Ah

Euphemia held her breath and fidgeted when the owner of those crimson red eyes stretched his hand toward her.

But as if to prove her fears were unwarranted, Ferzen locked the door behind her and directed his inebriated body to the large bed.

Stop daydreaming and come here.

In fact, Euphemia would prefer sleeping on the cold floor alone instead of sharing a bed with that man. Still, as if to mock her, he wouldnt allow that, so Euphemia slowly approached the bed and lay with her back turned to him.

Euphemia El Lauren Louerg

What?

Get up.

Of course, it was foolish of her to expect him to just lay on the bed and sleep peacefully

Hearing Ferzens commanding tone, Euphemia curled up and held the duvet tightly with her small palms.

Ah!

As if mocking her meaningless resistance, Ferzen grabbed her, forcibly lifted Euphemias torso, and spoke to her in a furious tone.

Align your pillow properly.

With the help of Digitization, Ferzen carefully and perfectly aligned the pillow, then laid her body down as he hugged Euphemias waist with a relaxed face.

Dont touch me!

Despite Euphemias fair appearance, she could naturally resist Ferzens arms, even with Ferzens arms being several times thicker than her.

However, the traces of last nights affair, where Ferzen violated her, still lingered on her haggard body, so Euphemia twisted and turned her body while gasping for breath as a sign of protest.

Stay still.

Ah, Bastard!

Euphemia trembled, cursed, and shed faint tears, as she tightly held Ferzens hand that was gripping her bosom without any consideration for her.

Do you even know how much trouble I went through so that you could have your fill? Now you will have to bear with this.

I have no clue what youre talking about

Euphemia, who couldnt understand the meaning of those words, chose to remain silent as if not to provoke him.

And Ferzen, who at this time was annoyed and didnt want to understand her plight, buried his head on her neck as he breathed her scent and slowly and gently caressed her body as if he was dealing with an expensive set of pottery.

For Ferzen, Euphemia was akin to a natural grassland and obviously people tend to feel at ease when they see the fresh green color of nature.

Ferzen soon fell asleep, as he sobered up a bit, coupled with the strain of overusing his mana and the stress caused by suppressing his Obsessive-compulsive impulses were slowly relieved by Euphemias presence.

* * * * *

For a moment, Euphemia wanted to escape, but after thinking about what that man in his inebriated state would do to her. Euphemia quickly discarded those thoughts as she heaved a deep sigh.

Ugh.

Ferzen moved his hand and gently brushed past her navel, causing her breath to hasten at those movements.

Euphemia trembled, disgusted at this unfamiliar sensation; she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, feeling pathetic about how her body reacted to that mans every action.

The following morning, when Euphemia woke up, she saw Ferzen still dealing with his hangover, tidying his attire to perfection while frowning.

Ah, you are finally awake?

They werent intimate enough to exchange morning greetings, so Euphemia nodded.

I informed the servants to serve breakfast here. After we are done eating, clean yourself up, and we immediately depart for Brutein.

I see

After speaking her piece, Euphemia turned her head as she gazed outside the window.

The rainstorm outside made her a little uncomfortable.

As she was gazing out the window, trying to clear her mind, the servants arrived and brought her breakfast, but the sheer quantity of it was astounding.

What?

Isnt this a little too much?

You seem to have a huge appetite, so I informed them to bring more.

As a country bumpkin, Ferzens words might have sounded sweet, but as a woman, they werent pleasant to hear, but looking back at her actions the night before It was so frustrating that she began to eat without any objection.

After that, Euphemia, who simply ate her fill and finished taking a bath, said goodbye to the Baron and got into the carriage, following Ferzen.

When we arrive at Brutein, I will introduce you to a skilled tailor. Until then, bare with those filthy clothes. That northern aesthetic sense is too focused on practicality and-

Its not filthy!

Seeing Euphemia lashing even though he had not finished speaking, Ferzen gazed at her with a vacant look and said,

It is filthy. I can see stitching marks all over it, and whats this yellowish stain on a white dress?

This!

Sigh. I know you didnt have enough money to buy proper clothes. But Euphemia, I would be disappointed if you genuinely think theres nothing wrong with your clothes. They look ragged.

Those who dont even realize whether filthy things are vile, those who dont know whether foolish things are moronic, those who dont know whether hideous things are repulsive those who lack even this basic awareness are called lowlives.

The sound of rain pouring down played a constant tune inside the carriage, mixed with Ferzens voice, dug into Euphemias ears repeatedly.

I thought I had lived my life without ever being ashamed of who I am.

Why must my life, my honor, shatter devastatingly at his heel without any resistance?

Euphemia clenched her teeth and raised her head.

I wont deny the fact that Im lowly, but isnt it a problem of your knowledge and insight that you chose to accept me as your wife, when you could have possibly rejected me if you wanted to

Dont further shame yourself, trying to protect this petty self-pride you are still clinging on to. It only makes you seem repulsive.

As if a puppet with its strings cut, Euphemia finally lowered her head at his words that seemed to put an end to everything.

* * * * *

My head is killing me.

Even with Ferzens ego being wholly assimilated into Seo-jins own, it is notable that Seo-jins ego has a predominant influence on his actions.

For example, Seo-jins ego significantly changed Ferzens morals and ethics as he is a modern person and had no contact with anything related to aristocratic etiquettes and mannerisms, including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Truthfully, even now, the barrier that divides the two is getting increasingly vague as time goes by.

Actually, I feel compelled to apologize to Euphemia in some way for the previous conversation and improve our relationship. Still, in reality, I dont feel sorry for my actions.

As a noble, why should I apologize when I only lectured my lowly wife about her shortcomings?

Of course, he would think like this.

For this reason, I remained silent, because even if I tried to give some sort of comfort to make Euphemia feel a little better, eventually I would only spurt more hateful things, making the whole drama even worse than it already is.

drip-drop!

The carriage continues to forge ahead through the cloudburst.

* * * * *

Central Brutein

The people have a nickname for this place. They call it the capital of ores and minerals.

That is because there are many mines in which various ores were discovered. Since there are as many as six-iron mines here, its safe to say that Brutein could end or start wars just by controlling the prices of its iron imports.

In metalworking, Brutein is second to none.

A skilled blacksmith in Brutein earns enough money to close the shop for a month or two with just six or seven orders.

You seem to be staring at me for a while now. Is there something you want to say?

No

During the time it took to reach Brutein, Euphemia seemed to have become quite familiar with this land.

To be exact, it seems she has decided to resign to her fate.

So, after leaving Baron Robersons state, we had a peaceful ride with no unfortunate bumps.

I have some business to attend to now, so I will give you a tour of Brutein in the afternoon. It must have been suffocating staying in this carriage for so long.

If you are busy just leave me be. I can look around by myself. Its fine. You dont need to worry about it.

Euphemia, the only time you can refuse me is when you are ill. Still, I can overlook this remark. In return, youll just need to stay in the same room while I attend to my business. You are my wife now, so you can enjoy everything Brutein has to.

Ah no!

Express yourself properly, Euphemia.

It wouldnt have mattered if she hadnt shown her dislike of being in my company. Maybe shes too immature to hide her emotions, or is Ferzens body naturally perceptive?

Ill go with you together.. I.. I want to tour around Brutein with you.

Good, that wasnt so hard, was it?

As if praising a dog for a well-done task, I stretched my hand and patted Euphemias head.

Even though we didnt have any physical contact in the carriage, I felt that her resistance to my touch had been significantly lowered, perhaps due to our night at the Barons mansion.

And I was pleased with this development, as my efforts are producing results little by little.

Creak!

The carriage came to a halt at our destination.

-Thud!

Right as the carriage door opened, we were greeted by Chris, the head butler of the Brutein household, with his characteristic smile.

Chris is one of the few people who Ferzen got along with.

Welcome back, my Lord.

Because he was bald, Ferzen didnt need to care about symmetry when looking at him.

Is my brother here?

Yes. The master is in his office room.

Then Ill leave Euphemia in your care.

With pleasure, my Lord.

I entered the mansion, walked straight to the office, knocked twice, and waited patiently.

Before leaving for the North to secure Euphemia, Ferzen had made a special request to his older brother and current head of Brutein family.

Soon, a familiar yet outlandish voice said, You may enter. As I turned the doorknob and went inside.

Its been a long time. Younger brother.

Hmm, it has been.

As the sibling pair appeared to have a normal conversation, Jeremia, Ferzens older brother and the current head of the Brutein family, had his back turned to Ferzen.

Because Ferzen once almost killed his brother when he was a child because of his obsession with symmetry.

I know its fine now, but I still dont have the courage to face you, so please understand.

You dont have to ask me to understand.

Jeremia is Odd-Eyed.

So, as a child, Ferzen tried to gouge Jeremias eyes out with a knife several times. For that reason, Ferzen was imprisoned for nearly half a year.

There is no problem now because, during Ferzens imprisonment, the blue color on Jeremiahs right eye has darkened enough to harmonize with his red eye on the left.

Knowing Ferzen, even if he succeeded in gouging out the pale blue eye back then, which was asymmetrical with its red left eye, Ferzen would have probably even tried to dig the other one, too, with the logic that having only one eye was not symmetrical.

So the corpse of Isabel Ron Pierre Genova

Relax, we succeeded in winning the bid. Theres no way Brutein would ever lose in a battle of wealth.

Isabel Ron Pierre Genova.

An infamous assassin and an upper-tier Apollyon-class Elemental Wizard.

Exactly 24 years ago, before Ferzen was even born, she was captured and executed, and her body was kept in the Imperial Palaces vault.

And the Genova Family was wiped out just because a witch named Isabel was born from that family.

Thats a relief.

The Imperial Family put Isabels corpse up for an auction. Still, the timing coincided with his travel to the north, so Ferzen asked his brother, Jeremia, to represent him.

As an Apollyon-class Elemental Wizard, her bodys value was already through the roof, but Ferzen was even more interested in this body because, at her time, she was an elemental wizard capable of transforming her mana into an electric current.

In general, spells can be broken or deconstructed, but the speed of lighting is something that no human can register and process.

Interference is necessary to dismantle a spell, but if theres no time for the opponent to interfere, then its best to prepare defenses to counter the spell.

For this exact reason, being able to transform magic into lightning is a heavenly gift for Elemental Wizards.

But

Are there any problems?

I dont think its a huge deal, but the youngest daughter of Viscount Rosenberg raised twice the value of the winning bid, so she asked for a direct transaction.

They wanted to compete with Brutein in terms of wealth?.

Rosenberg

A sanctuary of culture and art.

The place where Bruteins artistry was reduced to second-rate.

Granted Rosenberg, is an artistic and cultural nexus, and is not a place that lacks wealth. However, they still cant compete with Brutein in sheer economic strength.

To begin with, to appear well in front of the Imperial family, I deliberately recruited other noble families, and asked them to gather information, then pay the Imperial family a hefty sum to secure that corpse.

Of course, they said they would split the payment.

Im not interested.

And If you refuse, they requested me to tell you this.

?

I challenge you to a fair duel in black magic.

I thought whats this bullshit, but soon I recalled a memory from 4 years ago.

At that time, Ferzen used to duel in order to quickly increase his reputation as a warlock.

So, Ferzen said that if there was anyone who could defeat him in a fair duel using black magic, he would grant the winner a request in the name of Brutein, and thats probably what this person is after.

Imbecile.

If nothing else happens, this Viscounts daughter will enter the Imperial Academy, and she will take classes from me, who will become a professor of black magic.

Is she here now?

When a future student, whom I had never seen before, had the guts to challenge me to a duel, its only proper that I meet with her right away.

Ayo, I probably going to put some sort of warning on those s cause they arent exactly Family friendly especially chapter 8 so imma do a mass release covering chapters 7-9 so you guys can be done with the dark stuff and clean your eyes with the wholesome on ch9 (thank me later), also look forward to ch 10 guys ( )