Tamed Monster - Chapter 128

True happiness was right within reach. Sylvia smiled faintly.

Just imagining herself reunited with her long-missed family, living out the rest of her life with them, brought the smile naturally to her face. Seeing that smile, the monster with the shadowed gaze closed the small gap that still separated them and suddenly placed a hand atop her head.

At the sensation of his hand stroking her hair, the thought that he might apply force at any moment and crush her skull froze Sylvia completely, like a mouse caught by a cat.

The touch—light, playful, as if he were handling a toy—continued relentlessly for several minutes. He moved his hand over different parts of her head, patiently insisting that she grow accustomed to his touch, until she could no longer endure it and finally loosened her tension.

It was an unreasonable demand. No matter how many months passed, Sylvia had never once fully relaxed in his presence. Even before she knew he was a monster, she had instinctively recognized him as dangerous and kept her guard up. That perception would likely never change for the rest of her life.

After being stroked until exhaustion, Sylvia was suddenly grabbed by the hand and dragged outside, where she unwillingly took a walk with him.

During that walk, they encountered five servants in total. To keep both their lives—and her own—safe, Sylvia had no choice but to act like a harmonious couple. Worse still, she had to force a smile.

“You’re really trying.”

The monster said with a chuckle. Though he’d allowed her to roam the garden freely, Sylvia afterward shut herself away inside the castle for several days, refusing even to glance at the warm sunlight seeping into the building.

* * *

Kuinan, as he had decided earlier, set about extracting Hector’s arm from the palace.

If he failed on the first attempt, he would never again have the chance to retrieve the arm of that enemy-turned-friend. He spent a full two days doing nothing but refining the plan.

During that time, his relationship with Sylvia steadily worsened. She clearly liked his physical body.

Kuinan reconfirmed that every time he fed her his blood late at night. Even in a dazed state, she clung to his lips and couldn’t bring herself to pull away. There were even moments when she tried to pounce on him.

‘Seriously… even now, I don’t know how I managed to hold back.’

He had resisted solely for her sake. Monsters did not understand consideration, yet Kuinan, who had reformed himself this much for her, had forcibly peeled her off him and fled the room so she wouldn’t wake later drowning in self-loathing.

Even when she later didn’t remember attacking him, he didn’t feel indignant. Instead, he pitied her as she was now fully addicted to monster blood. He tried by monster standards, paradoxically, to understand her actions. Still, no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible not to feel hurt.

Without realizing it, Kuinan had begun to accumulate resentment toward her. Sylvia, meanwhile, openly rejected him. Having completely erased the memory of desperately trying to take him just days ago, she now condemned him with her eyes and her actions as a shameless monster driven by lust.

That day, his mood utterly ruined, Kuinan left the castle after hiding a clone outside the bedroom and headed straight for the imperial palace.

Replaying the cold look his wife had given him over and over with simmering anger, he traveled with only a minimal escort, riding hard without rest until he reached the palace before sunset.

After passing through the gates, Kuinan headed for the Emperor’s office, barely acknowledging the attendants who tried to serve him, his face dark as if he’d bitten into something foul.

The Emperor, already informed of his arrival, greeted Kuinan as usual with a broad, jovial smile.

“My brother—so you’ve come?”

Recently, the two had grown noticeably closer. Though Kuinan couldn’t visit the palace in person due to watching over and monitoring his wife, their constant correspondence meant that even after some time apart, they felt no real distance between them.

In truth, the Emperor and Kuinan were kindred spirits. The Emperor shared the monster’s cold ruthlessness, while Kuinan mirrored the Emperor’s glib charm and mischief. As long as even one of them acted like tongue-in-cheek, the two were bound to grow close.

Having swallowed his pride and played the Emperor’s flattering shadow for days just to retrieve Hector’s arm, Kuinan’s patience had been thoroughly worn down. Yet true to his specialty—shamelessness—he showed not a hint of irritation now that the man stood before him and warmly returned the greeting.

“I’ve been dying to see you, Your Majesty.”