It was a Political Marriage, But I’m Being Loved - Chapter 112

“…Your Highness.”

This wasn’t the first time she acted like this. But just like the first time or perhaps even more so, it stirred something deep in Achilles. Charlize pulled him inside the room, giving a subtle signal to her attendant.

She was probably just asking for the door to be closed, but even that small gesture felt possessive. Jealousy stirred within Achilles, and he quickly blocked the magical link between them.

It would be a problem if the voice-triggered spell placed on her activated now. He had been saving it for their honeymoon or their wedding night.

The Empress watched them with a curious, unreadable expression. Achilles knew she wasn’t fond of him.

Although her disapproval had lessened slightly after he broke the Crown Prince’s curse, she was still uncomfortable with the man who would take her beloved daughter away from the capital.

“I greet Your Majesty, the Empress.”

“Sit down. If you’ve walked into the Empress’s quarters so boldly, I assume the Crown Prince is unharmed?”

“His Highness has gone to report to His Majesty, the Emperor.”

“Hmph. And you came here… to see my daughter?”

Achilles didn’t deny it. Though he had received a noble title from the Empire, he had no intention of lowering himself as the Emperor’s servant.

“Well, fine. Sit. …Did you kill Bianchi?”

“Your Majesty.”

Charlize looked startled and turned toward the Empress. Achilles glanced at her as well. His face was calm, but the Empress immediately recognized that the Master of the Tower was watching Charlize’s reaction.

“He’s not dead. He escaped with the help of demons… I wasn’t able to catch him.”

The Empress fell silent, clearly surprised. That Valter had escaped, and that he’d done so under the protection of demons—she wasn’t sure which part was more shocking.

“So he had something hidden until the end? What a disgraceful man.”

“……”

Charlize looked conflicted. She was relieved to hear Valter was still alive, but the fact that he had made a deal with demons and fled made her feel uneasy.

Valter… with demons? How is that even possible?

She had already accepted that he was no longer the main character of the novel. But making a pact with demons—this was something else entirely. It meant he wasn’t just unworthy of being the protagonist; he had fallen to the role of a true villain.

For a brief moment, she wondered if his transformation was her fault. If she hadn’t become a villainess… if she hadn’t killed Valter’s parents… would he have still turned dark?

That’s so unfair! What was the original story even about? Was Valter really part of that novel at all?

In the original story, Rebecca—the main character—kept her distance from real trouble. She casually met various men and stirred up mild scandals, nothing more.

Her supposed story arc to “save Valter Bianchi” had ended before it even began.

There’s no saving him now.

A pact with demons… Even outside of a novel, such contracts rarely ended with anything but ruin. She had already decided to see Valter as an enemy and stop caring, but now she realized something had changed.

I never thought I’d wish for your death.

To protect Oscar, her parents, Achilles, and herself—Valter had to die. He wasn’t the type to give up easily.

Charlize knew he was selfish. She just hadn’t realized how deeply that selfishness ran.

When she lifted her head, she found Achilles staring straight at her.

“Sit here.”

She pulled the hand she was already holding and seated him across from the Empress. Normally, etiquette demanded certain formalities in front of the Empress, but she didn’t object. She simply sipped her tea and quietly watched how Charlize behaved.

“There’s no need to be anxious.”

“…Sorry?”

Although the words were meant for Achilles, it was Charlize who looked up in surprise. The Empress didn’t respond to her and instead continued, speaking directly to Achilles.

“Her little crush ended months ago. She’s so deeply in love with you now that she probably doesn’t even remember the other man.”

The Empress left the rest unsaid. The Emperor had hesitated to let Achilles personally kill Valter Bianchi, afraid it might create a rift between him and Charlize. But the Empress thought differently.

Bianchi has become far too dangerous.

Even after being dragged in disgrace by the Master of the Tower, Valter had remained a lingering threat—like a splinter stuck beneath the skin. They should have dealt with him long ago, but the Emperor had delayed it. Who would have thought he’d go so far as to ally with demons?

Achilles seemed to understand what the Empress wasn’t saying aloud. Only Charlize looked confused as she glanced back and forth between them.

Clack.

As the Empress set her teacup down again, Achilles finally opened his mouth to speak.

“Understood—”

“Master of the Tower!”

Just then, a mage from the Tower came running in from outside.

*

Achilles, recalling his time with Charlize, released his mana into the air. Eliza gestured for the nearby soldiers and mages to step back.

It wasn’t to keep them from interrupting his spell.

“If you’re too close to the Tower Master’s mana, even a strong human might faint on the spot!”

Even Marcus—the Tower’s second-in-command—couldn’t stop trembling. Normally, the Tower Master kept his mana perfectly controlled and undetectable, but now, that restraint was gone.

“The ground…!”

About 400 meters from the city wall, the earth began to tremble. Dust rose from the ground. Above them, thick black storm clouds swirled into the once-clear sky. With not a single cloud moments ago, it was obvious who was behind this.

The clouds, low and heavy, spread wide, turning an eerie gray. Occasionally, lightning flashed, followed by a loud crack—

RUMBLE! CRASH!

“Begin!”

At Eliza’s command, mages stationed throughout the area began casting protective barriers. The Tower Master had declared he would wipe the field clean with magic. Their job was simple:

“We need barriers strong enough to withstand the Tower Master’s spell… and tall ones!”

From the rising clouds of dust, fierce winds erupted like a giant sweeping its hand across the land. Early summer grasses, bright and green, were whipped up and swayed violently in the gusts.

“Thank goodness this isn’t a farming zone,” Achilles murmured.

A sharp-eared archer nearby glanced at him in surprise. He’s worried about farmland at a time like this? Sure enough, vast farmland did stretch southeast of the capital.

“Too calm… almost unnerving.”

But the fear started to fade. The Tower Master, whose emotionless face used to be intimidating, now felt incredibly reassuring.

“Whirlwinds…”

Multiple whirlwinds began to rise from the trembling earth, twisting violently and pulling in dust, turning them into brown cyclones. They blocked the oncoming waves of monsters and demons.

The enemy, charging downhill from the mountains, had picked up speed. The ones running across the plains tried to break through the cyclones, shaking the earth beneath them.

At first, it looked like the whirlwinds were weakening, splitting apart. But that wasn’t it. The monsters and demons, realizing the danger, began to split and avoid them, skirting the edges.

But those at the front barely lasted a second. The wind tore away the ground beneath their feet, launching them into the air.

SCREEEEEECH!!

SKREEEEE! KIIIAAAK—!

From the distance came horrible, otherworldly shrieks—screams no one had ever heard before. The flying creatures tried to climb higher to escape the whirlwinds, but it was a fatal mistake.

BOOOOM!

The sky shook as something hidden within the clouds revealed a massive glowing blue claw and tore through the winged monsters, shredding and devouring them midair.

Those that tried to dive lower were instantly sucked into the whirlwinds. Colliding with each other and with their allies, they were torn to pieces in the chaos.

On the ground, some monsters tried to huddle together and resist being dragged in. Others attempted to burrow into the earth.

But from below, an earthen dragon burst forth and devoured them.

This was no weak dragon like the one Achilles had once shown mercy with in his duel against Ryuhan. This one was filled with molten lava, swimming through the soil, melting everything in its path—demons, monsters, all consumed without a trace or even a final scream.

“…The last one.”

Achilles raised his free hand—his other not holding his staff—and conjured a black flame. He clenched his fist, and the flame vanished from his palm.

But from the base of the whirlwinds, the same black flame erupted, spreading outward in all directions.

AAAAAGH! AHHHHHH!!

From a distance, only the howling of the storm and the occasional scream could be heard—faint, broken cries between the roaring wind as the whirlwind turned into a monstrous, all-consuming typhoon.

Sixteen whirlwinds rapidly shrank—first to nine, then five, and finally merged into one enormous cyclone. Everything inside it—every monster and demon—was swallowed whole.

Black flames surged through the whirlwind like a tidal wave, consuming everything. The fire did not fade. It clung to them, burned them completely.

The monsters died almost instantly. The demons, choking on the souls they had stolen from humans, vomited blood and howled in agony.

They didn’t even know who had killed them—whether it was the Tower Master or one of his mages. All they could do was scream and cry, overwhelmed by pain and death.

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