Chapter 93 - North Korean rabbit

Chapter 93

“…….”

It was an extremely unsettling feeling.

At the very moment he was about to lick her blood, as he opened his eyes in the ambiguous boundary between dream and reality, Arpad even had this thought.

‘What a pity.’

That he hadn’t gotten a proper taste.

‘…This is truly a strange and dreadful thought.’

For a moment, Arpad suspected that his madness might have manifested in that direction.

This worry also occurred to him.

‘If she knew of this thought, Hilia, who is already suspicious enough, might try to run away.’

She is a sensitive and perceptive woman to begin with.

Perhaps she might even sense it just from his reaction.

Because of this anxiety, Arpad remained in his office until the time he would normally have entered Sia’s bedroom.

At that moment, there was a sense of incongruity pricking at one corner of Arpad’s sharp senses.

“!”

An intruder.

And in the direction of Sia’s bedroom, where Hilia would be.

Shocked, Arpad roughly opened the door and ran at full speed.

‘Hilia!!!’

* * *

‘…He’s late.’

I immediately shook my head, denying this thought.

‘No, if I do this, it’ll seem like I’m actually waiting for Arpad!’

I was just sitting in my room.

‘To be more precise, I’m feeling mortified.’

I couldn’t bring myself to tell Ani or Yulken why I was so embarrassed.

Because the two of them naturally assumed that Arpad had taken care of me thoroughly.

Well, it’s because we are officially husband and wife.

Because we share a bed every day.

If they knew I was acting like this, they would find it strange.

Cooling my flushed face with the back of my hand, I muttered.

“Had I known this would happen, I should have taken it a bit easier.”

Suddenly, this thought occurred to me. What would Arpad think if he came and saw my reddened face?

He’s a perceptive man, so he might figure everything out.

I took out a glass bird I had placed inside the wall’s display case.

It was that toy used for the windy special effect during the last banquet.

When I uttered the activation word, its small wings fluttered, sending a pleasantly cool breeze that tickled my face.

‘Right. I’ll act as if nothing happened. He was also acting as if he hadn’t seen anything, wasn’t he?’

It was just as I was barely steadying my heart.

A slight abnormality occurred with the glass bird toy.

*Crackle!*

With a tiny spark of light, the toy sputtered. The wind cut off and came back on several times.

“!”

Though a small matter, I was startled and tensed up.

‘This is a phenomenon that occurs when another powerful magical force or magical artifact is nearby!’

It was a rare error, but thanks to experiencing all sorts of things before the regression, I knew.

I sprang to my feet, looking around, and shouted in a tense voice.

“Who’s there?!”

“…Oh? How did you know I was here? So there is something special about you after all?”

A voice that made all the hairs on my body stand on end answered from behind me.

It was not Arpad’s voice.

But it was a voice I knew.

At this moment, it was also a voice I did not want to hear here.

I turned around in shock.

There stood a man as if he had melted out of the darkness.

He wore a deep black hood, revealing only his mouth and chin below his nose.

I knew the true face of that man hidden within the hood.

I barely managed to stop myself from covering my mouth and screaming his name.

‘Tower Lord Gaspard!’

Fear climbed up my spine like a snake.

“Please, please stop! It hurts so much!”

My despair and pain were merely sources of curiosity and pleasure for him.

My memories with Tower Lord Gaspard were from near the end of my third life as well.

For me, it didn’t feel distant, and my body froze like a mouse before a snake.

Gaspard stared intently at me, then slowly approached.

He extended a finger densely engraved with complex red patterns, attempting to touch my chin.

“So you are the famous Crown Princess blessed by the dragon……”

“…….”

He tilted his head this way and that.

“You don’t seem to differ much from an ordinary person in terms of the size or nature of your magical power.”

The blade-like tip of the man’s fingernail touched my chin.

“If there truly is something special, perhaps I’d know if I dissected you……”

I knew better than anyone that this was no joke.

“I was curious whether the rumors were true or not. I hadn’t planned on being discovered, but since it’s come to this, I might as well check.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“Bride of the Dragon. No other nickname suits you better.”

The man who made me realize what I was.

Simultaneously, the enemy who gave me one of the most horrific experiences even across three regressions.

If I were to name the person I hate most, excluding Evangeline and Ludwig, it would be Gaspard.

This man was the object of terror and hatred who tormented and abused my body.

I couldn’t remain frozen stiff before such a man.

‘Get a hold of yourself, Hilia!’

The taste of blood filled my mouth.

I mustn’t lose my wits.

Thanks to the sharp pain, my reason slowly returned.

At that moment, I slapped away Gaspard’s hand, which had been hovering near my chin, with a loud smack.

“!”

A glint of interest appeared in Gaspard’s eyes.

“Clearly, you were afraid of me just a moment ago, but you changed in an instant? As if you’ve become a different person? Interesting.”

I forcibly swallowed my instinctive fear.

Suppressing the trembling, I summoned anger.

A voice filled with force spread through the bedroom.

“Mind your manners, mage.”

“How can you be so sure I’m a mage?”

“Who else but a mage could perform a trick like suddenly popping out of a wall?”

Though I knew Gaspard’s true identity, I decided not to show it.

The line of Gaspard’s mouth revealed beneath the hood drew a sharp arc.

An unpleasant laugh pierced my ears.

“You’ve got nerve. Ordinary noblewomen usually freeze in terror just standing before me.”

Well, of course. What woman wouldn’t be scared before a psycho pervert like you?

“I am not an ordinary noble lady.”

“Yes, I suppose so. You are the great Crown Princess blessed by the dragon……”

He stretched his neck toward me like a snake.

“So, is it true? Is it real?”

“…….”

“Did you really meet a dragon in person? Were you chosen? Huh? How was it? What did it look like? Was it in a transformed state? Or the dragon’s true form? If its true form, how big was it? The scales and claws? How did it communicate its will? Tell me. Come on. Come on!”

The torrent of questions was clearly knotted with madness.

“Tell me now! Or I could tear your body to pieces to verify if the rumors are true!”

His chilling aura caused his hood to flip back.

The man’s face, which had been hidden all along, was revealed.

His face was surprisingly quite handsome. His long silver hair was neatly tied back, and his light green eyes reminded one of spring sprouts.

However, the red tattoo centered around his left eye was grotesquely twisted, as if symbolizing his madness.

I bit my lip and laughed.

Scraping together a composure I didn’t have, I retorted.

“Why should I?”

“…?”

Then Gaspard tilted his head in a bizarre manner.

“Did you not understand my words?”

“No, I understood perfectly well.”

For a moment, I had forgotten. My situation.

Right now, I was in a state akin to standing on the edge of a blade.

It was an unstable and precarious position.

This was no time for idle, luxurious thoughts like feeling embarrassed because someone saw me naked.

I uttered words that Gaspard could absolutely not ignore.

“Neither Evangeline nor the Empress can give you what you want.”

“…?”

The smile that had risen to Gaspard’s lips vanished.

“Why are you bringing up the Empress or Evangeline?”

Ignoring his counter-question, I continued.

“You wouldn’t be satisfied with a member of the imperial family with thin blood like Ludwig, would you? Isn’t that right?”

Gaspard, an exceptional mage, was obsessed with dragons.

Therefore, the only things that could move him were information related to dragons or the offer of an experimental subject.

“…You really do know what I want?”

“You were just going on and on about dragons; I’d be a fool not to know.”

In truth, I learned it through bitter experience over months of being experimented on and tormented in a past life, but of course, I have no intention of saying that.

And I dangled the bait he would want most.

“Don’t you want the body of a living, breathing member of the imperial family who has inherited the dragon’s bloodline?”

“…!”

The smile brimming with ease and madness disappeared from Gaspard’s face.

Before the regression, I heard it several times.

The words he muttered while standing before the imperfect monster created from Arpad’s corpse.

“Ah. This is a nearly pure bloodline, close to half-human, half-dragon.”

“If only I had obtained the fresh body while it was still alive.”

“Then I could have recreated that beautiful and perfect race with my own hands……”

Now he was genuinely taken aback.

Yes, you’re surprised because I pinpointed it as if I read your mind.

With an annoyingly composed smile, I continued.

“Next time, bring a proper price and visit respectfully.”

A smile tinged with admiration soon spread across Gaspard’s face, which had momentarily faltered.