Chapter 18
In a carriage traveling back to the castle.
Selene was staring out the window, dazed, as if she’d forgotten where she was. No, it wasn’t really looking.
She was just staring in that direction.
It was quite a shock to see her in such a state of shock.
She didn’t even notice that he was sitting across from her, staring at the water.
Sitting with his arms crossed, Barath leaned back and closed his eyes.
He honestly didn’t expect her to be so shocked. She’d been the one to bring up the idea of a relationship in the first place.
She hadn’t really given it a single thought.
…How could she take a married woman’s body and not think about that?
She was a flawed witch in more ways than one.
What did they call this?
Did she say something like, “I braid my own gourd, I sell my own grave, I stamp my own instep?”
Selene couldn’t think for a moment, not that she was thinking of anything in particular, but time passed in a daze.
She didn’t know what to say, or what to think, because she had been slapped so suddenly that she couldn’t think of anything.
His words were an outright lie.
<The Monstrous Grand Duke had been a brothel since the first day, so anything he said about how it was after ten days had to be a flat-out lie.>
Did she think that if she said that, he would tell her to stop lying?
If he had asked him if it was real, he would have caught her in the act.
It’s a give and take, and she’s in no position to say anything.
Please. He shouldn’t have caught her in a lie…
As she slowly began to regain her senses, she saw Barath sitting there, relaxed and with his eyes closed.
Of course, loveless couples and marriages were common in this world, which was a good thing when you thought about it.
Barath was her ideal man, so perfect that she couldn’t believe it.
As much as she was attracted to him, and as much as she wanted to be with him, she knew that ‘the day’ would come.
But that didn’t mean she was ready for it.
The biggest problem was that they weren’t in love with each other.
She wondered if there was even a shred of love, affection, fondness, or anything resembling it in this man’s laid-back heart after dropping that bombshell.
Selene looked into his impassive closed eyes and wondered if the day would ever come when Barath Velias would actually feel that way.
Whatever.
Now that she’d gotten over the hump of doubt, the hump of coitus was just around the corner. Now what?
***
Selene had retreated to her bedroom upon arrival at the castle.
The sight of her like a rabbit returning to its burrow made Barath chuckle.
The memory of her face, dazed with shock, made him feel a little better, but he decided not to care.
If he thought about it, he was pretty sure he was in a state of impatience with not having her right now.
She was on his mind all day, and he couldn’t think of anything else, and he felt like he could give her anything she wanted.
He would jump into the fires of hell if he had to, if only to have this little rabbit take his hand and lead him.
It was a crazy idea, surely, but it gripped her just as tightly.
In this state, she was trying to trick him into letting her go, and in doing so, she was inadvertently tempting Barath to capture her.
It struck a nerve that he would have fallen for even if she hadn’t.
‘You don’t know my pace, and you’re talking about being in a relationship?’
Come on, I’ll clean up.
He was going to lick every inch of the little witch tomorrow night.
[Day 10]
Barath was in a good mood this morning. He’d sent Zart to get him an item, and it came sooner than he expected.
At the northernmost end of the habitable zone is Castle Velias. Further up the mountain is the Ten Thousand Year Snow Mountain, where all sorts of illegal goods are traded.
You never know when a monster will come out, so he doesn’t deal in drugs or other crap like that, as there’s no danger of paying for such trivial items.
What was usually traded were young Ain or items related to the dark arts.
One such item that Barath wanted was a soul circle, a device that binds the soul to the body.
Initially, they were invented for healing purposes.
Filled with a grievously injured person, they were used to prevent the soul from leaving until the body was healed, but the deadly side effects of bringing someone who should have died to life made them rare.
It was something only a few wizards with illegal experiments would have.
He thought about the side effects for a moment as he fed the blood into the soul circle, then shook his head.
That would happen after she died, anyway.
If she died first, the soul circle would naturally release, and he would never let her die first.
It could only be said that he was extremely lucky to be able to obtain this item so quickly.
***
Selene was in a good mood, because of the thought that had just occurred to her, she seemed to have found a way to get through the night.
Her idea was simple and one-dimensional, but it was easy.
That is, drink and stretch. She is just going to keep drinking and stretching until she goes down to the wire.
She couldn’t think of a way around it.
She wasn’t sure she could hold on to this icy man and make love to him, so she decided she’d just have to put her health on hold until she could think of something else or find another compromise.
With nothing else to do, good or bad, Selene dressed to go get some alcohol.
She thought for a moment about where to get it and decided to head to the market street.
She didn’t know where the liquor store or kitchen was, but it was better to get it outside than to wander around and be suspected of being a suspicious character.
She straightened her cloak and hood in front of the mirror and caught a glimpse of her face.
Someday, she thought, she would be able to relate to Barath.
She wanted to hold him in those sky-blue eyes and whisper his name, to embrace him with her heart pounding in her chest and turn the black night white.
Smiling to herself, she slipped on the pretty leather shoes Barath had given her and opened the bedroom door with a light step.
Her eyes scanned the hallway, but Anna was nowhere to be seen.
She deliberately let Anna out of her room earlier than usual, saying she wanted an early dinner tonight. She planned to get a drink and return to her bedroom before Anna arrived.
Selene hesitated for a moment.
There were three or four large men gathered in the outer courtyard, with a few armoured men here and there.
No doubt they were guarding the castle, but she couldn’t help but cringe at the rough edges of their profession.
She pulled her hood up and bowed her head deeply.
As she walked along, wondering how we could casually stretch out with a drink tonight, she soon found herself in a market.
There were plenty of places to get a simple beer, but it was hard to find a shop that sold whisky by the bottle.
After wandering around until it got dark, she stood at the end of the market.
The other side of the market was quiet, as if it were a residential neighborhood, and she could see lights beyond, so she assumed there were other shops.
She fiddled with her hood a few times before quickening her pace.
After walking for a while, she suddenly realized something.
It looked like she had taken a wrong turn, and if she kept walking straight, she would soon come to the other shops that were glowing with lights.
She couldn’t see the lights that were supposed to be up ahead, and when she looked back the way she came, she couldn’t see the lights of the market.
Suddenly realizing she was lost, Selene looked around frantically for any sign of life, but there was none.
Night. Empty streets. The distant sound of horses’ hooves. The eerie atmosphere intimidated her, and she quickened her pace to a trot.
She quickened her pace, hoping to see a fountain, a marketplace, or a city wall where she was headed.
As the atmosphere continued to feel haunted, she found herself walking quickly, her eyes fixed on the ground.
She bumped into someone, and Selene pulled her hood tighter, apologizing to the other person.
“Sorry.”
She hesitated for a moment to ask for directions, but the other person was too tall. And the fact that he stood still after the bump made it seem even more sinister.
Deciding for a moment that she didn’t want to give away that she was lost, Selene resumed her brisk pace.
But the person who had bumped into her grabbed her wrist.
Without mercy, the rough motion seemed to snap her wrist.
“Ouch…”
She groaned. The man’s strength pulled her back upright, and Selene staggered, trying to regain her balance.
Then a creepily low voice fell from above her head.
***
The corridor to Selene’s bedroom seemed unusually long today. He couldn’t wait to fill the soul circle around her ankles.
He snapped.
He checked the soul circle on his arm one more time and waited for her response, but there was no sign of life in the room.
He opened the door slowly.
Just in case Selene was sleeping and he hadn’t heard her.
…No, that wasn’t really a possibility.
Anna, who happened to be bringing in dinner, ducked her head, and Barath looked past her and said bluntly.
“Seal off the north.”
Anna quickly realized what was happening and hurried up to the spire. Flaming red, she set out into the inner chamber to search.
Barath’s blood seemed to be rising backwards. He felt angry, like his head was about to explode.
Damn it.
The little witch made him run away because she said something stupid like, “What’s the harm in asking?
What’s the big deal about taking a few pills, you little witch?
Once outside, he sealed the gates and drove his horse around the outside. Inside, Anna will search, and in a little while, Zart will come out.
I am me, but she is her.
If she’s so unhappy, why don’t you tell her to wait a little longer?
He’s been considerate for ten days, so while he at it, he told her to do a little more.
***
The gates of the castle opened.
The side gates of the castle opened and knights rode out on horseback. They stopped the people in the street and let them into the house.
The frightened people hurriedly disappeared into the buildings, and soon only the sound of hooves echoed through the streets.
When it was completely dark, Barath dismounted and walked, just in case Selene had hidden herself behind the shadows.
He quickened his pace, thinking that he would search until dawn and then reweave the web of his trace in the morning.
He was ready to kill her if she was caught, but then he stopped dead in his tracks.
A petite woman, her head bowed low, pacing every so often.
He quickly scanned her, recognizing a familiar silhouette.
The color of her hair peeking out of her hood, the shape of the hand that held her cloak, the toe of her leather shoes peeking through the hem of her skirt.
She was moving her feet diligently, looking at the ground. Diligence brought her closer to me.
A tap.
He had to look down for a long time before he could see Selene, who had been lightly hit on the head, hurriedly apologize and casually brush past me.
It was only a matter of moments before he grabbed her wrist.
“Where are you going?”
He expected anger to be the first thing that leapt out at her, but it wasn’t. What she saw in his bright red eyes was desperation.
Please.
May her soul still be in that body.
