Vulgar Marriage - Chapter 19

Chapter 10.1

There was a brief pause before Adna spoke from behind.

“I don’t have any experience with magic circles.”

“But isn’t it all the same kind of magic?”

“Not at all. That’s like saying a blacksmith who forges a sword is the same as a knight who wields it. A magic circle creates a mold and channels the magic power from a mana stone, while magic is simply wielding power that already has specific properties. They’re two entirely different fields of study.”

“But, but…”

Hawthorne’s voice was filled with despair. Even Livi, who barely knew him, could hear the desperation in his tone. Dominic, however, didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Your Grace, please!”

Hawthorne clung to his leg.

“Please, reconsider. Just this once. Your Grace, I’m begging you…”

Without a word, Dominic continued walking, sending Hawthorne sprawling with a single kick. Yet, even after being tossed aside, Hawthorne refused to give up. Gasping for breath, he crawled back and grabbed Dominic’s leg again.

Hawthorne’s persistence made it difficult for Dominic to walk and he was forced to stop.

“I’ll say this one last time. Let go and get on your horse.”

“I can’t. Please…”

“If you’re so eager to die before your fiancée and wait for her in the afterlife, I won’t stop you.”

Within the next second, a strange metallic sound reached Livi’s ears. It was the sharp ring of a blade being drawn. Before Dominic had fully unsheathed his sword, the knights behind him rushed forward, their faces filled with alarm.

Dominic drew a massive sword from its scabbard.

“Your Grace! You mustn’t!”

“Your Grace!”

“Step aside.”

With little care, he threw Livi onto the ground. The impact sent pain radiating through her entire body, but she quickly gathered herself, ignoring the aches, and glanced around to assess the situation.

Jeff and a few knights attempted to stop Dominic, but he effortlessly knocked them back with the flat of his sword. It was clear that no one could stand in his way now that he had made up his mind.

“Any last words?”

Dominic pointed the cold blade at Hawthorne’s neck.

But instead of retreating, Hawthorne pressed his throat closer to the blade. Blood trickled down his neck, but he seemed numbed to the pain, still desperately pleading.

“Please, I’m begging you. Just allow me to enter the canyon, Your Grace. Once the magic circle is complete, I’ll take the lead. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be the one to die, no one else…”

“Are you finished?”

The veins in Dominic’s hand bulged as he gripped the sword’s hilt, ready to decapitate the knight. Watching the scene unfold, Livi muttered under her breath.

“Pathetic…”

Dominic’s head snapped toward her, his brows raised in demand for an explanation.

Livi met his gaze with calm, steady eyes. Even though she was sitting on the ground beneath him, no one could have said she was the one being looked down upon.

“If you don’t trust it, you could simply test it out, rather than so easily deciding to kill your own subordinate. Like I said, pathetic.”

Dominic barely reacted to Livi’s provoking words. He merely stared at her, unimpressed. As the silence dragged on, Jeff, who had been knocked down, cautiously began to stand.

From Jeff’s perspective, this situation was highly unusual. For one, Hawthorne was still alive, when his head should’ve been rolling on the floor by now. Realizing that there might be room to persuade Dominic, Jeff spoke up carefully.

“Why not at least try it? We’ve already spent half a day here, Your Grace.”

“Yes, and that’s half a day wasted thanks to your blabbering tongue, Jeff. Wasting any more time would be sheer madness.”

“But since you’ve already indulged us this far, why not a little more, Your—”

“Do you trust the daughter of House Joseph?”

“Well…”

Jeff froze, stopping mid-sentence. It seemed he finally realized whom he was defending.

“No, I don’t.”

Those words visibly cracked Livi’s otherwise composed expression.

She had stood firm under Dominic’s hostile gaze, but now it was impossible. The family name she had always taken pride in had become a weapon turned against her. How could anyone remain unaffected by that?

‘Why must the bloodline of the House Joseph be met with such hostility?’

Her chest tightened. As she fought to hide the unbearable pain welling up inside her, Dominic reached toward her.

“Come here, wife.”

“…”

“Tch.”

He roughly yanked Livi’s arm, pulling her to her feet. She snapped out of her daze and tried to twist away, but he overpowered her, gripping her chin and forcing her to look up at him.

Suddenly, she was exposed to the eyes of Hawthorne, Jeff, and the other knights watching.

Dominic’s gaze flickered to her heaving chest before tightening his grip on her chin. Livi winced in pain, her beautiful eyes momentarily disappearing behind her eyelids, only to reopen a moment later.

“She has the same blonde hair as Isaac Joseph and the same purple eyes as seven of the twelve princes we killed. Do you really think you can trust this face? My knights must have strong stomachs.”

“Your Grace, that’s not what I meant…”

“Not what you meant?”

Jeff fell silent. Dominic was right, Livi looked too much like those they had personally killed. Even if it wasn’t her fault, the resemblance was impossible to ignore.