NOVEL NEXT Chapter 90
Chapter 90 “Monster, what does that mean!”The Empress jumped up from her seat and shouted.“I, I don’t know either. His Majesty was searching the hunting grounds as he ordered the knights…”The knights answered the Empress with a pale complexion. It was then that I knew what had happened.It felt like my brain was going white.Suddenly, a monster. Didn’t they say that there are no monsters in the capital?The captain of the deputy knights, who had stayed behind to escort the empress and her daughter, questioned the soldier.“Then where is Your Majesty?”“He-He is in the hunting ground. Mo-monsters are attacking His Majesty…”The knights, who understood the situation from the rambling words, gripped their swords and hurriedly mounted their horses.“Rescue Your Majesty! Hurry!”Surprised by the news of the monster’s appearance, the servants and maids also hurriedly ran around.I managed to clear my mind at the looming anxiety.‘Helios, is Helios safe?’I wanted to go into the hunting grounds and check the safety of Helios, but I couldn’t move freely because I was afraid that I might get in the way.As she stood beside the pacing empress, wondering what to do, the butler heard the news and ran to her.Your Majesty, it’s dangerous here, so please take refuge in the carriage first.”“Your Majesty? What happened to His Majesty!”“Duke Anthemion is with him, so he will be safe.”The butler looked at me sideways and replied. It seemed to reassure the Empress and me at the same time, but it was not comforting.But it was clear that it would be better to take refuge in a safe place than to stay in this chaotic place.“Your Majesty, it would be good to listen to the words of the butler. Go to the carriage.”“Yeah, yes. Oh, where are the Princesses? Bring the Princesses.”“Yes.”While the butler went to pick up the Princesses, I found Escal standing far away from the crowd and shouted.“Escal! Come on, mom….”“Aaah!”At that moment, a scream pierced my ears.“It-it’s a monster! Run away!”A large shadow fell over the child’s head, accompanied by the croak of an animal.It was a monster. A monster that looked similar to the one I saw in the Magic Crystal Mine came dripping blue body fluid.The sharp fangs protruding from it mouth were soaked in blood.The butler, who was going to pick up the Princesses, turned around in contemplation.Both the maids and the soldiers were frightened and ran away, so the scene was Abiguous.“Escal! Come here!”When the children left behind started running late, the monsters started chasing them.“Ouch!”“Adela!”Princess Adela, who was running out of breath, fell down with a short scream. As she fell and sprained her ankle, the Princess could not stand up easily.The Empress, who saw it, raised her voice.“What are you all doing! Come on, save Adela!”But no one jumped in to save the Princess. at that time.“Escal!”Escal, blocking the Princess’s face, pointed a toy-like sword at the monster.I screamed at the unimaginable sight, but Escal didn’t seem to hear me, and he continued to fight the demon without moving.“Grrr.”The monster drooled and looked down at Escal.My heart was pounding like crazy. It seemed that a monster the size of a house would kill my child at any moment.Losing my mind as if a fuse had blown, I picked up a teacup and ran straight to Escal.Clink! The teacup thrown at the monster broke with a sharp bursting sound. Broken fragments bounced in all directions, successfully attracting the attention of the monster.The moment the monster roared and turned towards me, an arrow was stuck in the monster’s back.“Grrr!”Helios threw his bow while the monster moaned, drew his sword and rushed at the monster.The sharp tip of the sword pierced the monster’s neck. The creature’s body tilted slowly, as if it had been electrocuted, and finally hit the ground.“Ha…”After confirming that the monster had stopped breathing, Helios wiped his face and was relieved. Then he approached Escal, who was still standing there.“Are you okay, Escal?”“Uh….”Escal, whose legs were loosened, sat down on the spot. I hurriedly ran and hugged the child.“Escal, are you okay?”“Uh, Mom… ugh.”Tears welled up as the tension was relieved. As I soothed the crying child, I turned to Helios.“Helios, are you okay?”“I’m fine, are you?”“I’m fine, I’m just a little surprised…”Relieved, I forgot my words and stared at the scene in front of me.Red blood splattered widely where Helios was standing. His torn hunting clothes were soaked in blood and stuck to his back.The thick stench of blood drifted on the wind, masked by the stench of the monster.“Ar-are you hurt? Let me see.”I reached up, startled by the bloodied face, and Helios gave me a faint smile.“Just a few scratches, nothing to worry about…”“Helios!” ***** “I really would have lost 10 years of my life because of you.”“…….”“How could you do something so reckless with your body?”“…….”“Then what if you die? There were a few knights there, but the injured one jumped in alone.”“If I hadn’t jumped in, Escal would have been in danger….”“Shut up.”Helios shut his mouth at my words.Why do I hate it so much when he pretends to be okay with that face?Barely resisting the urge to slap his bandaged back, I untied the towel from around his neck.“The fever doesn’t go down…”It had been less than 10 minutes since I wrapped the cold towel, and the towel was already lukewarm.Considering the fact that he couldn’t wake up from the heat all night, this was a lot better, though.“It will be better in a day or two. Don’t worry.”“You’re telling me not to worry when you’re this badly injured?”As I raised my voice in an upset heart, Helios held my hand quietly. Then he fidgeted with the back of my hand as if to comfort me for a long time before turning his words away.“Escal, is he okay?”“I thought he was a little surprised, so I gave him some medicine and put him to sleep.”“Is he hurt?”“He’s fine. Escal is being looked after by Baron Hazel and Tiaris, so take care of yourself first.”With that in mind, I moistened a towel in cold water and carefully wiped his body.All the places where the creature had attacked him were stained blue. The venom had spread.The doctor’s words echoed in his ears, saying that if he hadn’t been careful, the poison would have seeped into his veins and rotted his flesh.“Ugh.”“Does it hurt?”“It’s okay.”“If it hurts, say it hurts. Does it hurt?”“……A little.”Helios replied meekly, and then smiled.“Don’t smile. I hate you.”I stifled the sigh that kept escaping me and continued to scold him.“I guess you two look alike.”“…….”“Don’t jump in there, you know how dangerous it is.”“I’m sorry.”Helios, who struggled to raise his upper body, took the towel from my hand, put it down on the floor, and made eye contact with me.“I will never do anything that makes you worry again.”“How can I believe that…”In an instant, he covered my mouth. I tried to push away, flustered by the suddenness of the contact, but Helios held me tightly in his strong arms.I barely had time to feel his lips on mine before he swiped a thick trail of flavor into my open mouth.‘It’s always like this.’Knowing that this is how he’s always gotten away with it when the odds were stacked against him, I couldn’t resist, so I hugged his neck and closed my eyes with a sigh.His body temperature was warm against mine. ***** The news that a monster had appeared in the hunting ground immediately caused a stir in the capital.The hunting ground where the monsters appeared was immediately closed, and the search continued day and night to see if there were any other monsters.Fortunately, there were no other monsters other than those that attacked the Emperor, but the fear did not go away easily.“How can the Imperial Knights not know that a monster has appeared in the hunting grounds theh visited?”“I thoroughly checked the hunting grounds the day before, but could not find any traces of monsters. It is all my fault.”The commander of the Imperial Knights, who was called to the emergency meeting, bowed his head like a criminal.Count Tilburn clicked his tongue.“If it wasn’t for Duke Anthemion, Your Majesty would have suffered a lot of disgrace, so you should be held accountable for the failure of the guard.”“It’s not the knight’s fault, Count. Who would have thought that a monster would appear in the hunting grounds?”The Emperor, who sat at the table, waved his hand.“Now, it seems more important to find out why the monster was there than to determine who was responsible.”“I wonder if it just happened to wander in there while looking for food…”“I doubt it.”The man who had been silently listening to the meeting with his arms crossed opened his mouth.“There are only two cases in which monsters appear in the capital.”“What are those two things?”At the Emperor’s question, Sirius loosened his arms and adjusted his posture.“Either someone has artificially released a monster, or the time has come for the monster to break free.”