The Predator's Contract Partner

“Remember, Elisha. One drop of your blood will lead to the death of a hundred people.”

“What… …—why?”

“If you don’t understand, I’ll forcefully engrave it,”

he promised and lightly clicked his tongue. Elisha felt like she was an inferior student.

“You are my wife and you are mine. You’re under my protection and precious. So, as long as I’m alive, if someone harms you, I’ll chase them to hell and make them see blood. Today, my knights, who are my hands and feet, did it. Without them, I would have done it myself.” 

“… … .”

“Now does our clever little ghost understand?”

Elisha recalled her own wretched past life at that moment. The many miseries she underwent from being imprisoned in Marco’s house passed before her eyes. Then, she was a being that had no protection. And now…. knights are fighting for her.

It was terrifying… … . a bizarre sensation that was also an ecstatic hue.

Nevertheless, at this very moment, there were people who were stepping out for her. Somewhere in this world… … . there was someone on her side. People on her side that everyone feared. Strong people were protecting her.

Such an intense sweetness engulfed her and was so frightening that Elisha choked on guilt.

“Why? Are you frightened and appalled?”

“No, no I am not,”

she hesitated, and then she confessed,

“But it’s also a little unnerving, too. I don’t want the people of the Knights of the Black Lion to get hurt because of me.”

“Right, then learn from that worry. Don’t get hurt next time, alright?” 

asserted Lucerne. 

He sat Elisha down, slowly dumped her cooled tea down on the carpeted floor and poured her new, hot cup of tea.

“Drink slowly.”

“… … .”

“We should go home together. Umm?”

She swallowed her tea as she held the cup with trembling hands. Belatedly he entered her sight.

“Speaking of which, Lucerne.”

“Yes.”

“You mentioned before, that if I saw the Black Lion Seeds go wild on the battlefield I would change my assessment of them.”

Lucerne had guaranteed she would change her belief that they were a good people.

“I did.”

“My sentiment has not changed. You are not always right.” 

Lucerne laughed. With an exceptionally jubilant manner.

“How admirable. Undoubtedly, you are,”

he whispered as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and led her out of the temple as if he were meticulously taking care that Elisha did not see anything more terrifying.

That evening, she received surprising news:  the Knights of the Black Lions had inflicted the same stab wounds that Elisha received on more than one hundred paladins.

‘They are exceptionally strong people.’

Fortunately, no one among the Black Lion Knights was seriously injured.

The Lions of the Black Serpent always win. It was a common idiom in the capital.

‘It was like that too in my past life. The present life is the same.’

The black snake was Lucerne, and the Black Lions were his seeds.

***

The mansion was noisy. There were few injuries. They ate, drank, and chatted in the arena.

Revenge was sweet, and they were belligerents who reveled in violence in the first place. Elisha observed them from afar.

She had come across Ian and Corinne in the hallway. She pretended not to know anything and inquired,

“The mansion is noisy, did something happen?”

Ian and Corinne answered very calmly. 

“There was a joint training with other knights,” he said.

It was a lie that even an idiot wouldn’t believe. But they were impressive enough that she told the kitchen to prepare a special meal. She stopped by Lucerne’s room to discuss the management of the mansion and said cautiously,

“Lucerne. I’ll be careful. Don’t let the knights fight for me again.”

“Even if I had ordered them to, they would have disobeyed me,”

Lucerne grinned. It was true. If they didn’t respect and love Elisha. They would never have moved if they hadn’t thought of her as their lioness worthy of following.

“But it’s pleasing to hear you’ll be careful. Keep your promise.”

Elisha licked her lips at his words.

“Pretend you don’t know. If they know you know, they’ll be shy, and try to outdo each other and it will just make things bigger. Don’t praise them for nothing.”

“… … .I understand.”

It was good to know that if she said thank you for nothing, they might have a bigger fight next time. The excitement that ran through her was a one-time thing. Elisha didn’t want to cause another commotion.

“By the way… … . it’s everything alright? It seems like a considerable predicament.”

“Duel between individuals has been illegal for a long time, but knights dueling between knights are not illegal. It’s alright since you’ve been stabbed, and we have the evidence.” 

Even though Elisha assumed as much, she meekly nodded.