The Beast Bit The Throat of the Late Empress - Chapter 13

“The mark I left then has faded. Would it be strange if I thought it looked better when it was there?”

After burying his face in Eva’s neck for a while, tickling and teasing, Divlik left a new bite mark over the faded bruise. Eva tightly closed her eyes. It wasn’t just because of the pain, but because she felt an intense heat from Divlik’s breath on her neck, the kind one would usually feel only in bed. Hadn’t he said he didn’t intend to force her? Was that just words?

“Do you know? You always smell like this. Warm and clean. A fragrance that should belong to a chaste maiden.”

“Lord Divlik…”

Worried, Eva carefully called Divlik’s name. Ignoring her reaction, Divlik inhaled deeply at Eva’s neck with all his might.

“Isn’t it strange? That you have such a pure scent, like that of a virgin. Surely Fabian wasn’t the only man who’s been with you.”

Divlik spoke as if he was somewhat certain that Eva had been with men other than Fabian. As if he knew Eva’s secret.

“I wonder if from the beginning, you ever had any chastity to keep… for your lord. It’s hard to believe that Fabian was your first man, for someone with such an alluring scent. How about it? Instead of your body, why don’t you tell me about your past loves as payment for your meal? Surely there was another man who held you before you fell into Fabian’s arms?”

In the silence that had descended beyond quietness, Divlik’s rough hair, blown by the wind, tickled Eva’s cheek.

“Leon…”

She could have given an evasive answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie about that matter.

Eva called out Leon’s name so longingly that anyone who heard it would feel a pang of nostalgia.

“Leon? Was he your first man?”

He was. Leon was Eva’s first. He was the one Eva loved with all her heart and soul, believing he would be her first, her present, and her last without a doubt.

“For someone who values chastity so much, how could you become an empress, leaving that man behind?”

“He…”

Perhaps due to the small amount of wine she had swallowed on an empty stomach, Eva suddenly felt dizzier and tightly grasped Divlik’s arm. Even though Divlik’s arm supporting Eva’s waist was holding her up well without her grabbing onto him, Eva couldn’t help but cling to Divlik, feeling as if she might fall at any moment.

“He?”

Unaware of Eva’s condition, Divlik demanded Eva’s answer to the end, and Eva, unable to bear it any longer, collapsed in Divlik’s arms as she uttered her final words.

“Because he died.”

Because of me.

More accurately… I killed him.

* * *

Florin.

Located at the southernmost part of the Bern continent, it was a basin surrounded by low mountains on all sides. Perhaps because the warm winds lingered well, like the floral name of the region, Florin captivated people’s eyes with colorful flowers wherever one looked.

These flowers that bloomed all year round also became the main source of income for the people of Florin. The flower teas, perfumes, and decorative items made from processed flowers in Florin were popular not only in the empire but also across the sea in other continents due to their high quality.

“The weather is so nice today too.”

“It’s perfect weather for harvesting flowers.”

Perhaps because they had lived their entire lives buried in flowers, the people here all smiled as brightly as flowers. It was a peaceful and leisurely place where there was hardly anything to call an incident, except for a few outsider workers occasionally throwing punches while drunk.

“Miss Eva! Please walk slowly! You’ll fall if you keep running like that!”

“Oh, Miss Eva. Even though you’re young, a noble young lady shouldn’t be running around like that all the time.”

If there was any trouble in this place, it was Eva, the only daughter of the ‘Viscount Cloud’ couple, who didn’t care whether it was a flower bed or a fruit tree that she was trampling on.

Today too, Eva, now seven years old, was running like an arrow down a path that seemed to stretch endlessly, filled with fully bloomed flowers. But no one lamented the flowers and trees that Eva had ruined.

“Miss Eva! Where are you going!”

“It’s a secret!”

“Please be careful. What if you scratch your pretty knees?”

“Okay!”

This was because the natural environment where flowers bloomed without fail with just a little care could be a blessing to the people here, largely thanks to the parents of this mischievous little Miss Eva.

The warm and affectionate viscount couple didn’t have much greed for increasing their own wealth. They rented out their territory to the people at low prices and even treated wandering laborers with respect. They were such thoughtful and kind people who, despite being nobles, never looked down on anyone.

“Huff, huff. Miss Eva! Let’s… Ah! Where did she go again?”

Eva, born on a day when snow fell for the first time in years in Florin where it rarely snows, was the only daughter of Viscount Cloud, loved everywhere for her face and personality that closely resembled her parents. Because of this, no one worried about the future of the viscount couple who couldn’t have a son.

Everyone believed without doubt that if Eva grew up well like this, she would pair up with someone whose character was undoubtedly good among the heirs of other territories who might not have much to inherit, and continue to govern this Florin well in the future.

“Christine, are you looking for Miss Eva again?”

“Yes, have you seen Miss Eva?”

“She went towards the western mountain earlier. I wonder if she’s going to the beach beyond the mountain?”

“The dangerous beach! Thank you, Aunt Lucy!”

Anyway, even Eva, who brightened up her surroundings just like her parents, was a headache for the maids around her. At this age, she should be sitting quietly and receiving education as a noble young lady, but Eva disappeared almost every day, regardless of her scheduled activities.

* * *

“Wow! It’s so beautiful today too. The sea!”

That day too, Eva was at the beach with its fine sandy shore beyond the hill, just as Lucy had said. It was the sea that the adults around her had earnestly warned her not to go to alone because it was dangerous.

“What’s dangerous about it? It’s just so beautiful.”

Eva muttered as she took off her shoes and slowly approached the sea where the waves were breaking, feeling the texture of the sand between her toes. The slope was gentle, and the waves were so calm that her body didn’t even lean forward much. Adults just worry too much about everything.

Before she knew it, Eva had reached the boundary between water and land where the seawater touched, and she giggled several times while kicking the seawater hard with her small feet. The sight of water scattering and sparkling in the air was as beautiful as the flowers that filled the hills beyond the mountains.

Not knowing that Christine might be coming to catch her from beyond the mountains at any moment, Eva was laughing and splashing seawater for a long time when she suddenly lost her balance, staggered, and fell on her bottom.

“Oh no. My clothes are all wet.”

Eva bravely tried to get up, brushing herself off. Perhaps because of the pannier she had to wear for practice, even though she didn’t want to wear it, that when Eva tried to roll and get up by putting strength in her feet, she couldn’t get up from her spot. The hem of her dress, soaked with water, was heavy, and the sand under her feet scattered with each wave, unable to provide a foothold.

“What should I do… If I’m caught like this, Christine will say she told me so.”

No matter how much she struggled and flailed, it was no use. It seemed impossible to get up unless someone gave her a hand. During this time, Eva, without any complaints despite her clothes being all wet, splashed the seawater that rippled nearby with her hands every time the waves came in.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait.”

She thought she would be scolded, but it wasn’t a big deal. How long had she been like that? From the calm sea, waves that wouldn’t be threatening to an adult but could be quite dangerous to a small child, especially Eva who was stuck sitting on the ground due to her wet clothes, began to roll in.

“Huh…?”

It was then that Eva understood her mother’s words about the sea being dangerous. It felt like she would be swallowed by the wave approaching like a wall and dragged into the sea.

“It’s dangerous!”

At that moment, an urgent voice of a boy was heard from somewhere. At the same time, a figure with long, luxurious black fur flew towards Eva as if pouncing on her.

“Eek!”

Eva thought the figure that rushed in was the black lion that occasionally appeared in the mountains bordering the sea. Surprised that she would die being eaten by a lion rather than the waves, she screamed, but when she raised her head, she faced a boy about her age with sparkling blue eyes.

The boy who had rushed in like pouncing picked Eva up and saved her from the waves, preventing her from being swept away.

“You almost got swept away by the waves.”

“Thank you.”

Who is he?

Eva, suddenly held in the boy’s arms, felt her heart pounding and her face turning red. It was the first time she had been held like this by anyone other than her dad, and above all, the boy’s face, seen at a distance close enough to feel his breath, was so handsome.

How strange. She had heard that such blue eyes, resembling the moon that quietly illuminates the world alone late at night, could only be seen in the Veilen Empire, where every day is winter, beyond the Frentz Mountains to the north and across the Blun Desert.

The shiny black hair, snow-white skin, and the boy’s blue eyes that seemed to have captured not only the gentleness of the moon but also the sparkle of the waves, became more and more mysterious the longer she looked, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Even though she had heard him shouting that it was dangerous, she had mistaken such a handsome boy for a lion, and her face reddened even more with embarrassment at that thought.

Eva asked the boy, hiding her trembling,

“Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you in Florin before. Did you move here today?”