The Sub Male Lead is Burning with Jealousy - Chapter 7 Part 5
Rahil took the remaining ring and brought it to Anais’s finger. Though the black gem made it less suitable as an engagement ring.
As he slipped the ring onto Anais’s ring finger, the gem turned a pale pink.
“Huh?!”
“Uh?”
The ring briefly shone before the gem returned to its black color. Instead, glowing letters appeared in front of them. Initially, the letters were in an ancient language they couldn’t read, but then they shifted into the common language of the continent.
Reading the words, both their faces turned bright red.
“What is this?!”
Startled, they looked around, but the nearby maids, attendants, and escort knights seemed unaware of the magic. All they saw was the ring glowing.
Rahil, sensing something was wrong, tried to remove Anais’s ring. However, his hand passed through it without touching. He couldn’t take it off.
Their faces turned pale with shock. Rahil shouted to a nearby attendant.
“Bring Emilio here!!!”
* * *
As soon as he heard the news, Emilio rushed to the Emperor’s palace. By the time he arrived, it had been about two hours since they had put on the rings. The Imperial mage and a high priest summoned from the temple were also present.
“What’s going on?! My wedding gift caused a problem?”
The looks from those gathered were icy. The Emperor and Empress were wearing the magical items he had given them, and something had gone wrong. It was a situation where he could lose his head if he wasn’t careful.
“I checked it three times! I even asked the Pope to inspect it separately—there’s no way it could be faulty!”
Originally, he had planned to give it to Angelica and Theodore but decided against it. And there was no way he would have given them something dangerous.
Arken, the Imperial mage, sighed and stepped forward.
“As soon as they put the rings on, the magic activated, and now they can’t take the rings off.”
Rahil showed how the ring could not be removed by touching it directly. Emilio, bewildered, clutched his hair.
“Why?! When I checked, there was no such magic… Wait, let me examine it again!”
Emilio approached and began examining the magical artifact on Rahil’s hand. The Imperial mage watched tensely as Emilio cast spells and set up magical formations.
‘What the… This is completely different from what I saw before!’
When he first checked, the ring’s functions were limited to resistance against fire, ice, and poison. There was no magic preventing its removal. Now, complex magical formations, impossible to unravel with current magic knowledge, were layered and interwoven.
“Dammit… How do I even begin to break this?”
“You can’t break it?”
Rahil’s murderous intent was palpable as he stood before Emilio. If only he had been affected, he might have endured it, but Anais was also involved. Knowing Rahil wouldn’t stand for this, Emilio broke into a cold sweat.
“I… I can break it! Why couldn’t I? It’ll just take some time. I’m not a genius for nothing! I’m Emilio Clyde!”
“How much time?”
“Um, well…”
Emilio, staring at the formation, avoided Rahil’s intense gaze. The terrifying glare from Rahil just inches away was unnerving.
“Three years… No, maybe five years? Argh!”
Rahil lunged, grabbing Emilio by the neck, prompting the knights to rush forward.
“Your Majesty, please restrain yourself!”
“You mustn’t kill him!”
Ten knights rushed in, trying to restrain Rahil from all sides, but every time he moved, five or six of them struggled, sweating profusely. Meanwhile, Emilio was flailing helplessly, unable to do anything.
“Your Majesty, we need him to figure this out. You can’t kill him yet.”
As Emilio’s face turned from white to blue, Arken spoke up. Rahil glared at Emilio with fierce eyes before turning towards Anais.
Anais sighed and shook her head slightly, prompting Rahil to release his grip.
“Kough, kugh…”
Emilio, having narrowly escaped strangulation, couldn’t even afford to complain. The magical artifact he had brought back from the dragon’s ruins was causing the problem, making the situation even worse.
“Tower Master, it doesn’t seem like you made this magical item yourself. Where did you get it? This is a divine relic, with a combination of magic and divine power,” Arken said.
“…”
The presence of a high priest familiar with magical artifacts in the room was due to this reason. When they had consulted the temple, they sent him over.
“I found it in the dragon’s ruins I investigated. It’s a ring the dragon intended to share with its lover. It’s supposed to be safe! What kind of magic was cast on it?”
Divine power? That was absurd. Dragons were known to be enemies of the gods and were punished. It was believed that humans became the rulers of the continent and dragons were destroyed because of this.
Although there were still creatures called dragons today, they were different from the ancient dragons that used magic. They were merely similar in appearance and could breathe fire but couldn’t use magic or speak. The difference was akin to that between humans and monkeys.
Thus, mages distinguished ancient dragons from present-day dragons as completely different beings. They were called by the same name because they both opposed humans and looked similar.
If the dragon’s magical artifact contained divine power, it meant that common knowledge was wrong.
Magical items combining magic and divine power were usually revered as ‘divine relics’, created by blessing a magically crafted object.
When Emilio asked this, Rahil, who was angry, suddenly looked embarrassed.
“That’s… something I can’t explain here…”
“Why not? What kind of magic is it?”
Both Arken and the other high ranking priests from the Great Temple were eager to know. Rahil, frustrated, furrowed his brow and spoke.
“Isn’t that something you should figure out by analyzing the magical item?”
“Well…”
Although that was true, saying otherwise would likely get him killed. Hence, Sion and others refrained from asking what kind of magic was on the dragon’s artifact.
“Isn’t it dangerous? Any kind of negative effects…”
“If you say another word, I’ll kill you.”
