The Beast Bit The Throat of the Late Empress - Chapter 10

“It’s almost the fourth day now, isn’t it? Hunger is bearable for three days, but the fourth day is usually the most painful. Seeing you still like this, it seems you’re saying you’d rather die than give yourself to me.”

“……”

“Is it not even worth answering?”

Once again, a long silence followed. Eva thought that by now, he might lose patience and start choking her, but after the quiet silence continued, Divlik asked Eva one strange question.

“Fabian is searching. In the end, your lord will soon lose his head. When that happens, do you have a place to return to?”

A place to return to. Eva answered without hesitation.

“I do.”

“Where?”

“I will return to my hometown.”

If only I could… If only I could return there… If only I could stand on that hill in Florin again… That place where flowers bloomed all year round and the green grass seemed to stretch endlessly, the place where my life grew and where I left my soul, if I could just set foot there for even a moment…

Eva felt like she could lick not only Divlik’s feet but anywhere else if she could do that.

“Your hometown? Where are you from?”

“A place called Florin at the southern end of the empire.”

Even the word ‘Florin’ that came out of Eva’s mouth due to her desperation was filled with endless longing. For some reason, this answer didn’t seem to please Divlik, and a piercing sense of pressure rose around him in an instant.

“Even after becoming Empress, you still long for your hometown.”

Divlik couldn’t believe it, the fact that Eva missed her hometown so much. Eva carefully began to speak.

“May I ask you a question as well?”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you do this elsewhere too?”

“This?”

“I’m curious if you did this in other territories you conquered as well. I’ve heard that the Blue Wolf led by you is an incredibly cruel army.”

“Where did you hear such rumors? Some fortunate nobleman, perhaps? There’s no way good rumors would spread about us who threaten their peace.”

“Was it just a rumor?”

“Well, not entirely… Since no one who defied me survived, I suppose some part of it is true.”

Divlik revealed through his laughter that he could easily kill someone like her who is defying him if he wanted to. That’s why this question held even more meaning for Eva.

“Were you curious if those rumors were true?”

“There’s only you and me here, Divlik.”

“And?”

“Even if your subordinates and maids who were guarding this place were still here, it wouldn’t have mattered to you. You didn’t even need to spend three days before that. Why don’t you take me as you wish?”

“What do you think my wish is?”

Night service. Although there could be no other answer than that, Eva couldn’t readily respond. Divlik’s question seemed to be saying that wasn’t his wish.

“You seem to truly think of me as a beast, just like before.”

Divlik let out a few “haha”s, a laugh that was not joyful at all, just like before, and then immediately continued.

“I don’t have a hobby of embracing screaming women.”

Eva tilted her head slightly in confusion at Divlik’s firmness.

“Didn’t you say that it’s not fun to embrace a woman who has fallen for you?”

“I did.”

“If you don’t want women who desire you or women who don’t, what kind of woman do you want to embrace, Divlik?”

Divlik said nothing, but Eva knew that his gaze was fixed on her without any gap. As soon as the end of that gaze turned sharp, Divlik answered with a voice that had become even more crackling.

“I don’t need any other woman. I want you to completely surrender to me and embrace me.”

His gaze was scorching. More than when she was exposed naked under the bright daylight before entering the water, or before Divlik’s hands touched her body… Eva felt like she would be swallowed whole by Divlik’s gaze.

“That’s the only way I can put an end to this tedious and cruel war.”

Divlik’s gaze was so intense that Eva felt as if she could see his eyes even though they were covered. However, for some reason, Divlik’s voice clearly showed signs of fatigue.

Was the war such a grueling task even for this solid man who seemed like he wouldn’t be cut even if a blade brushed against him?

“Earlier, you asked if I had a place to return to if I escaped from here.”

“I did.”

Taking advantage of Divlik’s loosened guard, Eva asked one more question.

“If I had given myself to you three days ago, would you have let me go afterwards?”

Divlik had no answer. For a long time after that, in the quiet that had settled, the sound of the hot spring flowing along its path, the distant cry of a bird, and the somewhat desolate and lonely sound of leaves rustling against each other in the wind passed by several times.

“How could that be?”

How much time had passed? Divlik, whose presence had been imperceptible, opened his mouth with a voice that felt endlessly empty, as if hollow inside.

“Your lord is still alive, isn’t he? If I let you go, you would try to forget the shame you felt in my arms in your lord’s arms. Do you think I would stand by and watch that? And I clearly remember asking not just for tonight, but from today onwards, don’t you?”

This time, Divlik’s voice was mixed with obvious mockery. It meant it was out of the question. Divlik, who had paused for a moment, soon muttered in a voice so small that it was unclear if he intended Eva to hear.

“If I thought I’d let you go so easily, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble in the first place.”

Was it because of the heavily sunken atmosphere?

“Don’t even dream that I would let you go easily. You’ll have to pay properly for all the time I’ve spent.”

Divlik’s crackling voice somehow sounded faint.

* * *

Eva felt dizzy after leaving the hot spring, perhaps because she had been in the hot water for a long time on an empty stomach. She didn’t want to show that she was uncomfortable, but her steps had undoubtedly slowed.

“Miss Eva, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“You need to be more careful when going down the mountain. Please hold our hands, Miss Eva.”

Hannah and Sophie, standing on either side, tried hard to support her, but Eva felt like she would fall forward with each step she took downwards. She kept feeling dizzy and her legs just wouldn’t gain strength. When stepping down from a high rock, she almost fell and barely managed to hold on.

Mount Frentz was originally a mountain that strongly rejected human footsteps. Even though they had made efforts to maintain the path, it was still a rough journey for Eva, who was struggling to stand on her own.

“At this rate, we’ll arrive after the sun has set. How precious of an Empress were you to struggle so much on this single path? Did someone say the Emperor always carried you around?”

Divlik, who had been walking several steps ahead, stopped in his tracks, clicking his tongue as if displeased.

“I’m sorry, Divlik. I’ll try to hurry.”

Divlik, who had been watching Eva’s precarious steps until she reached near where he was standing, seemed to decide this wouldn’t do and suddenly lifted Eva without warning. Startled by her feet suddenly leaving the ground, Eva cried out in an urgent voice.

“It’s alright, Divlik!”

“It’s not alright for me.”

“I can walk on my own. Please put me down.”

“Don’t misunderstand.”

Divlik’s voice, which had come close to her ear, was infinitely cold.

“I came here to harm you, after all.”

He came to harm her. At this expression that seemed to contain excessively personal emotions, Eva was startled and raised her head.

“Why are you so surprised?”

At Eva’s reaction, Divlik let out a small laugh as if it was nothing.

“Isn’t that right? I came here to take the throne. So it’s no different from coming to harm you. I’m telling you not to misunderstand. This action too, it’s because I don’t want to waste time here and miss out on the freshly baked bread that will come out for dinner.”

If that were the case, he could have gone down alone leaving Eva behind, but Divlik didn’t let Eva go despite her several pleas to be put down.

Eva decided to keep quiet, thinking it was useless to say anything more. Although her body swayed back and forth with Divlik’s steps, she didn’t feel that this state was dangerous. It seemed that for Divlik, this action held no emotional value, and Eva’s weight itself didn’t seem to feel that heavy to him.

Is this the strength of a man who has roamed battlefields for a long time? Even though he was going down the steep mountain path carrying Eva with wide strides as if someone was chasing them, Divlik’s breathing didn’t falter even once.

“About Eileen… did you spare her because of that? Because you liked the bread Eileen makes?”

In the silence where only the sound of Divlik’s footsteps echoed, Eva asked in a small voice, wanting to at least be certain about Eileen’s fate, but Divlik remained silent and didn’t answer. He just kept moving his feet forward silently.

Did I bring up something unnecessary? Eva felt frustrated about not being able to see for the first time. If she could read his expression, she might be able to know what he was thinking.

Somehow, even his presence seemed to fade, and even that crackling voice that seemed to bother him the most while others found it unremarkable disappeared, leaving nothing to be conveyed from Divlik. Only that unusually large and hot embrace that quietly guarded her side was all that Eva could feel of Divlik’s existence.