Chapter 4
Translator: Hye; Editor/PR: Hye
“Gasp.”
Arnoa blocked her mouth when she was about to scream. She didn’t want to wake up the sleeping leopard.
She closed her eyes once and opened them again.
The leopard was still there.
‘Is it a new assassin?’
The last assassin sneaked in and was caught by Arnoa. Back then, she quickly left the room and called the guards.
So they sent a beast this time? Do they think she won’t be able to get away?
Arnoa’s eyes, filled with absurdity, scanned the leopard on the bed carefully.
“Grrrrrr–”
He was sleeping with a pleasant sound as if liking her bed. The moonlight seeping through the window clearly revealed his appearance.
It was not just an ordinary leopard, but a snow leopard. It was a beast that was difficult for an average person to encounter once in a lifetime.
The fur that shone under the moonlight was whiter than snow, making him look more divine. And on top of it was a distinct black pattern.
The curve that bent down from the neck to his back and from the back to the waist was smooth as if drawn with a brush. Along with this, a long abundant tail stretched to the bottom of the bed and was swaying slowly.
The face resting on the fluffy enormous feet seemed peaceful with both of his eyes closed.
‘Beautiful.’
Although it was a dangerous situation, Arnoa seemed possessed at a glance.
Sleeping in front of her was the most dazzling animal she had ever seen in her life.
‘This is crazy.’
She shook her head in a hurry. This was not the time to appreciate his beauty. She had to go out to the hallway and call someone.
Click–
It was when she reached behind her back and turned the doorknob.
“Ggrrrrrr–”
The snow leopard, who was breathing evenly, moved his ears.
“… No.”
And he opened his eyes in a flash.
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***
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Arnoa barely breathed, hardened to the spot.
She couldn’t avoid his gaze because they have already made eye contact. His eyes staring at her were a unique silver-gray.
It was like a cloud filled with moisture or burning smoke. It was a color that she would have thought of as pretty if she had seen it as a painting.
“Grrrrr–”
But this situation was neither a painting nor a play.
He could pounce on her at any time and bite her neck. The snow leopard, who had been observing her for a while, slowly pulled himself up from the bed. It was perfectly done without any unnecessary movements.
Amid the immense danger, the thought of the figure being illogically elegant crossed her mind.
Thump–
The snow leopard jumped gently onto the carpet with his eyes remaining on her. Then slowly began to approach.
“Go-good boy.”
Arnoa trembled and said. She tried to grab the doorknob behind her back again, but could not feel where it was.
Whoosh–
The snow leopard stretched once and with a flying movement, he jumped a step forward towards Arnoa.
“Kyaaa!”
With tremendous energy that he emitted even just by standing still, including the terrifying glare of his eyes, Arnoa sank halfway on the carpet with a small scream.
“Grrrrrr–”
As he saw her sitting down, he shoved his large head against Arnoa and purred. It was a strange cry that seemed like both a threat and a laugh.
Arnoa’s eyes grew bigger.
‘Is this how I’m going to die?’
The image of Larissa dancing in joy flashed through her mind.
It was such a tragic end that the last thing she remembered before her death was Larissa’s dance.
Arnoa was about to close her eyes.
As the snow leopard’s figure became blurry, another shape began to appear at the same spot.
Swish–
“… Huh?”
Swiiishh–
The silver-gray eyes that stared at Arnoa remained the same. However, the owner was no longer a beast.
“How on earth…”
It was a human man who placed one knee on the ground and looked at her. He has skin as white as snow and hair as black as the night sky.
As she blinked her eyes once more, she saw a sharp nose and jawline as well as perfect eyebrows as if they were drawn.
“Is that you?”
The man asked.
He looked dangerous but at the same time, mesmerizing as if he could possess other people, similar to his previous appearance as the snow leopard.
“Answer. Are you Arnoa Salied Caixion?”
The man’s voice rang once again. It was low, as if whispering, but she felt a strange sense of pressure that sank into the surrounding air.
Although she was relieved to know that what was in front of her was not a beast, she still couldn’t let go of her nervousness.
“Who…?”
Arnoa worked her head quickly as she answered.
This man was a wizard.
He was also a high-end wizard that can transform into a ‘spirit’.
Waiting for her answer, the man tilted his head and stared at her.
Arnoa then nodded her head unknowingly.
She doesn’t know why a race famous for being stuck within their lands was looking for her.
“Good. This will be quick.”
He muttered something and opened his palm. A bit of golden light shimmered over his palm and a small rolled piece of paper appeared.
“Here, a letter.”
The man said.
“Letter? Who the hell…?”
Arnoa reached out her hand without realizing it and received the paper.
“He said he’s your friend.”
Friend?
Arnoa knew only one friend in the world.
She spread the paper with trembling hands and read aloud the name written with his own handwriting under the scroll.
“… Anakin?”
She read it once more to be certain.
Anakin Wallow. Her only friend, whom she had been with since childhood, signed it with silver ink. His cursive handwriting, which was as glamorous as his handsome face, was difficult for others to imitate.
“…Anakin sent a wizard?”
It was an awkward question.
A wizard couldn’t be ‘sent’ in the first place.
Unless it was a very special situation, even the Imperial Family could not give such orders recklessly. Nevertheless, she asked because there was only one non-wizard who treated them without reserve.
“Yes. He sent me. He’s been cocky ever since in the Academy.”
Arnoa’s face brightened up a little after listening to the man.
Anakin, who became the Emperor’s aide at a young age after being a vassal of Duke Rickel, was originally like that.
A person beyond common sense.
He has no mana but entered the Magic Academy as he was naturally gifted on the subject. He was a genius who has mastered and developed ancient magic theories that even professors could not interpret and graduated with the highest honors.
‘Tell me if you want to leave Dirhan. I’ll find a colleague to put a curse on Vainas.’
That was his last greeting before she leaves the empire ahead of her marriage.
Although it was not put into practice, it was helpful to repeat those words like a spell whenever she saw the unlucky face of Vainas.
‘Then this man is…’
So the man in front of her was Anakin’s colleague?
‘Insane colleague, dirty colleague, a colleague that will be the Lord of the Magic Tower, a colleague that makes soul stones by cutting down people’s lives, a colleague that he took care of because he was sorry he doesn’t have any friend and a bit nice colleague…’
(T/N: The colleague meant here was that they entered the academy at the same time similar to batch mates.)
That’s strange.
Among the acquaintances Anakin mentioned, there’s never been such a handsome colleague.
“Read.”
The man spoke again in a commanding tone that seemed to be a habit.
Arnoa opened the letter.
The moment she read the first two lines, she even forgot what she was nervous about.
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[To my dear friend, Noa.
Luciano and Arien were assassinated.]
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She blinked her eyes once. Even if she read it several times, it was the same content. The name written in the letter belonged to her two brothers.
“A-assassination…”
Arnoa murmured with her slightly trembling lips.
Anakin’s news couldn’t possibly be wrong since he was the Emperor’s closest aide.
She slowly closed her eyes and sighed.
“No…”
It wasn’t because she felt affection or regret for her brothers. It wasn’t also because it shocked her.
From various countries to the Imperial Army, who commands the Northern War, and even the Imperial Family’s collateral line, there were people everywhere who wanted to assassinate the emperor.
(T/N: Collateral line is from someone not of direct line such as an aunt, uncle, cousin.)
And there was another reason for her frustration.
“Ha, this is messed up.”
It was because the phrase she saw in her marriage contract, 2 years ago, brushed past her head.
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[I, Arnoa Salied Caixion, will become the Queen of Dirhan Kingdom. I understand and agree that I will only obey my husband, and all the titles I have and will have in the future will be vested on him.]
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That was what Vainas requested, and Luciano agreed to.
The reason for such a request of not giving a title to a woman was the custom handed down from the ancient Kingdom of Dirhan, which although no one followed but existed anyway.
Despite knowing that it was a tradition that had been abandoned for over 100 years, Arnoa had quietly signed the contract at Luciano’s urging. It was just a meaningless phrase to fill Vainas’ petty pride. Furthermore, there was no possibility of her earning a title in the future.
As long as her two brothers were alive.
Arnoa bit her lips tightly.
Luciano and Arien, who both died, had no descendants. Their closest blood relative was her.
Then that meant.
“That idiot is the emperor.”
The King of Dirhan couldn’t even rule his own kingdom and household properly, let alone the continent. A husband, with an inferiority complex, pressed down Arnoa for the past two years as if she were his enemy.
He was the next emperor of the empire.