I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 70

That day, I was drunk with sorrow.

“Who does he think he is?! Huh?! What makes him so great?!”

The words I had heard from Sionel earlier in the day had been so shocking that I couldn’t help but drink. I drank until I was completely wasted, staggering my way back to my quarters.

“I will never fall in love with you, Lindel Bodebachne.”

The emperor generally ignored my passionate declarations of love. But that day, for some reason, he had not only ignored me but had outright rejected me with cold words.

He drew a line as if telling me to come to my senses, and it had hurt me more deeply than I had expected.

“…Right. He’s amazing, sure. But how could he say that!”

“Hello?”

And at that moment, Laroche appeared before me.

“Who are you?”

“I am Laroche of the Black. I can grant your wish.”

Once again, let me reiterate, my judgment was nearly non-existent at that time. I was so far gone that I did something I would never have done otherwise without hesitation.

I believed the words of this beautiful presence that had suddenly appeared before me.

“Make a contract with me. Then, whatever it is, I will grant your wish.”

“A wish?”

“Yes, a wish. I can make anything come true.”

The devil’s sweet whisper was enough to destroy what little rationality a drunkard had left.

“My wish is—!”

***

Everyone fell silent at my brief explanation. My face was burning redder and redder, like a roasted sweet potato.

“…So your wish was to become that crazy man’s ideal type? Now?”

After a long silence, Melain asked incredulously.

“I wasn’t in my right mind.”

I barely managed to stammer out an excuse in a small voice, but there was no response.

‘This is why I didn’t want to say anything!’

I wanted to die from the shame.

The next day, when I regained my senses, I briefly regretted wasting such an incredible opportunity.

But I quickly came to think it wasn’t all that bad.

No one would know what the wish was, and if the contract succeeded and the wish was granted, it would actually be a good thing.

It would be an opportunity to get a little closer to Sionel, who hated me.

Though after learning about Sionel’s feelings, my wish had become the most useless thing in the world, I had still found satisfaction in it.

But that was before my humiliating wish was exposed to everyone like this.

“So this is why Laroche said it was a strange wish.”

I heard Tumel mutter.

“Most people wish for gold and silver treasures or immense power.”

I felt even more humiliated.

I regretted that part the most, so I wished he would just shut up.

Then, a voice of salvation came to my rescue.

“But Lindel, it’s actually fortunate that you made that wish.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Your body has been changing to fulfill your wish.”

Laroche continued in a calm tone, giving me a bitter smile as I looked at her in confusion.

“The only thing that person wished for from the one he loved was to stay by his side for a long time. That’s why such a result occurred.”

“Huh?”

“When we made the contract, you were already dying. The contract was likely trying to expel the curse in your body in preparation for fulfilling your wish.”

I gaped in astonishment at this unexpected revelation.

“For you to be together, you had to be alive. The blood you kept spitting up, your body’s instability—those were probably all because of that.”

Was this what they called a blessing in disguise? I couldn’t easily speak at the thought that the symptoms I had cursed were actually part of saving me.

But not all my questions were answered yet.

“But you said this was a process of becoming stronger.”

Laroche’s shoulders flinched.

“You said Sionel’s ideal type was someone strong.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Was that a lie too?”

As Laroche avoided my gaze, I grabbed the iron bars and shouted, “Hey, you liar!”

When I had first started coughing up blood, I had thought something had gone wrong with the contract. I had believed that my wish would be fulfilled only after completing Laroche’s condition.

But when I suddenly began spitting up blood overnight, it was only natural that I panicked.

And Laroche’s explanation to me at that time had been this:

“The human you like has an ideal type of someone strong! Right now, your body is changing to become stronger!”

I had naively—no, stupidly—believed those words.

“You lie every time you open your mouth! Huh?!”

Melain had to forcibly pull me away as I shook the iron bars like an agitated gorilla.

Sionel, who had been quietly watching our chaos, slowly approached me.

“What you just said—is it true?”

Holding my hands and rubbing my reddened palms, Sionel asked. But his question wasn’t directed at me. With his cold face and tone, it was obvious the question was for Laroche.

“…It’s true.”

“Then we can’t break the contract just yet.”

Laroche’s expression hardened at the mention of breaking the contract. It was a shocking statement for me as well.

“You can break the contract?”

“Of course, Lindel.”

Sionel raised his hand and gently stroked my still flushed cheek.

“A contract is a promise between the living. So if one side dies, it will be broken.”

“…What?”

“I had planned to suggest breaking the contract to you. But after hearing this, it seems it should be postponed.”

Despite his gentle tone, his gaze was still heavy.

“Of course. Even if we can’t do anything about the contract now, I still intend to make that thing pay for deceiving you.”

With those words, Sionel’s hand left me. He slowly turned his head to look at Laroche, his profile chilling.

I stared at Sionel like a broken doll, dumbfounded. Following his gaze into the cell, I saw Laroche with her head bowed.

Laroche, who could freely teleport within the palace because of her contract with me. In other words, she could flee this place at any moment.

‘Then why aren’t you doing it?’

Like a prisoner awaiting judgment, she just closed her eyes.

“Don’t touch Laroche! If you do, I’ll kill you!”

Tumel threw himself against the iron bars, shouting. Hearing his shouts, I grabbed Sionel’s arm.

“Lindel?”

“I’ll do it.”

His blue eyes held mine, as if trying to gauge my intent. I didn’t shy away from his gaze and repeated myself.

“If it’s about making her pay for deceiving me, then it should be me.”

“…If that’s what you want.”

Thankfully, Sionel stepped back at my words. Ignoring Tumel’s frantic shouting, I looked at Laroche and asked.

“Why were you crying when I woke up?”

“……!”

Laroche looked startled, as if she hadn’t expected me to question her about that first.

Because of her transparent skin, her nose flushed red, making it even more noticeable. With a face trying to hold back tears, she whispered softly.

“Because your heart stopped.”

“So you cried because of that?”

“There’s no need to talk about this. I deceived you. Isn’t that enough to confirm?”

“No.”

Laroche bit her lip. Her chapped lips looked more painful than mine.

“Alright. Then let me ask this first. When did you know about my condition?”

“When we made the contract. I knew about the curse then. I found out you were a dragon hybrid before that.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

For the first time, Laroche hesitated to answer. She licked her dry lips before barely opening her mouth.

“I couldn’t afford to ruin the contract.”

“Sionel says the contract can be broken, meaning you could’ve killed me—”

At that moment, Laroche’s expression hardened, as did everyone’s around us.

“You could’ve just found another contractor.”

“I needed you. That’s why I didn’t.”

“Why me?”

“…Because you’re a hybrid.”

Laroche’s voice trembled. She tried to sound harsh, as if trying not to reveal her emotions, but her wavering expression gave her away.

Yet she seemed unaware of that fact.

Avoiding my gaze, Laroche, who was trying to sound harsh, looked like she was about to cry.

“The others here probably don’t understand what we’re saying. Fine, I’ll explain why I deceived Lindel.”

“…Laroche.”

“I was sealed by humans. What you see now is only a conceptual form, and my true body is buried somewhere. This is what I asked of Lindel: to break my seal.”

Melain, who had been listening to Laroche’s explanation, frowned and asked, “A dragon sealed by humans?”

Laroche’s clenched fists trembled. The veins on the back of her hands bulged, revealing her anger.

“There was someone helping the humans.”

“…No way.”

“A dragon. A dragon helped them.”

At this point, I couldn’t help but admit that all dragons were trash. Just listing what they had done to Melain and Laroche was enough to prove that they were trash.

“They usually share a strong bond with their kin. Then why did they seal you?”

“Because I opposed the decision of the Council of Elders.”

“……!”

The moment he heard the word “Council of Elders,” Melain’s expression hardened. His clenched hand trembled slightly.

I held Melain’s hand. “It’s okay, Melain.”

The moment his fearful eyes met mine, he gradually regained his composure.

Given Melain’s hatred for dragons and his reaction to the mention of the Council of Elders, it was easy to guess what they might have done without needing to hear it.

“It’s okay.”

At my whispered words, his clenched hand slowly relaxed.

While I was concerned about him, Sionel coldly pressed Laroche.

“You were sealed by both humans and dragons, and to break that seal, you needed a hybrid?”

“Yes. Only a hybrid with both human and dragon blood could break my seal. That’s why I sought out Lindel.”

Laroche’s pale face turned towards me.

“You asked why I cried when you woke up, right?”

“……”

“If the one I intended to use died, the contract would be useless. That’s why.”

That was all it was. With an awkward expression that was neither a smile nor tears, she spoke to me.

Her face was too awkward to express malice, yet Laroche continued to look at me with that foolish expression, unaware of how pathetically her voice trembled.

“I used you. That’s all that mattered to us, Lindel.”

It was as if she wanted me to hate her.