Tamed Monster - Chapter 105

As Rossa earnestly tried to give him advice, Kuinan was busy sharpening his senses, counting how many people were in the area.

Having a witness or two wasn’t a big deal. He could just kill them and bury the evidence—no different from how he’d treated the knights who’d gone to the swamp and died, never giving them a second thought. To him, humans were all equally insignificant.

It was pure luck that the Duchess had handled things so thoroughly—making sure the families of the dead knights were generously compensated, so the whole affair ended quietly.

But even that put Rossa in a foul mood. No matter what the Duchess did, Rossa saw it as some kind of malicious deed.

“I refuse.”

Kuinan said, looking down at the frail woman—someone he could snuff out in an instant—like she was nothing more than a bug.

Inwardly, he was seriously debating whether to kill her on the spot. If she said one more insulting thing about his mate, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop himself from reaching out and silencing her forever.

But, unfortunately for him, Rossa didn’t push her luck any further.

“This mother asked you so many times, over and over again, but you won’t listen. I told you what she really is, didn’t I? She’s a demon—or at least a servant of one.”

Rossa’s imagination had always run wild. She knew, logically, that monsters weren’t supposed to be able to disguise themselves as humans.

But her paranoia, mixed with old memories of encountering monsters, helped her conjure up a believable image that Sylvia simply couldn’t be human. Even if not a monster herself, she must be some crafty minion of one.

And the timing fit, too. Her son had gone missing in the swamp and miraculously returned—right around the time Sylvia started to act more lively. Suddenly her son, who once couldn’t stand to be near his wife, was doting on her every day and keeping his own mother at arm’s length.

How could such a drastic change happen? She was sure that some sinister magic had wormed its way into her house. There could be no other explanation.

“Keep your promise. You and your family can live off the money this house gives you for the rest of your lives. That’s in exchange for the relics you brought from your homeland.”

“…Yes, Lady Rossa.”

“As long as you don’t betray me first, I won’t betray you.”

But now, that promise has been broken. Because Sylvia broke it first. Rossa had thought that as long as she kept Sylvia’s family hostage, the girl would live as a meek, obedient servant for the rest of her days.

Now, Sylvia had summoned a demon and was poised to swallow the entire family, so Rossa felt she had no reason to honor any old vows.

She’d been stabbed in the back, so now it was her turn to return the favor.

If her son wouldn’t cooperate, she’d handle that wicked woman herself and bring peace back to the family no matter what.

Rossa’s hatred was written all over her face, not realizing how obvious her thoughts were to the real monster standing right in front of her.

Kuinan honestly wondered if he should just kill this woman.

‘Hmm… more people are starting to gather.’

If five or so witnesses showed up, even he would have a hard time dealing with the aftermath. Not to mention figuring out how to explain her sudden death. For a second, he wanted to just pick her up and toss her over the balcony, but that would only guarantee even more people witnessing the murder.

‘Guess I have no choice.’

He couldn’t kill her here and now. Still, if she kept running her mouth about ‘that woman’, he was definitely going to have to shut her up.

He knew perfectly well that Rossa’s suspicions about Sylvia becoming a monster weren’t because of some supernatural intuition. At first, her raving had surprised him, but now he realized that this was just a woman whose hobby was having delusions.

Here she was, slandering Sylvia as some sort of demon in front of the real monster. How could anyone be so clueless? At least Sylvia had the sense to constantly be on her guard against him.