If I Don’t Get Married I’ll Die

“If you want to run away, now is your only chance. If you take my hand and leave the palace, then…”

“Then?”

He omitted his answer and smiled again.

‘Has he always been the type to smile all the time? I couldn’t breathe when we were standing so close yesterday.’

But why does his smile feel somewhat scary?

‘What are you trying to say…’

I gulped and looked up at him. 

It’s a thing of the distant past, but there were many people among the ancestors of the imperial family who enjoyed bathing in the blood of children or prayed for victory in war by offering people as sacrifices.

A lot of bizarre things happened in the imperial family.

‘Even Andrea and Kavala killed my mother by making it look like su!c!de and then drove me insane.’

Given the environment I grew up in, I couldn’t dismiss these stories as a joke.

In this day and age, such drivel is socially criticized and buried.

But that is the case within the nobles in the capital. How do I know what it’s like in faraway Lonheim?

It hasn’t been long since Lonheim was incorporated into the Empire, and it was still an unfamiliar land that was rarely visited by the mainlanders.

‘Could it be… he has been staring at me since a while ago because I looked appetizing?’

I wondered if the reason why I thought he was a beast when he first entered my room was because a danger signal was triggered by my instincts.

I asked carefully.

“Marquis, in the worst case scenario, will you be eating me too?”

“……?”

“Are you threatening to eat me if I don’t benefit you?”

I looked up at him seriously.

“If that’s the case, you won’t need to eat me.”

I’m going to take away everything Andrea greedily rakes in.

In the process, Kalius will not be at a disadvantage and instead would benefit from it.

In response to my steadfast expression, he suddenly lightly bit his lip. Then he let out a big sigh.

‘What’s that sigh for?’

[T/N: Giiirrrl, cause he can’t eat you… yet]

I couldn’t figure out the meaning of the sigh at all.

“Eating Your Highness… hyuh.”

He sighed once more.

“……There’s no risk of that.”

‘Why do you keep sighing? Is it that regrettable that you can’t eat me?’

I insisted with strength behind my voice.

“Yes. Eating me would be a great loss to you. You’ll understand. Besides, as you can see, I’m too skinny so there isn’t much to eat.”

He sighed again and said.

“Ahem…… I don’t eat my deal partners.”

“That’s good then.”

I felt relieved hearing his confirmation. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not scared at all.

But it was clear that it would be much better for him if I were alive. I don’t trust him, I trust the facts. He too will understand soon.

It’s uncomfortable, but as long as my safety is guaranteed, I don’t care what kind of person he is.

The choice to stop his cannibalism and terminate my deal with him or expose his true nature to the world and save his victims is beyond my ability.

It may be selfish, but right now I’m already overwhelmed by just leading my body out of the imperial palace to escape.

He let me go and greeted me politely.

“If Her Highness’ determination does not change, I will see you on the day of the departure. My fiancée.”

An attitude showing that he would have no problem persuading the emperor and the queen.

***

The carriage carrying Kalius left the imperial palace.

The moment that they did, he immediately let out the laughter he had been holding back all along.

“Hahaha!”

He laughed so much that the coachman opened the small window connected to the interior and peeked inside, wondering what was going on.

Kalius laughed so hard tears were forming.

“Marquis, are you going to eat me too?”

“I’m too skinny so there isn’t much to eat.”

Why were the eyes looking up at him while she said that so cute?

From the moment he met Chloe again, there was only one thought in his head.

‘She’s still as cute as she was when she was little.’

He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

He had to take a deep breath so as not to laugh when he saw Chloe’s serious eyes and clenched fists while she said that it was a loss to eat her.

‘I was just trying to scare you.’

He didn’t know what Chloe thought of Lonheim.

Has she thought deeply about how a marriage to him would affect her?

He wasn’t sure why she wanted to leave the imperial palace, but if she had chosen him with shallow intentions, he had hoped that his words would scare her and change her mind.

Lonheim has never been a comfortable place.

If she hadn’t asked him to take her there first, he would never have dared to invite her, even as an empty proposition.

‘If you go to Lonheim, you might cry so badly asking to be taken back.’

He was very worried about her.

Because he wanted her to be happy as much as he had missed her.

Kalius’ expression darkened a little as he thought about that.

‘Isn’t accepting this deal just my greed? There was no other way to help her.’

It’s been plaguing his mind this whole time.

However, rumors about her, who was fine, were circulating that she had gone insane.

Besides, just like she said, her thin body was also something he was concerned about,

‘The fact that she proposed marriage to me even though she doesn’t remember me means that she’s in a desperate situation where she had to hold onto someone and escape.’

He was surprised by the amount of information Chloe knew, but more than that, when Kalius saw her at the party, he began to suspect that she was being harmed.

So he accepted her offer.

‘I thought that the Queen and Prince killing the Empress were just rumors. Could they be targeting Chloe as well?’

That rumor became rampant for a while about ten years ago.

However, at some point, those rumors disappeared as the courtiers testified that Andrea and Queen Kavala were taking good care of Chloe, and that Chloe was also attached to them.

After that, he didn’t hear anything else for a while, so he thought she was doing well.

Kalius’ expression stiffened coldly as he remembered Queen Kavala.

‘I can’t let Chloe be harmed in the hands of the queen.’

It was only natural for him to help Chloe.

Because the kindness she had given him in the past was great.

Besides, he had a grudge that he needed to pay back to Queen Kavala.

***

Late night in the rain.

Two servants working in the imperial palace moved in secret, trying not to leave footprints on the marble floor.

They were carrying a chest big enough for a person to fit in.

“Someone died again.”

One servant mumbled nervously, and the other servant shouted in a hushed voice.

“Don’t say another word. Just shut up and go quickly.”

“But hasn’t this happened a couple of times now?”

“Shh, someone might be listening.”

The two of them quickly walked past the hallway and into the back road in the rain. As if they didn’t want to run into anybody.

The sound of footsteps on the wet grass was drowned out by the pattering rain.

However, behind a column in the hallway they passed by, someone suddenly appeared in a place where no one thought there could be anyone.

It was a man with a long scar on his left eyebrow.

“…..”

He stared at the backs of the servants as they disappeared into the darkness, then followed the path they had come from and headed for Queen Kavala’s quarters.

The lady-in-waiting guarding her quarters recognized the man and opened the door.

“The Queen is waiting for you.”

The man went into Kavala’s bedroom as if he was used to it.

Decorated with red lambris and dark furniture, Kavala’s bedroom was intense, passionate and vintage.

Though it was the middle of the night, the bedroom was noisy due to the gusts of wind. Even though it was raining, all the windows had been left wide open.

Damp and chilly air filled the room. Inside, Kavala’s maids looked like they were struggling as if they were trying to hide something behind their expressionless faces.

“You’re here. Dneph.”

Kavala, who had just come out of the bath, greeted the man and got rid of her handmaidens.

“I have something to say to the Marquis, you all, get out.”

With her voluptuous body that could not be hidden by her bathrobe and her flowing voluminous auburn hair, Kavala gave off a very bewitching air.

She had such a young appearance that no one would think she was someone who has a son in his 30s.

The man smelled the fishy smell of blood when Kavala passed him, something that could not be erased even with a bath.

Although the room was ventilated, the fishy smell of blood coming from Kavala wafted in the room.

“Sister.”

The man who gave off a menacing impression, more fitting of a mercenary than a noble, was Kavala’s younger brother, Marquis Dneph Bransco.

He advised her.

“You need to pick new tight-lipped servants who deal with the clean up, again.”

Kavala frowned.

“Were they talking on the way out again? D*mn blabbermouths.”

Kavala sighed briefly, but soon returned to her relaxed face.

“Just take care of it like how you’ve done before.”

“Yes, sister.”

Kavala squirted lotion on her face and asked.

“By the way, what about the thing I asked for?”

“I looked into it. Marquis Rodrian’s people happened to be gathering in a bar and were heard talking.”

“Did you get any good information?”

Dneph took a step closer to Kavala and whispered in a low voice.

“Just like the rumors, they said that there is a separate key to awaken the holy relic that the saintess of Lonheim had.”

Kavala, who was looking in the mirror, turned around.

“So it’s true. No wonder it didn’t work no matter what I tried for ten years.”

A sharp smile appeared on her lips.

“Where is the key? Who has it?”

“Kalius Rodrian. They said that only he knows.”

In a voice filled with desire, Kavala emphasized.

“No matter the cost, find it. No matter the cost.”

“Yes, sister.”

Dneph lowered his head. Then, in his vision, he caught sight of two bloodstains at the tip of Kavala’s bathrobe.

Looking down at what Dneph was staring at, Kavala smiled.

“I had a little fun today.”

It was a chilling smile.