Marriage with a Suspiciously Demure Husband - Chapter 108.1
Chapter 108.1
“Your Highness.”
“It’s a surprise to have the Duchess seek me out. How are you feeling? His Grace, the Duke, was quite worried about you that day.”
Thankfully, meeting Lily wasn’t difficult, thanks to the Crown Prince. Lily appeared with her silver hair neatly brushed and held back with a pretty headband, wearing a formal, dark blue dress and coat.
She couldn’t hide her delight at my having sought her out. Her manner of speaking was certainly more formal than before, but the familiarity remained.
“I’m here as your friend today, Your Highness, not as the Duchess.”
I never thought I’d be the one to say these words. I hoped she understood they were meant for her benefit.
Lily’s face registered surprise, then shifted into an expression of touched gratitude.
“You’re always welcome. So, Hazel, what did you want to talk about? Is there something I can do for you? Anything at all, just tell me. I’m especially confident if it involves persuading His Highness.”
At one time, these two had caused me quite a bit of trouble, but now they were offering their help without hesitation. I couldn’t help but feel grateful. After all, Lily Dayworth held the key to calming this chaos.
She was the protagonist of this story, the one with powerful holy magic.
“Your Highness. I apologize if this is presumptuous…”
“We’re friends, Hazel. Please, call me Lily.”
I unconsciously brought a hand to my mouth, realizing my mistake.
“Ah, it’s become such a habit. I’ll try to address you informally. But ‘Your Highness’ might slip out sometimes.”
Lily gave a small laugh.
“Yes, I understand. So, speak freely today, Hazel.”
“Could you show me the extent of your holy power right now?”
Lily’s eyes widened, clearly taken aback by the unexpected request.
“My holy power? …It’s not difficult, but what if you get hurt, Hazel? Especially you, who wields dark magic?”
“I won’t get hurt. Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
For her holy power to significantly affect me and, furthermore, to completely purify the battlefield and the demon king’s summoning point, she needed immense power. She needed to possess the strength of a saint, as she was currently hailed to be. I hoped my assumptions were correct.
Hesitantly, Lily took my outstretched hand.
“Tell me if it’s painful. I’ll hold back, and you can let go whenever you need to.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
“Ha… do we really have to do this? I truly don’t want to hurt you…”
“Trust me. Come on.”
Finally, Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, gathering her holy power. It was much easier to gauge her power if she channeled it slowly and steadily in a calm, non-urgent situation.
As Lily focused her holy power at her fingertips, I began to shield myself with my dark magic, like raising a protective barrier. It felt like an invisible wall was pressing against me.
When I pushed back against the pressure, Lily bit her lip.
I had to adjust my magic accordingly. We continued this push and pull of opposing forces for a while until Lily suddenly released a surge of holy power.
Before I could fully block it, she let go of my hand.
“I think I’ll hurt you…!”
Lily’s eyes flew open, her voice filled with fear.
“What?”
But I’d told her to use her full power…
“That was all the power I could muster. If I continue, I’ll definitely hurt you.”
‘Oh… so the ‘kind-hearted heroine’ buff activates here.’
It was frustrating, but Lily insisted she couldn’t do it anymore. My body tingled from the holy power, but it was far too weak. Honestly… disappointingly, Lily’s current holy power was nowhere near the level of a saint.
I bit my lip, my anxiety growing after confirming my suspicions.
I thought she had grown stronger from the continuous subjugations and purifications with Jed, but I was wrong. We didn’t have time to wait for her power to grow naturally. Not only me but Jed and Lily could be in danger.
This meant the happy ending I’d seen… might not happen.
The realization made my mouth dry.
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