‘What should I do to defeat Ios of the Golden Land?’

Edgar decided to not consider the sleeping dragon Iber for now. He had too little information on the mysterious dragon. He didn’t know its strong and weak points, and even he couldn’t design a weapon to knock it out without knowing them.

On the other hand, Ios was currently an active dragon and there was a lot of information about him. It liked to brag and there were rumors about how he transformed into a human, came down to the humans’ land, seduced beautiful ladies and abducted them from time to time.

‘I wish I could attack it from the sky.’

Ios was a land dragon that couldn’t fly. If there was a way to bomb it from the sky, even it wouldn’t be able to endure it. If only Edgar could make a weapon that could fly high to where the dragon’s flame couldn’t reach, it would become possible.

“Your Grace, we have arrived.”

The carriage arrived at the destination while he was thinking with the stars still twinkling in the sky. He hadn’t had a long conversation with the king today, he was just asked how his marriage was and if he found any clue about the curse.

-You haven’t found any clue? She looks like an ordinary woman?

-For now… yes.

-Then is it necessary to maintain the marriage with her?

Edgar couldn’t erase what the king said carelessly, so he said he needed more time as he was just finding out about Rubica and quickly changed the topic.

“What? You will stop getting mana quartz?”

Edgar had known his relatives would come for Rubica as soon as the sun came up in the morning, but he didn’t cancel his trip to the king’s castle partly for this reason. He wanted to get the king’s agreement as it was better than keeping up with the fight within the family.

“But there will be a lot of protests…”

“Your Majesty, why don’t we send the new weapons to the Kingdom of Petra instead? It is currently exploring new lands. We can request profits from the expedition or some part of the land itself in return.”

The king’s eyes glistened, and the rest was taken care of in no time. To the king, taking care of his kingdom was much more important than siding with a tradition for a complicated fight within the Claymore Family. Plus, he had the duke on his side, so it couldn’t have been better than this.

‘I must end tomorrow’s conference as quickly as possible and go home.’

Edgar trusted Rubica. Although she appeared to be very gentle, she was a very strong person. Even though she reacted sensitively to innocent people’s death, she was like iron when she needed to be strong.

‘Then I will talk casually to you as well, Edgar.’

Huh. Edgar smiled at thinking how Rubica’s auburn eyes had looked back then. No one else had talked back to him like that. She had been worried he might seize her weakness and control her with that, but she still bravely stood up against him. Well, it wasn’t like he could use her weakness against her. The best he could do was to threaten her using her poor cousin Angela’s fate, but he really couldn’t bring himself to get down to that. He might control Rubica, but it would make her despise him.

‘… but why do I care about that?’

He never cared about others hating him, he rather wanted to be hated as it was better than being loved. He was truly sick of love.

“Carl, is the doctor here?”

“Yes. He has been waiting for you in the bedroom for quite some time.”

He had been delaying the meeting with his doctor again and again. During that time, he wanted to see Rubica’s face as soon as possible. However, there was no Rubica at the capital, so he had asked Carl to call a doctor before he went to meet the king.

“Thank you.”

Edgar handed his gloves to Carl and walked to his bedroom. He was able to decorate the mansion at the capital by following his tastes, unlike the Claymore Mansion where many old ways and traditions had to be kept. The duke’s bedchamber was right next to his office. There, he could live much more freely. Until a few months ago, he had preferred staying there rather than going home.

“Your Grace, it’s Zigmont.”

However, the moment he saw the doctor and his apprentice, who stood up at seeing the duke enter, he felt somewhat sad and disappointed. He didn’t want to be greeted by an old man. He wanted to be greeted by Rubica even though she sometimes looked at him coldly and pretended to ignore him…

He wondered how Rubica would smile in the mansion that had been renovated to his tastes. He wanted to come here with Rubica and laugh at hearing how the relatives were shocked to find out both the duke and the duchess were gone in the morning.

‘But it is impossible because of my stupid legs.’

“I had you wait for too long.”

“It’s okay. It is part of my job.”

Zigmont was one of the most famous doctors in the capital. He had even been offered to work as the king’s doctor, but he preferred to meet various patients. Plus, handling multiple high nobles was more profitable. He had been given a huge down payment today as well, and that much money was enough to make the long waiting time more enjoyable.

“Please, sit.”

Edgar sat down on the sofa and Zigmont’s apprentice handed the doctor a chart to record the patients’ condition and symptoms. Zigmont decided to ask some questions first.

“Your heart has been beating fast lately and you feel dizzy, right?”

“Yes.”

“You also said you get mad abruptly and get agitated without noticing it, right?”

Edgar quietly nodded.

“Hmm, then I must examine if there is something wrong with your heart. Your Grace, if you don’t mind…”

The apprentice undid Edgar’s shirt buttons. Soon everyone in the room held their breath at seeing his sculpture-like chest being revealed. It was hard to believe that was the chest of someone who sat down every day to research. It had no fat and was made of pure muscles. The doctor’s hand trembled when putting his stethoscope on the left part of the chest.

Edgar had a beauty that made even fellow men speechless.

‘Huh?’

The doctor listened to Edgar’s heartbeat and then looked confused. He probably doubted what he was hearing and moved his stethoscope. Edgar sighed deeply at seeing his confusion as it looked like he had some kind of deadly disease.

“Your Grace, there’s nothing wrong.”

However, what Zigmont said as he put down his stethoscope was unexpected.

“Nothing wrong? Then why is my heart beating like crazy so often?” Edgar angrily asked. He was indeed an impatient patient.

“But it is better than something being wrong. Your Grace, some people have such symptom because of allergies. They usually get rash, but sometimes the heart might beat very fast until it is hard to breathe. I think it would be better to take time to find out the reason why.”

“The reason why…”

“When was the first time your heart beat like that?”

Edgar narrowed his eyes at the question. Then, he crossed his legs on a stool. He reclined on the sofa and looked into his memories.

“It was my wedding day.”

“Okay, your wedding day. And, when was it more precisely?”

Zigmont didn’t give any instruction, but his clever apprentice started to write on the chart. It looked like it had happened first because of excessive nervousness. Zigmont was going to listen to Edgar first, judge if it was a physical problem or mental, and decide whether to continue treating him or introduce another doctor. He wasn’t a psychiatrist after all.

“It was when I saw Rubica walk toward me to say her vow…”

“Okay, when Rubica walked… Rubica? Your wife?”

Edgar nodded. Then he added, quite irritated, “Do not dare to call that name again.”

His cold voice gave the doctor the chills. Zigmont had known Edgar had recently gotten married, but he hadn’t known his wife’s name. He apologized again and again and then moved on to the next question.

“When did your heart beat so loudly after that?”

Patients are obliged to obey their doctors’ order. Knowing symptoms accurately is necessary to treat a disease. Even the most skilled doctor cannot heal you if you don’t describe your symptoms properly. So, Edgar used his genius brain and recalled the memories without any mistake.

“The time I kissed Rubica during the wedding, the time I saw her in her nightdress, the time I gave her first goodnight kiss, the time she hugged me first. Yes, my heart beats fast and my palms get sweaty every time I see her take a walk in the garden. And my body temperature also rises… it got the most serious when I saw her wearing a new dress.”

Zigmont was shocked, and a soft smile appeared on the lips of the duke who was famous for having no feelings. He looked back into his memories and savored them.

“I still remember so clearly. The salmon-colored dress with the small cherry blossom-like flower pattern which matched her skin color so well. Her hair accessory was so cute as well.”

Then, he suddenly got rid of his picturesque smile and frowned.

“But my heart started to beat like crazy as soon as I saw her in that dress. It made me worry that there might be something wrong with my heart and it might suddenly stop after beating so fast.”