It was a Political Marriage, But I’m Being Loved - Chapter 98

“Susanna Leroy is a follower of Valter.”

Charlize didn’t have solid evidence but the thought kept surfacing. She was certain the demons had given Susanna the magical artifact because they were after Valter.

Maybe she attacked me because Valter became a traitor after failing to kidnap me.

From Susanna’s perspective someone who had feelings for Valter, Charlize would seem like someone who needed to be punished. Getting her hands on a teleportation artifact wouldn’t have been enough to save Valter, but it may have given her the illusion of control.

“…Did she come all the way to the Imperial Palace just to rescue him?”

“Your Highness, the Tower Master has arrived.”

“Send him in.”

Charlize rose from her seat at the table. She had dressed properly in anticipation that she might need to greet the High Priest as well.

“Your Highness,” Achilles Illien greeted her calmly.

“Has the High Priest left?”

“He has.”

Achilles looked around the room. Realizing what he was checking for, Charlize dismissed the maids and attendants. The knights stationed inside also left at her order.

Once everyone was gone, Achilles cast a soundproof barrier around the room to prevent their voices from leaking outside.

“…The High Priest said that, just in case, he wants to assign a priestess and Holy Knights to stay by your side.”

“But Susanna has already been captured. Is there still a threat?”

Charlize studied Achilles’ expression.

“Is it… the demons again?”

“The Mage Tower has been fighting demons for hundreds of years.”

Achilles began to tell her about the former Tower Master. She had become a target of the demons after rescuing children they had kidnapped. Over time, she became powerful by hunting them. Many of the children she saved had joined the Tower and grown into formidable mages, further strengthening their fight against demonic forces.

“The demons have long targeted the Tower Master. My predecessor and I never had families, but now that I’m to marry you…”

“They’ll target me instead.”

It wasn’t pleasant to hear, but it didn’t surprise her. The Alstead royal family had been targeted by demons in the past as well.

Back then, it was His Majesty who was the target, and Achilles was the one who hunted the demons down.

“Are you scared?” he asked gently.

“Ah… no. I’m not afraid. You’re with me, aren’t you?”

What truly frightened her wasn’t the demons—it was something else entirely. Something more uncertain. Like whether the story itself had shifted too far off its original course… and whether the main character had been replaced entirely.

Valter isn’t the protagonist I once knew.

From the moment he started meeting with multiple noblewomen, he no longer resembled the male lead she remembered. Up until recently, her emotions had clouded her judgment—but now, it was clear.

In the current situation, it felt more like Achilles had stepped into the role of the protagonist.

In the original novel, he had been a hidden support figure—someone who aided the sub-male lead from behind the scenes. But now, he was the one actively fighting on the front lines.

Because of that, no one else even stood a chance.

Valter and even the Fourth Prince of Lushan had been defeated by Achilles before they could truly show their strength. Not because they were weak—but because Achilles was simply too strong.

Maybe that’s why the Fragment of the Demon King appeared all of a sudden—to restore balance.

She kept telling herself this wasn’t a novel—it was reality. And yet, her thoughts kept drifting back to the story’s logic.

“Your Highness, what are you thinking about?”

“I was wondering what exactly the demons are after. Susanna’s body had visible cracks. It looked like that artifact—the Demon King’s fragment—was too much for her.”

“She likely wasn’t a suitable vessel for the Demon King’s resurrection.”

“Still… can something like that really be used so easily? Susanna didn’t seem like someone capable of bearing it.”

Achilles explained that both the Mage Tower and the Church had been working to destroy the Demon King’s fragments. Currently, they estimated that only three or four remained.

He also added that even if a vessel failed and their body broke under the fragment’s power, it wasn’t a complete loss. As long as the fragment could be retrieved, the demons would keep trying. That made it dangerous—but also expendable.

Charlize fell silent, her thoughts spinning.

Three or four fragments…

Even if the artifact was important to their master’s resurrection, if the demons had already found a true vessel for the Demon King, they wouldn’t hesitate to use the fragments in a disposable way.

It’s starting to feel like the real target vessel is Valter Bianchi…

Or, in the worst-case scenario, it could be Achilles, Charlize herself, or even Oscar. She also couldn’t rule out the Emperor or Empress. A wave of anxiety washed over Charlize, and she shook her head forcefully.

“Your Highness?”

Pull yourself together! This is reality—not some novel. Things won’t play out like a scripted plot!

Charlize looked up and met Achilles’s eyes.

“What do you think the demons are really after?”

“It might be something simple—like trying to provoke me because I carry the Illien name. Or… they could be setting something more dangerous into motion.”

“Is it possible they’re targeting young Duke Bianchi as the Demon King’s vessel?”

Achilles looked at her for a moment, surprised by the unexpected question. She looked completely serious.

“May I ask what made you think that?”

“Lady Leroy was obsessed with Valter Bianchi. If she had gotten her hands on something like that artifact… she would have used it to stay close to him. I don’t know if she actually did, but I think she would have tried.”

“To make someone as strong as a Sword Master into a vessel, a contract is necessary.”

The Demon King’s fragment attached itself to humans and consumed their souls. But it couldn’t do that with just anyone. Someone like Susanna would have been easy—she never struck Charlize as particularly noble or virtuous.

But for someone with a noble spirit, someone who had reached a higher state of human potential—or someone who had the potential to surpass it—the fragment needed time to prepare. It couldn’t consume them instantly.

That process was known as a contract.

“It’s not a formal contract—more like a deal. At the Mage Tower, we call it a ‘contract’ when someone uses the fragment to make a wish, and in return, allows it to take their soul. An unspoken agreement.”

“Then Lady Leroy’s wish was probably to save Valter.”

Even after Valter Bianchi and his family had been arrested for treason, there were still noblewomen who spoke his name with admiration. Charlize suspected that the Marquis of Leroy had restricted Susanna’s movements because of that very behavior.

“The fragment draws the user in by pretending to grant their wish. But all it really does is push them toward self-destruction.”

If the wish ever truly came true, the user would have no reason to keep holding on to the fragment. And the fragment knew that—so it never allowed the wish to be fulfilled.

“If the young Duke Bianchi really is a candidate for the vessel, and the demons are targeting him… they’ll try to push him into a position where he chooses to take the fragment himself.”

But wasn’t Valter already trapped?

What more could push him further?

Why hadn’t the demons given the fragment directly to Valter Bianchi instead of Susanna Leroy?

Charlize didn’t think Valter was the type to guard his soul for its own sake. He had pride—cold, unyielding pride—but not the kind of pride that would stop him from making a dangerous deal. He seemed like someone who might think, If giving up my soul is the price, then I just won’t die.

After thinking it over, Charlize finally asked quietly,

“You were the one who captured him, weren’t you? Did he look… hopeless?”

Achilles recalled Valter’s face in the moment he’d lost.

He had been furious. Full of rage. His eyes burned with hatred—for Achilles, who had defeated him. But…

“He wasn’t in despair.”

Valter Bianchi had still looked like someone who believed he could escape, no matter how bad things were.

The next morning, Charlize went to see the Emperor.

Since the Emperor and Empress were close, they were together in the imperial bedroom. Only Charlize was allowed inside. Achilles waited respectfully outside the door.

Charlize told the Emperor everything that had happened in her quarters the night before. His expression darkened when she mentioned that the High Priest and Holy Knights had come to the palace overnight.

He glanced at the Empress’s expression, then called out to the attendant standing at the door.

“Summon the Tower Master.”

The servants quickly opened the doors and brought Achilles Illien into the room.

The Emperor and Empress were still seated on the bed. Charlize stood nearby at the edge. The Empress, in a silk dressing gown, fixed Achilles with a cold, unreadable gaze.

He had once saved Oscar’s life—but now, the Empress couldn’t help but think that demons targeting the princess had something to do with him.

“Is it true what the princess said? That something… demonic appeared in the palace?”

Achilles raised his hand slightly, signaling for the Emperor to pause. Then, he looked toward the maids in the room.

The Emperor noticed and dismissed them immediately.

Once the doors were closed, Achilles cast a protective barrier over the room. The Empress didn’t bother hiding her disapproval.

Demons? Here…?

“They say a noblewoman carrying a demonic artifact attacked the princess. Is it true?”

“It is, Your Majesty. But… that’s not all you need to know.”

When Achilles finally spoke of the Demon King’s fragment, the Emperor let out a deep, heavy sigh. The royal family of Alstead were descendants of the sixteen kingdoms that had once brought down the Demon King—but that felt like a distant myth now.

“To have something like that appear near the princess… That can’t be allowed to become public knowledge. Can the Church be trusted?”

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