29. The Hunted Beast

2023.10.29.

Staring at the perfectly intact half of the monstrous crown prince’s face, Regina suddenly began to see Dreykub Treloni as truly horse-headed.

‘This can’t be real. Have I really been trying all this time to seduce a man like him?’

Just last night, she had been thrilled at the thought that, compared to Louise and Yuan Pelliese marrying monsters, she might deceive Dreykub Treloni into an engagement and gain his territory…

‘This is unfair.’

What would Yuan Pelliese think seeing herself standing side by side with Dreykub Treloni?

The disfigured Crown Prince Clade Euphris, whose ruined half was concealed by a mask, somehow appeared even more mysterious!

Regina’s opinion of the Crown Prince, much like her impression of this mansion, had drastically changed from the first day to the second.

‘No. No, that’s not it.’

Regina, endlessly comparing Clade and Dreykub and sinking into despair, suddenly locked eyes with Yuan’s anxious gaze—and her fighting spirit surged.

She savagely stabbed at her food with a fork, forcefully gulping down the breakfast dishes.

‘No matter how beautiful, it’s still only half a face.’

A titleless man who couldn’t even step outside without a mask wasn’t comparable to Dreykub at all.

Regina suppressed the rising spite within her and forced herself to think as she had yesterday.

Come to think of it, the most hideous one was Yuan Pelliese, pretending to be fine while sweating profusely and stubbornly sitting there! That crow, wearing such garish clothes that didn’t suit her at all.

Even if it was uncomfortable, she still had to walk with Dreykub Treloni to the ballroom entrance during the debutante ball.

Perhaps, seeing Dreykub, some even more suitable man might gain courage and approach her.

Pushing the debutante ball issue aside for now, Regina decided to focus instead on her parents, who were glaring murderously at Yuan.

She was at her wit’s end over her father, who frustratingly refused to tell her why Yuan was needed or what she had stolen.

And her mother, who subtly wished for Yuan to return, muttering that things wouldn’t be so headache-inducing if Yuan had been around to help manage the estate—she couldn’t understand her either.

Regina’s irritated gaze swept past the imperial couple and landed on Prince Bollonico Euphris, standing beside the Emperor.

And then—

“!”

The moment her eyes met his intense blue gaze, Regina froze briefly.

The doll-like First Prince Bollonico gave her a bright, welcoming smile.

To Regina, who had only received cold nods from horse-headed Dreykub, that smile was like a ray of light.

***

After breakfast ended, roughly fifty horses were gathered, snorting at the mansion’s entrance.

This was because the radiant-faced First Prince Bollonico had proposed a hunting game.

Those who wanted to explore the infamous black mansion quickly dressed appropriately and headed toward the entrance, and from the tail end of the group, Clade emerged.

Wearing his mask just as he had when first greeting the Emperor yesterday, Clade stepped outside, revealing his wax-doll-like face to the open air as if last night’s chaos had never occurred.

The Emperor, already mounted on his horse, glanced over at him, and the moment Clade mounted his own steed, he spoke.

“So, newlywed life suits you, Clade?”

“…….”

“The servants say they heard rather embarrassing noises all night.”

“…….”

“You are a man after all. Even one who looks like a crow.”

When a faint crack appeared in Clade’s delicate, ice-carving-like face, the Emperor grinned widely.

Those who hadn’t seen Clade’s subtly disheveled expression—those who hadn’t heard a word about last night’s events—praised the Emperor as a witty joker and followed him on horseback.

Clade, letting his body be carried like a stringed puppet on horseback, finally recalled what had happened at dawn.

Yuan coming to see him.

Him cornering her against the wall, taunting her.

And the warmth of her embracing him as she apologized.

‘Did I really hold that woman in that situation?’

The violent Crown Prince Clade Euphris had hosted numerous guests and spent a scandalous night with his ninth wife.

Every time he galloped through the cold winter forest, those whispers mercilessly shook Clade.

Clade clenched his teeth, overwhelmed by the shame of the previous night and the self-loathing that had hit him since morning.

He only now belatedly realized how light his body felt compared to his foggy memory and the wretchedness of that night.

Again, he had clearly taken Yuan Pelliese’s medicine and lusted after her.

How long had they been riding?

Clade met the cruel smile of his uncle, who aimed at him a hunting arrow for monsters, its tip grotesquely twisted.

The thought of why such a thing was pointed at him didn’t even arise.

Only the memory of last night—the moment he grabbed his uncle’s shoulder as the man leered at his wife—flashed in his mind: the brief, twisted twitch of his uncle’s eyebrow.

Clade stood frozen amid the sound of the vicious arrow cutting through the wind, someone shouting from the side, “Your Majesty—Your Majesty—it’s not that way!”, and the chaos of surrounding noises.

An arrow he could not evade, did not want to evade, and had no will to evade.

***

“The Emperor has gone mad!”

The shrill scream of Countess Priscilla Pelliese filled a corner of the black mansion’s garden.

Priscilla had immediately hidden behind Frederic, trembling, upon seeing the Crown Prince’s pitiful state being carried in with the captured beasts.

She couldn’t help but scream at the sight of Clade Euphris’s maskless face and his body torn to rags.

“How could he be like this?”

“Be quiet, Priscilla.”

“Husband! Why didn’t you go and stop him? If they went hunting, they should’ve hunted animals, not—why, why!”

“How do you think I didn’t try?!”

The Count Pelliese lowered his voice as he watched the Crown Prince being carried away on a stretcher and the Emperor dismounting from his horse with no trace of remorse.

The Count, glaring at the Emperor with bloodshot eyes, quickly lowered his head in case their gazes might meet.

“If you defy him, you’re as good as dead. After seeing him shoot his own nephew with that hideous arrow, you’d never say such a thing!”

The Count whispered harshly, scrubbing his sweaty hands roughly against his clothes.

The Emperor had casually ordered the captured beasts to be roasted and eaten for the Crown Prince’s recovery.

Then, gruffly muttering, “The mansion owner is injured, so today’s party is ruined,” he ordered everyone to prepare to leave.

As管家 Gustav rushed out, Yuan appeared behind him, and Count Pelliese’s face flushed bright red.

This had been an opportunity to attend the party under the pretense of being family to the Crown Princess and meet Yuan.

To leave now with nothing accomplished? Unthinkable.

“We must go quickly! I can’t stay here any longer, I’m too anxious!”

“We have to see Yuan before we leave!”

“That’s absurd! The Emperor is still here right now—”

Amid the rapidly forming procession, Yuan stood pale-faced at the mansion’s entrance.

Emperor Igor strode proudly toward her, then openly pulled her into a tight farewell embrace. He even seemed to mockingly nibble at her earlobe.

After examining her face, so pale it was almost blue, Emperor Igor chuckled deeply, “Kk-kk,” and, upon hearing that everything was ready, turned without hesitation and mounted his horse.

Pushing through the Pelliese family members hastily boarding their carriage, Count Pelliese rushed toward Yuan.

“Yuan! This place where you are is so dangerous! Don’t you understand? You must divorce immediately!”

Yuan gathered her stunned thoughts and stepped back.

She saw Doctor Hille hurriedly ascending to the second floor.

She was also concerned about the butler’s pale face, who had dismissed her earlier, saying he had to see the Emperor off. Clearly, Clade was injured somewhere.

Before the long procession had fully departed, her uncle’s face loomed close, desperate to say one more word to Yuan.

“Yuan!”

“This is my home now. What are you saying?”

Her mind was in disarray, and the fear she once felt toward her uncle had long since vanished.

After facing Emperor Igor for two days straight, the uncle she once feared now seemed like a petty villain, insignificant to the core.

Yuan frantically rubbed the spots where the Emperor had touched her, her eyes wide open.

“Leave. This is my home. Don’t order me around.”

Her anxious uncle strained his face so hard his eyes seemed ready to pop out, then clenched his teeth.

“It’s your delusion. How could this be your home?”

“Leave.”

“Your husband. That monster killed your elder sister!”

Yuan froze, and the Count, sensing his momentum, warned sternly.

“You think she truly died only when her time came?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Before your sister, seven brides entered this mansion. Do you think they all simply ran away? Some died! The Crown Prince Clade Euphris turns into a monster at night and goes mad! What do you think he did to his wives? Your sister was here too! Definitely! And what happened? She died!”

Count Pelliese stepped closer to Yuan.

“Understand? That man you now call husband might be the one who killed your sister! Someone else did it, but don’t blame the wrong person, Yuan Pelliese! Cut ties with your family? Out of the question! Your family is me! Your aunt and your cousins! No matter how hateful or unpleasant, you can’t sever blood ties! That would be unfilial!”

It was shameless talk from a man who abandoned his nephew to seize the throne and now served the Emperor’s son.

Yuan shook her head, denying the surging anxiety.

Now was not the time to argue with her uncle.

As Yuan tried to ignore him and turn toward the stairs, her uncle suddenly grabbed both her shoulders and shook her.

“The Emperor ‘hunted’ your husband. Something must have displeased him. That’s what the Emperor is like! If even slightly annoyed, he’ll either humiliate or kill! He never lets anything go! Is this really the place you want to turn your back on your family for? Living beside that hunted monster, feeding on his suffering?”

“I’d rather suffer for someone in the Pelliese family than for strangers who mean nothing to me.”

“You!”

The Count’s face, already flushed, turned bright red, then quickly drained of blood, becoming ghostly pale.

“You—you! Did you reveal your ability?”