I Will Raise this Baby as Another Man’s Child - Chapter 25
He was a cruel hunter who enjoyed the chase. The man who had once craved her love was gone, replaced by a man who indulged in his sadistic games.
“If that’s the case, you should shut up and do as I say. If you hadn’t followed the Empire’s beast, I wouldn’t be this angry.”
His eyes, blazing with anger, suddenly turned sticky. His emotions fluctuated wildly.
His erratic behavior was a clear warning of danger. Hinael held her breath and tried to speak as little as possible.
“I could rip your clothes off and ravage you right now. But do you know why I’m holding back?”
“…….”
“Because you’re my slave now. Cry all you want under me. I’ll tear you apart until you beg for mercy. So take care of yourself until then. You can’t even moan properly with that voice.”
His thick fingers flicked her chin gently.
Chetter removed his hand from under her back and tucked the blanket around her again.
“I’ll treat you like a princess until you recover. After that, I’ll take you to a place where you’ll never be found and make you serve me at night. You’ll become someone who doesn’t exist in this world, so your status will be meaningless.”
He meant that she would be nothing more or less than a courtesan to satisfy his lust.
Somehow, things were unfolding in the exact opposite way from her previous life. Hinael was now in a position to become his mistress.
Of course, Isabel, Chetter’s concubine, lived a splendid life after bearing a son, but Hinael would be imprisoned and sexually exploited for the rest of her life.
“Get up and take your medicine. If you refuse, I’ll assume you’re fine and spread your legs right now.”
He watched her menacingly.
Hinael clutched her throbbing head and barely managed to sit up. She had no choice but to obediently take the medicine he handed her.
“That’s right. That’s how you should behave.”
Chetter patted the crown of Hinael’s head as if she were a child who had followed instructions.
* * *
Screech―.
As he approached the entrance of Nuhol Mountain, the sound of an eagle’s cry was heard. Lutz tilted his head back and watched the eagle with dark wings circling the sky.
Whistle―.
When he blew the whistle, the eagle descended to the ground. Lutz immediately checked the letter.
As expected, the leader who was supposed to move southwest had suddenly deviated and was now moving alone.
Lutz took out some dried jerky from his pocket and fed it to the eagle.
“I’ve informed them that we’re moving north, so everyone will gather where I’m headed. Now, let’s find Hinael together.”
He placed the almoner back in the eagle’s beak and sent it soaring into the sky.
Following Hinael’s scent, he found a path that people could walk on.
After calling the eagle back and securing the almoner, Lutz began to track the trail. Fortunately, the snow had not fallen further, so the hoofprints remained intact.
A short while later, his steps suddenly halted as he stared at the ground.
Upon closer inspection, the hoofprints were spaced far apart, and the footprints of two people were side by side.
“A man and a woman.”
Lutz crouched down, closely examining the tracks in the snow, and raised one corner of his mouth in a savage grin.
“Even barefoot. Did she get caught while she was asleep?”
The northern climate was entirely different from Sarr. The border region was relatively mild, but the northern area was hit by harsh winds.
It was easy to imagine how shocked Hinael, who had lived her whole life in Sarr, must have been by the biting cold.
“She’s lucky if she doesn’t freeze to death.”
Lutz, masking his annoyance with a joke, glared at the small footprints before standing up.
At that moment, his limbs began to tremble.
Despite wearing the almoner on his waist, the aftereffects of detaching the magic stone twice seemed to have disrupted his blood flow.
To quickly calm the sinister energy, he removed his gloves and gripped the almoner tightly. Warmth flowed through his body as the power of the magic stone seeped deeper within.
However, he realized that continuously detaching the almoner could have long-lasting effects.
While following Hinael’s scent was the fastest method, he couldn’t push himself too hard. After confirming the eagle waiting in the sky, Lutz exhaled.
“Since the tracks are still visible, I’ll follow them for now.”
He focused on Hinael’s trail.
Her footprints stretched out long. When she stepped on the snow piled up to her ankles, her toe prints were left on the ground.
But as she walked, her trail suddenly veered to the right, as if she had tried to run away. It was as if her desperate struggle was unfolding before his eyes.
“Why did she suddenly get off the horse… Why did Hinael recklessly run this way?”
He gazed at the pathless thicket. Even if she ran, she would inevitably be caught, only provoking the perpetrator.
He soon remembered the climate in Nuhol Mountain.
It was a region frequently shrouded in fog.
Gazing up at the towering black peaks of the mountain, he noticed frost flowers forming from the middle of the mountain, indicating strong winds.
“It seems there was fog during the day.”
Even so, the chances of escaping that man entirely were slim.
He hoped she wouldn’t get hurt…
It pained him to think of Hinael, who sometimes acted recklessly in such situations. The confident look she had when asking to be taken to Trycas could be an advantage, but it could also put her in danger.
On the other hand, he wondered how terrified she must have been to act this way.
Praying for Hinael’s safety, Lutz continued his pursuit.
Not long after, he stopped again.
Upon discovering bright red bloodstains on the white ground, he instinctively drew his sword.
Carefully stepping forward, he cursed under his breath.
“Damn it…”
A large man lay sprawled in the middle of the thicket.
Upon closer inspection, the area around him was covered in blood. The man appeared to have died instantly from a dagger lodged in his neck.
Lutz pulled the dagger from the man’s neck, who had died with his eyes open.
Examining the blade in the fading sunset, he found no distinctive markings or features.
“Chetter… Did he lose his mind after losing Hinael? So he immediately disposed of the useless man.”
He thought they were heading southwest, but their destination had shifted north.
If it was north, it would be the Trycas region, and naturally, Kailo would be a suspect. But his instincts kept pointing to Chetter.
It was due to the peculiar terrain of the northern border region.
Smao, located at the northernmost point of Sarr, jutted out like a sharp stone between the Trycas territories.
Thus, crossing Nuhol Mountain, which belonged to Trycas, would lead directly to Smao.
“They must have headed over Nuhol Mountain towards Smao in Sarr.”
Hinael’s footprints had disappeared. It seemed Chetter had carried her.
Next to the man’s corpse, there was another footprint presumed to be Chetter’s.
Following those tracks back to the path, Lutz resumed tracking the hoofprints.
By the time he almost exited Nuhol Mountain, the snow had melted, revealing the grass.
Lutz looked ahead and sneered.
“You used an ordinary dagger and turned the horse to avoid the snow, but your trail is clear. You’re a rat in a trap.”
Unfortunately, the sun had completely set, making further pursuit difficult.
He had to be careful about frequently removing the almoner.
In an enclosed space, detaching the almoner from his body wouldn’t cause any abnormal symptoms, but outside, it often caused problems. Because it was open and vast, the energy of the magic stone quickly dispersed.
Lutz looked down at his center, which had been bothering him since earlier, with a displeased expression.
The intermittently developed sense of smell was very helpful, but the unrelenting fervor was quite annoying.
“I’ve become a beast.”
He decided to halt the tracking temporarily for tomorrow. He moved to find a mountain hut where he could get some sleep.
* * *
The next dawn.
Lutz, who barely slept and spent the night almost awake, left Nuhol Mountain completely with a bluish light over his head.
Now, he had no choice but to rely on his sense of smell.
Whistle―, Whistle―.
At the sound of the whistle, an eagle appeared. He brought the string to his nose in the same manner.
When he inhaled the faint scent of flesh, a mirage appeared on the path she had taken. Seeing a clearer form than yesterday, he was sure he was getting closer.
With each step he took, the mirage-filled air was deeply inhaled into his nostrils.