The Beast Bit The Throat of the Late Empress - Chapter 19

“Kyaaah!”

As the horse approached, Eva’s figure disappeared into the dust cloud. Esther, thinking Eva had been hit by the horse, let out a scream of despair.

“You’ve only made it this far? You’re certainly a high-maintenance woman.”

Divlik, who had noticed Eva standing there from the start, leaned over and snatched her by the waist.

When the surrounding dust settled and visibility cleared, what Esther saw was Eva lying face down across the horse’s back, like a piece of luggage right in front of where Divlik sat.

“It seems you’re the type who freezes when startled?”

It was a question asking why she stood there motionless when others moved away. Eva couldn’t answer, but Divlik seemed to know, like someone aware that Eva had deliberately stood there, and he kept his mouth tightly shut.

Why did he pretend not to know and save me again when I chose this to die? This man. It could have been a good excuse to end this useless power struggle, saying the former empress had died after being hit by a horse, so it couldn’t be helped.

Eva’s head and legs dangled helplessly in the air as the horse galloped at full speed. Fearing Eva might fall off the horse, Divlik grabbed her waist. When Eva still seemed unstable, Divlik wrapped her dress skirt around his hand, firmly securing her body.

“Why are you dressed so formally again? It would have been fine to show your bottom at least.”

“Let… let me go! Lord Divlik!”

“Let go? Shouldn’t you be thanking me for holding you because it’s dangerous?”

Divlik lightly touched Eva’s exposed bottom with the hand holding her dress and joked. If he really wanted to see, there was nothing he couldn’t see anyway.

She had heard that commoner children sometimes receive spankings from their parents like this, but Eva, born a noble lady, had never been in a position to show such a sight to others in her life. Even though she had shown her fully naked body before, Eva found this particularly embarrassing. Despite thinking she wanted to die and that this should be nothing, she couldn’t ignore the overwhelming sense of embarrassment.

“Why didn’t you try to run away?”

After a moment of silence, Divlik spoke, biting his lip tightly.

“You should have tried to escape. If you had…”

At Divlik’s next words, Eva couldn’t help but regret her decision to come up here.

“I would have gladly killed you.”

Didn’t he say he wouldn’t let her die? Was he saying that he couldn’t tolerate running away?

Neeeeigh.

As they reached the castle, Divlik released the dress and pulled hard on the reins. As the horse’s front legs rose high, Eva’s body flipped in mid-air, and when the horse’s legs touched the ground, Eva ended up sitting slightly askew on Divlik’s lap, facing forward.

“My, if you wanted to be in my arms, you should have just said so.”

Divlik laughed, holding Eva as if he had never said he would have killed her.

Was that earlier remark just a kind of sarcasm, asking why she didn’t try such a cute trick?

Whether he’s aware of Eva’s confusion or not, Divlik rested his chin on Eva’s shoulder and looked at her from a breath’s distance away.

“If you’ve finally changed your mind, I’d welcome it, but isn’t this inconvenient here?”

Eva didn’t turn her eyes away even at Divlik’s sticky breath. Instead, while hesitating, unsure of what to do, Divlik’s horse crossed the moat and entered the castle. Hannah, who had been lingering near the fountain, spotted Eva on the horse and rushed over.

“Miss Eva! You’ve finally arrived? We’ve been waiting!”

She seemed to have rushed out in one breath, worried about what might have happened. Eva slid off the horse, taking advantage of the moment Divlik’s breath moved away.

“Outside… nothing happened, right?”

“I’m fine, Hannah.”

Eva tensed up, feeling Divlik’s presence approaching from behind. Just as he was about to play another trick, she had practically run away. Within a few steps, Divlik stood behind Eva and took the old cloth she held in one hand to cover her eyes.

“You should have covered your eyes first when getting off, Former Empress. Didn’t I tell you? To take care of this first in front of me. Were you so happy to see the maid who came to greet you? Don’t make me want to kill this maid out of unnecessary jealousy.”

Startled, Hannah began to hiccup, but Eva remained silent without responding. It seemed that asking for forgiveness or promising not to do it again might actually provoke Divlik more. She also thought that apologizing for other things while stubbornly refusing to serve him at night might make Divlik think she was mocking him.

Without further words, the sound of Divlik’s footsteps slowly faded away. Eva let out a tense breath, feeling that somehow this time too had passed moderately well. Of course, she had no idea that she would pay the price for that moderation later that night.

* * *

“What about Joseph?”

Divlik, who had finished dinner early, asked leisurely while soaking in the bathtub. Having failed to find any trace of Fabian even after widening the search area, Divlik had sent people to the Western Grand Duchy as well. Finn, who was tidying up Divlik’s discarded clothes nearby, answered as if he had been waiting.

“Actually, a reply just arrived from the Western Grand Duchy. For some reason, it seems Fabian didn’t flee to the Western Grand Duchy. Grand Duke Joseph rather asked about Fabian’s whereabouts in response to our inquiry.”

Divlik didn’t say anything after acknowledging this, but he didn’t trust Joseph’s words. From the beginning, that man had been someone whose thoughts were impossible to fathom.

Two years ago, when the Blue Wolf was rapidly expanding its forces. Joseph had come to find Divlik in the middle of enemy territory with just four knights, proposing that they not interfere with each other’s military actions.

―Do as you please with the Yarden Empire. The Western Grand Duchy I rule has long since broken away from the Yarden Empire’s control and become independent.

―You’re proposing a peace agreement to me. Are you saying Emperor Fabian’s safety isn’t important?

―How could Fabian stop the Blue Wolf? If I step in, that war will become a prolonged conflict where we can’t predict who will win, only shedding more innocent blood. You see, I’m quite fond of the people of Yarden.

Joseph’s arrogance, standing straight even in the middle of enemy territory, was almost unbearable to watch, but Divlik accepted the proposal. Even Divlik didn’t want the war to drag on.

But he couldn’t believe Joseph’s words about being concerned for the people’s lives. It was hard to believe that it was the choice of the Grand Duke who loved his people, considering he had long been famous for his violent temperament and…

―Just know that if the Blue Wolf casts even a shadow on my grand duchy, I won’t stand by and watch anymore. Then I’ll step forward and lead the imperial army.

Above all, he was an outstanding warrior for whom such words didn’t sound out of place at all.

“We’ll widen the search area further. Unless he’s flown into the sky, we’ll catch him somewhere.”

“Do that.”

From giving up the throne that was rightfully his to Fabian, he was a man who engaged in bizarre behaviors that made it impossible to know what was going on in his head. One could consider his withdrawal from a fight he might have won if he had competed as one of those behaviors, but…

―That way, I can’t guarantee you’ll get what you ultimately want.

Meeting Joseph’s green eyes as he let out a silent laugh between his lips, Divlik could instinctively sense that he wasn’t acting out of mere whim. In those eyes, there was a twisted pleasure that couldn’t be explained, like a child tearing off a dragonfly’s wings without recognizing the malice as malice.

“Yes. I’ll go right away and relay the orders.”

“What about Dean? What’s Dean doing?”

“He’s probably stuffing himself with leftover food again until his stomach bursts. Why are you looking for that fool?”

“Now that the war is over, shouldn’t you rest a bit too? I was thinking of entrusting simple tasks like relaying orders to Dean now.”

“Dean… I just can’t trust him… I’ll continue to do it until your position is stabilized, Lord Divlik.”

Finn left the bathroom with a face full of distrust. Although he always seemed displeased when Dean was mentioned, everyone in the Blue Wolf knew how much Finn cared for Dean as his brother.

While Joseph’s intentions were still unclear, it was uncertain whether he could really ignore his brother’s death as if it didn’t matter, as he had so casually spoken.

Even those with little and those lacking in ability cherish their twin siblings like their own bodies, so those with abundant resources would do so even more.

Does he not know that hiding Fabian, my main enemy, while under a peace agreement is a clear violation of the treaty?

“He must know.”

The first emperor, Julian van Frentz, had taken the central part of the Bern continent, including Karhen where Hael is located, and Waynes bordering the port city of Elan, through war. The twin brothers born under him were often described as Joseph, the older brother skilled in combat, and Fabian, the younger brother with an extraordinary mind, having equally inherited the former emperor’s abilities.

But Divlik knew. That combat isn’t just about raw strength. So Joseph, who won wars started for amusement on other continents, might have all of the extraordinary intelligence rumored to belong to his younger brother.

I won’t lose. To whatever Joseph is thinking.

Divlik rose from the bathtub and faced the setting sun through the window. White steam rose from his taut body suddenly exposed to the cold air. Although he didn’t feel particularly cold, a chill seeped into the long, deep scar running from top to bottom between his swollen back muscles, causing Divlik to shiver greatly.

“No… No… No!!!!”

Perhaps lost in past thoughts, Divlik, who had fallen asleep early for once, had a nightmare. A dream of a precious person he didn’t even know was precious collapsing in front of him.

No, to be precise, that dream was Divlik’s last memory before the war began.

* * *

It must have been tiring to climb the uphill road when you haven’t fully recovered. She couldn’t even remember how she fell asleep as soon as she washed and lay down on the bed. Eva turned around, startled by the sense of discomfort covering her entire body that she felt in the moment she briefly regained consciousness while tossing and turning.

“I was about to wake you, but fortunately you woke up on your own.”

Divlik’s voice came from the darkness. Who knows how long he had been there, sitting on the soft sofa bed near the window.