Chapter 128 - North Korean rabbit

Chapter 128

Chapter 14. The Night of the Crimson Moon

I was surprised anew. That time had flowed this swiftly.

The point at which I had met Arpad to request the marriage of abduction was during the last Crimson Moon.

Nearly half a year had passed since then.

With so many incidents occurring, I hadn't even realized this much time had flowed by.

Arpad continued with a jesting tone.

“I shall go and return. I’ll be back by morning, so don’t worry. Even if you’re lonely alone at night, don’t cry.”

I reached out and grabbed Arpad’s wrist, pulling him.

“Don’t go.”

“…….”

“Stay by my side.”

At that, Arpad let out a heavy sigh.

“If this wasn’t intentional, it’s even more wicked of you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Arpad suddenly took a step forward, thrusting his face right before my nose.

“!”

His red irises filled my vision, and his breath touched my cheek and the area around my neck as if to seize it.

“Grabbing a man’s clothes and pleading so pitifully not to go… what else could it be but seduction.”

Heat rushed to my face.

“Wh-who said anything about seduction?!”

It’s him who does it at all times, unnecessarily and for no reason!

“You’re just planning to go and shut yourself away alone in the catacombs again, aren’t you?”

“Correct. During the Crimson Moon period, it’s dangerous no matter what.”

That was true.

In my first life, it was on a night of the Crimson Moon that Arpad had completely lost his mind and ran amok.

Arpad very carefully peeled off my fingers, one by one, from where they gripped his wrist.

He was cautious, as if a slight mistake might break my fingers.

Indeed, if he applied even a little force, my fingers could snap with a crack.

I brought my other hand over and gripped Arpad even more firmly.

I still remembered it.

A dark, silent space where the only living things were sewer rats, insects, and Arpad.

The moment I saw Arpad standing amidst it, for an instant, I had thought:

‘He looks so lonely.’

Feeling that desolation, I didn’t want to send Arpad back to that gloomy underground tomb.

“Do you know how many times I’ve shown precursors to madness? And how much blood was shed each time?”

“I know!”

Arpad’s red eyes widened roundly.

“Not long after entering the Crown Prince’s Palace, I asked the court physician and confirmed it.”

“…You never told me.”

“There was no need to say I knew.”

I had slowly and cautiously collected information about Arpad’s madness.

The reason was simple: I was worried that in the process, it might be discovered that I was the ‘Bride.’

“He said it was a total of nine times from around age ten when the first precursor appeared until now, and three of them were truly severe.”

According to the court physician who had served the imperial family for generations, it was an overwhelmingly high number even among the direct imperial line.

“To speak frankly, it is nothing short of a miracle that you have not been consumed by the madness until now.”

“Among the imperial family members recorded in history, you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, are the only one to have experienced such severe precursors to rampage and yet maintain your reason.”

“Right. During those three severe times, I saw the blood of palace servants or vagrants on the road.”

He observed me piercingly.

“Yet, aren’t you afraid?”

I raised my head and spoke as if it were absurd.

“Have you forgotten why you made a contract with me?”

“What?”

Unable to bear it, I grabbed Arpad by the collar.

“I promised to soothe your madness, didn’t I! You were swayed by that too!”

“…Ah.”

Surprisingly, Arpad wore an expression as if he had just now recalled something he had momentarily forgotten.

What, really?

* * *

Even he himself was surprised.

‘I truly had forgotten for a moment. That important matter.’

Hilia had boldly declared she would suppress the madness, and even swore an oath upon a divine object.

Of course, he hadn’t completely forgotten the matter itself.

It was just that worry had taken precedence.

Arpad pressed his fingertips to his brow and sighed.

He truly found himself unbearably pathetic.

‘To be so worried about possibly hurting her if I’m by her side due to the madness that I didn’t even think of that….’

It was absurd. To the point he thought he had become a fool.

Like a racehorse with blinders on, seeing only straight ahead, the thought that Hilia could be in danger had become lodged in his head and wouldn’t come out.

‘At this rate, what that fellow Felix said isn’t entirely wrong either.’

He had said something about being like a green youth unable to get a grip on his first love.

At this moment, even Arpad had no choice but to agree.

Hilia looked at him for a moment as if it were absurd, then placed a hand on her hip and spoke boldly.

“I’m here. Just trust me.”

Somehow, it felt as if his heart was melting, melting away completely.

In the period leading up to the Crimson Moon, Arpad becomes sensitive and irritable.

Yet, simply because this woman said she would protect him, he was becoming this soft.

He himself found it absurd.

That said, he had no intention of following as Hilia said.

“Still, no.”

“What? Why? Why not?!”

Arpad spoke seriously.

“During the Crimson Moon period, my consciousness sometimes blurs. When I come to my senses, the surrounding furnishings or buildings are often damaged. If you’re by my side, it’s truly dangerous.”

Arpad licked his parched lips with his tongue and continued.

“I’m worried I might hurt you. That’s why.”

“Because I’m a precious body that can soothe your madness?”

“…Let’s say that.”

“Then it makes even less sense. Since I can soothe your madness, it’s more advantageous for us to be together.”

Arpad opened his mouth with difficulty, in a low voice.

“Lately, I sometimes have dreams.”

“Huh?”

An expression asking what this sudden talk was about.

Arpad forced a smile and stroked Hilia’s soft cheek with the back of his hand as if brushing it.

“I often dream of harming you.”

“…!”

“Each time, you were injured or in a terrible state. Always… crying. Sometimes screaming for help.”

Hilia felt a chill run down her spine.

‘Could it be?’

* * *

On the second night of the Crimson Moon.

The Empress’s Palace was weighed down by an eerie silence.

It was natural, as its mistress had been stripped of all real power and was under house arrest.

In the past, even at night, the surroundings would have been brightly lit, but now only a single small candlestick was set up.

Empress Isabel merely gazed quietly at the small, pitiful candle burning silently.

The voice that disturbed her silence was a familiar one.

“For a disgraced Empress to be like this, there’s no misery quite like it.”

The Empress raised her head.

“You’re late, Gaspard.”

Gaspard shook his head and walked over soundlessly.

“The inside of the Empress’s Palace is like a tomb. How many palace servants have you seized?”

In truth, the Empress hadn’t been pressuring or oppressing her subordinates.

She had simply secluded herself in her bedchamber without a word.

That alone was enough for the palace servants to become quiet, watching their mistress’s mood.

The Empress felt no need to explain and thus ignored it, extending her hand.

“You brought it, I presume?”

Her voice carried a distinct anxiety and anticipation.

“Yes. It was quite a struggle. You should have just told me to take it from the same place as before. Why on earth….”

The Empress had emphasized it several times. To bring the one from inside the most recently interred stone coffin.

“Just hand it over.”

Gaspard obediently tossed the pouch he had brought onto the Empress’s lap.

Isabel opened the pouch with trembling hands.

Inside were a few bone fragments that appeared to be human.

Finger bones. On one of them was a ring the Empress also recognized.

One of the gifts the late Empress Roxelline had received from her husband during their courtship.

A ring she had taken with her even at the moment she entered the coffin.

“As you said, I also took one burial item from that coffin. This should be sufficient proof, yes?”

Proof that these remains belonged to Empress Roxelline, who died of madness.

Romance, Fantasy,