I Thought I Was the Monster Duke's Fake Tranquilizer - Chapter 32
* * *
Thump, thump.
“Big sis, I’m scared…”
Lucy quietly opened her eyes.
When she lifted her head at the whispering voice, a familiar scene spread before her.
The tightly shut door of the shelter. People huddled together at the outermost edge, clinging to one another after being driven out.
And the shelter’s ruling clique, locked away safely behind the inner door.
“What if this time the door really breaks?”
Whenever monsters appeared near the shelter, the ruling clique would pick out those who had no one to lean on.
Then they would shove them between the middle door and the front entrance, between the shelter’s outer door and inner door, herding them in like bait.
Naturally, Lucy was always on the bait list.
As was this small child in her arms, whose parents had gone out with the volunteer militia and never returned.
“It’s going to be okay.”
Lucy stroked the back of the child who had begun to cry.
“But…”
“They batter at it every time, and the door’s never broken, has it?”
It was true.
The door was so sturdy that even on the day the shelter finally collapsed, it wasn’t the door that broke.
‘Rather, too many people crowded into the inner area, and that part collapsed…’
The monsters had swarmed in through the gap and wreaked havoc, destroying everything.
The ones who always used them as bait and hid inside had been the first to die, so it served them rightâif anything served right.
‘Did this child die then, too?’
Lucy looked down pityingly at the child crying in her arms.
‘I hope she lived.’
If only, at that moment, before I died, I had shielded this child.
So that at least she might have survived.
Then I would have been of some use, at least a little.
Lucy wished it with all her heart.
That at least one person had lived.
And if it had been thanks to her, she could have asked for nothing more.
‘…That’s a bit of a selfish thought.’
The fact that the people inside, far more selfish than she, had died first brought her no great comfort either.
Truthfully, she would have preferred that nothing had happened at all.
If only no one had died, no one had been hurt.
Smiling bitterly, Lucy continued to stroke the back of the trembling child.
From within her arms came a voice stifling tears.
“What do I do. I’m so scared, big sis.”
You know, actually… I’m scared too.
“I don’t want to die…”
Actually… I felt the same way.
Waaah. The child finally burst into tears.
“…”
The people around them stared blankly at the crying child.
Not one of them had the will to soothe or stop her.
“Hic, hic, hnngh…”
Screech, screech.
The sound of crying mingled with the screams of the monsters outside, weaving a bleak and somber atmosphere.
“It’s okay. You’re a good girl.”
“Hn, ngh.”
“We’ll be okaâ…”
“No one’s coming to save us!”
“That’s not true. My sisters went out with the militia, and so did your parents. The militia will come back andâ…”
“No! No one’s coming!”
The child screamed in despair.
At those words, the people around them began to wail as well.
“She’s right! No one’s coming!”
“There’s no one to save us!”
“We’re all going to die! We’re going to die!”
She was staring with startled eyes at the people finally consumed by madness whenâ
Boom!
The shelter door began to buckle, silencing everyone.
“H-Hah!”
“The monster… the monster!”
Boom! Boom!
Everyone was trembling, crowding into the corner where Lucy stood, whenâ
Bang!
What unexpectedly streamed through the broken gap in the door was pouring light.
‘Not just any light…’
Golden light?
Lucy slowly rose to her feet.
Stride.
Someone strode into the shelter without hesitation.
A silhouette she had never expected to see.
“…”
The man who swept back his white-gold hair as he surveyed his surroundings fixed his gaze squarely on Lucy.
Lucy opened her mouth before she knew it.
“Your Grace?”
As if asking whether she’d waited long, a smug, beautiful smile spilled forth.
That face she had thought beautiful yet infuriatingâright now, it was so welcome her heart ached.
I’m saved.
He’ll save us.
There’s someone here to help now.
Someone to help us…
Before she could finish the thought, a shadow loomed abruptly close.
The child in her arms, the people trembling around herâthey all vanished in an instant.
Soon, handsome lips parted.
“Well then.”
“…”
“Let’s see just how much more useful you can be.”
As he spoke, his hand approached and grazed her lips.
The illusion of flames igniting wherever his fingers touched…
“Hah!”
Lucy shot up from sleep and stared at the ceiling.
‘A dream?’
A dog dreamâno, a dragon dream, since a dragon appeared.
“Argh!”
Fully awake now, Lucy lay face-down and pummeled the innocent pillow.
‘That terrifying, handsome, rotten, debauchedâŚ!’
