The Price of Breaching the Contract - Chapter 77

The bedroom door opened carefully. Deep within the hallway that resembled a battlefield, in a silence where even sunlight hesitated, Santiago and Yulania were enjoying a rare moment of peace. For the first time since Yulania had awakened, the two sat side-by-side on the warm blanket, sharing each other’s body heat without a word.

It was Diego who broke the silence. Entering quietly, he paused, swallowing his words, before saluting Santiago and Yulania. In the room stood not the battlefield’s most powerful deputy commander, but a solemn and cautious knight.

“Reporting in.”

His voice was low. After finishing his salute, Diego met Santiago’s gaze and immediately got to the point.

“As of now, most of the demons have been dealt with. Many lightly wounded, several seriously wounded. The outer defenses of the castle are being restored under the orders of Lady Mireya.”

Santiago nodded. Diego took a breath and continued. A more important story awaited.

“The problem is Devil.”

The moment she heard those words, Yulania felt a chilling shiver run down her spine, as if the Sacred Stone were resonating again. Santiago’s facial muscles also tensed slightly. Unease instantly consumed the room.

“The moment the Princess unleashed her light, all lines of sight were temporarily lost. Devil has been missing since then.”

Yulania’s breath hitched shallowly. Santiago slowly furrowed one eyebrow and ground his teeth.

“I’m so sick of this.”

Just one sentence. But the rage, fatigue, and condensed tension contained within it weighed heavily on the air in the room.

Santiago looked out the window at the northern sky, still faintly illuminated. He recalled the horizon, which had been stained crimson countless times, and remembered the demon that had vanished in an instant before his eyes. Devil was not dead. He had merely retreated into deeper darkness.

“He’s alive, then.”

At Santiago’s words, Diego lowered his head.

“That is the most likely possibility.”

Silence fell for a moment. In that gap, Diego’s gaze turned to Yulania. His eyes were definitely different than before. An emotion beyond the previous respect and loyalty, a sense of awe, had been added.

Sensing his gaze, Yulania asked cautiously.

“Do you have something to say to me as well?”

Diego waved his hands in apparent embarrassment.

“Ah, no. It’s just. I feel like I’ve met a Saintess.”

“Saintess?”

Yulania tilted her head. She didn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word.

“Yes. That’s what everyone is calling you. You can breathe power into the Sacred Stone, drive away demons, and above all.”

Diego stopped speaking. A somewhat mysterious and heavy emotion was pressing down on his tone.

“In all those moments, what we saw was something benevolent like the power of God. Not anger or revenge, but pushing back the demons with light. If that’s not a Saintess then who is?”

Yulania didn’t answer. No, frankly, she had nothing to say. She had no basis for judging whether she was a Saintess or not. The change in the Sacred Stone’s reaction, the surge of emotion that made the light grow, all seemed like coincidences. She herself didn’t know if she was qualified to be called a Saintess.

“I don’t really know what a Saintess is either.”

It was the truth. Yulania had simply decided not to suppress her emotions. Those emotions moved the Sacred Stone and pushed back the demons.

Hearing those words, Santiago muttered under his breath.

“So that’s what he was trying to prevent.”

Yulania didn’t hear him. She gazed out the window and murmured softly.

“Saintess that’s too grand a title for me.”

Santiago stood quietly beside her. He embraced her and thought of the yellow light she had created. Within that radiance, which had spread like the sun, a belief had been born in someone.

“What does it matter? That’s what everyone says.”

“Pardon?”

“You can just be called that from now on. Saintess Yulania.”

Santiago’s tone was indifferent, but his intentions were clear. He wouldn’t stop her anymore. Whatever she became, whatever light she emitted, he would be by her side, ready to cut down any enemy if necessary.

Yulania chuckled.

“Is it really that simple?”

“It doesn’t matter what others call you.”

Santiago replied calmly.

“Only the fact that you’re my wife matters.”

Peace returned to the room. But beneath that peace, the approaching war clouds did not disappear. Devil was still alive. And he would reappear someday. When that day came, both of them would be ready.

The embers of the bonfire faintly illuminated the walls, and the wind outside the castle flowed along the glass windows. Santiago was by her side, but he didn’t speak. Instead, he watched her carefully, waiting quietly.

Finally, Yulania opened her mouth.

“Santiago, there’s something I want to do.”

Santiago looked up. Sensing a determination in her tone, he immediately focused seriously.

Yulania slowly inhaled and exhaled. Then she looked up at him.

“I’m going to give up the title of Princess.”

Santiago frowned slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m no longer a member of the royal family, but a Makari with you. Of course, my bloodline won’t change, but my mindset has changed.”

She placed her hand over her chest.

“I am now a Makari. Santiago Makari’s wife, and the mother of our soon-to-be-born child.”

Santiago’s eyes wavered slightly. But his eyes reflected understanding and quiet emotion rather than bewilderment. Yulania continued.

“Makari is a surname that only our family has. It’s a name that only the three of us, you, me, and our child, will have. The surname Tinriailin has been attached to me for too long under the pretense of being royalty. I want to let it go now.”

She looked at him again.

“So, I want to officially change it. My name to ‘Yulania Makari’.”

Santiago didn’t say anything for a while. The silence was not short, but it was by no means a silence of refusal or opposition. Rather, it was the kind of silence that comes when emotions are overwhelming and you don’t know what to say.

And then he slowly opened his mouth.

“That name is really nice.”

Yulania looked into his eyes and suddenly stopped breathing. Santiago smiled with a subtle tremor and continued.

“It’s the first time. That I’ve heard the word family with such a sense of reality.”

Yulania blinked slightly.

“I was always anxious.”

Santiago lowered his head and gently wrapped his hand around hers.

“A relationship where you could leave at any time if you wanted to. That was us. A relationship bound by contract, and I couldn’t shake the thought that it could all end someday.”

His voice was low and quiet, but it was filled with suppressed emotion.

“I was always worried that I was the only one whose feelings were getting deeper and more than anything, I often wondered if I was really qualified to have a family.”

Yulania quietly held his hand tightly.

“Santiago.”

She smiled and shook her head.

“Santiago is my family now, and the father of my child. We’ve gone beyond the contract now. We’ve both violated it.”

At that moment, Santiago’s eyes softened. He got up from his seat and called the butler.

Soon, the door opened quietly and Alban appeared.

“Did you call, Duke?”

Santiago said in a firm voice.

“From now on, inform everyone in the castle. The use of the title ‘Princess’ for my wife is forbidden.”

The chamberlain looked at him with a bewildered expression.

“Yes? Then, what title should we use to address her?”

“Duchess Consort would be good.”

After hesitating for a brief moment, Santiago gave a firm answer. He didn’t want Yulania to be called by a title lower than his. Alban, who had accepted the order despite his surprised expression, stepped back, and Yulania faced him.

“I’ve never heard of Duchess Consort before.”

He shook his head and took her hand again.

“There’s no Grand Duke in the Tinri Kingdom anyway. And you’re royalty.”

Yulania smiled quietly and tilted her head.

“Is that so? That’s simple.”

The fact that her name had changed was still unfamiliar, but one corner of her heart was strangely warm.

She carefully placed her hand on her stomach. There was a life inside her that she couldn’t quite believe yet. But she wasn’t afraid anymore.

‘I have a family now.’

It was an emotion she had never felt even once in the royal palace. The surname Tinriailin was as heavy and cold as its name suggested. It always demanded formality and instilled only responsibility, without love or warmth.

But now, she was with the family she had chosen for the first time.

She let her inner thoughts flow out as if whispering.

“We have really become a family.”

The wind outside the window stirred the curtains slightly. Yulania quietly closed her eyes. And imagining the day when her child would grow up and call her name, she smiled deeply in her heart.

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