Tamed Monster - Chapter 163

She could feel a gaze at her back—sharp enough to pierce.

Four years ago, she had entered this place with the Emperor at her side, and no one had openly watched her then. But now, without him, the armed soldiers’ stares clung to her with far more hostility.

Beneath the vast ceiling, Sylvia moved carefully forward. The treasury was not brightly lit, but neither was it dark enough to obscure friend from foe. The layered luminescent coating on the floors, walls, and ceiling seemed to emit a faint glow. This was her second visit. She proceeded calmly.

The massive steel door—five strong men required to pry it open even a crack—stood behind her as she stepped deeper inside, breathing in the cold, unfamiliar air.

By having the treasury opened, she had fulfilled her promise to the monster completely. Now it was his turn to keep his word. Even if she disappeared before him today, even if she fled somewhere so distant he could never find her, he must not pursue her.

Though the temperature was not particularly cold, chills wracked her body. She crossed her arms over her chest. Her shoulders hunched; her head lowered of its own accord.

She did not know the way. Of course she didn’t—no one was meant to know the way here. One of the soldiers guided her through the winding, maze-like corridors and down another set of stairs. Even he knew only the single path the Emperor had instructed him on; if she asked to see anything other than the painting, he would not be able to comply.

She stopped before the grand, historic masterpiece depicting her homeland’s royal palace and stood there in silence for a long while.

The painting completely absorbed her. It seemed as though the court painter, who was renowned as the finest in the kingdom, had poured his very soul into it over the years of its creation. The essence of the palace itself lived within the canvas.

“……”

The Emperor had placed no limit on how long she could remain, so she stood there as long as she wished. In truth, she had no intention of telling the soldiers she was ready to leave until her husband came. Just once more, she wanted to see his face before parting.

What was he doing right now?

Sparring with the knights? Or, had the Emperor discovered his true nature and dragged him off to prison?

Even as she lost herself in the painting, worry would suddenly surface. She resolved again and again that she must see his face before she left. Only if she saw him safe could she cast aside her lingering attachment. And when the moment came, she would not say the crooked, cutting words she so often threw at him.

She would say only kind things. Words that would please even a monster. Words pressed down with sincerity.

Listening to the soldiers’ steady breathing as though it were the ticking of a clock, Sylvia waited. By her reckoning, only about an hour had passed when she suddenly sensed him nearby.

How could she know he had arrived when there was no sound, no scent?

She turned in wonder, when someone let out a short, choked gasp and collapsed. One of the five soldiers guarding her.

Then another.

And another.

One by one, their necks were crushed by the monster’s bare hands, their lives extinguished in an instant.

Instinctive terror stole Sylvia’s breath.

She hadn’t expected this. Had he intended to kill them all from the start? Once they were dead, how did he plan to escape?

Questions tumbled over one another until she realized something obvious: her husband was a monster. She might have forgotten the twisting route moments after walking it, but he would have memorized it as easily as breathing.

She stared blankly at the corpses.

“Wife. This isn’t the time to stand there spacing out. I caused a bit of trouble outside. We don’t have long.”

He casually wiped the blood splattered across his cheek.

“The Emperor found out.”

The monster said it with a perfectly composed expression, like he was stating the weather.

For a moment, Sylvia wondered if she had misheard. If the Emperor had found out, how was he standing here? How had he entered the treasury without being seized?

As confusion shook her body uncontrollably, the monster began explaining in rapid, matter-of-fact tones.