Prologue
“It’s done!”
Clap!
Lucy clapped her hands and proudly looked over the completed magic circle.
Afraid she might make a mistake, she had even used a protractor and ruler while drawing it. No matter how many times she checked, it was perfect.
Though it does look a little scary.
The magic circle, glowing a blood-red color as if it had been drawn with actual blood, looked more like a demon summoning ritual than anything else. Still, she was certain it would work.
Soon, the holy stone placed at the center began to hum, signaling that everything was ready.
Now all that remained was…
“Alright. Go lie down in there, Duke.”
She pointed to the handsome man standing beside her.
“Which duke?”
“……”
“There’s more than one duke in this empire, you know.”
As if there were any other dukes here besides him.
Instead of saying that aloud, Lucy rolled her eyes.
“Yes, yes. The empire’s one and only incarnation of the Golden Dragon, slayer of monsters, savior of the continent…”
“You should mention my face too. That’s your favorite part.”
“…The incredibly handsome Duke Edward Le Tesseron.”
Only then did his reptilian crimson eyes soften, curving into a surprisingly gentle smile that didn’t match their sharp shape.
Lucy smiled back.
Then she pointed firmly at the magic circle.
“Now would you please get inside?”
Tilt.
“In there?”
The duke tilted his head adorably.
Maybe it was because he was ridiculously handsome, but even a giant man doing that looked cute rather than ridiculous.
If any other man did that, I’d want to smack him.
The platinum-haired beauty looked most lovable when he acted as though he knew absolutely nothing.
…Lovable, but!
She had almost fallen for it despite knowing better.
Forcing the distracting thoughts away, Lucy answered,
“Yes. Right on top of the holy stone would be perfect.”
Edward continued staring at her with innocent eyes.
Then he pointed out the obvious.
“That looks exactly like a human sacrifice ritual.”
Honestly, it really did.
Lucy felt slightly guilty.
“Come on, it’s not like that!”
“Then is that really…?”
Lucy puffed out her chest confidently and declared,
“Yes! It’s a magic circle that will create a complete incarnation for you!”
“……”
“If you lie down here, your incomplete blood will become true dragon blood!”
Saying it out loud made her sound like a suspicious salesperson.
“And then?”
“You’ll finally receive proper purification! Your berserk episodes will stop! And then…”
“You’ll help me find my true mate?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes.
There he went again with the mate nonsense.
“Yes. Of course!”
Even after receiving such a straightforward answer, Edward merely shrugged.
“What if it fails?”
“It won’t.”
“But if it does, my heart will be terribly wounded.”
“Were you listening to anything I said?”
“I’m more fragile than I look, Lucy. I’ve never experienced defeat, so I’m weak against failure.”
“That’s technically true, but it was still incredibly annoying to hear.”
“What can I do? It’s the truth.”
Blinking his long eyelashes, the duke leaned his head onto Lucy’s shoulder—
“Then I won’t need the ritual. I won’t need to find a mate either—”
“Stop saying ridiculous things!”
—only to be shoved away by Lucy’s palm before he could finish.
“Hah.”
Behind the hand blocking him, a crooked smile appeared briefly.
The duke quickly composed himself as if he had never acted pitiful at all.
Then he smiled sweetly again.
“Okay. I understand.”
“If you understand, then please just—”
“But I’m scared to go in there alone.”
“……”
“What if this magic circle is a scam? What if some curse activates the moment I lie down?”
“Ugh, fine! Fine already!”
Really, if it was for an important cause, she could at least do this much.
Lucy grabbed Edward’s hand and stepped into the circle with him.
“Alright, now—!”
The moment she shouted, her knees suddenly gave way.
“Ah!”
What is this?
A scorching wave of heat crashed through her body.
“Wait…”
Poison…?
No, it felt wrong for poison.
Her breathing became ragged. Her entire body tingled. Even her mind felt hazy.
I never heard anything about the magic circle having this kind of effect!
Had it failed?
Lucy immediately turned to look at the duke.
She was burning up like this. There was no way the infamous Monster Duke—who could lose control at any moment—would be unaffected.
“Haa…”
Just as expected.
Edward’s eyes were glowing a deeper red than usual.
Something about him seemed slightly unhinged.
His head tilted again.
Unlike his usual cute gesture, this one resembled a predator lazily inclining its head.
“This is strange, Lucy.”
“D-Duke…”
“I don’t feel anything.”
A chill ran down her spine.
His gaze remained unnervingly clear as he looked at her.
“Ah. Maybe not nothing.”
“……”
“My body feels hot.”
Instantly, goosebumps covered Lucy’s skin.
“D-Duke… hngh…”
She wanted to tell him that something had gone wrong, but her breathing was too uneven to form proper words.
Her legs instinctively pressed together, and her throat burned.
I need to make him leave…
She had to get him away from the magic circle before it affected him any further.
“Maybe it’s because I didn’t lie down when you told me to.”
With that, Edward pulled Lucy into his arms.
Just that brief contact made her feel dizzy.
What is happening…?
As he lowered her onto the magic circle while holding her against his solid chest, the heat intensified.
Lucy gasped and clutched tightly at his collar.
“Nothing’s changed yet.”
“Hngh… ah…”
“You worked so hard preparing all this.”
His voice sounded almost disappointed.
“And now I’m hurt, Lucy.”
I’m the one who worked hard! Why are you the one getting hurt?!
But she couldn’t even voice the complaint.
Her thoughts already felt drowned in overwhelming sensations.
“You said this would help me find my true mate.”
Edward’s lips curved upward.
“Well, it can’t be helped.”
Warm breath brushed against her skin.
“As always, it seems you’ll have to purify me yourself.”
“T-That’s…”
“But this purification…”
His hand brushed her cheek before sliding lower.
“We’ll have to do it properly this time.”
“……”
“There’s quite a lot of miasma built up.”
Flutter.
His smiling eyes crinkled as his long eyelashes trembled seductively.
The rustle of clothing being removed sounded unusually loud.
Lucy stared in panic at the lips approaching hers.
H-How…
How did things end up like this?!
