Chapter 82
Kiara, who had almost given in to him again, quickly steeled herself and replied firmly.
“What if I get pregnant? I’m talking about having a child. That whole soulmate bond thing is already enough of a hassle…”
At the mention of the word “soulmate,” Ael’s eyebrows shot up. Their bond had been formed suddenly and without warning. He hadn’t exactly welcomed the idea of being soulmates either, but hearing Kiara treat it like some bothersome issue for the first time struck a nerve.
Running a hand through his hair, now tousled from writhing under the sheets, Ael snapped back curtly. To make matters worse, his erxction — still very much present — showed no sign of subsiding, which only added to his irritation.
“You were worrying about that kind of nonsense?”
Nonsense? Kiara bristled, snapping back at him.
“Oh, right. Easy for you to say! Even if I do get pregnant, you’ll just head back to the capital and forget all about it! But me, I…”
“It won’t happen.”
Kiara was clearly angry, her voice rising, but before she could even finish her sentence, Ael cut her off. He was already annoyed that time was slipping away, and he had no patience for long-winded arguments.
Still, seeing she didn’t look remotely convinced, he added firmly:
“You think I haven’t thought about that? Sure, maybe I’ve been acting like a rutting beast lately, but that doesn’t mean my brain’s down there too.”
“Y-you mean it really won’t…”
“I said you won’t get pregnant. And even if you did, what kind of bastard do you think I am thinking that I’d abandon you and run back to the capital?”
Though Ael’s face twisted in frustration, Kiara didn’t seem convinced in the slightest. She pressed on:
“You’re not trying to pull some trick about witches not being able to have children or something, are you? Don’t forget that you told me more than once that you are the child of a witch.”
Her glare sharpened, daring him to explain. Realizing she wouldn’t let this go without a proper answer, Ael let out a sigh and finally opened his mouth again.
“In truth, my case was a bit unusual. Witches aren’t supposed to be able to have children, especially not with their soulmates.”
“…What?”
What was he talking about? Everything Kiara had ever heard made it sound like soulmates were bound more deeply than most married couples or lovers.
And yet, in such a bond, having a child was impossible?
While she tilted her head in confusion, Ael suddenly threw a seemingly unrelated question at her.
“Which place do you think holds the largest collection of records about witches on the entire continent?”
Records about witches? Kiara, still lost in thought, only took a moment before nodding slowly.
“C-could it be… the royal archives of Altnebra…?”
“Nope.”
Ael shot back the answer instantly, and Kiara frowned in frustration. Just yesterday, Maeve had insisted that all the needed documents were stored in the archives.
Sensing her confusion, Ael let out a small, amused chuckle.
“Who’s the one meant to break the Red Witch’s curse?”
“Oh…”
“Exactly. That duty has always fallen to the royal bloodline. From the very first witch, it’s been that way. So when that so-called king of Altnebra decided to get clever, you ended up becoming my responsibility instead.”
Ael lifted his index finger and firmly pressed it to Kiara’s forehead as she sat. He hadn’t even pushed that hard, but Kiara, who had been sitting absentmindedly, lost her balance and flopped backward.
“…‘Responsibility.’”
Kiara rubbed her forehead, which oddly still tingled from where his finger had touched.
Responsibility — the word itself wasn’t wrong, so why did it grate on her ears so much?
Ael, meanwhile, didn’t seem the least bit bothered.
“To be honest, I don’t think we’d have ended up bonded as soulmates if I weren’t a Grandilgale.”
“But I thought you said soulmates were chosen by the gods.”
Hearing her faltering words, Ael let out another sigh.
Though Altnebra was a remote outpost far from the center of the empire, any rumor of a witch’s birth immediately raised alarms in the capital.
Especially the Red Witch, rumored to possess extraordinary magical power, was a key subject under imperial control.
As a result, every Red Witch was always quickly transported to the imperial capital soon after awakening in the Black Forest.
“It’s not so uncommon for a witch’s first-night partner to turn out to be her soulmate. You can see that from the history of the Red Witches.”
Once a witch formed a soulmate bond, it was nearly impossible to sever. But in many cases, their soulmates were Grandilgales. And even when they weren’t, it didn’t really matter. They’d simply be locked away, never allowed to meet anyone else.
In rarer cases, they were crippled — arms or legs rendered useless, eyes gouged out… even their tongues cut.
That was how the Grandilgales had long handled witches, efficiently and without mercy.
‘…I suppose this time, it turned out to be a stroke of luck.’
Ael gave a bitter smile.
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