Time Limit

Chapter 10 ( I Want You To Like Me )

While returning to the Duke of Kandel’s residence after finishing all the government affairs in the Imperial Family, Asrazan continued to contemplate.

Seeing his serious face, the coachman speculated that he must have shared serious concerns with the Emperor.

However, Asrazan’s concerns were very simple.

‘Is it better to go check the condition? But the wizard will visit me tomorrow…’

It was very uncomfortable to have a sick person in his house. But to stop by her room, Lariette’s words caught his heart.

It wouldn’t be polite to go there. Besides, it was not possible to cause another unnecessary misunderstanding.

All of these reasons led to the conclusion that it should not be sought. But strangely, he continued to hesitate to judge, despite the clear circumstances.

Asrazan did not understand himself at all, so he furrowed his eyebrows and made an impression. The innocent coachman trembled pitifully at the terrifying energy.

He didn’t finish his thoughts until he finally arrived at the Duke’s house. It was the first time that he had felt so short on the way home, which he normally thought was long.

But in the end, his worries were meaningless.

It was because as soon as Asrazan opened the front door and entered, something small pink popped out.

“Asrazan! Have you been there?”

Lariette’s wavy hair was scattered here and there, probably because she had rushed down the stairs.

The purple eyes, which had lost vitality due to the illness, twinkled again and sent a warm gaze to him.

Asrazan was so awkward that anyone except Halstein had met him, so as soon as he crossed the gate, he stood from afar and looked down at her.

“It’s cold.”

“I’m almost healed! Thanks for sending the priest. He said I’d be completely cured if he came back in two days and treated me again.”

Touch it! Lariette took his hand and pulled it to her forehead. The bulging forehead was in good shape as if it had never been heated up.

‘Have you already gotten so much better?’

No matter how much divine power was injected, it was unreasonable for a severe cold to fall in half a day. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, or it was a priest with a fairly strong divine power. It will be one of the two.

However, as it was not a very important matter, Asrazan soon changed the subject.

“You only need to fulfill your duty as a wizard. There is no need to meet me here.”

“I just want to see you? Didn’t Asrazan remember me today?”

“… No, not at all.”

Asrazan hurriedly turned around and passed her.

He couldn’t say that he had been thinking of her all day. Because it was obviously a misunderstanding.

“Hey, what’s wrong with your reaction? Didn’t you think of me?”

“I said no.”

“I think I’m right-“

Lariette smirked, chasing after him as he was walking fast.

As she panted a little, who had been moving non-stop due to the large difference in stride length, Asrazan secretly slowed his walking speed.

“Asrazan, are you going to work tomorrow?”

Lariette grabbed the collar of the end of his coat, telling him to stop. It was a small force that was hardly felt, but Asrazan stopped walking.

Even in the midst of this, she thought that flashy clothes suited him better than usual, because it was formal attire for the royal family. Of course, there was no outfit that didn’t go well with a handsome face.

“Tomorrow, I plan to process the paperwork at the mansion. Is it because of purification?”

“No, I think it will take three days for purification to work. Not that, a date, a date!”

“Didn’t we go out yesterday?”

The wizard’s body didn’t seem to have fully healed either. Asrazan added with an indifferent face.

“It ended too soon! Besides, do you know what day tomorrow is?”

“… What day?”

Seeing his face with one eyebrow raised as if puzzled, Lariette made a sullen expression, asking how could that be.

Asrazan counted the date in a devastating mood, but nothing came to mind. There was no such thing as a day that he had to take care of in the first place, so it was a natural result.

After a short sigh, Lariett took something out of her arms as if she had been waiting.

“Ta-da!”

In an excited voice, she brought what was in her hand to his eyes. Asrazan looked at it with slender eyes and immediately made a questionable voice.

“What is that?”

“Piece of paper! How hard is it to get this! It not just a piece of paper!”

“What kind of paper is it?”

Seeing her running around saying it was special paper, he hurriedly corrected the expression. Lariette then lowered her voice and began to explain.

“Well, it’s a concert ticket! Tomorrow is the last day of the performance, and it’s a famous performance featuring only famous actors, and premium box seats!”

“Show… you mean?”

“Yes! Let’s go see that tomorrow.”

The finale song is very romantic and beautiful. Lariette added with a sly smile.

However, Asrazan flatly rejected her offer.

“No.”

Lariette, who did not even think of being rejected, made a face like she had been beaten in the back of the head.

Asrazan was rather embarrassed by her surprise.

Like this, where on earth are you going with this body? Wherever you go, people will run away from you and hateful eyes will continue.

In such a situation, it was impossible for him to personally visit a crowded place. Apparently, his filthy energy seemed too easy for her, who had the power of purification.

Asrazan had never done it before because of his pride in speaking with his own mouth, but he felt the need to tell her and slowly opened his mouth.

“Wizard. Are you really not afraid of me?”

“Suddenly what…”

“… Rumors of a war demon are not just obtained.”

In an instant, a dark energy rose from his body.

As his blue eyes, without feeling a single emotion, turned towards her, Lariette hardened her body as if she had been covered in cold water without realizing it.

It felt like a huge beast in front of her. The anxiety that if she moved her body even a little bit, her limbs would be cut off immediately.

“Thousands, hundreds of lives have fled with one touch of my hand. I have been so close to death that it is not unusual for others to smell death from me.”

“……”

“You will inevitably feel it.”

I feel like I could kill you right now. Asrazan whispered in her ear with a cool voice.

Lariette looked at him without the strength to swallow a single dry saliva. He wasn’t wrong. When I saw him for the first time, I was still terribly afraid.

However, the judges were twisted to just affirm his words.

Slap-!

A small hand moved without hesitation.

Although it was an action that could be sufficiently suppressed, Asrazan did nothing. It was because I was so confused.

“Now…?”

“I hit you in the back. Is there a problem?”

Of course there was a problem. Who dares to slap the back of the Duke of Kandel with their palm?

Asrazan looked at her with an absurd expression on his face.

A bang was heard in the distance. It was the sound of Halstein, who had been secretly observing their actions, fell.

“I dared to attack Duke Kandel now. What are you going to do?”

“What…”

“Besides, I usually spy on the Duke’s face. I just held your hands without consent and called your names.”

Lariette suddenly confessed her sins.

Asrazan couldn’t figure out the context, so he just stood there stunned.

“So are you going to kill me?”

She took a step closer to him and continued.

“Are you going to kill all those who are afraid of Asrazan?”

“… And I would have killed half the world.”

Asrahan murmured without recuperating his energy. It was impossible to attack civilians unless they were afraid to mock or insult him.

“Then why does Asrazan mutter? What’s wrong with you?”

Lariette gave a frustrated expression and burst into anger towards him.

“The answer I want is yes or no. Whether you want to go to the show or not. Don’t worry about other people and think about what Asrazan wants to do.”

“I….”

“Think about it until tomorrow morning and tell me! By the way, if you say you don’t like it, I’ll go see it with another guy.”

I’m not that unpopular! She snorted and declared, then turned around and left.

He pretended to be dignified, but in fact, he jumped out because he was worried about the follow-up.

Asrazan looked at her back as she left with his body still frozen like ice.

And as if he was waiting for him, Halstein approached and talked to him.

“You are very daring. … Master, are you not angry?”

“… I am not angry.”

I was just shocked, not angry at her. I thought it was because it was so absurd.

“Whoa, that’s right. I think I misunderstood because your expression was so bad.”

Halstein said he was relieved and swept his chest.

Expression? At his words, Asrazan recognized his face only then. Without realizing it, there was a clear wrinkle on the forehead.

‘I’m definitely going to go see another guy.’

It wasn’t a big deal, but strangely, the voice kept ringing in his ear.

The next morning, Lariette went down the stairs of the Duke of Kandel’s house one by one with a trembling heart.

Yesterday, without realizing it, I cried out loudly, but I was afraid to face reality.

If he wasn’t there, who would I go with if he said he wouldn’t go? I said I would go to see another man, but there was no way I would go to the show with him.

But fortunately, as she walked carefully, she soon found a black coat  at the bottom of the stairs.

“… You’re late, wizard.”

Asrahan looked completely covered on his forehead, unlike he always had half his bangs pulled back.

Not wanting to stand out, he was wearing a black neck pole and a thin coat like casual clothes, but it was impossible due to his dazzling appearance.

“Because Asrazan came out too soon. It’s a shame because I didn’t have anything to dress up for.”

Contrary to her condescending tone, Lariette smiled brightly and ran to him. However, she was in danger of tripping over because she was going down so quickly.

“Ah!”

Of course, as a wizard, she was strong enough to land without getting hurt. However, Lariette slyly did not use magic on purpose and waited for Asrazan to respond.

And just as she had expected, Asrazan swung his body gently and took her body.

Lariette buried her face in his tight arms and carefully raised her head to look at his handsome face. She then smiled softly and said thank you.

“Hehe, thank you.”

“Don’t sneak your hand.”

“It’s okay to pretend you can’t win.”

Sheesh. Lariette, who was secretly planning to hold hands and go, clicked her tongue briefly. She was pulling hard, but it didn’t seem like she was being pulled very much yet.

‘But I’m glad he came out!’

This would have been a handful of drag. Lariette thought so.

* * *

Unexpectedly, until the end of the performance, Asrazan did not receive much attention.

As soon as they got off the carriage, they went straight into the concert hall, and the premium box seats that Lariette had reserved were a much more private space than expected.

Lariette, at best, reserved a dark and invisible seat with a sly mind, but was disappointed with the lack of contact.

However, when the performance started for a short time, she was so focused that she forgot even the existence of Asrazan.

As rumored, the performance was fantastic.

The content was interesting and the song was so beautiful. Besides, the beauty of the male protagonist was very good. He looked worse than Asrazan or Doha, but he had a much more handsome face compared to the average person.

As it turns out, she believed that handsomeness was a good thing, so she watched the performance without stopping admiring it.

And when the curtain fell and the lights of the concert hall were turned on, Lariette quickly turned her head and looked at Asrazan. We were about to share our impressions of the performance.

“It was really fun!”

“Not bad.”

He had been paying close attention, but his reaction was not at all honest. Laliette continued to make a fuss regardless of him.

“The song was really good too! It was so desperate that I even cried. And did you see the male protagonist’s appearance? He was really handsome!”

Asrazan, who had been quietly listening to the chatter he had become quite accustomed to, glanced at her involuntarily at the last sentence. However, Lariette did not know anything and continued to speak happily.

“He appeared pretending to save the female protagonist, and it was really cool! He looked like a prince because his hair was blonde.”

“… Do you like blonde hair?”

“No, I like handsome mens.”

Hair color doesn’t matter, I only care about the face. Lariette answered firmly.

Was he that handsome? Asrazan furrowed his eyebrows and recalled his memories, but nothing came to mind.

A subtle displeasure hit his nerves. He spoke bluntly, not understanding why he was offended by that.

“If you’ve seen it all, let’s go.”

“Already? Do you have any scenes that remind you of Asrazan?”

“… Absolutely no.”

Asrazan turned his head away from her, licked his lips, and answered slowly.

It was because he couldn’t answer that the first thing that came to his mind was her face as she watched the performance with an expression that looked like she was about to cry.

Lariette got up, grunting that it was an uninteresting reaction.

“Then I’ll go to the bathroom first. Asrazan, would you like to wait here for a while? I will be here soon.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be here soon, so wait for me!”

I wondered if he would abandon his date, but I doubted that he might.

Asrazan responded by leaning back on the soft sofa and gently closing his eyes.

Lariette, who quickly headed to the bathroom, hurriedly settled her business. It was because she was embarrassed to think that she would be mistaken for doing something big.

After washing her hands, she wiped the remaining water with a handkerchief as she walked down the hallway leading to the concert hall. At some point, the audience had already left.

I was worried that he, who was still in the audience, would be kicked out, but I believed that there would be no such incident as the seats were several times more expensive than regular seats.

Lariette smiled involuntarily, imagining how the cold shrill would react if he encountered such a situation.

And at that moment, a voice I didn’t want to hear called my name.

“Larie?”

Lariette turned back to the direction of the voice and frowned. It was the face she didn’t want to see again until she died, or even after she died.

“… Marquis of Segreb.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s why I called your name carelessly. But what should I call you now?”

He couldn’t call her Lady Blanche. The Marquis of Segreb giggled and muttered mockingly.

He seemed to be aware of her situation, as she had been kicked out of the Duke’s family.

Each time he smiled, his folded chin trembled. Lariette twisted her face as if it were disgusting.

“I would have said that I didn’t want to see that face again. Are you already deaf?”

Lariette opened her mouth as she gathered mana in her hand. Although the mana was not completely full, it was enough to deal with one of them.

However, the Marquis of Segreb was laid-back despite his knowledge of her magical abilities.

He laid his arm around the shoulder of a young lady who seemed to be his lover, and looked at Lariette.

“You seem to have underestimated the situation.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he looked behind her. Lariette sensed the uneasy energy and quickly cast protective magic, but it was already too late.

Shwing-

The sharp blade broke the protective shield that Lariette had formed in an instant.

And a big hairy hand blocked her mouth and tied the hand that was about to spread the spell.

“What!”

“You think I’m stupid? How many knights are you going to take down?”

Marquis Segreb smiled slyly and slowly approached her.

Lariette struggled at the knight’s grip, but was unable to defeat a professionally trained man by force.

“I was always hoping to see you. I will never forget the humiliation of that day.”

“Ugh! Ugh!!”

“Now that you’re not a princess or anything, it’s like believing in a magic trick and running around. It’s funny, right?”

He tapped Lariette’s cheek with his palm as if avenging the last time.

His face was redolent with a sense of satisfaction that he had picked a rare flower, and his gaze looking down was full of lust.

The audience who were nearby murmured for a moment and then quickly left their seats.

It was because the splendid ornaments worn by Marquis Segreb and the presence of knights standing behind him proved that he was not an ordinary person.

“What shall I do now? Of course, there is no way I can take a commoner as my wife. What about making you my concubine?”

The Marquis of Segreb stroked the nape of her neck with his thick, right fingers.

Lariette struggled, but only the wrist that was caught was burning red.

And at that moment, the hand of the Marquis who was stroking her suddenly fell.

“Uh…?”

He stared blankly at where his hand was.

Suddenly, his wrist was cut cleanly, revealing a bright red cross section.

“You said you would come soon, but you didn’t come.”

Asrazan fluttered the black coat and untied bandages and walked slowly towards her. A black sword was shining sharply in the hand holding it lightly.

“I’ve been waiting, wizard.”

He spoke indifferently and swung his sword lightly. At the same time, the head of the knight who was binding Lariette’s body rolled on the floor, and blood splattered like a fountain.

Asrazan, who quickly approached Lariette’s side, calmly scanned her body. And as soon as he found a red swollen wrist, darkness fell on his face in an instant.

“Those who do not know their place will be killed. Are you disappointed in me?”

Asrazan was asking Lariette’s permission. He wants you to annihilate them right in front of his eyes.

And even if I do that, please continue to love me.