Salvation Through Delusion C112

Chapter 112

“Lower your voice.”

I glanced around and hurriedly warned him, but Rick—completely shaken—shouted as if he wanted the entire world to hear.

“What on earth was the Duke thinking, skipping something that important?! No matter if you’re a Savior, this is unacceptable!!!”

As Rick grew more agitated by the second, my own mind cooled rapidly.

Figures. Tuvine, after all.

Right—suggesting we sleep together didn’t mean anything here.

Feeling foolish for grabbing Rick and getting dragged into this conversation, I turned to leave. But his next outburst stopped me in my tracks.

“If your bodies don’t match, how are you supposed to spend an entire lifetime together?! You should at least check now and call off the engagement—!”

What? Call off the engagement?

I shot him a murderous glare, and he barely managed to swallow the rest of his words. Honestly, I was speechless.

“I’m a Savior, you know?”

“But you’re going to make the partner’s vow at the wedding, aren’t you? That means spending your entire life as partners! Imagine realizing you’re incompatible—how do you think His Grace would feel?!”

I really didn’t want to discuss this with anyone else, but the injustice made my true feelings slip out.

“I’m really good, you know.”

Rick’s eyes, as he looked at me, were merciless.

“Do you think I’m deaf? I’ve heard everything. Apparently, you’re terrible.”

“…Me?”

I pointed at myself, utterly incredulous. I’d done it so many times—how could I be bad? Was that even possible?

“I hear that the moment you meet someone, you grab their junk and rush to stick it in, start screaming from the very beginning, demand everything without any consideration for your partner—and on top of that, there’s something even worse. You burn out fast and cool off just as quickly.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. You, Rue.”

This time Rick pointed straight at me. My gaze wavered as I stared at his finger.

So Rue was that hopeless in bed? And a legendary two-pump wonder on top of it? For the first time in a long while, I sincerely wished him a one-way ticket to hell.

“But still, I had plenty of lovers—”

“I heard most of them got sick of it after one or two times, or only came back much later when they’d almost forgotten.”

At that point, I couldn’t avoid asking.

‘Mo, is that true?’

[An extremely objective assessment.]

Damn it. So because Rue couldn’t maintain a long-term relationship, he slept around with anyone—and of course his libido was sky-high on top of that…

I pressed a hand to my forehead and squeezed my eyes shut. Still, I didn’t want to admit I was incompetent enough to call off a marriage. Desperately, I dragged out one of Rue’s remaining strengths.

“But I mean, I’m… pretty good with my hips.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that too.”

Rick agreed readily, which somehow made me feel even worse. Worse still, he took a step back, subtly shielding his groin with his hand.

I don’t want to touch it either, okay?!

But Rue’s infamous reputation blocked any righteous anger. Still, backing down like this hurt my pride—especially with Rick saying it so bluntly.

“Haa. Poor Duke.”

“I could be pitiful too, you know.”

“Pfft.”

“Did you just laugh?”

“No. Ahem.”

Rick hastily smoothed his twisted lips.

“Rue-nim, His Grace is the very man you used to sing about wanting to sleep with every time you got drunk. Have you forgotten? The Duke’s enormous—”

“Ah, not that.”

I waved frantically, cutting him off before things got worse.

“Skill matters too, you know. And more importantly, setting the mood—”

“Rue-nim.”

He interrupted again, sighing as he looked at me like I was hopeless.

“Are you worried His Grace might be bad in bed? If so, throw that concern away. After just one night with him, you’ll become a slave. And the next day, you’ll come to me in tears, asking how to capture his heart.”

Rick shook his head as if speaking from experience and walked off, leaving me alone in the corner of the corridor.

All that filled my head were Dr. Kim’s warnings, flashing like neon signs.

If you let your guard down, your body will fall first—and your heart will be stolen whole, tsk tsk.

She’d worried Tyroc might try to bind me through sex. And if that really was his intention?!

A chill ran down my spine. Who was Tyroc, after all? A man whose true schemes were impossible to read behind that smiling face. It was entirely plausible.

Damn it.

Clenching my fist, I turned away.

I won’t fall for it.

I’ll seduce him instead.

Knock, knock.

Rick entered Tyroc’s office with a heavier heart than ever. To think His Grace had impulsively promised marriage to Adeye Rue without even confirming physical compatibility…

Seeing Tyroc lost in thought, unaware of his presence, made Rick’s chest ache.

So he’d abandoned personal happiness entirely, choosing only the clan. And if Rue wasn’t truly a Savior, what then?

Montaine had already secured another Savior and was growing bolder, preparing to strike at Koon. And that wasn’t all—Sarne, which had barely maintained neutrality, realized that Koon’s divine beast hadn’t perished and immediately turned hostile.

That was the report Rick had come to deliver.

“Your Grace, we’ve received word from Sarne.”

Though reluctant to interrupt, Rick spoke carefully, given the gravity of the situation. Yet Tyroc remained motionless, gaze fixed on the desk like a doll.

What was he thinking? The document he was looking at was… a marriage contract?

“Rick.”

Rick immediately averted his eyes, pretending he’d seen nothing.

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Do you know about the partner’s vow?”

Huh? Out of nowhere?

Rick nodded, confused.

“Of course.”

“You know how it’s done too?”

“Certainly. Even children know that.”

“Ordinary people can’t enforce the vow, though.”

That was true. Only those with special power—divine authority, great magic, or the power of a divine beast—could give the vow binding force. That was precisely why ordinary people revered and imitated it even more.

“Even without enforcement, a wedding without the vow isn’t considered a real marriage.”

“You know about sharing a new name too?”

Rick blinked again.

“Of course. Is there anyone in Tuvine who doesn’t know that? Even people without partners choose a name in advance to share someday.”

“Right. No one from Tuvine wouldn’t know. Even if they lost their memories…”

What was troubling him so much? At this point, Tyroc was just as strange as Rue.

Actually, if one had to choose, Rue was far stranger. Asking about someone’s private life like that—how rude.

Of course, what Rue was curious about had to be Tyroc’s private life. Yet he didn’t even want to hear the answers, reacting with shock instead when told Tyroc was skilled.

That alone made him different from Tyroc’s other followers. They all spoke of Tyroc with fanatic light in their eyes.

But Rue showed none of that.

Why? He said he’d fallen for His Grace.

At that moment, Tyroc muttered something incomprehensible.

“God, human… or some other unknown world?”

What did that mean?

Rick couldn’t ask. Tyroc was too deep in thought. Eventually, as if giving up on an unsolvable question, Tyroc raised his head.

“Rick. Report.”

Rick snapped to attention and handed over Sarne’s letter.

Tyroc read it impassively, but Rick—already familiar with its contents—couldn’t remain calm. Sarne had deliberately addressed the letter to Rick first, under the Koon Ducal seal.

The intent was obvious: to broadcast their stance publicly.

In short:

Since Borhumi’s divine beast had vanished, the territory should be stripped of its divine-beast clan status and transferred to another. And because Koon lacked the power to resist, they had put forward a fake Savior—“Adeye Rue”—to falsely claim the divine beast still lived.

Until Rue was proven a true Savior, Sarne could no longer trust Koon or maintain any alliance.

“A declaration of war,” Tyroc said.

“Yes. They’re effectively declaring us enemies.”

Rick asked anxiously, “What should we do?”

“What else?” Tyroc replied. “Give them exactly what they want.”

“But Sarne possesses the ancient texts needed to lift the curse—”

“So?”

Rick swallowed as he saw Tyroc’s smile—warm as sunlight, yet cold as moonlight in his eyes.

“Rick, when you want something from an enemy, it’s simple.”

He smiled.

“Kill them. And take it.”