The Beast Bit The Throat of the Late Empress - Chapter 7

“Run away? That’s absurd.”

Eva shook her head vigorously, denying Divlik’s words, and Divlik replied with a lazy smile on his lips.

“You know well. If I thought you would run away, would I have left you alone?”

Of course, he hadn’t said it with the situation of Eva running away in mind. The castle was swarming with Blue Wolf soldiers, and Mount Frentz wasn’t a place where one could easily escape even if they wanted to. Except for the path they had walked up to here, it was such a rugged mountain that there was no suitable way out.

“Forgive me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out, so my steps have slowed.”

“You ask for forgiveness for this much waiting, while you made me wait for days for other matters. If you’re sorry, break that useless stubbornness first.”

Moreover, it was nearly impossible in this state.

Divlik’s assumption that Eva hadn’t eaten anything since being confined in the castle tower seemed accurate. Otherwise, there was no way she would have taken so long to climb this path, which she must have climbed once or twice before. Even though her eyes were covered, she had two maids holding her hands, so there was no excuse.

In fact, Eva, who had just now appeared, was drenched in sweat as if she had been running at full speed for hours. Yet, it was remarkable how thoroughly she had sorted out the titles, fearing that the maids who had come to attend to her bath might offend someone by addressing them incorrectly.

“Shall you go in first, Former Empress?”

Divlik erased unnecessary sentiments and went straight to the point.

As he extended his hand as if to escort her towards the steaming hot spring, Eva, sensing his presence, readily moved towards the hot spring.

“If that is what you wish, I will do so.”

“I do wish it. Do so.”

Is she stupid, simple, or just unwilling to use tricks? If she had pretended to collapse on the way up, using the excuse of not eating for days, she could have avoided this situation.

“Surely you don’t intend to enter while still clothed?”

Despite her weakened body, Eva had struggled to climb up here, and now she couldn’t avoid the situation of showing her body. If she had made this decision thinking of noble honor, that promises shouldn’t be taken lightly, even for something like this and not for other reasons, it would be even more foolish than not finding a way to escape.

“Your Majesty…”

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…”

Even in this situation, Eva didn’t lose the neat air she had on the day they first met. Instead, the maids standing beside her called out to Eva in pitiful voices, forgetting even the fact that they had to be careful with titles. They were distressed that their empress had to undress in front of a conqueror of unknown origin.

“Hannah, Sophie. What are you doing? You should help me take off my dress.”

At this point, Eva even asked for help from the maids standing beside her to undress her, as if it were a natural thing.

But in reality, this was not a natural thing for Eva, which is why she asked for help. Eva remembered the words ‘the fun of undressing’ that Divlik had thrown before climbing the mountain. So while climbing the mountain, she had firmly decided that this level of shame was nothing, but when she actually thought about facing it, it wasn’t so simple.

“How could we…”

“It’s not easy to take off a dress with my eyes covered. Hurry.”

So she thought it might be a little better if she borrowed the hands of the maids to undress, even if she had to undress anyway, but Hannah and Sophie, unaware of the circumstances, just stamped their feet and couldn’t bring themselves to touch Eva’s clothes. Urging them more loudly would seem strange to anyone, so Eva became a little anxious. Divlik easily read this slight anxiety that arose in Eva due to the maids’ hesitation.

Even if it’s clothes that will be taken off anyway, does it make a difference whose hands remove them?

“Finn, turn around. She was once the empress of the empire, we should show her at least that much consideration.”

“Yes, Lord Divlik.”

I was planning to do this anyway, but if that’s the case, I should undress her myself even more so. As soon as Finn turned towards the mountain, Divlik strode towards Eva and reached out his hand.

“Since there’s no one to help, I’ll help you.”

“Lord Divlik! We…”

“We’ll do it!”

While the maids caused a commotion, not knowing what to do at Divlik’s sudden action, Eva didn’t even let her breath waver when Divlik pulled and untied the dress string at her waist. She was so calm that it was surprising if she was even properly aware that her clothes were being removed now.

No one would have known, but Eva was trying hard to suppress the urge to grab Divlik’s hand. That’s how merciless Divlik’s hands were.

Divlik, who had been untying the dress strings relentlessly as if he was untying a string on a package, pressed the back of his hand against Eva’s protruding chest, pretending that the strings weren’t coming undone well. Whether he was untying the strings or trying to touch Eva’s chest, he stroked her upper chest, which was already exposed by the loosened neckline, several times, keeping his hand on Eva’s chest for a while.

“Wearing clothes like this must be a torment. It takes forever to take them off. Don’t you want to just tear them off to enjoy the hot spring quickly?”

“Since there was always someone to help, putting on and taking off clothes wasn’t such a difficult task…”

Divlik hinted at why she had worn such clothes, and then pulled the dress shoulders apart with all his might, tearing them.

“Your Majesty… Sob…”

“Sob… sob…”

With the sound of fabric tearing, Eva’s dress came off and fell to the floor, and the maids began to cry, unable to look directly at Eva. Eva steeled her wavering heart at those tears.

“Don’t cry. Hannah, Sophie. It’s natural to take off clothes before washing the body.”

Don’t waver. Endure, bear it. You promised to endure no matter what time awaits you, didn’t you?

Renewing her resolve, Eva turned her unseeing eyes towards Hannah and Sophie. As if the humiliation of being forcibly undressed in front of the conqueror was nothing, Eva tried to comfort the maids first, even after losing her dress.

What a benevolent empress she is.

“This makes it seem like I’m tormenting you for no reason. I just can’t accommodate your unnecessary stubbornness. Ah, this might make things a bit more fair.”

Unaware of Eva’s efforts, Divlik frowned at Eva’s excessively calm demeanor and gently took Eva’s hand, leading it towards himself. A warm sensation different from the cold surrounding air, and a firm touch. Eva realized that her hand was touching Divlik’s chest and tried to pull it away in surprise, but Divlik held on firmly, not letting go of Eva’s hand.

“What are you doing? Hurry and help me take off my clothes.”

Divlik kindly moved Eva’s hand to touch the first button and waited for Eva’s next action. Eva unbuttoned the first button with trembling hands. Then the next, and the next. Divlik moved Eva’s hand to undo all the buttons in order.

“Is this enough to be fair?”

When Eva tried to remove her hand after noticing that all the shirt collars were open, Divlik, as if that wasn’t enough, pulled Eva’s hand to carefully stroke his chest and abs. Eva could feel Divlik’s body with her fingertips that had become sensitive due to not being able to see.

He said he was confident that just looking at him would make someone want to embrace him…

Eva’s shoulders stiffened slightly. An instinctive thirst arose from the heat emanating from Divlik’s body. Just from this touch of her hand.

When Divlik let go of Eva’s hand, seemingly satisfied with that much, and took off his shirt in one go, the maids who had been sobbing until just now held their breath.

“Gasp…!”

Although Eva couldn’t see anything, she could understand why the maids let out such a deep exclamation in unison. If it was a body like this that had briefly touched her fingertips, it might make them forget even the fact that the person was the leader of the rebels who had swallowed their empire.

In reality, Divlik’s body that Eva’s hands touched was beyond a work of art. The muscles, sculpted delicately along the grain as if they might burst, were not only perfect in shape, but each part that her fingertips touched powerfully exuded overflowing energy. The broad chest that would take a long time to follow down, and the rock-like abs with muscles so defined they seemed as if they could be drawn, were truly a man’s body that would make any woman’s jaw drop, thinking, ‘If only I could be embraced by these arms once…’

Someone, either Sophie or Hannah, swallowed so loudly that the sound reached Eva’s ears. Belatedly conscious of the cloth covering Eva’s eyes, Divlik let out a small chuckle.

“I see. You can’t see my body because your eyes are covered, so it’s not entirely fair.”

“It’s alright. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same to be fair. Thank you for helping me take off my complicated dress.”

“To even thank me. I’d be happy to help you take off the rest as well. But…”

Divlik, who had been looking at Eva as she responded with polite courtesy, suddenly discovered something and sharpened his voice, reversing the relaxed atmosphere.

“I told you to change clothes, but I don’t recall giving permission to change the cloth covering your eyes. You changed it on your own, I see.”

“It was old and dirty…”

“I gave it to you, Former Empress, because it was old and dirty. Is there a more fitting decoration for you, who has lost your country, than a cloth stained with the blood of your country’s people?”

Divlik was so angered by this that he cut off Eva’s words and removed Eva’s petticoat with an even more unrestrained gesture than before. Then, without giving her a moment to catch her breath, he turned Eva around and began to untie her corset strings, letting out a mocking laugh.

“A corset even when coming to a hot spring… Did you think I would leave it alone out of laziness? I’ll have to decide what you wear from now on.”

After that, the multiple layers of chemise Eva had worn came off her body in an instant.