Chapter 32
“What?”
“Two days ago, someone placed a secret bounty on your head.”
I felt a chill run through my veins.
‘Kill me? Enough to secretly hire a notoriously expensive mercenary company?’
Reynard looked at me, his expression serious. “I took the contract. If I hadn’t, they would have simply hired someone else. But the moment I accepted it, I had to get you to safety. You ran off to who-knows-where, so I had no choice but to follow.”
“B-but who… who would… no.”
Shaking my head, I fought to clear the fog of shock from my mind and looked back at Reynard. I think I know who wants me dead.
“Seikan’s father. Count Perdian.”
Reynard’s mouth fell open slightly in admiration. “As expected of our clever Adelina. You got it right away.”
“So I was right.”
“It could have been Helion’s father too. Didn’t you suspect him at all?”
“I did, but I thought Count Perdian was more likely.”
Helion is the youngest son. In Duke Ziek’s family, Helion’s older brother is already firmly established as the next heir. Even if the youngest son falls for a commoner, they would have the luxury of simply telling him to find someone more suitable.
But Count Perdian’s situation is different. Seikan is his only child. They don’t have many relatives, and the few they do have, they’ve been estranged from for generations.
His sole heir publicly declared his affection for a common orphan. Count Perdian must have been frantic. Righteous Seikan, blessed with divine power and dreaming of knighthood since childhood, wouldn’t know.
He wouldn’t know how his father looks at me like I’m less than dirt every time he visits the temple.
“You look troubled.”
Lost in thought, I felt Reynard’s long fingers tap my furrowed brow. I swatted his hand away, telling him to stop messing around.
He grumbled about not being able to even do that and flopped onto the bed.
‘Oh no, my underwear is under him. Am I destined to remain pantless forever…?’
“Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone lay a finger on you. Or, how about I take care of it myself? Just for you, I’ll give you a discount. Five kisses and we’ll call it even.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. And take care of what? It’s Seikan’s father.”
“Well, if Seikan finds out his father put a hit out on you, he might just lose it.”
“Don’t tell Seikan his father did this either.”
I don’t want to cause a rift between father and son. Regardless of what Seikan has done to me, I don’t want his righteous heart to be broken by his father. If I disappear, Count Perdian will probably assume I’m dead and give up.
“Reynard, he’s your best friend’s father. There’s no need to tell him something like this.”
“I have two best friends. Helion’s one, too.”
“You’re playing with words again!”
Reynard chuckled and reached out, twirling a loose strand of my hair around his finger. “Our Adelina, you’re so kind, how can I not fall for you?”
‘Nonsense.’
I glared at him, and he brought the end of my hair to his lips.
“Anyway, I understand. And don’t worry about other mercenary groups for a while. I’m too busy to take on any other contracts.”
“Huh? Why are you busy?”
Is there something that keeps mercenary groups busy this time of year? It’s not like it’s the season right before hibernation when wild animals are more active.
Puzzled, I tilted my head, and Reynard lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret. “I’m only telling you this.”
His already low voice dropped further, making me tense. “A lot of rich folks are having trouble with their… hidden monster pets.”
“What?” Monsters? Why are we talking about monsters after the Monster King has been defeated?
“You know, those low-level monsters that wealthy people with dangerous hobbies keep locked up in their mansions? They seem to be causing trouble all over the place.”
“Oh…” In that instant, I understood. Monsters are best understood not as individuals, but as a collective, like an ant colony.
Even though they’re scattered across the world, their central focus is the Monster King. With the queen ant, the Monster King, dead, all the monsters in the world would have been mentally affected.
The problem is, the Monster King died much earlier than in the original story.
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