Chapter 192 - North Korean rabbit

Chapter 192

Lord Beltain asked with an expression of grievance.

“Your Highness, why are you doing this to me?”

Arpad replied in a tone full of conviction.

“The Renus Beltain I know isn’t the sort of bastard who would blame others first in a situation where he failed to protect his master.”

“But as it is a matter concerning Your Highness’s safety, I had no choice but to mention the most suspicious individual given the circumstances.”

Ani, who had been flustered by the sudden situation, nodded at Beltain’s words.

She had personally experienced the suspiciously persistent black snake throughout the journey.

Naturally, she harbored suspicion and resentment towards him and couldn’t help but sympathize with Beltain.

Moreover, having worked at Delphin for a long time, she was also well acquainted with Beltain. It was only natural to side with the person she was closer to.

But Arpad was immovable.

“And above all… seeing the look in your eyes now makes me even more certain.”

“M-my eyes?”

In response to the bewildered question, Arpad nodded calmly.

“The look you have now is completely different from the unpleasant look that bastard always had when looking at or talking about Hilia. …You are not him.”

Ani was astonished.

‘He can tell by the look in his eyes? Is that even possible?’

She, who had shared joys and sorrows with Beltain for over ten years, hadn’t noticed anything amiss at all?

‘Rather than that, isn’t he just picking on Lord Beltain, whom he’s always disliked for no reason…?’

As she thought that far, Ani soon recalled one fact.

‘…Ah, come to think of it, Lord Beltain did bring the dinner himself last evening….’

Just moments ago, Beltain had spoken as if the black snake had bribed the inn staff to tamper with the meal.

But setting aside their personal acquaintance, it was a situation where Beltain, who had brought the meal himself, could be suspected just as much as the inn staff.

Ani knew well how devotedly Beltain had served Hilia and how much Hilia trusted him.

She couldn’t rashly suspect him.

Then Arpad moved decisively.

*Screech—!*

He swung his sword just like that. With a chilling sound, a human head was severed and rolled on the floor.

Ani screamed.

“Kyaaak!!”

The scream turned into a bewildered question midway.

“L-Lord Beltain?”

Despite having his head cut off, Beltain’s body remained standing perfectly fine.

Moreover, the amount and color of the blood flowing from the severed section were strange.

The amount was excessively small, and mixed within the dark red blood were things that glowed with a bizarre blue light.

Arpad wasn’t surprised. He merely clicked his tongue lowly.

“It seems he didn’t die back then after all. I did think it was strangely easy.”

Since he had personally beheaded him with his own hands, he could be certain. The sensation was similar to that time.

“A puppet made by that Tower Lord bastard.”

* * *

The scenery surrounding Hilia and Gaspard distorted and then changed.

From a sunlit castle bedroom to a gloomy mage’s laboratory in a basement.

Hilia could tell this was a new laboratory Gaspard had temporarily created.

Because it was similar to the interior of the Magical Tower where she had suffered all sorts of horrific things in her previous life.

Behind Gaspard’s back was a large tank, inside which a bizarre and grotesque amorphous shape was squirming.

Red magical power and white divine power swirled complexly within the form.

Hilia knew what it was. Both forces were familiar to her.

‘Dragon’s magical power and divine power.’

The two mutually repelling forces constantly rotated to maintain a precarious balance.

Gaspard strode over to Hilia.

“How is it? Isn’t it beautiful? Though it’s still far from complete, of course.”

“You perverted bastard!”

The appearance of that experimental subject was quite familiar.

Because it was similar to Gaspard’s experimental subjects she had seen while imprisoned in the Tower during her third life.

If there was one thing that bothered her, it was the timing was early.

In her previous life, Hilia’s life as Gaspard’s experimental subject didn’t happen at this time, but several years later.

After being used to the fullest extent, she was handed over as an experimental subject in the capacity of a criminal.

She had also heard from Gaspard.

“The idea of applying divine power to an experimental subject only occurred to me a year ago. It’s only been half a year since I could receive support from the temple with Evangeline’s help. …And then you fell into my hands.”

“Now my life’s work can be completed.”

The experimental subject Gaspard had been gazing at with a rapturous expression back then and the thing squirming in the tank now were quite similar.

The pain and terror of that time surged anew.

Gaspard’s greedy gaze was directed at Hilia’s lower abdomen.

“Finally, I have obtained a royal fetus with a strong bloodline. Now all preparations are complete.”

“…!”

A chill and disgust surged.

It was something she could have sufficiently anticipated. She knew well how obsessed Gaspard was with dragon blood and dragons, and he had mentioned the baby in her womb.

But hearing him openly state he would use the baby as an experimental subject didn’t lessen the shock.

Hilia covered her belly with both hands and stepped back. Her back touched the cold wall of the basement.

A curse spilled from her lips unbidden.

“Do you think things will go as you wish, you son of a bitch?!”

The corner of Gaspard’s mouth twisted sharply upward.

“It’s already over the moment you fell into my hands.”

Moreover, this wasn’t the only shocking and worrying issue.

“When exactly did you switch Lord Beltain?”

“He seems to be a knight you cherish greatly. Don’t you think he might have betrayed you?”

“Lord Beltain would never betray me.”

He was a person who, even while being controlled by the power of a divine artifact, ultimately overcame it in the end. To protect me.

He would never have betrayed me of his own will. Then there was only one possibility.

Gaspard had created and controlled a puppet nearly identical to a person.

The puppet I stopped earlier was easy to make and clearly showed it wasn’t human.

The ones Gaspard put a lot of effort into were almost indistinguishable from humans.

When I joined Ani and Lord Beltain during this journey, I was too flustered.

Moreover, my condition had plummeted to its worst due to morning sickness I thought was travel sickness during the trip, so I failed to notice the sense of strangeness even more.

Usually, Lord Beltain mainly stayed at Delphin due to family management and Penny Terrace matters.

Since he was often outside my direct line of sight, it would have been easy to extend his reach.

Gaspard’s answer confirmed my prediction was correct.

“About 40 days ago, I think? He resisted quite fiercely.”

“…Where is he now? Is he unharmed?”

Gaspard deliberately smiled softly and acted as if trying to soothe Hilia.

“Don’t worry. I know well he is an effective hostage for you.”

“You didn’t… kill him, right?”

“That’s right. Though I have no intention of telling you where he is.”

A sigh of relief escaped between Hilia’s lips.

Then a mischievous question popped out.

“Aren’t you being too discriminatory?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

“That child also rushed out of the next room and tried hard to save you, but you’re not worried about him at all.”

Hilia’s eyes widened.

She belatedly realized who Gaspard was talking about.

“Krau Teslan?”

He tried to save me?

Gaspard flicked his finger.

Then the shadow covering one wall of the basement cleared away.

There, slumped against the wall, was the black snake, chained to the wall like an insect specimen.

“!”

Hilia’s complexion turned pale.

Things were going from bad to worse.

She had fallen into Gaspard’s grasp, and the baby in her womb was being targeted.

Moreover, her greatest power, the <Book of Fate>, was currently unusable after saving Arpad from his madness.

In the midst of this, her loyal knight was held hostage, and on top of that, the black snake was bloodied and bound.

A bleak situation with no visible means of escape.

Ironically, only one person came to mind at this moment.

The person who absolutely shouldn’t be here now, and couldn’t possibly be here.

The person she left behind to protect.

Simultaneously, the face she wanted to see more than anyone else’s.

‘Arpad…….’

Her heart ached again.

Then.

Gaspard suddenly raised his head. And stroking his own neck, he broke into a smile full of delight.

“Ahaha!”

“…What?”

Feeling an ominous premonition for some reason, Hilia broke into a cold sweat.

Gaspard lowered his head to look at Hilia and smiled brightly.

“How surprising. It seems your husband also noticed my puppet right away, just like you.”

“…What?”

Hilia doubted her ears. What was he suddenly talking about?

“What nonsense is this? Why would Arpad be with me? He should be in the imperial capital right now.”

“Not the imperial capital. He’s right nearby. In Beneta. He met your remaining party and destroyed my puppet.”

“What?!”

Hilia felt the shock of her heart plummeting to the floor.

For Arpad to have chased her all the way to Beneta would have taken at least several weeks under normal circumstances.

But he caught up in just one day? How?

She couldn’t even form the question ‘why’. It was far too obvious.

He had come to find Hilia.

“I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth and make you take responsibility.”

Arpad had acted exactly as he had said.

Worry and anxiety surged. And within that swirling vortex of emotions…

Hilia couldn’t deny that a foolish and selfish joy had taken root.

Romance, Fantasy,