Tamed Monster - Chapter 142

His intention was not to digest her, but merely to lick, bite, taste, and indulge openly in obscene acts. Yet the moment he saw Sylvia’s face tighten into a deep frown, nearly half of his desire cooled at once.

In other words, instead of finishing inside her twenty times, he now felt like settling for ten. From Sylvia’s perspective, either option was nothing short of a catastrophe—especially since he didn’t seem inclined to carry her all the way up three flights of stairs to the bedroom before committing his outrage.

“Here…?”

She had been about to argue logically that stripping her and pressing himself against her in this place would utterly destroy their dignity as nobles. But just as she parted her lips, she realized that he was neither a noble nor even human. There was no reason to believe he would understand.

Resigned, she leaned forward instead and pressed her lips to his.

Pleased by her compliance, he rumbled low in his throat. The sound—like a mountain-sized beast growling within a handsome human shell—vibrated through his chest and into her mouth. Sylvia froze, every hair on her body standing on end, instinctively holding her breath.

Surprisingly, the kiss alone seemed to subdue most of his boiling urges. He withdrew slowly. Sylvia used the moment to steady her ragged breathing before bringing up the news she had heard that morning from the new steward.

“I heard the Emperor is tearing the palace apart looking for whoever set fire to the annex. They say you’re under suspicion too. Is that true?”

Anyone who took the Emperor’s invitation to visit ‘for courtesy’s sake’ at face value was a fool. It seemed the Emperor had finally remembered that the Grand Duke had also been present at the palace that day.

In a different way from the Emperor, the Grand Duke himself was infamous for madness. He had caused numerous large-scale incidents without reason. If anything, it was surprising he had not been suspected sooner.

“Mm…”

“…It was you, wasn’t it? You did it, didn’t you?”

Reading the faint tremor behind his annoyed expression, Sylvia pressed him immediately. Apparently finding lies more troublesome than the truth, he nodded without resistance.

She covered her forehead and let out a long, weary sigh.

“Haah…”

“As long as I didn’t get caught, what does it matter? No one saw me.”

He had even smuggled Hector’s arm out safely. In the chaos, all the guards had rushed to the burning annex, leaving the main gates understaffed, allowing him to leave without inspection. Being the Emperor’s half-brother and a Grand Duke had helped—no one dared search him thoroughly.

“Is that all that matters? Do you have any idea how many palace staff suffered because of you?”

Despite her justified reproach, the false Grand Duke didn’t even twitch. Instead, he shot back calmly:

“Well… considering the conditions you gave me a week ago, I’m not sure you’re in a position to criticize.”

She had been the one to promise to open the treasury—allowing a monster to steal the poison—in exchange for her own freedom and the safety of certain people she cared about. Compared to that, dozens of palace staff suffering collateral damage hardly gave her moral high ground.

Speechless, she bit her lower lip hard enough to bleed.

Kuinan immediately regretted his words. He could shrug off her irritation easily, but when she hurt herself out of distress, his own mood plummeted.

“I was just talking. You’re really going to take something a monster says so seriously?”

After confirming no one was nearby, he hurried to soothe her. His empty reassurance had little real effect, yet her composure gradually returned. That too was likely due to the monster’s blood he had secretly fed her.

Her gaze turned cold—almost emotionless—as it fell on him. And yet, Kuinan felt a thrill. After all, she had become this way because of him. There was nothing to regret about her becoming more like him. On the contrary, he was proud.

He extended his hand.

“Let’s go for a walk again, sweetheart. Before the Emperor’s knights show up to drag me away.”

They were due to arrive today. According to the steward—his voice trembling—the Emperor intended to question him officially. The current mad Emperor could fabricate charges against any noble if he wished.

At the unfamiliar endearment ‘sweetheart’, Sylvia snorted softly. He watched that fleeting smile with obsessive attention, as though trying to capture it before it vanished like a mirage.

Soon enough, her expression went blank again.

Disappointed, he clasped her hand and pulled her out of the hall.

They strolled through the garden as usual—pleasant, peaceful, deceptively normal. Then, just as he had predicted, the knights arrived at midday. Surrounding him on all sides, they escorted him under guard.

Unarmed and mounted on horseback, Kuinan took the reins and headed north toward the imperial palace.