Life as a Tower Maid: Locked up with the Prince

I’m sure he already knows.
And he probably already solidified his resolve from the moment he let me cook.
While I was choosing the right words for my explanation, he was also choosing the right words to persuade me.

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The book he was reading when I first entered the dining hall was testament enough.

I looked squarely at him.
His eyes, which were like the red sunset, reminded me of a sturdy, old tree that wouldn’t be shaken even by a strong gust of wind.

“If you’ve spent this much time thinking, then surely, you came up with a good explanation.
I don’t know if you can convince me though.”

“……”

“Try and explain then.”

He spoke his command with the characteristic expression of a haughty monarch.
As if he already read me entirely.

It’s true that Albert was able to read me quite well.
Still, that didn’t mean that he knew everything about me.
As a matter of fact, the closer people were to each other, the more they had to be careful of any preconceived biases.

“I went through the disaster, Prince.”

I spoke calmly.
He must have already heard about the nature of Alexander’s disaster from Mercy.

So inevitably, Albert wasn’t surprised.
The calm gaze that met my own was unwavering.

“Then you should know better.
You’ve already experienced how painful it is to become a contractor.”

He went on to utter the statement as though he’s absolutely right.
But no, he didn’t know—he didn’t know what kind of nightmare I went through.

I shook my head slowly.

“Prince, what I saw there was Blanc’s death.”

And it was only then that agitation could be seen on his countenance.
He was like an immovable mountain just now, but he soon narrowed his brows.
Then, he looked at me perplexedly.

“It was Blanc’s birthday and I watched him die painfully.
I didn’t do anything, and all I felt in that moment was regret.”

“How long has it been since you first met?”

“It’s the same for me and you as well, Prince.”

“Dragons and humans are different, Rosé.
The period of living, the way of life.”

“Prince, I can’t just watch and let Blanc suffer.”

I paused for a moment.
I couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes while explaining this.
I lowered my gaze and spoke in a whisper.

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“I can’t just let my loved ones disappear, not anymore.”

“……”

“Because I sent off my family in the same way.”

I wondered what kind of expression he was making.
This was the first time I’m confessing something from my past.

I raised my head slightly.
Albert’s expression was difficult to read.
I couldn’t even tell if he had erased his expression on purpose or not.

“To me, that’s the greatest pain.”

From the light of the chandelier overhead, a shadow sank around his eyes.
He looked terribly exhausted.
Pressing down on his eyelids, he blurted out the words as though he forced them out.

“You can’t.”

With that, I had a sudden thought that it wouldn’t be impossible to convince him.

“Rosé, this is suicide.
Do you think you can save that fledgling dragon just by entering a contract?”

Albert must have thought the same way, seeing as he immediately tried to reason it out.

“At least if I enter the contract, the probability of Blanc surviving will increase.
I’ll do my best to survive and become the contractor of a full-fledged dragon.”

“You’re being idealistic.
I also hope that it works out as you say, but do you think that simply having the will to achieve that will make it happen?”

Albert cynically threw the sarcastic remark.
Beneath the shadow that slanted obliquely upon his brow, his eyes flashed coldly.

Still as ever, the tone of his voice was graceful, but his words lashed out the truth like a whip.

I know.
Me, too.
I know it well enough.

“Even so, that’s why I’m here to talk to you about it.
Like I said, I can’t just let Blanc die.
Maybe before, when I didn’t know him yet, but I can’t turn a blind eye now.”

If Blanc had been sent away from the tower as soon as he took just one step inside, the story might have turned out different.

But that didn’t happen.
I let the dragon inside.
And that stemmed from the fact that I was a fool who didn’t want to give all of my heart to Albert.

The atmosphere was tense between the both of us.
Neither side was willing to back down.
I would have compromised with him normally, but I had no intention to do that now.

Albert looked at me.

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Before I knew it, Albert went around the table and stood right in front of me.

As he looked at me with his head down, with his furrowed brows meeting in the middle, he still looked so picturesque.
Was there ever a moment that he wasn’t beautiful?

Trapped between his arms at either side of me on the chair, Albert stared at me.
No— it seemed as if he was staring at me, but his eyes weren’t on me.

“I thought you’d be attached to me, like a fool.”

“……”

“I can blame only myself.
I should have killed that dragon when it first crawled into the tower.
Then it wouldn’t have this much influence on you.”

“……”

As his eyes lost focus, they were terrifying.
I was someone from modern society, so he and I had completely different moral codes.
The difference between me and him suddenly became all too real.

Albert Grey was the kind of man who did not hesitate to kill.

Albert didn’t hide the killing intent in his eyes.
As if he was deliberately letting me know.

Chills ran down my spine.

“Prince.
You can’t kill Blanc.”

Albert’s eyes curved into arcs.
His face became covered with the mask of an innocent child who knew nothing, then he spoke.

“Rosé, you need to survive so that I can receive your hatred.”

“Living and surviving are two different things.”

I was well aware of the difference.
Would I truly be alive if all I’ll be left doing is breathing in and out with the crippling guilt of letting Blanc die?

No.
That would just be Albert’s selfish greed.

“I have no plans of just watching you walk straight into fire.
I gave you time to change your mind, but you didn’t.”

I stood from my seat and made eye contact with Albert, who continued to glance down from above.

“…You’re too cruel, Prince.
You never tried to hear me out at all.
The reason I didn’t enter the contract right away was because I respect you as well.”

“Respect, you say.”

As though my words humored him, Albert narrowed his eyes.
As he continued to look at me with a deadly glint in his gaze, he didn’t touch me.

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“You.
How dare you tell me that I’ve been cruel.”

The veins on his fist were as clear as the way he uttered those words.
Perhaps suffocatingly from between the buttons of his high shirt, I saw his adam’s apple move up and down.
Then, with a bright smile now, he spoke.

“While you’ve been busy worrying about the safety of that fledgling dragon, you’ve cast me aside completely.”

I can assure you that’s not true.

“You never think of me at all, yet you call that respect?”

“That’s not true.”

Hearing my words, Albert shook his head.
The smile on his lips was close to a perfunctory one, yet this faint smile just made him look as if he was on the verge of tears.

“I’m sick and tired of being left all alone.
It was the same when I was young.
What you’re doing is not respect, Rosé.
It is deceit.”

As he emphasized each and every syllable that he uttered, his expression grew even more complicated.
His face drew nearer.

If I hesitate here, that would only show him that I’m anxious.
I stared straight into his eyes.
Then, I spoke slowly so as not to look apprehensive.

“If I don’t die, I’m not deceiving you.”

“I don’t know where you’re getting that courage from.”

“I know that you’ll be sad, Prince.
And I understand how that feels.”

That’s why I couldn’t sign the contract without telling you first.
Even though I already knew that we wouldn’t agree on this.

“I won’t die, whatever it takes.
I mean it.”

Even if the sky were to collapse, it’s possible to rise from the fissures it’s left behind.
When my parents died, I learned to smile again, and I continued to survive to this day after I fell into another world.
Even when Albert had been destined to kill me, we fell in love instead.

If there’s a problem, then somehow or another, it could be solved.
Amazingly enough, the solution presented itself while I was on a search to find a way.

I believe it can be done this time.

“I can endure any pain.”

It’s not as if there’s no chance of overcoming this at all.

Rosé is originally a dark mage, so that means there’s mana left in her body.
I think that’s why I can see Blanc’s true form.

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If I become a dragon’s contractor, then the contractor and the dragon would share each other’s mana.

When a dragon hasn’t yet reached adulthood, they can’t use magic.
However, it’s a different story if there’s already a contractor.
The dragon’s mana would allow the contractor to be so much more talented than any other mage, and the dragon cub will then be under the contractor’s protection until it’s time for them to turn into an adult.

The contract was the starting point of the metamorphosis.
After that, the most important thing to look out for was how much the dragon’s potential could expand and change.

Of course, there were very few mages who had attempted to enter a contract even after the tantalizing possibility of a dragon’s mana was in sight.
After all, once a person becomes a dragon’s contractor, the possibility of dying was very real.

“Prince, people don’t die that easily.”

I wrapped my hands over one of Albert’s clenched fists.
He flinched, but he didn’t avoid my touch.

Unlike his cold, biting words, his hands were exceedingly warm.
His jaw trembled as he let out a sigh.

“Do you think just your efforts alone will change the inevitable outcome?”

“Yes.
I’m not that much of a coward that I’ll leave you behind just because of that pain, Prince.
I’ve been through that, too, and I understand it completely.
So I’m going to live no matter what.
And most of all…”

I clasped his hand tighter.

“I’ll get through this because the Prince who I respect the most in the world is going to help me.”

Although dragons had never been mentioned in the original novel, it was mentioned that Albert would turn out to be the strongest mage.

If I learn from him, wouldn’t I have a good chance?

I tried to appeal to him with the good points of the contract.

“Think about it, Prince.
This is also a good way for me to raise myself higher, close to you.
If I’m a dragon’s contractor, people won’t care what kind of lineage or background I have.”

Albert raised his eyebrows.
Then, he stared at me with a slight scowl as he spoke.

“It doesn’t even matter in the first place.
Do you think I’ll let that kind of gossip run amok?”

“Umm, still though, I think having the rare title of ‘dragon contractor’ to my name sounds very nice.”

He looked at me and spoke sweetly.

“If name or honor is what’s important to you, I can give you whatever you want.”

The conversation isn’t supposed to head in this direction.
And if you say something like that—that you’ll give me everything—you sound so much like a tyrant!

Please, I’m about to cry.