FLBE Chapter 9 Part 6
by SYLPHLiena hesitated, considering her uncertain future.
Could I really leave? Would I truly be free?
Her heart wavered, but then she regained her resolve.
“No. My friends might be in danger. His Majesty won’t leave them alone.”
“Hmm, I could protect your friends. Did you forget who I am?”
“What?”
“Or should we go meet them right now? I can take you to them immediately.”
His tempting words made Liena’s resolve waver again.
Meet my friends? Really?
To remove her doubts, Lance offered another bait.
“You know I’m a Top-righteous Alpha too, right?”
At his words, Liena’s body trembled. Noticing her reaction, Lance reassured her.
“I’ve been friends with Roan for a long time. Ask him later. I’m not like the emperor. Even among Top-righteous Alphas, there are different kinds.”
“Different kinds? There are different kinds of Top-righteous Alphas?”
“Hmm, you really don’t know anything. Explaining it all would take all night. And the emperor might come back soon. What then? You won’t be able to escape.”
“…”
Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion.
Following him seemed right, yet she hesitated. She couldn’t trust him easily, and various concerns held her back.
“Don’t you want to live freely?”
As if reading her mind, he tempted her again. Could I truly live freely if I follow him?
“I can make all your dreams come true. If you want to travel this world, I can make that happen.”
Travel this world?
“While traveling, you can help people in need and explore new lifestyles. Isn’t that the true meaning of freedom?”
Help people while traveling?
“You love helping people. It’s your mission as a Saintess. I want you to live the life you desire.”
Just as she was about to give in to his temptation, her eyes suddenly widened.
“How do you know I have healing powers?”
“Didn’t I just tell you I’m friends with Roan? And the entire empire knows about the Saintess’s powers. Of course, I would know it too.”
“Oh… But really… are you friends?”
“Yes, we are.”
Roan had never mentioned this. In fact, he had warned her to be wary of this man.
Determined to keep her from thinking too much, Lance continued to throw bait.
“Let’s go see your friends first. They must miss you terribly. They’ll be curious about your sudden disappearance.”
“…!”
How does he know that? This man, who seemed to know everything about her, was suspicious yet his words tugged at her heart.
Travel freely, meet her friends, explore new lifestyles, and do what she wanted—it was thrilling just to think about it. But she couldn’t fully trust the man in front of her.
“How can I trust you?”
Just when it seemed like she was about to give in, Liena’s question caught Lance off guard. His brows furrowed slightly before he let out a soft laugh. Suddenly, he created a circular pattern in the air and spoke.
“Will you trust me if I make a vow here?”
“What is this?”
“It’s a sigil of promise.”
“A sigil of… promise?”
“Yes. If I don’t keep my word to you, this spell will tear my body apart.”
“Huh?”
“If you want, I’m even willing to do this.”
The man, who spoke so nonchalantly about such a terrifying thing, was still as strange as ever. Yet, she found herself wanting to trust him.
Liena glanced back and forth between the sigil and Lance, swallowing hard.
“But how do I know this is real?”
“Has the Saintess been deceived her whole life? Do you want me to break my vow and let you see my body get torn apart to believe it?”
“What?”
“Alright. I’ll show you. Once I make the vow, the sigil will glow red.”
Feeling uncertain but intrigued, Liena watched Lance’s actions in a daze.
He stared at the sigil, closed his eyes slowly, then opened them and muttered something strange.
“Sigil of promise, I vow. I, Lance, will kiss Liena three times a day without fail.”
What?!
At that moment, the sigil engraved in the air glowed a deep red, then flickered as if acknowledging the vow before the red light faded.
“Are you crazy?”
“At least I didn’t vow to f*ck you. I have some decency.”
“What..?”
“Ugh!”
“L-Lance?”
Suddenly, Lance clutched his stomach and bent over, groaning in pain.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“The vow… When you first make such a vow, it begins immediately… Ugh!”
“Huh?”
“If I don’t kiss you soon, my body… Ahh!”
Suddenly, he collapsed. Startled, Liena panicked looking at his pale face, unable to fully believe his words. His hand, clutching his stomach, dropped limply to the ground. And there, on his hand, was real, bright red blood.
“Lance!”
“H-hurry… Are you really just going to watch me die? Ugh!”
Her face turned white at the sight of the blood. Even if everything he said was a lie, she couldn’t just leave him like this. Her inability to ignore someone in pain kicked in, as always.
Liena hurriedly knelt beside him. When she lifted his blood-soaked clothes, she saw his flesh torn and shredded. The unexpected sight took her breath away. That sigil really worked.
Seeing him trembling, Liena took a deep breath and placed her hands on his stomach, speaking in a trembling voice.
“It’s okay, it won’t hurt. I’ll heal you. The torn flesh will cleanly reattach without a scar. So just hang on, that’s right, be good.”
Lance bit his inner cheek to stifle a laugh at her sudden action.
How was he supposed to understand her naivety? The girl, sweating as she poured her divine power into his stomach, was cute, and for some reason, he felt his heart fluttering.
Lance had cast an illusion spell on her. In reality, he was perfectly fine, but it looked to her as if he was bleeding.
Her unexpected eccentricity made him feel strange. It wasn’t that he felt guilty about his lie. Rather, he was fascinated and amused by Liena’s innocence, and it made his heart flutter.
‘Hah, this won’t be easy. How do you even tame a woman like this?’
He had never tried to tame a woman before, nor had he ever thought of doing so. Women had never interested him much; his life was entirely about magic.
But for the first time, he wanted someone. He’d been so obsessed with getting her that he hadn’t even touched his magical research in days.