This Villain Is Mine Now - Chapter 75

“Why are you feeling annoyed?”

“Me? No, I’m not.”

“If you say so, then I’m relieved.”

Every time she danced with Lyle, it seemed they ended up having a long conversation. Remembering the balls they’d attended before their marriage, Elaina pouted.

“You must be happy.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It seemed like everyone was eager to catch your eye.”

“Everyone?”

Elaina, feeling a little frustrated, listed the names of the women who had been hovering around him. They were from prestigious families, all remarkably beautiful. Yet Lyle seemed completely unaware of their presence.

“You can’t be serious that you didn’t notice?”

“I really didn’t.”

Lyle began recounting his conversations with the people who had gathered around him. Most of it involved calculating the taxes from his lands or political discussions about connecting with reliable, large-scale merchant guilds.

Elaina’s expression softened a little. “You truly have no idea who was around you?”

“No idea.”

“Even the one in the extravagant golden dress?”

“Golden dress?”

Lyle frowned. His reaction was genuine. The person had been right next to him, yet Lyle’s memory of her was utterly blank, like a blank slate. Finally, Elaina couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“You’re annoyed one moment and laughing the next. You really are unpredictable, my wife.”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all.”

Lyle wrapped his arm around Elaina’s waist and spun her around.

“Your necklace seems different.”

“Oh? How did you notice?”

“Yesterday, it was a different color. It was a lighter shade of green, wasn’t it?”

For a moment, Elaina was at a loss for how to respond, blinking in surprise.

“You remember that?”

He treated the flashy woman in the golden dress like she was invisible, yet he could immediately notice her change of necklace.

“Your earrings are different too. They were another color this morning.”

Lyle added as if it were no big deal, “I saw Sarah preparing them, so of course I’d know.”

It might have been natural, just as he said. Since they shared the same room, he could have seen her put them on while passing by her dressing table.

But for Lyle, who was usually so indifferent, to remember something so trivial made her feel… odd. As if there was a tickling sensation in her chest.

“You dance rather well.”

Elaina cleared her throat softly, changing the subject. Lyle smiled at her comment.

“I had a great teacher who taught me harshly.”

“I’ll admit I was a good teacher, but when did I ever teach you harshly?”

“I guess you don’t remember. When you stepped on my feet mercilessly with your high heels.”

He was referring to the time before their marriage. Elaina burst into laughter. Watching her laugh, Lyle’s lips also curved into a smile.

***

「To my dear Archduchess Grant,

I’m writing to you as soon as I finished my urgent matters here in Mabel, so I hope you won’t scold me for being late.

Drane Olsen and Nathan Hennet were not in the best physical shape, so we had to stop at villages along the way. I’ve learned that they are not like the knights, able to camp out continuously.

By the way, your instincts were right. You’d be surprised to know Drane Olsen actually had a conversation with the dragon.」

Though it might have been more like a beginner stumbling through a foreign language, Drane had indeed managed to communicate with the dragon.

Before leaving the capital, Drane had learned key words necessary for conversation from Elaina.

When Elaina suggested taking time to study properly, Drane had smiled confidently.

“Your Grace, you don’t need a lot of words for a negotiation. Acceptable. Too much. Not enough. A truly skilled merchant gives the customer only those three choices.”

It seemed Drane had succeeded in communicating with the dragon, just as he’d boasted.

「I’ve enclosed a copy of the contract here.」

Elaina pulled out a piece of paper from the envelope. Aside from the fact that the text was repeated in both the dragon’s language and the imperial language, it was an ordinary contract.

“Not revealing the secret method of making the sachets to the dragon was truly the right decision. After all, such techniques are so valuable that even master craftsmen rarely share them with their own children. It will surely be of great help in negotiations with the dragon.”

Elaina couldn’t help but smile as she remembered Drane’s passionate demeanor before departing.

“Wow, that’s truly impressive.

In summary, the contract required the dragon to ensure Mabel’s safety in exchange for a steady supply of sachets.

「I wish you could’ve seen the dragon’s face when he got fed up. He had the audacity to say he might as well die if we were going to make him go through this. Only after stamping the contract did Nathan get permission to prepare the sachets for the dragon to inspect. I’ve met many kinds of people on the battlefield, but I’ve never seen someone so recklessly indifferent to their own life before.」

With this negotiation, there was no longer a reason for subjugation. The monsters had no choice but to promise not to harm humans, as the entire Mabel mountain range was the only land suffused with magic. To drive them out would mean certain death.

In return for sparing their lives, the intelligent monsters promised not to harm humans. Since the dragon, the source of their magic, commanded it, the monsters had no choice but to obey.

「Now, every merchant passing through Mabel will have an escort of monsters.」

This was also mentioned in another letter Drane sent to Elaina.

It also contained a request to spread word in high society that the surviving monsters had surrendered to the archduke, along with documents for submission to the House of Lords. It was a clever approach.

Thanks to the recent subjugation, everyone in the capital had witnessed the terrifying power of the monsters. A discussion about this was expected to be raised in the House of Lords within days.

A cornered rat will bite a cat. To prevent monsters fleeing Mabel from causing problems elsewhere, Drane proposed making Mabel an autonomous district where humans and monsters could coexist. There was no reason for the nobles or the emperor to refuse, and it was likely that this request would be approved promptly.

Coexisting with monsters—it was hard to imagine just yet, but since they were stronger and more resilient than humans, they were perfect for use as guards.

“Kyst.”

The name of the dragon, which had only been referred to as “the dragon,” was written at the bottom of the contract in the dragon’s language.

Kyst. An old, sick dragon who had survived a long time.

Elaina couldn’t help but feel curious after reading the letter saying that even Kyst had struggled. She knew Drane wasn’t an ordinary person, but it felt like she had missed out on something truly entertaining.

「The next time you come to Mabel, much will have changed.

Oh, and one of those changes includes a gift for you.」

A gift?

Elaina frowned. What could Mabel possibly offer her as a gift?

She checked her calendar. Lyle had written that when everything was ready, he would let her know, and she could visit Mabel. Until then, he had recommended she stay in the capital, as there wasn’t much to see, and he didn’t want to make her stay in an old cabin again.

The letter mentioned that much would change before her next visit. Just what was going on?

Mabel had always been a barren mountain range. It seemed unlikely that anything would change much in just a month, but Elaina’s heart was full of anticipation.

She quickly pulled out some stationery from the drawer and began writing a reply to Lyle’s letter in one sitting.

***

“Wow.”

Knox’s mouth dropped open. Though she didn’t say anything, Elaina’s expression wasn’t much different. She rubbed her eyes and looked again at the scenery outside the carriage.

As soon as Elaina received Lyle’s letter inviting her to Mabel, she obtained permission from the academy and headed there with Knox and Diane.

In the carriage, Elaina had told Knox and Diane about what life in Mabel had been like. Since it had been summer, it wasn’t too cold, but they had to wash their faces in the forest as there were no proper bathing facilities. They had worn the same clothes for days, and she’d had to buy old garments from the returning villagers.

But what is this?

The Mabel she remembered was nowhere to be seen. The once empty, barren land now bustled with a completely new and vibrant village.

“Is that… is that a monster?”

Knox stuttered, startled, at the sight of a large green figure leisurely passing by on the road. Elaina, equally shocked, could only stare at the completely transformed Mabel.