AWWEWNR Chapter 39 

Rosaryn made herself up to meet Edward and went to Tharrott’s office.

 

“Are you busy?”

 

Rosaryn opened the door without knocking, and Tharrott looked up from his papers.

 

“Well?”

 

Rosaryn asked, twirling her around. It was a little risqué, but her usual dresses showed off her cleavage, so it was too late to complain now.

 

“You look beautiful, Rose.”

 

‘I’m not in the mood for nitpicking right now.’

 

But it wasn’t the reaction she was hoping for, and she was a little embarrassed. 

 

The dress was off-the-shoulder, with a plunging neckline that emphasized her sexiness. 

 

She’d planned to wear a fishnet shawl over the dress, of course, but she’d left the shawl with Tharrott only to find him complaining that it was too risqué.

 

Knowing that I was going to see Edward, I expected him to criticize my outfit, but instead, I felt an unexplainable pang of disappointment as he told me that I looked beautiful in his usual bland way.

 

“I’ll be back. Duke Delioffe is busy, so I won’t be long.”

 

“You’re going to talk to him about the marriage, aren’t you?”

 

“Yes. I’m going to make sure it’s finalized. The Empress likes the idea of me becoming a member of the family of Delioffe, as she thinks it will be useful to His Highness.”

 

“…I see.”

 

Even with Hanaella all over his head, he couldn’t help but feel a strange, uncomfortable sensation at the thought of his lover being so beautifully dressed to be married to another man. 

 

Noticing Tharrott’s expression, Rosaryn walked over to him and wrapped her arms gently around his shoulders.

 

“Don’t worry, Tharo. Even if my marriage to Duke Delioffe is finalized, I will always be Tharo’s woman.”

 

Tharrott stroked her arm around his neck and kissed her in response to Rosaryn’s words. In response, Rosaryn lifted Tharrott’s chin and locked their lips together.

 

As soon as their lips touched, Rosaryn’s tongue impatiently invaded Tharrott’s mouth.

 

The thick, soft tongue skimmed the roof and lining of his mouth, and then Tharrott’s tongue clamped down on hers.

 

Rosaryn blew out a sweet breath, pulling her tongue to bring Tharrott’s into her mouth. Then she sucked on it a little harder.

 

Tharrott, overcome with pleasure, tugged on Rosaryn’s arm, pulling her onto his thighs. 

 

Without hesitation, the hand holding her arm slid into her breastbone and pinched her soft flesh. 

 

With a sweet moan, Rosaryn cradled Tharrott’s head in her hands.

 

💫

 

Lloyd had learned about the Covenant of Existence of Ariel when he studied Imperial History, so he already knew what it was, how it worked, and why the Imperials feared it.

 

The Emperor had seemed a little worried about the contract in the year of Ariel’s birth, but he hadn’t sanctioned it because he didn’t want the neutral family to fall into the hands of the 

Empress. She had gained control of the Cathedral.

 

It was more how the contract was made that was the problem, as he recalled, it was done like se*ual intercourse between a man and a woman.

 

“You had s*x with the next Legionnaire?!”

 

Lloyd asked in embarrassed excitement, and Hanaella nodded weakly and said that she hadn’t had relations, she’d simply inserted the next Legionnaire’s genitals into her own, which shocked Lloyd even more.

 

“How could you say something like that so casually…! I mean, is that normal, even if it was just a family contract…! No, is that normal for Ariel?!”

 

Seeing Lloyd’s expression, as if he was trying to suppress a lot of anger, Hanaella looked at him in bewilderment.

 

“I don’t know what you mean by that, but it’s not a normal contract, it’s a covenant that can only be made by the Chosen One, born a woman to the House of Ariel, and it unites my life with his.”

 

Lloyd pressed his hand to his forehead and let out a short sigh as Hanaella spoke impassively.

 

“That’s not what I meant… Huh, never mind. That’s out of the way. So you’ve awakened? I’ve heard that when you sign an existence contract, the head of the household awakens.”

 

“Yes. I did, but…”

 

“Did you?”

 

“It doesn’t seem like I have more black magic in my body, and I tried casting the black magic I learned, but I don’t know if there’s a difference in power or anything like that… Anyway, I think I’ll have to fight a demon to find out for sure.”

 

“Fighting a demon, why would you do that when you have Knights…? How was it…?”

 

“What?”

 

“…That, the contract, I mean, how was that… with the next Legionnaire?”

 

“…Ah…well, it’s not bad…”

 

“What?!”

 

Lloyd shouted in exasperation at the word ‘not bad’, and Hanaella’s shoulders tensed.

 

“What’s wrong…?” said Hanaella, raising an eyebrow.

 

“…He was a man who didn’t know women in the first place, and I had experience with His Highness, so I remembered back to that time, and we made a successful deal.”

 

‘You remembered?’, Lloyd’s stern face lit up.

 

“Yes. I’m glad to hear that what you did with me helped, hmm.”

 

‘What, you feel better, you’re like a child, what’s the point of feeling better, exactly?’

 

“Anyway, so that’s the last time you’ll ever do anything like that with him, right?”

 

“…Probably, but there’s another way to distribute black magic, so…”

 

“If there’s that method, that means there are other ways.”

 

“…That’s right.”

 

“Then do it the other way.”

 

“…Why?”

 

Hanaella’s expression turned grim. She had no desire to seek the Crown Prince’s permission for such a matter. 

 

Even if he was the Crown Prince, it was an abuse of power.

 

Seeing her expression, Lloyd leaned back in his chair, rested his hands on the armrests, and rubbed his chin. His fine platinum hair blew in the light breeze.

 

“Isn’t that the body I’d use if I were in danger, the body.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you think I am the kind of man who would allow another to use what is mine?”

 

“It is not yours, Majesty.”

 

“It is mine.”

 

“Why?”

 

“We’re lovers.”

 

“It’s fake.”

 

“It’ll be ‘official’ soon.”

 

“…”

 

“You’re mine until we end this relationship you started. And I am yours, of course.”

 

“…”

 

Such an insistence… When Hanaella said nothing, Lloyd, a little uneasy, spoke up.

 

“I say again, I don’t want any other man’s hands on you. You are mine.”

 

The casualness with which Lloyd made this misleading statement made Hanaella’s face flush. 

 

She didn’t know why, but this insistent claim of his sounded like a declaration of love. Add to that the fact that this man was staring at her as if he needed to hear an answer, and he was launching into a handsomeness attack, and her heart was racing.

 

‘So stupidly handsome, so stupidly handsome.’

 

“I’ll think about it, for now.”

 

Sigh— 

 

The corners of Lloyd’s lips curved up in a cute little smile when she said she’d think about it instead of rejecting him outright.

 

💫

 

Edward sighed briefly at the butler’s announcement of Rosaryn’s arrival and closed the papers he was looking at. 

 

He told his aide, Baron, who was working at the desk to his right, that he would be gone for half an hour, then left the room.

 

At the last hunting festival, Rosaryn, who had offered Edward a partnership, saying that she had a deal to make, had baffled him by saying that she would only talk about it if he invited her to Delioffe’s manor. 

 

Pretty ballsy for a girl who had just come of age, though I’d have to say that Hanaella was brazen when she went to Norwen’s to ask Ron for a favor.

 

As Edward made his way to the reception room, he wondered what kind of deal the young, spunky woman would ask him to make.

 

Click—

 

The door opened and Edward entered, causing Rosaryn to instinctively jump up from her seat on the couch.

 

“Sit down,” he said as soon as he saw her, and she sat down across from him.

 

Edward remained silent until the maid poured the tea, and only when she was gone did he hold up a teacup full of tea and offer it to Rosaryn.

 

“Listen.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

She knew he was basically a blunt man, but something about his lack of greeting made her feel uncomfortable, and as if she sensed it, Edward set the teacup down and said, 

 

“I’ll skip the greeting, since it’s not the first time we’ve met, and get straight to the business at hand.”

 

At Edward’s words, Rosaryn set her teacup down.