Chương 12: A Business Transaction

"I dislike anything sweet," Duke Lucas said after a few minutes of awkward silence.

The moment he arrived, he offered her a seat across from him and she quickly took it saying nothing. She glanced at the brewing tea in front of them as she tried to avoid the Duke's gaze.

"For this visit, I chose to give the emperor the most bitter tea that I can offer to the empire. It shows my undying appreciation for the support that the empire has given to the Kingdom over the years."

Rosalind's lips twitched. She was almost certain that the empire stopped sending soldiers to the north. They had been using some excuse to avoid sending their own people to that barren place.

To compensate, they sent some rice and corn — something that does not exist in the north. But traveling up north takes about a month and by then, the rice and corn were already in their worse state.

Moreover, the dangers surrounding the trip weren't low.

Because of this, the help that the Aster Empire promised fell into oblivion.

"But you are not here to talk about that,right?" The corner of his lips turned upward. His blue eyes glinted with something she could only recognize as amusement. Clearly, her discomfort amuses him.

"I- I didn't know you were a Duke."

"And I didn't know the abandoned daughter of the Lux Family could heal."

"That— "

"A deadly secret," he uttered. "I understand."

Rosalind's expression grew serious. She was here to offer a deal to the Duke, but the fact that this man already knew what she was capable of was enough to change everything. She frowned.

If the Lux family heard something about her being able to heal a wound from a cursed object, they would immediately manipulate her to marry into royalty. She was not going to let that happen.

No. She needed to leave the Aster Empire.

Should she do something to silence him?

"Though fighting against you is very tempting, I would rather not do it," he said. It was as if he could read her thoughts. "Do you want to hear the disadvantages of doing so?" he asked, smiling.

She said nothing. Of course, she knew that fighting against him would only reveal more things about her. That would remove the only advantage she had left.

"It seems that the Duke isn't as cruel as the rumors say," she pursed her lips. Despite her unexpected mishap, she pretty much only had one goal in mind. She wanted to leave the Aster Empire and she could only do it with the help of the Duke.

"I don't know about the rumors surrounding me, but I do have some ideas about the rumors surrounding you."

"Your people are very… competent."

"I'd take that as a compliment."

"As you should," she answered.

"Though I am used to keeping people that are competent, I tend to throw away the ones who don't benefit me," the Duke said with nonchalance. She immediately knew he was warning her.

The man knew that she came here because she wanted something and he wanted to tell her that his answer will only depend on the thing that she could do for him in return.

It was a business transaction.

"Tea?" he asked. "I opened a box of the gifts that were supposed to be given to the royalty of Aster."

She chuckled at that. The well-known bitter tea is actually hated in the Aster Empire. Only a few people prefer drinking something that tasted the medicine.

"Thank you. I would like to have some," she answered. An obvious surprise flashed on the Duke's face.

It didn't take too long for him to steep the tea leaves and poured her a cup.

Rosalind accepted it, the back of their hands brushing together. She ignored the little skip that her heart made and focused her attention on the hot tea. She drank it without batting an eyelid.

"Aren't you scared that I would poison you?" he asked.

"No." Poisons don't work on her. The one with both the light and the black Blessing could nott be killed by any sword or poison. It was an advantage and a curse at the same time. This was because her body would use the Blessing of the light to practically destroy everything foreign, even if it was medicine.

In the past, no medicine would work on her when she suffer from stomach aches. Not even the medicine that was designed to relieve pain could help her.

The limitations were inconvenient, but the ability that camewith it was still very useful.

He snorted.

"Killing me inside my tent would cause you fewer problems." That and the Duke was well known for loving blood. He was pretty brutal and didn't like to kill his enemies with poison. It was said that the man loved to behead his enemies. He loved blood and torture. Supposedly, the Duke literally bath in the blood of his enemies in the past.

And this was the reason he had become so strong— not even someone who received a Blessing could beat him.

Though, at this point in time, the Duke is still not that known for this monstrous strength. Everyone knew he was strong and lawless, but no one would believe it if she tells them the truth.

The Duke could easily kill someone who received the Blessing of the Goddess.

Obviously, something that will happen in the future will reveal the truth about him.

"I thought I would hear you say how you expected me not to harm you because you saved my life. It seems that I was thinking too much about the… lady," he mused.

"I didn't save your life. Your body was healing then. I didn't need to do something about your wound." This was a fact that she discovered before she started healing him. If she had known that his body could heal — albeit slowly — from a cursed weapon, she wouldn't have to risk it!

She could only blame her own self for pitying the man who offered her meat while in that state.

"You were right. I didn't need your help," he frankly stated. "And I could have killed you now." Her presence could definitely make the empire stronger.

"But you didn't."

He laughed and leaned back.

She had already met dangerous people in her past life, people who stabbed her in the back, people who left when she lost her Blessing, and people who tried and failed to kill her. All of them wore a smile on their faces as they continuously hurt her behind her back.

In the past, she was clueless and wasn't aware that she was like a lamb surrounded by tigers in a tiger's den. Just thinking about the past was enough to upset her.

Those people were fantastic at hiding their intentions!

At least, the Duke was different.

She knew he was dangerous.

She knew he could kill her if he wanted to.

And unfortunately, she didn't have any other choice.

"I would like a deal, a business transaction," she stated, confident in her words. Since the Duke already knew that she could heal, she immediately used this to her advantage.

"I am listening," he said.

She took a deep breath before she said, "Let me be your bride," she opened her palm and showed him a dark smoke that slowly surrounded her hand. "In exchange, I am going to serve the Wugary Kingdom… with the Blessings that I have."