Chapter 133

Chapter 133

Translator: wuttisyun

He stared down at me for a moment before quietly tilting his head and smiling. 

“Do you happen to know how to tame stray dogs?”

Hernan began throwing out meaningless words. 

“A stray dog? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“It’s simple to tame beasts who can’t communicate like humans and rely only on their instincts. Just feed them well, discipline them a little and then punish them if they have to.”

I stared at him with an expression that showed that I did not understand. 

“A dog that has been whipped enough will know when to lower its tail and obey once it hears the sound. It knows to suppress its primal senses and instincts to transform itself into an animal that can be kept at home. That was how I lived my life.”

“…..”

“My life had been decided for me before I saw ‘that person’. All my predecessors had lived that way. Until I met her.”

Hernan, who recognised my expression, smiled lukewarmly without warmth and continued. 

“I don’t know how to describe the moment I met her but it felt like I was having a beautiful picnic on a warm spring day. Flowers were blooming just for her, the sun was rising just for her and the moon in the night sky hung in her eyes for a long time. Everything was pulling me to revere her. The first time I saw her, my gaze had captured her only for a splitting moment.”

Happiness. Would that be the correct term to describe the expression he had now? 

The face he had as he talked about someone else was that of happiness. He spoke calmly as if he did not want a reply. 

“That person is the most beautiful person in the world. A replacement would not suffice.”

His gaze was serene and clear like a reflection of water. So, was he trying to say that I could not even compare to ‘that person’ he admired because she was incomparably superior to me? 

“… That’s what it sounded like.”

The person who was telling a beautiful story also looked as beautiful as a fairy in a fairytale. I could feel a lump in my throat as my stomach felt like it was getting torn into pieces. My heart was pounding and my stomach was hurting as if I was bloated. 

“Hernan.”

A hateful yet pitiful person. 

He smelled soft and sweet. There was a clear scent of life form him. 

“I want to have you.”

Hernan stared at me plainly. His gaze was neither hot nor cold but I did not know what was behind it. 

He was not looking at me as the woman, ‘Ahn’. He was looking at the person he thinks he is. Yet, the eyes that were projecting onto me like a mirror contained a certain warmth and sorrow. 

I wondered why. If this happened before, I would have coldly refused him. 

However, now that I had seen other people enjoy their lives and enjoy joyous festivities, I felt the desire to live a life like that at least once. Sweet yet painful feelings filled me. I wanted to enjoy life like a normal person. 

I grabbed the strap of the small handbag I was carrying around my wrist before letting it go. 

The heavy weight of the diary which I would never release even while I was running reminded me of the truth. 

I was not the princess in the Imperial Palace now. But now I had to go back. 

“I would like you to know that what you had just told me was very rude.”

To Hernan, I was a stranger, a normal woman who was flustered because the handsome man she met for the first time today was in fact someone dangerous. Someone who was being chased by strange men and even said that I was being used as bait. 

It was ironic how I could only see who he truly was after putting on a masl. 

The romance I experienced as the person who was not the real me for a while was sweet. Though, I did not know whether I could call this romance. 

“You’re so calm even in this situation. I’m threatening you right now.”

“As the saying goes, ‘Even in the face of a robbery, you need to remain calm’. Maybe you’re just pretending to.”

Hernan narrowed his eyes. Was curiosity shaking his will?

Hernan was a man so handsome, he could crush anyone’s ideal type. Just by looking sad, he could shake any woman’s heart.

I understood why both the men and women walking past him could not take their eyes off his face.

“You’re good-looking. But you’re like a forbidden fruit.”

“Fruit?” 

“Something like sour grapes. Because you’re someone unattainable.”

Still, I felt more comfortable looking at him here instead of back in the palace where I had to keep staring back at his sweet yet anxious gaze. 

“Those words only make me want you more.”

On the other hand, I was a little concerned over how his personality was slightly different from how it was in the original novel. 

He was smirking. 

“It would be safe to say that your company should be back by now.”

I wanted to go back too but it should be safe to assume that even if they faced any problems, they were strong enough to deal with them, right? But things did go wrong. The disappearance of the princess was not a problem for just the Terena Palace. 

As soon as I was about to whisper something, I heard something approaching. It was clearly the sound of footsteps getting closer. 

“Shush.”

It was not just one person. It was many people. 

Were they the ones who were chasing us before? 

As if my expectations were right, Hernan pulled me towards him and whispered quickly. 

“I’m going to get rid of them.”

“Hold on, Hernan!”

I grabbed onto the hem of his clothes before he gently removed my hands gently.

“I’ll hear you out once I get back. I’m going to leave my spell here in the meantime.”

I could clearly see the menacing purple light seeping into the whirlwind of his blue eyes. 

“I’m warning you, don’t move. It’s dangerous so it’s best if you stay here.”

Hernan murmured as he pointed at the wall next to me. He looked at me once more with a complicated gaze before running out of the alley. 

“There! Grab him!”

For a while, there was a commotion outside. There! Chase him! Kill him! Those words sounded like that of a chase scene in a movie as a strange light leaked into the alley I was hiding in. 

The commotion did not last long. The noise gradually drifted away and soon, I was alone in the silence. 

‘Was everyone chasing Hernan?’

It was so dark I could not see what was ahead of me that well. 

Hernan had warned me to just stay put but I could not stay waiting for him here. I had to go back home, there were people waiting for me.

Above all, the favour Hernan was showing me felt creepy. I did not think he would let me return calmly after returning from dealing with whatever problem he was having. 

I poked my head out. All I saw was a quiet alley.

“… Let’s head back.”

There were some fragments of oak barrels that had been clearly shattered. I carefully stepped around the traces of the fight. There was a huge depression in the wall. The marks that were the depth of two fingers each looked like the claw marks of a huge beast. As goosebumps raised on my skin, I took a step back. 

‘… I can hear song!’

The closer I walked towards the melody I heard this morning, the closer I got to the song. It was just a short walk away. But I wondered why goosebumps continued to rise on my skin as if someone had grabbed my hair and was lifting it up. 

“Excuse me, miss!”

When I turned my head away, a warm middle-aged woman called out for me. As I walked towards her from the alley I was in, I breathed out a sigh of relief at how ordinary she was dressed.

“Oh my gosh! Do you happen to know what had happened here? When I returned from my trip, the front of my house was all messed up! Why, I’m on my way to the night market right now because I’m scared. Do you perhaps know?”

“No. I’m not sure either. Maybe it was a fight or something…”

“A fight?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m guessing.”

The woman who was making a fuss about being scared looked warm and looked to be the same age as my landlord from my previous life. By the time she approached me, I had relaxed completely. 

“According to my son, who arrived first, he told me that some white-haired man was responsible… Was he a templar? I heard he pulled out something like a sharp nail or something?”

“What? What, yes. You mean the big claw marks, right?”

The woman’s hand paused. Was I mistaken? The woman was smiling. 

“Oh dear. The world is such a  mess these days. Pretty girls like you, young miss, should watch out.”

“What? Hahaha…”

The woman patted my shoulders roughly. Just when I was about to thank her because she reminded me of my landlord who would often bring me kimchi. I stiffened mid-smile.

My body was forced to turn/ She was grabbing my shoulder like some thug. 

Naturally, my gaze drifted to her. My head was spinning. 

‘Didn’t she say she didn’t have a single clue as to what happened here?’

But I did mention claw marks… 

“Oh my. Who knew I would catch such big fish…”

As if it was CG from a movie, her shell melted into blood. A young woman appeared from the shell of the middle-aged lady who smiled as she gripped my shoulders. 

“Young miss, you were the lady who was with the Templar of Beasts, right?”

She had a plain face. A face I would often see once every 10 minutes whenever I walked along a street. 

“From what I can tell, you’re not a regular human, are you, young miss?”

But the crown made out of spiky twigs. And the necklace swinging from her neck. As soon as I thought those symbols looked familiar, something huge appeared next to the woman. 

Goosebumps took over my skin but I recognised it. It was that weird gelatin monster that had been chasing me and Hernan just a little while ago.

“Young miss. Is it because you don’t know who he is? You were with a pretty dangerous man. Or did you know? Did you fall in love with his good-looking face?”

The woman who was speaking looked as if she did not look older than 30. The woman smiled with a gaze as if she did not care that much. At her beckoning, a portion of the gelatin thing melted and stuck to my feet like gum on the sidewalk. I stared at her with a dreary expression because of this terrible situation. 

“You’re quite the brave lady. I can tell from your gaze you’re not afraid of me at all.

She trudged on over. I hugged the handbag tightly.

“W-Who are you?”

“For some reason, you have quite a pretty worn out expression, something I would usually only see from older people. You’ve been through a lot, have you?”

The woman waved her hand at me nonchalantly. 

“Hahaha. You’re looking at me like some kind of villainess. You could say that I’m just an apostle who has come to save you. Did you not hear? About the women going missing in the capital.”

It was strange. Somehow, the woman did not feel dangerous at all even though my legs had been caught. It felt like she was just holding onto me so I would not escape but it did not feel like she would hurt me. 

“Oh? From your expression, you must have already known about it. Well, that’s good. There’s a pretty interesting situation behind it.”

“Situation?”

The woman who was frowning then gave a meaningful smile. 

“In conclusion, I have no intentions of hurting you. I actually want to help you. What did the Templar of Beasts whisper to you about? Nothing he says is true. Why? Because he was just about to throw you to the kidnappers.”

“H-How are you sure?”

“I am a Templar of Rainbows and Visions. There are only five of us left, the rest had died. I can swear on the River Styx.”

She placed her hand on her chest. 

“You know about the Templar’s oath?”

In fact, there was an unexplainable sense of affection in her kind words. 

“We only have a limited amount of time. I’m going to be telling you the truth. About your kidnapping and the story behind the disappearances.”