Tamed Monster - Chapter 154

Slick—

A thin line opened across his skin, and blood welled out. It was bright red. A monster’s blood could be any color depending on the individual, so color alone proved nothing. This could not confirm whether he was human or not.

Once more, the Emperor looked at Kuinan as if testing him. He stared intently, checking whether cold sweat beaded on the man’s brow as drops of blood fell onto the carpet. Out of the corner of his eye, he also watched the Grand Duchess. Neither of them showed the slightest expression—no fear, no anxiety.

Was that because they had nothing to hide… or because of something else?

There was far too little evidence to conduct a proper interrogation today. Besides, he was a busy man. Opportunities to question them would be plentiful in the future.

With that thought, he relaxed his hardened expression, offered a light apology for making him bleed, and finally brought up the topic he had intended all along.

“Grand Duchess. I hear you’ve been homesick lately?”

He asked it teasingly, as if poking fun. Her rigid eyes softened a little.

“Not exactly homesick… I was simply reminded of a painting I once saw.”

She claimed she wanted to see again a famous artwork she had viewed four years earlier with him, back when he had still been Crown Prince. The painting was kept inside the imperial treasury.

In her letter to the Emperor, Sylvia had used that flimsy excuse—something she did not truly care about—to request entry. That letter was why he had summoned Sylvia.

Kuinan had written that he wished to discuss troubling reports about unusual movements among the swamp monsters. In truth, the creatures were almost certainly behaving suspiciously even now, so it was not entirely a lie.

“Hm. The painting of the royal palace, wasn’t it? Well, it used to be your home. Only natural you’d want to see it from time to time.”

Pretending to sympathize, the Emperor subtly teased her—almost as if she were his own wife. A flicker of emotion passed across Kuinan’s previously blank face. The Emperor, busy watching Sylvia, did not notice. Still grinning like a mischievous boy, he continued to banter lightly.

“When you go, I’ll join you as well.”

Right in front of her husband, the Emperor shamelessly flirted with another man’s wife. The monster’s anger, which had been simmering beneath the surface, surged squarely toward him.

At that exact moment, Sylvia grabbed Kuinan’s wrist.

Below her grip, his hand—swollen, beginning to revert to its monstrous form—slowly reshaped itself back into human flesh.

A cold sweat broke out across her back. She had to match the Emperor’s tone while also calming her husband. Fortunately, the table between them hid his hand from view. If the Emperor had seen it, he would not be sitting there so cheerfully chatting.

Sylvia responded to his advance with polite restraint.

“Thank you for offering your time, Your Majesty, but if you would simply assign one or two guides, I can go quietly on my own.”

As she spoke, she glanced at her husband. His gaze had already fixed on her cheek. Watching the unusually harmonious couple across from him, the Emperor’s expression soured slightly. He deliberately stirred his teacup loudly with a spoon to force their attention back to him.

“Suit yourself. Grand Duke, what exactly is suspicious about the swamp monsters’ movements?”

He did not care that the Grand Duchess might overhear confidential matters. Even if she did, it was not as though the information could reach the monsters. Besides, she was a recluse who rarely left her residence or participated in society, her words held no influence at all.

Unaware of how deeply she was entangled with monsters, the Emperor discussed the Blavat Swamp creatures in front of a woman already becoming one and the monster himself.

Kuinan spoke without hesitation, embellishing the story as he went.

“To begin with, there is one monster with striking red hair. Forces are gathering around it as a focal point. They may invade the Empire soon, so it would be wise to reinforce the army.”

The Emperor nodded, as if this were exactly what he had hoped to hear.