“….!”

If there was such a way, she should have told her sooner. Azela’s face brightened at Lane’s words as she waited for her next words.

Seeing Azela’s hopeful face as if she had found a way, Lane’s red lips smirked. She took the pipe that she had put down in her hand and slowly lowered her upper body before moving close to Azela’s face and meeting her gaze.

“Simple.”

Lane whispered softly.

“You just have to die yourself.”

“….!”

“What do you think?”

Azela drew the sword from her waist at once. The look on her face, who Lane thought would be overcome with despair, had the expression of hope that she had found a way.

“Is that really enough?”

“Aren’t you scared? I told you, you have to kill yourself with your own hands.”

“There is no reason to be afraid. I told you earlier. There are people who would give their lives for the ones they love.”

As Azela drew her sword from the scabbard, the sharpened sword flashed. Without the slightest hesitation, she was about to thrust the sword into her heart though Lane grabbed the blade and stopped it.

Blood flowed from Lane’s hand as she gripped the sharpened blade. Even so, she looked calm.

As Azela furrowed her brow with eyes asking why did she stop her, Lane laughed and spoke again.

“Yes, I fully understand what kind of resolution you are talking about.”

“…What?”

“The way I said it is true, but not now. If you die right now, before your soul is fully ripe, Zagnac will be considered as having failed to protect his contract and will be punished.”

“….!”

“Well, punishment would be better than disappearing anyway… If you’re going to die, you’d rather die properly. If you die after your soul has fully matured, the contract will be considered fulfilled and Zagnac will not be punished or disappeared.”

Lane finished her sentence and let go of her hand gripping the blade. As she lowered her hand, Azela also lowered the sword she had held high.

Therefore… when it was time for her soul to be eaten by Zagnac, if she chose to die, the contract would eventually be fulfilled.

Lane lit the pipe, staring nonchalantly at her bloody palm.

“Instead, this method can only be used once. The devil can see that their contractor’s life is fading away. If it succeeds at once, even if Zagnac notices, you’re already dead so he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

Saying so, she pretended to cut Azela’s throat with the pipe in her hand.

“If you try and fail, he will know you tried to kill yourself and probably won’t leave you alone afterwards, so you can’t do it anymore. Then, this means that Zagnac will disappear.”

“Th, then…”

“You just have to go back and act as if nothing happened and then die at once when your soul is ripe. Can you do it?”

Azela nodded her head vigorously to Lane’s question. Of course, she could. After all, thanks to Zagnac, she had been able to live this long. If she could go according to the contract with him, what else would make her so happy?

“I’m glad the talk worked out quite well. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a conversation so well.”

Lane held out her bloodied hand lightly to Azela. She wondered what it meant, and when Azela looked down, Lane laughed.

“When humans are on the same side, don’t they shake hands like this? Now we’re on the same side.”

“Why do you want to save Zagnac?”

Azela asked before holding her hand. Meanwhile, Lane replied to her question with a bit of a displeased look, asking why she would not know that.

“Of course, I don’t feel sorry for the devil who says he will die because of humans.”

“….”

“Do you know who the most harmful race is? That’s human… Because of humans, many races lost their homes, lost their families, and lost their lives. Oh, of course, I’m not blaming you, contractor.”

Lane uttered as she reached out her hand and tugged at Azela’s wrist, which was gripping the sword.

“Still, he was going to disappear just for that kind of person? A devil, too? I cannot stand still.”

Seeing Lane clench her teeth, Azela suddenly remembered Zagnac’s words that she didn’t like humans.

“Of course.”

Lane, who had been clenching her teeth, smiled broadly again and let go of her wrist as she opened her mouth again, taking the posture of asking for a handshake again.

“I can’t help it if he’s an idiot who insists on dying even if I try to convince him.”

Azela put the sword in her hand back into the scabbard again, took Lane’s outstretched hand, and lightly shook it up and down.

“You’ll know even if I don’t say it, but Zagnac is very quick-witted.”

“I know.”

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“About meeting me today and planning to commit suicide… can you hide both well?”

Lane laughed, blowing smoke with her other hand. Another puff of smoke made Azela frown and spat out a cough.

“If you put out that cigarette, I can hide it well.”

“Oh, sorry. This is so addicting. Humans are really good at making these things. I think humans are more amazing than I thought.”

Putting down the pipe, Lane smiled as she looked at Azela and smiled.

“Good luck, contractor.”

* * *

“Your Majesty.”

As Chises looked for the Emperor with a huffing breath, it seemed that his anger was not resolved. The Emperor, who was at the office, nodded his head without giving him a glance.

Finding such Chises familiar.

“Livia broke your word and used magic!”

“…Livia?”

The Emperor slowly raised his head, hearing that Livia had used magic. Seeing the Emperor’s gaze at him, Chises nodded passionately and raised his voice.

“She made a mess of the bedroom and threw me against the wall with her magic! Not only that, she even blackmailed me! They said that if I came in again, she would turn me to dust!”

“….”

“Livia broke Your Majesty’s word and magic, so please punish her!”

He confessed Livia’s atrocities with an expression of regret. After all, the Emperor didn’t love Livia while he was the heir to the throne, so it was certain that the Emperor would punish her for treating the heir in such a mess.

Chises hid his satisfaction and suppressed laughter. But the answer was different.

“How was it?”

“…What?”

The Emperor didn’t seem to care much about him being thrown against a wall or that Livia threatened him. He clasped his hands and urged Chises with a serious expression.

“Livia’s magic, was it strong?”

“That, that!”

“Chises, seeing that you were thrown against the wall but did nothing but came to me and wished Livia to be punished… You thought you couldn’t win.”

“That, that—!”

He tried to refute the Emperor’s words but was unable to speak and clenched his teeth. Even though he wanted to shout that he could win, he couldn’t lie in front of the Emperor. At the same time, seeing Chises tremble with his fists clenched tightly, the Emperor rubbed his chin.

“I hadn’t even thought of Livia’s magic, but it could be quite useful.”

“…Use, useful? Are you saying that Livia is useful? That, that b*tch knows nothing!”

“Still, she can use magic and she’s strong enough to scare you away, so it’s useful.”

With the Emperor’s resoluteness, he shut his mouth.

…This wasn’t the development he wanted.

As Chises lowered his head with an angry face, the Emperor let out a light sigh and stood up. He walked over to his son and patted his shoulder before opening his mouth.

“Chises, it would be unwise to throw things away just because you don’t like them. Whatever you can use, you have to think about using it.”

“…Where am I going to use it? She’s a witch.”

“If we had a witch, she would make us invincible. Chises, you probably know that all the assassins sent to Ferial Mansion die one by one.”

He gritted his teeth at the Emperor’s whisper.

Just hearing the name of Ferial family made his stomach boil. He had to reveal Zagnac’s identity in front of everyone and kill him… only then would Azela come to his side. And although he went to Livia to do so, in the end, he was humiliated.

Chises clenched his teeth.