Chapter 39

Leonid’s gaze pressed relentlessly for the truth. But she couldn’t say it as it was.

From deep inside Ellen’s heart, something tempted her to confess her past life to him already.

‘What exactly. That I ran from him and died, and Leonid went mad and ran out of control because of that fact?’

‘Yes. You actually want to say it too.’

‘Should I say with my own mouth that Leonid’s death was because of mine. Or should I confess that he’s going to ascend the throne drenched in the blood of his brothers and every other person?’

Not a single fact was anything but cruel. No, it wasn’t even reality to begin with. It was all something that happened in a past life, nothing more than a phantom that no longer exists.

I’m here right now to make absolutely certain none of that happens, and I can’t tell Leonid about things that won’t happen.

Ellen looked into Leonid’s red pupils and parted her lips.

“……I simply want to repay you. Because you saved me several times.”

“That’s all it is?”

“It’s not just that. If it weren’t for Your Highness, I don’t know what might have happened to me at that man’s hands, let alone becoming Her Highness’s lady-in-waiting.”

When the man who made her blood boil just to think of came from Ellen’s lips, Leonid’s handsome brow furrowed instantly.

“I should have killed that bastard then.”

“No. What you did was enough. You must never kill people carelessly going forward either.”

That’s enough from the past life. Above all, I absolutely cannot let your hands be stained with blood because of me.

“Never kill carelessly going forward?”

“Yes. I hope you won’t.”

“That sounds like you’re saying I’m going to do that going forward.”

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then.”

Ellen’s chest, startled by Leonid’s words, moved rapidly up and down. He had a strange ability to catch the meaning hidden inside words.

Just like when he had found her after she ran away in her past life. The more she struggled to hide, the more a terrible snare had bound her.

“Does that mean it already happened?”

“Your Highness!”

“I was just saying it. You’re reacting far too strongly.”

“Of course I’m startled when you say something that never happened.”

“Yes. Something that never happened.”

At his words, Ellen retreated as though running away. She no longer had the confidence to face his eyes up close. Leonid closed the distance in an instant and wrapped Ellen’s back with a firm arm.

“Then why are you so flustered and pulling back?”

“It’s difficult to hear……”

“Yes. You’re right. It is difficult to hear.”

Something that couldn’t exist and that would startle this small bird this much just from hearing it.

And yet why does it feel to me like it did exist. Like the woman in my dreams.

I know something like that doesn’t exist, and yet I want to touch her and have her.

Leonid’s hand stroked Ellen’s back and slowly traveled up her neck. Soft, exposed skin was felt there. The exact same sensation as what he had felt in his dreams. Against the soft, delicate skin, desire that had been pressed down rose like a flame.

“I……”

“Shh. You’d be better off not provoking me any further.”

“Hah.”

“My patience isn’t all that plentiful.”

“……”

“Shall I say something that will surprise you too?”

Leonid pressed Ellen’s neck toward himself. Ellen found herself in his arms in the exact posture she had been standing.

She startled and tried to push Leonid away, and he curved his lips crookedly and whispered.

“In truth, my patience ran out long ago.”

“Th, that’s……”

“What you’re thinking is probably right.”

Leonid lowered his head toward Ellen’s neck. And pressed his lips against it like branding a mark.

Only the crackling sound of a candle burning filled the vast space. Ellen froze as though she had forgotten how to breathe.

She needed to push him away but her body wouldn’t listen. She only felt every cell in her body running wild following his lips.

“What do you think I was thinking.”

“Then shall we check whether what you thought is right?”

“Your Highness!”

Leonid’s hand moved toward the hem of Ellen’s dress. Ellen startled violently and called out to him.

“The way you’re startling tells me it was right.”

There was no time to say otherwise. Leonid’s hand moved dangerously as though it might slip into the gap of the dress at any moment.

Ellen’s mind went blank and she blurted out whatever came to mind.

“M, monsters!”

“What?”

“I want to see them.”

“I carved them up pretty badly, so they’re not in great shape.”

“Even so, since you kept them, they can’t be in too terrible a condition.”

“That’s true enough.”

Leonid pulled back and looked at Ellen. Her face had gone white and she was trembling, and yet she still said what she had to say.

“Does that mean you’d rather see monsters than be touched by me?”

“It’s not that.”

You and I aren’t at a point where we should be doing something like this anymore. The things Leonid does out of curiosity could get me stoned to death.

Being flustered and excited over actions that aren’t sincere is something the past life was enough for.

Moreover, she no longer loved Leonid. So this couldn’t go any further.

Ellen pressed down on her rapidly pounding heart and looked steadily at Leonid.

“Saying it with a face like you’re about to die any moment isn’t very convincing.”

“Surely not. I don’t die from something like this.”

“Amusing.”

The more he looked, the more that was true.

She didn’t know what to do when she was in his hands, and yet at the crucial moment she slipped out of them like this.

A woman who seemed catchable and yet wasn’t. What if he took her by force.

Leonid looked at the head held stiffly above her hunched shoulders.

‘Hunched shoulders and a stiff head.’

Could there be a more mismatched combination.

“I’ll hold back this time.”

Because I still want to keep watching.

Leonid raised a hand and gently stroked her hunched shoulders. Ellen trembled and flinched but didn’t refuse that touch.

“Because you’re too beautiful.”

“……!”

“To think even this looks beautiful. I must have been quite badly hurt last time.”

Especially the head.

Leonid gave a faint laugh and moved toward the storage room of the residence.

“What are you not doing? You’re not following.”

“Pardon?”

“You said you’d rather see that than be with me.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then shall we continue?”

“No. I really did want to see the monsters.”

“Kck. Of course you did.”

A rushing sound came from behind. Without turning around, he knew she was hurrying after him.

At the sound of Ellen’s footsteps, the corner of Leonid’s mouth curved into an arc.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“It was big. Enormous.”

Ellen said it with a dazed expression.

“What was big, Miss?”

“His Highness Leonid’s.”

“Pfft.”

Hess had been swallowing water and spat it out in a great spray.

His Highness Leonid’s was big and enormous?

Just how big did it have to be for someone to say something like that. Hess looked at Ellen’s expression and let her imagination run in a dangerous direction she shouldn’t have.

“Oh my, are you all right, Hess.”

“Ah, yes. S, sorry, Miss. Did any water splash on you.”

“I’m fine. So hurry and wipe up the water.”

“Yes.”

Hess wiped the table in a hurry with a flushed face.

“Miss. When did you and His Highness have that kind of……”

“Hm? That kind of?”

“That is to say……”

Hess’s face grew redder and redder like a ripe persimmon as she scrubbed with both arms swinging wide.

“To, to see His Highness’s big and enormous…… one would have to be in a, deep relationship.”

“I was talking about what His Highness was keeping in storage. Hess, what on earth were you thinking.”

“Ah.”

For some reason, Hess clicked her tongue with a disappointed expression. Ellen tilted her head at that and continued her thoughts.

‘To think there would be that many monsters.’

It was enough to make sense of how badly Leonid had been hurt. No, the moment she had seen them, the thought that it was enormously fortunate he had come back alive had flashed through her mind.

‘This wasn’t in Deriel’s book.’

Monster carcasses were of extremely high value, so if that enormous quantity of monsters had been disposed of, there was no way it wouldn’t have been recorded.

In short, this meant it was something that hadn’t happened in her past life.

Monsters, from hide to organs to bones. Nothing was wasted, their uses were varied, and the creatures themselves traveled in large groups and were extremely dangerous.

In short, monster hunting was dangerous enough to risk one’s life.

The Margrave of the Pluto region sometimes dispatched troops during summer when monsters were most active, but managing the casualties from subjugating monsters was already overwhelming, so the number of monster carcasses they brought back was small.

So monster carcasses were inherently scarce in supply, and their value had been skyrocketing year after year……

“Ah!”

Ellen stood up from her seat with a sudden thought and exclaimed.