Duke of the Beast and the Vicarious Bride - Chapter 86

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

She had always sensed it, but now Fiona knew with certainty. That clear gaze, meeting hers so directly, was not the gaze of a mindless beast.

His eyes, which had blossomed like a flower opening at the sight of her, held a depth greater than that of ordinary men.

“Caligo.”

Fiona spoke his name, strange and new upon her tongue. Even seeing him with her own eyes, she could scarcely believe it.

She had told herself she was enduring well enough through these difficult circumstances, but in truth, she had been anxious and afraid.

What if the one she met each night in the darkness was merely a phantom? What if that warmth, that heartbeat, were only illusions spun from her imagination? She could not have borne such emptiness.

But now, in the clear light, all was made plain. Caligo was no creature of darkness. He was a man of flesh and blood. The man who had existed only in her mind stood before her.

“Caligo…”

And this being—whom she had named, whom she had claimed as her own, whom she held dear in her own way—was being treated shamefully by those who had no right. Again, hot rage surged within her.

“Come here.”

In that moment, Fiona made her decision. She would save Caligo from this mire.

“I will protect you.”

She would protect him from those who called him beast—those who were themselves less than beasts.

If the whole world turned against him, she, at least, would stand by his side.

Perhaps it was the very hand of rescue that the young Fiona had once so desperately sought.

In every moment of helpless loneliness, she had waited endlessly for someone to appear—to take her hand, to wrap her in an embrace, to stand with her against a cold and indifferent world.

“Now what is this? Where did this woman come from?”

“You there, this is no place for you! Move aside at once!”

Though no one had ever come for her, she could become that someone for another. And so Fiona stepped forward to shield Caligo.

“Has the woman gone mad? I said move!”

The soldiers, already struggling to drag Caligo along, grew more agitated at Fiona’s appearance. To make matters worse, a horn sounded in the distance, announcing that training was imminent.

Panic seized them. They pulled at the iron chains, trying to force Caligo onward. Still, he did not stir. He simply gazed at Fiona, as though he could look at nothing else.

Fiona, glaring at the soldiers, did not see it—but Caligo’s eyes, watching her as though he wished to miss nothing, gleamed with a strange light.

“Stop.”

Fiona stood between Caligo and the soldiers and spoke. The soldiers did not even bother to scoff.

“Do not drag him by force. Release him.”

Still, they only stared at her as though she were mad.

“What is this drivel? Someone get this woman out of here! Does she think training is some child’s game? Drag her to the guardhouse at once!”

One of the soldiers, flustered by the unforeseen turn of events, reached out to seize Fiona—

A dull clatter of iron striking the ground. A rush of wind. And suddenly, Fiona found herself in Caligo’s arms.

Before she could grasp what had happened, soldiers lay tumbled upon the ground, crying out in confusion.

“The chains! The iron chains have shattered! The beast has escaped!”

“Send word to the Commander-in-Chief!”

Fiona, clutching the arm that held fast about her waist, looked around in astonishment. As they had said, the thick iron collar that had been tightly bound about Caligo’s neck lay in two pieces upon the ground.

What… he could have broken free so easily, yet he wore it all this time?

Before she could resolve the question, events swept onward. There was no way the commanders had failed to notice this commotion so close to training.

“The Commander approaches!”

At someone’s cry, she looked up to see Jayden hurrying toward them. At the same moment, soldiers, their faces drained of color, drew their swords and surrounded the pair, blades leveled.

Fiona gathered her wits and clutched Caligo to her, like a hen protecting her chick. Being held in his embrace, she could only appear to cling to him—but her intent was to shield him nonetheless. Caligo pressed closer into her arms.