Chapter 207 - North Korean rabbit

Side Story Episode 2

The isolated cabin deep in the forest, where no human trace could be found, was one of the safe houses Arpad had prepared.

Its purpose was similar to that of his hideout in the catacombs beneath the Imperial Palace.

A place with almost no people around when his madness flared.

A place where moonlight did not reach.

He primarily used the catacombs, but he had also prepared safe houses scattered across the continent.

This was necessary not only for his actions as Crown Prince Arpad, but also for when he acted as the Mercenary King Gerald.

He had chosen this place—the most remote, hardest to reach, and known only to its owner among all his safe houses—on impulse, immediately after abducting Hilia in a marriage of abduction.

"Where are you taking me! Let me go! Please!"

Hilia, fitting for a kidnapped bride, screamed with a face pale and gaunt with fear.

Hearing that sound, Arpad felt it anew.

That he had abducted Ludwig's wife.

Simultaneously, a series of sickening realizations followed.

‘It seems that damned lizard wasn't lying.’

That the curse of repeated regression (at least, Arpad believed it to be so) cast upon him by Artanus truly had an effect.

But he felt no relief or joy.

This woman, whose husband's groin he had kicked into unconsciousness before kidnapping, was precisely the source of the horrific memories he had been forced to endure countless times.

This light weight and the floral scent brushing the tip of his nose……

Carrying the unconscious woman as he fled, Arpad was somewhat surprised.

The woman was far too light.

‘Just what is it about this insignificant woman that I had to walk that dreadful path?’

- *The bride will complete you. My successor.*

He was utterly sick of words like 'successor' and 'bride'.

It was maddening.

No, he had already gone mad long ago.

And now, the very source of his madness was in his grasp.

Wasn't there only one thing to do?

Holding the woman who had pitifully screamed herself into unconsciousness, Arpad struggled for quite some time.

The woman's neck was so slender there was still room even when encircled by one hand.

Breaking it would not be difficult.

On the contrary, acting without harming her was harder. It required careful, cautious use of strength.

At this point, Arpad realized.

When he first abducted her, he had naturally intended to kill her.

He had planned to throw the corpse before Artanus and mock him.

But now that he actually had her in his hands, he was contemplating ways *not* to kill her.

His own pathetic state, devoid of any sense of self-preservation, was utterly despicable and filled him with rage.

In the end, Arpad could not kill Hilia.

He chose to imprison her in a place where no one could intrude.

‘*Killing her is something I can do anytime.*’

* * *

The woman appeared delicate and frail.

Her form, the colors that tinted it—nothing about her was intense or vivid.

She seemed soft, fragile, weak.

But Arpad learned within two days of the abduction that appearance and personality are not always the same.

"A marriage of abduction?! How barbaric!"

"If you're going to go mad, do it properly! Why did it have to be me!"

"And what is this cramped, miserable hut? For a Crown Prince, you kidnap someone and dump them in a place like this?!"

The woman was not as fragile and timid as Arpad had thought.

Of course, some parts were exactly as expected.

"Eek! A b-bug!!"

Hilia, who had meticulously shattered Arpad's expectations within just three days, soon bravely attempted an escape.

Still wearing her wedding dress and the uncomfortable white shoes.

He had noticed long ago that she was secretly hiding away little bits of the meals and snacks provided over the days, piece by piece.

He assumed she was preparing rations for her escape.

“…….”

But seeing her scattering them as she walked, using them as trail markers in case of emergency, was a bit surprising.

And absurd.

‘*Birds and insects would devour something like that immediately.*’

Following the fleeing Hilia at a leisurely pace, Arpad confirmed his prediction was correct.

All manner of birds, insects, and other creatures swarming for the bread crusts and cookie crumbs the woman had scattered.

Arpad released his magical power to drive them away.

Somehow, he didn't want to see those crumbs disappear—crumbs scattered along the woman's path as if begging to be found.

Arpad leisurely stepped over those traces as he followed Hilia.

* * *

Having ultimately failed to escape, Hilia was now quietly nestled in Arpad's arms.

But her spirit, true to her nature, remained free—which is to say, her mouth never stopped.

"Villain! Kidnapper! Barbarian!"

Words he had heard countless times in the days since bringing Hilia here.

Arpad responded indifferently.

"Lacking in creativity. I recommend you find some fresher expressions."

"...!"

Hilia, perhaps even more incensed, trembled all over.

That tremor transmitted vividly through his arms, and it was amusing.

…He laughed?

Arpad was startled.

Had he laughed? It wasn't the scornful laugh he used to mock others, nor a self-deprecating one, nor the mad guffaw he let out when completely unhinged.

It was a pure, inner joy naturally spreading to his lips.

It felt so awkward and alien that Arpad froze.

Noticing the strange situation, Hilia spoke up.

"What? Why did you stop?"

Her earlier trembling fury vanished without a trace, as if she were now worried about him.

Did she even understand her own precarious position, not knowing when she might die?

Arpad began walking back towards the cabin.

And he spoke in a low voice.

"I was just thinking it's good you've finally quieted down. The heavy baggage was noisy too, so it was annoying."

Immediately, anger erupted across the woman's face again.

"Who are you calling heavy?! I went through so much trouble dieting for the wedding, and you ruined it all! And on top of that, the meals since have been so poor I haven't had a chance to gain any weight!"

The corner of Arpad's mouth lifted slightly again.

"Since you brought it up, do you perhaps lack taste buds? How can every single meal be dried rations and hardtack, with only water to drink?! You're the Crown Prince!"

As she continued speaking, her grievances seemed endless.

"This is a human rights violation! Even prisoners or hostages should be treated better than this!"

Her anger and lamentations went on and on.

But when even this repertoire ran out, she circled back to the beginning.

She lacked the energy to come up with new material.

Hilia ultimately expressed her emotions by spitting out the shortest possible words.

Naturally, they were the most negative expressions she knew.

"...Sadist! Pervert!"

That was when it happened.

Arpad's steady stride halted abruptly. Only then did Hilia, who had been chattering excitedly, grasp the situation.

Here she was, nestled in the arms of a heinous kidnapper, daring to hurl every insult in the book.

After a brief, awkward, uncomfortable, and ominous silence, Arpad asked.

"Do you know something?"

"Wh-what?"

Compared to the agony of wandering lost in the forest, she had already learned the comfort of being carried by Arpad.

She didn't want to lose this spot, at least until they arrived.

‘*What if he gets really angry and tells me to walk, or throws me on the ground?*’

This thought occurred to her for the first time.

But what Arpad said next was even more terrifying.

"You are excessively fearless."

"M-me...?"

"You don't seem to consider at all that you're in the arms of a heinous criminal."

The excessively handsome face of the heinous criminal swooped close.

The sharp, prominent bridge of his nose touched her cheek.

His gaze seemed poised to pierce straight through her.

She felt like a mouse before a snake.

Hilia asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"So... are you going to kill me or something?"

"Why does the conclusion go in that direction?"

"Because you're a perverted sadist villain kidnapper?"

"...I told you, you're too fearless. At that point, it sounds like you're begging me to get angry."

Shrinking back a little, Hilia retorted.

"That's... not it......"

She truly was a strange woman.

At times like this, she seemed utterly ordinary.

An ordinary, utterly ordinary woman growing weak and fearful before the possessor of dragon blood.

But why did he find himself so attentive to every trivial, varied aspect this woman showed?

Why... did moments that had been only tedious and horrific start to feel even enjoyable?

Had he truly gone mad beyond all redemption?

Deliberately, he provoked her in a low voice.

"My preference isn't ending a life in one go. It's tormenting it slowly, for a long, long time."

"...!"

Hilia's light body trembled violently again.

"First, I could do something evil like throwing you on this bumpy, hard ground and making you walk back to the cabin on your own."

Hilia's shoulders flinched more than they had all this time.

The next moment, something happened that defied all of Arpad's expectations and predictions.

Hilia wrapped both arms tightly around Arpad's neck.

"...!"

Romance, Fantasy,