About the Romantic Abduction Marriage - Chapter 2

Vanessa did not know who he was.

It was their first meeting.

Yet he was staring at Vanessa with familiarity, as if he was looking at someone he knew.

Moreover, what was contained in those eyes was, no matter how you looked at it…

An intense hatred, close to murderous intent.

The raw emotion conveyed heavily was not something Vanessa, who was already weakened, could endure.

The man was so enormous that she had to tilt her head back for quite a while to look up at him, and he was more intimidating than any being she had ever seen before.

Even the emperor, who was called the representative of the gods, whom she had seen when she went to the capital of the Cartes Empire, was not this imposing. The man before her eyes seemed… almost inhuman.

When such an overwhelmingly powerful figure glared at her as if he would kill her, Vanessa could barely breathe.

Who on earth is this man?

Why is he looking at me like that?

Why was Leroy covered in wounds?

Questions kept repeating one after another. Vanessa could barely voice just one of them.

“A-are you going to kill me?”

Her voice, trembling finely like the resonance of a string instrument, was filled with fear. The man opened his mouth while staring at Vanessa with eyes like a burning sun.

“…I’m thinking about it.”

He turned slightly and kicked Leroy’s body that was lying on the floor with his foot. Then he bent down, lifted Leroy’s right arm, and pulled off the ring on his middle finger. It was a signet ring engraved with the unique crest of the King of Terevron.

The man pocketed it and then grabbed Leroy’s hair, lifting his head. Leroy, whether dead or unconscious, showed no movement at all.

After briefly examining Leroy’s complexion, the man then drew his sword from his waist with an utterly unconcerned expression.

Vanessa’s eyes widened.

Surely not.

What happened next happened in the blink of an eye.

A flash of silver crossed her vision, and Leroy’s body fell to the floor with a thud. The man was holding his head, dangling.

Blood poured endlessly from the neck, cut with terrifying cleanness.

The man sheathed his sword and turned to look at Vanessa with blood splattered on his face. With only red bloodstains vivid on his shadowed pale face, the man’s appearance looked even more bizarre.

Knowing there was nowhere left to retreat, Vanessa still stumbled back unsteadily. She was terrified out of her mind, afraid that the man might draw his sword again and cut off her head too.

The man slowly approached her. His expression was unreadable. But the look in his eyes, brimming with hatred, was all too clear.

“…Queen of Terevron.”

He murmured in a terribly low voice.

“As of today, Terevron has fallen.”

…What?

Vanessa’s eyes widened like full moons.

What is he saying? Terevron has fallen?

“And you are my spoils of war.”

Before Vanessa could react to those words, the man swiftly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

Vanessa, startled, struggled with all her might, but to no avail. The man calmly left the dark underground dungeon. Completely ignoring her feeble resistance.

✦ ✦ ✦

November 30, 213 of the Cartes Imperial Calendar.

The Kingdom of Terevron fell.

The charge was blasphemy committed by some of the royal family, including the king, and high-ranking officials.

The one who accomplished the terrifying feat of destroying a country in just three days, obeying the order of the emperor who was the representative of the gods― was the Duke of the Empire, Jurgen Drake.

Vanessa was plundered by that very man.

It was on a winter day when a harsh cold that had clawed the whole world lingered long.

✦ ✦ ✦

Clatter, clatter.

The four-wheeled carriage, pulled by two muscular horses, shook violently as it ran along the rough dirt road full of stones.

Vanessa sat huddled by the window, stealing glances at the man sitting across from her.

It was only an hour ago that she learned that this man was ‘the’ Duke Drake.

When she was carried out of the prison like a bundle on his shoulder, the castle was in chaos, flames were rising everywhere, and the air was thick with acrid smoke. The once luxurious garden was trampled and devastated, and unidentifiable corpses were strewn about on the ground.

It was then that Vanessa finally realized something had gone terribly wrong. Terevron had either been invaded, or someone had staged a rebellion, or if not that―

It had been put on the Empire’s judgment stand.

The Emperor of Cartes, the largest country on this continent of Astra, was an absolute ruler who reigned over all kings and also claimed to be the representative of the gods.

The number of countries that the emperor had destroyed under the charge of blasphemy since the founding of the empire easily counts to nine.

And that man, Duke Jurgen Drake, was famous as the emperor’s most excellent executioner. With the emperor as his backing, he had the privilege to do almost anything he wanted.

Vanessa had never seen his face before, but she knew his name, and it was only when some underling called him ‘Your Grace, Duke Drake’ that she finally realized his identity.

Come to think of it, the flags hung all over the castle also bore the emblem of a dragon baring its claws and teeth. The black dragon was the symbol of the Drake family.

As soon as they left the castle, Duke Drake shoved Vanessa into this carriage and left her unattended for over five hours. Of course, with guards assigned to watch over her.

And now he was traveling somewhere in the carriage with Vanessa.

Needless to say, not a single word of conversation had passed between them so far.

…This is uncomfortable.

It’s like sitting on pins and needles. Vanessa felt an overwhelming sense of pressure just from his presence.

He would thoroughly ignore her when she stole glances at him, but when she was doing something else, he would stare at her so intensely it was burdensome.

She was confused, unable to understand what psychology this man was operating under. Vanessa was secretly glancing at the man who was invariably ignoring her, when she finally mustered the courage to voice the words she had rehearsed in her head more than a hundred times.

“Um, Duke.”

“……”

“May I ask where you’re taking me?”

Although she was a royal from a small country, Vanessa was still a princess, so she used her usual manner of speech with him. But Jurgen didn’t seem to appreciate this. His expression was quite unfavorable.

Was I too arrogant for a prisoner? Should I have asked more politely? As she was seriously pondering this, Jurgen’s voice, as cold as midwinter, came to her ears.

“You’re going to my castle.”

“To your castle? Are you going to execute me there? Not in Rivenue…?”

Leroy, the King of Terevron, would have had his head displayed on the walls of the capital, Rivenue, so it would be proper for his queen to be executed in Rivenue as well.

But why wasn’t she being executed in Rivenue? Perhaps they were planning to accuse her of being a witch and burn her at the stake as an example?

The death of a witch is a kind of purification ritual. It carries the magical meaning of burning the wicked to cleanse the world…

The foolish masses would welcome a witch burning. The lord would be using it for political purposes.

‘Whether it’s burning at the stake or being beheaded, it’s all the same miserable death…’

If it was her fate to die, beheading would be much better than burning at the stake. It would hurt less.

“……”

Jurgen just stared at Vanessa without saying a word. Once again, it was a look mixed with intense hatred. Vanessa had no idea why this man hated her so much.

It wasn’t as if they had met before, nor was Vanessa’s home, the Roengreen royal family, enemies with the Duke of Drake’s family.

Perhaps he was simply a madman. He suddenly came to hate Vanessa intensely when he met her for the first time today. Because he was mad.

“…I thought about killing you when I found you.”

Vanessa stiffened at the sudden voice, flinching. His tone was calm for such brutal words.

“I thought it might make me feel a little better. But…”

“……”

“I guess it’s better to keep you alive after all.”

“……”

“It wouldn’t be fun if you died too easily.”

The man, resembling the pitch-black silence of the night, showed a smile for the first time.

Though it was more of a fiercely distorted expression than a smile.

✦ ✦ ✦

It would take about a week to reach Duke Drake’s domain by carriage, and on the first day, they had to camp outside as there were no lodging facilities nearby.

Vanessa sat crouched in front of the campfire, watching the crackling flames. Memories of camping like this with her father when he was alive came flooding back.

Back then, I was the happiest person in the world… Although I was unlucky and often had accidents or near-death experiences… well, I guess that’s still the same now.

Vanessa hugged her upper body with both arms and bowed her head deeply. Was it because of the warm heat from the flames? Her body and mind, which had been tense all the way here, seemed to relax a little.

“Don’t sit too close to the fire.”

Hearing the gruff reprimand, she looked to the side, and sure enough, Jurgen had approached.

He plopped down next to her and took a potato out of the basket he was holding in one hand, tossing it into the campfire.

Apparently, that potato was today’s meal, and Vanessa, who had been starving for days already, felt extreme hunger just imagining the taste of the roasted potato.

Her mouth watered. She had only been able to drink water since leaving the prison, but it seemed she was finally going to be given something edible.

Anyway, since he said he wouldn’t kill her, Vanessa decided to do her best to survive for now. Although the madman’s mind might change suddenly and he might try to kill her at any moment, eating the potato was important right now.

‘Ah, it’s fully cooked.’

Vanessa’s face lit up as she poked the potato with a twig. She quickly rolled it out and waited for it to cool a bit, then when she couldn’t wait any longer, she grabbed it with her hand and peeled off the skin.

The potato just taken from the fire was very hot, but the heat was bearable. Vanessa was about to blow on the fully peeled potato and take a bite when she suddenly paused and looked to the side.

“……”

Jurgen was staring at her with an incredulous look.

…Is it because I, a spoil of war, was trying to fill my stomach without being mindful?

After hesitating for a moment, Vanessa inwardly sighed and handed the potato to Jurgen. His thick, black eyebrows rose slightly. Vanessa spoke hesitantly.

“Here, have it first. I’ll take out another potato to eat…”

At this, Jurgen let out a small laugh. It was clearly a mocking response. I don’t understand why he’s making a fuss even when I’m being considerate. As Vanessa grumbled inwardly, Jurgen replied in his invariably gruff tone.

“You eat it. I’m fine.”

Does he mean he’s skipping the meal? But judging from how he took out the freshly roasted potato from the campfire, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Then does he mean he doesn’t want to eat the potato I peeled… It seemed to be close to the truth, and Vanessa secretly glared at him. Making such a fuss over a mere potato.

Anyway, Vanessa deliciously devoured one warm potato. It was so delicious it brought tears to her eyes, to the point where she momentarily forgot about the presence of the scary man sitting next to her.

After thoroughly enjoying one potato like that and looking at Jurgen’s reaction while trying to take out another one to eat, a peeled, white potato was held out from the side.

Vanessa looked with round eyes, alternating between the potato and Jurgen’s face. He was pressuring her to eat quickly with a wordless gaze and an extremely fierce expression.

“Th-thank you…”

Vanessa, who had been hesitating, received the potato with trembling hands. However, she didn’t have the courage to eat it.

What if it’s a poisoned potato? She had heard that sprouted potatoes contain poison. Maybe he wanted to enjoy watching her suffer after eating the poison…

‘It’s strange that he would peel a potato for me when he said he wanted to kill me…’

Maybe she’s overly suspicious. Maybe he just gave it to her to eat…

But even if giving the potato was his own form of consideration, Vanessa couldn’t accept it at face value.

Jurgen Drake was a madman who could change at any moment, and Vanessa was nothing but afraid of his existence.