Page 199 of I Ran Away to Evil
“There are ways to have your title removed,” Keith put in dryly. “This isthe Valarian Council. They have the power. Princess Henrietta was also going to request the council to review her Bond Breaker title.”
“I’m sure we would all be happy to cancel your marriage contract when we get back, Princess,” Wizard Lorthar stated. “But you knowingly killed the marquess. Title revisions are a serious matter! Not to mention that Chadwick, Simon, and Thalia have lost their titles already just by being dead.”
“It is unprecedented to change more than one per meeting—” the Grand Pontiff started.
Their Royal Highness cut the old man off. “Point of order, it’s not. In the weeks after the Sumbrian Civil War, we had to strip no less than seventy-four titles. That was before you stepped up as the new Grand Pontiff. I had the pleasure of stripping your predecessor of her title, actually.”
“The point,” Witch Agatha argued, “is that it’s a lot ofwork.”
“I don’t have to get my title stripped,” Henrietta offered, “if it’ll be easier. My parents can be dethroned, and with Sir Havork made regent, I can just go on some quest or other to break it. Or just wait out the year.”
Wizard Lorthar nodded sagely—or rather,wizardly, since he wasn’t over level eighty or a Sage. “A quest. Good, good. That’s the usual way of things. I approve.”
“All in favor?” Duchess Calisto raised a hand.
“Wait!” Keith didn’t believe what he was hearing. He grabbed Ria by the shoulders and searched her eyes. All he found was resolute conviction. He disagreed. “I don’twantto go on a quest. I want to go home to our castle in the Dark Enchanted Forest and get married and live Happily Ever After.”
Henrietta laughed and hugged him. But it wasn’t her usual, about-to-destroy him, bone-crushing grasp. It was a gentle, firm touch that made him want to go and do terrible, unspeakable things to the marquess.
“Did you just ask me to marry you?” she asked, repeating her words from that time in front of the corpse roses.
Keith smiled down at his princess. Loudly, so that all in the atrium could hear, he spoke.
“Heroine of Justice, Henrietta Doryn of Nilheim.” Keith bent down on one knee and pulled out an ornate spiral ring with enchanted sapphires that he’d personally made just for this moment. The largest sapphire in the center, a darker blue then the rest, he’d even managed to enchant with a +3 Constitution modifier.
He reached out and took her left hand, slipping the ring into place.
“From that first day you walked into my inner sanctum and didn’t kill me, my life has been turned upside down. I’ve never told you”—Keith squeezed her hand—“but I was already suffering from [Mana Burn] at that time. One hit, and you could have gone home victorious.”
“Really?” Ria asked, nervous and excited. “I would have won?”
Keith nodded. “Instead, I had the pleasure of spending time with you. Getting toknowyou. And falling in love with you.”
“I love you too, Dark Magician King Keith.” Ria’s bright smile belied the tears in her eyes.
Keith reached up and tucked a brown lock behind her ear. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to drink tea in our man-eating flower garden and eat bimbleberry scones and file reports together in our office. I want to go on dungeon delves together. I can’t imagine life without you anymore. Ria, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” She said, and then actually took the time to select the option on her notification tab.
Keith stood up to embrace her, and Henrietta grabbed Keith’s collar with all of her Strength to pull him down for a kiss. Their Highness Rowen jumped to his feet, applauding. “Witnessed!”
Which was exactly when Keith’s shirt ripped open, violently flinging buttons across the room.
CHAPTER 121
Your Line Ends with Me
Henrietta
[Requirement for the Marriage Agreement between the Kingdom of Drendil and the Marquess Dorset: the eligible Princess Henrietta, is no longer valid.
Special Title: Bond Breaker is no longer Binding. Title lost.]
My Strength stat returned to its rightful level just as I kissed Keith. The contract had been made invalid when a member of the Valarian Council approved my marriage while I was still promised to another, and my long-time desire to rip open Keith’s shirt had finally been fulfilled.
I wasn’t expecting either, but I didn’t complain. Instead, I kissed Keith passionately and with renewed fervor. We stood there in what felt like a timeless moment, clasped in the other’s embrace. I was pretty sure my left foot lifted off the floor.
“Ahem-hm-hmm,” Grand Duchess Calisto coughed when things went on longer than expected. “Congratulations, Princess Henrietta, Dark Lord Keith.”
