Evren had been seriously pondering what to do with this woman.

Sigh… I don’t want her weaknesses to keep growing.

‘She’s a woman who almost ruined herself by eating poisonous weeds from the ground.’

Should I just let her break apart?

I can’t allow myself to be dragged around by her.

‘It’ll hit me pretty hard too since the imprint is already in place.’

Severe mental corruption.
Failure of several organs.

Still, an S-class body would endure to some extent.

Should I take that into account?

But at that moment, Lirian’s eyes sparkled.

“Your Highness, have you ever heard of a mineral called Nightfall?”

“Are you trying to sell it to me, miss?”

“With an artifact that combines that mineral and a control stone, you can break an imprint.”

“How do you even know that?”

“Hehe, isn’t it obvious? I’m from the Tillard family.”

Lirian Tillard said her birthplace like it was a cure-all.

…But it’s not entirely implausible.

After all, her family was a prestigious line of controllers recognized throughout the empire, maybe even the world.

It wouldn’t be surprising if they hid secret techniques the royal family didn’t even know about.

“Then why must I wait a whole year?”

“This artifact only works if the imprint’s controller creates it.”

“Hmm…”

“And it must be used on the day the imprint reaches one year old to be effective.”

“….”

“If you provide the time and resources, I’ll do my best to break the imprint.”

Evren narrowed his eyes.

She didn’t seem to be lying.

But he suddenly remembered something she had said in her sleep.

‘She clung to me so annoyingly back then…’

She used to get along well with her fiancé, Karkin…

And now, since he’s the one who imprinted her, she’s ready to return it immediately.

What’s with this temperature difference?

‘Hmm. Then, for now, I’ll hold off on breaking her.’

She could still be useful.

Though, just for a little irritation, he wanted to toy with her.

“Lirian. Then shall we become engaged, for now?”

“Eh?”

Once again, Lirian thought.

Kudos to my past life self who read the original carefully!

‘I never expected I’d come up with a way to lift the imprint!’

She really should get into the habit of reading thoroughly and storing knowledge in her brain.

It all becomes blood and flesh in the end.

Still, she was a little caught off guard by the engagement suggestion.

But after hearing him out, it wasn’t nonsense.

“Think about it. Since I imprinted on you, you have to be my controller for at least a year.”

“That’s right.”

“Won’t people see our relationship as… rather odd? Don’t you think?”

“Hmm. That’s a reasonable point.”

“Besides, I have headaches dealing with your family and Pavil right now.”

“My younger brother Kyle is working hard to show everyone that he’d be a better emperor than me.”

Well, he’s the original male lead…

But Lirian didn’t particularly want him to win.

‘In the original, that prince knew I was being exploited.’

A male lead is disqualified if he’s foolish.

But a male lead’s morals always favor the female lead.

Actually, there’s no need to bring the ‘original story’ into this.

‘Keep that in mind, Lirian.’

When she suffered in the palace over Karkin’s affairs.

The original male lead just casually brushed past her pain.

Lirian’s suffering was nothing; Iris wasn’t hurt.

…Hmm, fine.

‘Anyway, I have to be stuck with this man for up to a year.’

During that time, she could annoy the Tillards and Pavil a little more.

She could play tug-of-war to get what she wanted.

‘And if I steer things in his favor…?’

The prince’s war four years later might not even happen.

Peace was necessary for her modest, comfortable future.

That was worth staking her life on.

For now…

“Your Highness, shall we make the contract in the name of the Creator God?”

“Do you distrust me that much, miss?”

Yes.

Let’s put aside the web-like patterns under my eyes and talk about trust.

“Oh my, of course not! But humans work harder when there’s some coercion involved.”

I already know the original story, so she’ll probably do it well anyway.

“And who knows, a person might appear who makes you want to imprint them for real.”

“Haha?”

“Why do you say that? Even you could find love someday, Your Highness.”

She knew the truth: this man wasn’t the type to be saved by a woman’s love.

But she had to say, ‘Even for your sake, let’s invoke a god and write the contract this way.’

That way, people would feel they didn’t lose out.

“Miss Tillard, love? What foolish talk is that in a royal or noble contract?”

“I’ve had it, you know? For ten years when we were engaged.”

Lirian’s eyes drifted toward the windows in the barracks.

Her brain needed a bit of time to work things out.

As she looked outside wistfully, the villain spoke again.

“Then, Miss Tillard.”

“Yes?”

“You’ve decided not to love anyone like that anymore, right?”

“Yes.”

Lirian nodded.

“I won’t love anyone anymore.”

It wasn’t a lie—it was true.

A few seconds later, the villain chuckled.

“Exactly, miss. Same here.”

Phew… what a relief.

That was the best thing he said so far.

With the conclusion reached, it was time to write the contract.

The relationship between a superhuman and their controller had a long history.

But the contract terms themselves were extremely simple.

After all, the first clause couldn’t be changed under the doctrine of the Creator God.

<A superhuman cannot forcibly touch their controller.>

This rule had been established after the “White Night” incident a thousand years ago.

What it entailed goes beyond simple explanation.

If curious, one could look it up in a history book.

The important thing was that neither imprinting nor contact beyond holding hands was possible without the controller’s consent.

And if violated?

‘Struck dead by lightning from the heavens.’

Ferniés, such a terrifying empire!

A scary country that considers the weak!

However, using abilities to kill was still possible—a fundamentally unfair world…

<Lirian Tillard’s control targets are Evren Tarandia and, next, the ‘Shadows.’

The controller may extend power to others at their discretion.>

Since Lirian hadn’t imprinted on the villain, she could still use her powers on others.

Up to this point, she and the villain were working together fairly well.

But…?

“Your Highness, why does the contract say you must supervise my meals?”

“Well, poisons disappear on their own inside me. You’re not the target.”

“Oh… I see…”

‘So the power of annihilation works internally like that.’

She had learned an excessive amount of information.

But that wasn’t all.

“‘Do not handle blades recklessly, and if you must take medicine, only do so under Evren Tarandia’s supervision?’”

Lirian had always relied on herself for survival, picking herbs from the Tillard estate when she was sick.

No one had ever nursed her back to health.

So seeing this clause made her head spin a bit.

“One year, and you’re my lifeline, miss.”

“Ah…”

“You can’t be harmed.”

Right now, he was calculating her usefulness while suppressing violent impulses.

Pure, meticulous tool management.

Lirian decided to think positively again.

‘So during the contract, I won’t get hurt?’

Her eyes then lingered on the “budget” for a long time.

It was called the maintenance fee, but it was actually research support to break the imprint and other things.

Sigh…

Even so, getting paid to risk one’s life is different from doing it for free.

Lirian narrowed her eyes and smiled.

“Your Highness, I’d like to add one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like you to always consider my occasional crazy advice.”

“….”

“It won’t be advice that harms you.”

She would be drawing more knowledge from the ‘original story’ in the future.

It’s tedious to worry about plausibility, but she could lie that she knew everything because she was from Tillard a few times.

Since she was being paid a large sum, she felt motivated to do well in small ways.

“Very well, then.”

“Oh my… you’re more generous than I expected.”

“I already know I’m not normal.”

“….”

Her excitement at the money quickly faded.