The Arranged Suitor Was the Kidnapper

The entrance was crowded with people leaving the courtroom.

Laria sat for a long time, half dazed.

‘To think His Majesty would act in such a way…’

She had expected the stripping of the title.

However, she hadn’t even imagined he would hand over the Marquis title.

As soon as the Emperor finished speaking, Marquis Hashir screamed like a beast and threw a tantrum. Having lost his senses, Marquis Hashir was finally forcibly restrained and dragged away.

“Laria!”

Laria snapped back to her senses at the voice calling her.

Looking up, she saw Theodore running towards her.

He spread his arms and embraced Laria tightly.

Enveloped in his broad chest, Laria remained still, listening to his breathing.

Though she had worried he might burst into tears, Theodore didn’t cry.

“Thank you.”

Laria said nothing and hugged him back.

A faint smile appeared on the lips of Semela and Herdin, who had been quietly watching the two.

Slowly releasing her arms, Laria smiled brightly.

“Now you’ll be Marquis Rohan.”

As Laria spoke jokingly, Theodore scratched his cheek.

“Marquis Rohan sounds awkward. But I’ll have to get used to it.”

In the past, he would have been overwhelmed and not known what to do. But Theodore had changed his mindset because he had a family to protect.

Seeing his changed appearance, Laria couldn’t help but smile faintly.

“Laria, are you… alright?”

At the quietly spoken voice, Theodore immediately understood what he was worried about.

Now that the sealed memories had returned, Laria’s disappearance would become a topic again.

To an incomparable degree compared to before.

Most would sympathize with Laria, but surely some would point fingers and blame her.

“I’m fine. It’s not like I did anything wrong.”

It was enough to ignore them.

Anyway, it didn’t seem like anyone would dare say such things to her face.

“Let’s go home for now.”

With so many watching eyes, it seemed better to go home and continue the remaining conversation there.

As they headed towards the entrance to leave the courtroom, Laria’s gaze caught Sienna sitting alone.

“I’ll talk to her for a moment before we go.”

“We’ll wait outside.”

Zenox tactfully left with the Rohan family members.

As all the people who had been there left, only Laria and Sienna remained in the courtroom.

Sienna looked dazed, as if everything was over.

“Sienna.”

Sienna’s gaze, which had been wandering in the air, turned to Laria.

“Thank you.”

At the brief words, her sunset-colored eyes wavered like the setting sun.

Quickly becoming expressionless as if she had never been moved, Sienna opened her dry lips.

“I didn’t do it for you. It was for myself.”

Though her tone was sharp, her voice was soft and round.

Laria’s lips moved soundlessly before closing again.

Sienna, who had grown up preciously as the only daughter of the Sorcery Office head and a Marquis family, had now become no different from a commoner.

With her title and assets confiscated, it was uncertain if she could even protect the Hashir family name.

‘She helped me, and yet…’

Instead, she ended up giving everything to the Rohan family.

Words of apology rose to the tip of Laria’s tongue.

As if anticipating this, Sienna shook her head.

“Don’t say you’re sorry.”

“…”

“I was going to throw it all away anyway.”

All of it – the Hashir name and the modifiers that made up Sienna Hashir.

“It’s over now.”

Sienna looked incredibly relieved as she said those words.

She looked as if she had thrown off a suffocating yoke.

After silently watching her for a while, Laria asked a question instead of apologizing.

“What will you do from now on?”

She had asked thinking to offer help if Sienna had nowhere to go, but an unexpected answer came back.

“I’m thinking of traveling for a while. And meeting my mother…”

She had heard that Sienna’s mother had divorced Marquis Hashir and returned to her family.

“I don’t know if my mother will welcome me though.”

“I’m sure she’ll be happy.”

At the groundless confidence, Sienna smiled for the first time.

Somehow, it felt like a conversation between ordinary friends.

At the sudden thought, the smile faded from Sienna’s lips.

Very occasionally, she used to make such assumptions. If she had met Laria in a different way, could they have become friends?

Sienna shook her head.

It was a useless assumption.

Above all, Laria was now the most attention-grabbing sorcerer, but Sienna was the daughter of a criminal.

With a difference as vast as heaven and earth, Sienna’s existence held no benefit for Laria.

But just one thing, she wanted to be greedy for.

“When we meet next time… can I greet you?”

At the cautious question, Laria’s eyes widened.

As the tense Sienna tried to add something, Laria smiled and answered:

“Of course. As friends.”

Sienna’s face went blank.

Finally hearing the words she had most wanted, Sienna smiled brightly.

* * *

The trial that had stirred up the Empire ended.

Many things happened afterward, but if one had to be singled out, it was the conferring of titles.

She had heard that the issue of Count Rohan succeeding to the Marquis title was brought up at the state council.

Despite opposition from some nobles, the Emperor and Ishel pushed strongly for it.

Moreover, when Zenox participated in the meeting for the first time and supported the Rohan family, the opposing opinions disappeared.

Later, Ishel said that it was the first time a meeting had been so quiet.

It seemed everyone was too afraid of Zenox to properly voice their opinions.

In this way, Count Rohan received the Marquis title in rapid succession.

Amidst all this, strange rumors began to circulate in society.

Rumors that Laria Rohan was the Grand Duke’s fox.

At first, it was dismissed as nonsense, but as time passed, it spread widely like fire on dry straw.

There was no one in the current era who could transform into a perfect animal.

When no one believed it, Zenox dropped a bombshell.

He revealed that he could fully transform into an animal and was born in wolf form.

When even the Emperor stepped forward to testify, chaos ensued.

Additionally, as people who claimed to have seen Laria Rohan transform into a fox appeared, the rumor became fact.

As attention shifted to this, the inside story of Laria’s disappearance was completely forgotten.

“Did you do this?”

“I gave some money to the information store’s owner.”

Zenox had deliberately spread rumors through Solike and diverted attention elsewhere.

“I tried to resolve it peacefully.”

Of course, he only tried; he didn’t say he had resolved it peacefully. He had properly punished those who spread false rumors about Laria.

Sometimes, fists were closer than the law.

“I didn’t know there was someone else who could fully transform into an animal.”

Through this opportunity, Laria learned that Zenox was born in wolf form.

He had deliberately revealed it to prevent too much attention from focusing on Laria.

“Can you transform at will?”

Her blue eyes sparkled.

She was reminded of Zenox when he had stayed in baby wolf form.

“Only when I’m severely injured.”

“…Then I hope I never see it.”

Though she was disappointed, she didn’t want to see Zenox get hurt.

Still, he often did partial transformations these days.

Large ears would pop out when they kissed.

“Miss, a guest has come to visit.”

The voice of an employee was heard from outside the door.

Laria could immediately tell who had come without asking.

For the past few days, people from the Sorcery Office had been coming regularly. They asked Theodore to become the head of the Sorcery Office. Saying that though late, they wanted to return him to his rightful place.

Theodore refused their request.

His magical power wasn’t what it used to be due to using large-scale magic, and he was already too busy running the merchant guild.

So the sorcerers began targeting Laria instead.

Asking her to join the Sorcery Office and become the head.

She had already refused twice, but they wouldn’t give up.

She told Zenox she was refusing because it was bothersome, but in truth, it really was burdensome.

‘If I become the head, I’ll have to mingle with people.’

Laria was still awkward about socializing with people.

When she was young, she was ostracized for not being able to do partial transformation, and later she isolated herself because of rumors.

Laria’s world was narrow, and she didn’t yet have the courage to go outside.

That was what she feared, but in fact, the position itself was quite attractive.

‘It was fun researching together too.’

She was reminded of discussing with other sorcerers when she had visited the Sorcery Office before.

If she joined the Sorcery Office, she could research and use magic to her heart’s content. She might even be able to restore the materials left by Lumena Rohan.

Above all, Laria had many concerns about what to do in the future.

It was time to envision her future as a sorcerer.

Reading Laria’s hesitation, Zenox gently took her hand.

“You’re actually interested, aren’t you?”

It was as if he had seen right through Laria’s inner thoughts.

“If you’re conflicted, you should do it.”