I Married the Dragon I Killed

Tilda Pascal was a villainess.

According to the testimonies of Stephan and Merchit, who had lived under the same roof as her, she was a woman incapable of showing mercy.

They said she destroyed everything that annoyed her.

And a personality like that inevitably attracts resentment.

Perda, who had accumulated more resentment than anyone else, knew that very well.

That was why he believed there had to be a fairly obvious culprit behind all of this.

The most suspicious was Rico Dandolo, who had been poisoned.

Then came Stephan, Merchit, or even their wives.

He had even suspected Herman, the father.

But there was one person Perda had never suspected.

That middle-aged man who seemed so clumsy.

Henri.

“So it was you who ordered the investigation on Tilda?”

Unable to believe it, Perda asked directly.

“That’s correct.”

“You hired them while wishing for her downfall?”

“That’s correct.”

“And even knowing it would end like this, you still did all of this?”

“Of course. I had already considered this ending as well.”

Henri smiled faintly.

At first glance, it looked like an overly gentle smile.

So gentle that he seemed like a naïve person incapable of hiding what he felt.

“Why?”

“Because I sincerely love Tilda. I would do anything for her.”

“And that ‘anything’ ends like this?”

Ruri interrupted as she listened.

Her face was filled with disgust.

“Of course.”

Henri answered with a smile, as if he did not care at all about her reaction.

And upon hearing that answer, everyone else’s expressions looked very similar to Ruri’s.

“I don’t mind being criticized. Countless women whispered words of love to me only because of my money and reputation. So why can’t I also love only someone’s appearance?”

“I have no intention of criticizing your actions. But I am curious.”

“Please ask.”

“Is this woman really worth enough for you to hand over your company to me?”

Tilda was beautiful, yes.

But she was not an incomparable beauty.

She was nowhere near Olivia, the woman for whom a man had handed over his entire territory and a million roses.

Henri answered as though none of it mattered.

“The company was my father’s treasure, not mine. It never held that much value for me. If anything, I wanted to get rid of it. And so I used the woman I love.”

“Tilda?”

“She is a truly beautiful woman, but also a truly sinister one. Who in this world poisons her father-in-law and plans to murder her entire family?”

Henri had been waiting for Rico’s death.

He had watched everything.

And controlled everything.

In a way, the one who truly had Tilda spinning in the palm of his hand was Henri.

Only then did Perda finally understand a question he had left aside.

“They said that when the catalyst was destroyed, the head of the family, Rico Dandolo, suddenly died.”

“That’s correct. My father passed away.”

“That was not Tilda’s doing.”

Perda’s eyes seemed to pierce through Henri.

“But it certainly looked like something she would do.”

Henri answered ambiguously.

“My father always wanted me to become a strategist. And I became the son who fulfilled his wishes.”

“……”

Perda could not answer.

After the silence, Henri concluded the conversation.

“As promised, I will hand over the Dandolo Guild. I will transfer the ownership rights to you, Regent Perda, and if you delegate the management rights to my brother-in-law, everything will be resolved quickly.”

“Understood.”

“All of my companies will pass into your hands. So I would like to ask for just one thing.”

“What is it?”

“I want you to return something that was taken from my wife.”

Perda’s gaze shifted toward Ruri.

She frowned with obvious irritation.

“I didn’t touch anything.”

That meant someone else had secretly taken it.

Perda immediately pointed to the next suspect.

“And why are you looking at me?”

Penelope.

“Because it could only be you.”

“You put me in a difficult position saying such passionate things, ugyaaak!”

“Stop saying nonsense and talk! Where did you hide it?”

“Ugek! Eek! I-it’s on my tail! I hung it on my tail!”

“You damned demon, it had to be you. Will your insides explode if you go a single day without causing trouble?”

“Hngh, my diamond…!”

“What do you mean your diamond, you lunatic?”

Zed searched her thoroughly and, just as she said, there was a ring hanging from her tail.

A ring made with a Blood Diamond, a jewel impossible to buy with money.

Zed handed it to Perda.

“It’s a Blood Diamond. An engagement ring?”

“That’s correct. It is the only thing my wife truly loves.”

As soon as Henri received the ring, he walked directly toward Tilda.

“Uuu……”

She made gloomy sounds, like a wandering spirit.

“Tilda, my love. Look at this. It’s your favorite diamond ring.”

Tilda’s empty eyes, while she sat there completely gone and drooling, turned toward the ring.

Those eyes that had wandered aimlessly suddenly focused clearly on the diamond.

“Hehe……”

She smiled as though she had obtained the entire world.

And Henri smiled as he watched her.

***

Henri promised to disappear together with Tilda.

He had not lied when he said he had anticipated this ending.

He had already prepared a house in the west as well as enough money to live modestly.

He intended to leave Dandolo Mansion taking only what was necessary to quietly live out the rest of his life.

“He truly is a twisted man.”

Ruri said.

Her clenched hands were filled with the desire to break Henri’s neck.

“You really intend to let him go?”

Perda nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“He fulfilled his promise. So I must fulfill mine as well.”

“And what if something so disgusting ends up ruining our affairs? Considering how he manipulated a witch from the shadows, he could easily do it again.”

Perda looked at Ruri.

“Wanting to kill him is only your personal desire.”

“It’s disgusting. How can someone kill his family and destroy the person he loves like that?”

Ruri, who normally never interfered in human matters, said that.

He used his wife to kill his father and ultimately turned that same wife into his possession.

And for the Dragon Spawn, who valued family more than anyone else, that was unforgivable.

“Tilda Pascal did exactly the same thing. Even if she did not completely succeed, she tried to divide brothers, poison her sister-in-law, and turn her father-in-law into a vegetable. If the fate of that villainess is to live trapped together with that man, doesn’t that seem appropriate to you?”

“If you put it that way… I suppose so…”

Even Ruri’s furious voice began to soften.

Those actions still disgusted her, but at the same time she felt that both of them had received an appropriate punishment.

In the end, she decided to stop thinking about them.

After all, they would never cross paths with them again.

Perda silently watched the place where Henri had departed.

‘What a waste.’

He truly was an intelligent man.

Even Perda had failed to understand his true intentions, so if Henri had possessed ambition for business, he undoubtedly would have surpassed even the Pascal Guild and led the Dandolo Guild into its golden age.

And yet Henri acted as though he did not even need that ability.

The last expression Henri showed Perda looked like that of a man who had abandoned an immense fortune, yet was still happier than anyone else.

That expression remained in Perda’s mind like a lingering echo.

He did not know whether that feeling was discomfort or envy.

For now, he had no way of knowing.

***

Pascal Guild Headquarters

“So the matter regarding my sister has finally ended?”

He seemed surprised that everything had been resolved in secret, but he did not dwell on it too much.

After all, the problem that had been disturbing his mind had finally come to an end, and that alone was enough for him.

“Understood. I’ll inform my brother and also explain the entire situation to my father so we can conclude this matter.”

Stephan ended the magical transmission and felt that a strange emotional residue still remained.

It was admiration toward Perda.

‘I never imagined he would end up obtaining the Dandolo Guild.’

It had been an unexpected gain.

If the situation had become any more complicated, Stephan had originally planned to completely destroy that company.

He had never imagined they would absorb it entirely.

‘The Regent truly is an extraordinary person.’

Now he could feel how miserable his decision to abandon everything only a few days ago had been.

‘Now it’s time to clean up the mess.’

A sigh escaped Stephan’s mouth automatically.

Merchit was different.

Since it had been something prepared between the two of them, they could simply end it once everything was over.

But Herman was not.

Herman, who knew none of the truth, had genuinely tried to restrain Stephan.

And Stephan had also been forced to respond with complete seriousness.

“Director. The chairman…”

The secretary could not finish the sentence.

That alone was enough to imagine how furious Herman was.

He wanted to run away.

His instincts screamed that at him, but Stephan merely nodded calmly.

Soon after, four enormous bodyguards large enough to get stuck in the doorway and a thin old man entered the office.

Those giants were already intimidating enough, but it was the sharp eyes gleaming between the old man’s wrinkles that truly pierced into the deepest parts of Stephan.

“Why are you still here?”

It was a direct question.

Why had he not resigned yet?

“Everything is over.”

“What exactly is over?”

Stephan explained absolutely everything.

That Tilda had attempted to pit Stephan and Merchit against each other using her own husband’s company.

And that she had even planned to kill Herman throughout the entire process.

The parts that could sound exaggerated, he deliberately toned down to make them more believable.

Even so, he could not read Herman’s intentions.

His expression was as impenetrable as a sword forged in a dwarven smithy beneath a deep mountain.

“So something like that happened.”

“That’s correct.”

“Even so, you still haven’t answered my question.”

“What question…?”

“I asked why you are still here.”

It did not seem like the reaction of someone who had just heard such a story.

Stephan answered.

“Because I am the director of the Pascal Guild.”

“I am the chairman. Removing you from your position is not difficult. I expected you to resign on your own, yet you did not.”

“You still insist that my judgment was a mistake?”

“Of course. If I am convinced of something, why would I retract it?”

The Grand Duchess’s territory would fall into ruin.

Stephan answered defiantly.

“Valdrova’s territory will prosper.”

“It will not prosper.”

Herman replied immediately.

“You seem curious about the reason. Fine, I’ll answer you personally.”

Herman opened his eyes like a tiger and spoke.

“I’ve heard rumors that this man called Perda uses black magic.”

“I also have ears. But he saved many people in Hallim.”

“Being treated like a hero only lasts for a moment. What matters is not who he saved, but the fact that he uses black magic. What will you do when people start saying that the Pascal Guild is supporting someone obsessed with black magic?”

“That…”

“And when you decide to withdraw after continuing to support Regent Perda, it will already be too late. Do you plan to throw all the people who depend on the guild out onto the streets?”

Stephan could not answer.

“And you are also investing in that technology called magitechnology. What will you do if that man named Vernell dies?”

Herman continued pressuring him.

“Then all that investment will disappear and we will gain nothing. And tell me, do you truly believe that Vernell could never change his mind? And what about Perda, his master?”

“They would never abandon me.”

Even though Perda initially spoke as if he did not need Stephan, when things became difficult he helped him both materially and emotionally.

That was why Stephan could say it with certainty.

But to Herman, those words inspired no confidence.

“Do you know why cities are never built in the Far East?”

“Because the territory keeps shrinking.”

“Exactly. Because there is no hope. Humans could not stop it, and not even the immortals managed it. Do you think you will only understand reality after being corrupted by demonic energy in a region so close to it?”

“……”

“Fine. Let us suppose it prospers. And what exactly do you think we will gain from that prosperity? Money? Prestige? Connections? No. The Empire will inspect every corner of our lives trying to contain us. Do you know why? Because we are a guild from the imperial capital. It will look as though the capital’s power is flowing there.”

“……”

“Even if that young Regent has charisma and ambition, all politics ultimately end up controlled by old men. Do you know what old men really are?”

Herman’s voice hardened.

“People who may no longer have the strength to stand, yet still cling trembling to their bowl of food. It is easy to go from a humble life to luxury, but impossible to return to sacrifice after becoming accustomed to comfort. Power works the same way. Those old men send the young to the battlefield to protect their own interests and squeeze them dry. Do you truly believe insignificant people like us can withstand something like that?”

Stephan could not answer.

Herman’s words were filled with wisdom accumulated through the years, and that wisdom carried logic.

Seen from a broader perspective, Herman was not wrong.

The risks Stephan would have to bear were enormous.

“Abandon the Far East. Or abandon this company. That is my decision.”

Herman rose from his seat.

Just as he was about to leave, Stephan spoke.

“You are exactly the same as those old men.”

“What… did you say?”

Herman widened his eyes and asked again.

It sounded like something spoken impulsively.

But there was only determination in Stephan’s eyes.

“Are you also incapable of accepting something new and only insist on your own will?”

“Are you calling me a stubborn old man?”

“Yes.”

Stephan admitted it briefly and clearly.

Herman exploded in fury.

“Ingrate. What right do you have to say such things?”

“I do have the right.”

The words began pouring out of Stephan as though something blocking his throat had finally broken.

They were emotions and convictions accumulated over a very long time.

“For the past three years, this company has been run by me. The steady growth and stability were my achievements. If you were the one who planted the seed of this company, I was the one who cultivated it. A man does not become a farmer simply because he planted a seed. So that can no longer be considered solely your achievement. That is why I have the right to raise my voice.”

“Right? You?”

“Yes!”

Emotion caused his voice to rise higher and higher.

“While you remained shut away like an isolated old man, watching us with your arms crossed and placing swords in your sons’ hands to watch us fight, I devoted absolutely everything to this company without ever looking away.”

Herman silently watched Stephan.

And Stephan continued pouring out everything he had kept inside.

“Didn’t I tell you before? When you asked me what kind of person Regent Perda was, I answered this someone capable of giving up everything.”

“……”

“And that was not a mistake. I said it sincerely. Do you know why? Because even if I handed this company over to him, I am convinced he could obtain far more than what you built.”

“No matter how much you try to convince me, to me you only sound like someone consumed by his emotions.”

“It doesn’t matter. When I was in trouble, he called the attacks against the Grand Duchess’s territory sabotage and personally responded himself. He did not speak about the Pascal Guild, he spoke about the Grand Duchess’s territory. He accepted me as part of that place and helped me.”

Even though Perda once tried to reject him cruelly, he was equally merciful.

And at that moment, Stephan understood something.

Everything depended solely on how he himself chose to act.

“So let me say this clearly.”

He was making an irreversible decision.

“I have no intention of abandoning this position. I run this company, and I will take responsibility for my decisions. So if you intend to interfere with them…”

Bang!

“Then you will have to fight me prepared to completely sever all ties between us!”