I Thought I Was the Monster Duke's Fake Tranquilizer - Chapter 13
There would be no need to remain in the capital where Sepina resided. He could return to his territory, which he had neglected for some time.
The more he thought about it, the better Edward’s mood became.
‘I don’t know where this mouse tumbled down from, but her timing is impeccable.’
Into his mind crept the image of the woman’s face, utterly defenseless, as if struck by shock at the sight of his face.
And on top of that, she had fainted.
‘She must have fallen for me completely.’
Faces drained of sense, souls snatched away at the sight of his beauty, Edward was well accustomed to such looks.
At any other time, it was an expression he had seen so often that he would have thought nothing of it.
But the dazed look that woman had worn… it brought him a slightly stronger sense of satisfaction.
After all, if a woman already steeped in desperation had fallen for him as well, things would proceed all the more smoothly.
‘Which is why…’
His heart must be beating so pleasantly.
He was stroking the woman’s hair like a satisfied predator when Tepe, seated across from him, asked cautiously,
“So… what do you intend to do?”
“Take her with me.”
“All the way to the territory? Are you sure that’s wise?”
“And what wouldn’t be wise about it?”
“Still…”
Tepe glanced toward the outside of the carriage.
Ding, ding, dingā
Even now, the clamor of the temple’s emergency bells rang out noisily beyond the carriage.
The light of torches wielded by the temple soldiers flickered past the carriage windows.
“Seeing as they’re searching this frantically, she seems to be a rather important test subject.”
Gorgo, too, added calmly,
“Tepe has a point. They may pursue us.”
“…”
“And even if you do take her… to be honest, she doesn’t look as though she’ll last long.”
It was a harsh statement, but the visible facts spoke for themselves.
Grimy, malnourished, and pitiful, the woman looked so frail that a mere flick might send her crumpling.
Those who performed purifications had to be healthy above all else.
Purification required no small amount of stamina.
Tepe cautiously offered,
“To be frank, rather than purifying His Grace’s taint, that woman looks as though she’s the one in need of purification herself…”
Edward, who had been listening, let the crooked smile he already wore deepen even further.
“Who said anything about keeping her for a lifetime?”
“Then you intend to discard her later…?”
Edward curled his lipsālips so beautiful they could blind even a manāinto a wicked smirk.
“There’s no need to make such troubled faces.”
“…”
“She doesn’t seem to be a mere innocent test subject, after all.”
“She isn’t?”
“She tried to coax me over to her side first.”
Edward cast his mind back once more, recalling the way the woman had nimbly worked her little tongue.
“Master, that woman is a fake!”
“The temple insists and insists that Lady Sepina is your true mate, but in truth…”
True, she had only rattled off facts he had already more or less pieced together himself.
But for someone so small, her tongue had rolled remarkably smoothly.
His fingertips drifted absently over his own closed lips.
“She knows something. That’s why, in her own way, she tried to make a proposition first.”
“…”
“Impudent, for a little mouse.”
“Pardon? A mouse?”
‘Isn’t that His Grace’s favorite animal?’
‘His Grace gave her such high praise?’
As Tepe and Gorgo stood bewildered, Edward raised the corners of his mouth.
“In any case, let’s make use of her as much as we can on our end.”
“…Until you find your true mate, for instance?”
At Tepe’s words, Edward smiled an ambiguous smile.
“Yes, until then.”
“…”
“I’ll keep her until her purification power runs dry, and then discard her.”
Having said that, he gently gathered the ends of the woman’s hair in his grasp.
Even her hair, split and brittle at the ends, was like the fur of a malnourished mouse.
Savoring its texture, Edward thought to himself,
‘She’s already fallen for me. If I just feed her well, she’ll follow me around like a pup.’
…That thought shattered not long after.
* * *
Flutter.
The very next day.
Edward, who had stepped down from the carriage to stretch his limbs, found himself facing a piece of paper fluttering before his eyes.
Soon, his gaze rolled toward the one holding it out to him.
“What is this?”
The woman clutching the paper, her fingertips trembling, nevertheless declared boldly,
“A contract!”
