I Thought I Was the Monster Duke's Fake Tranquilizer - Chapter 8
The flustered soldier stood there, mouth hanging open.
Lucy was just as stunned.
‘He’s this straightforwardly, openly awful?’
Well, yes, he was indeed the type of character who treated everyone like dirt except for the female lead.
But now she felt it firsthand, just what kind of person she was dealing with.
…Still, even she could see how suspicious this situation must look.
‘Why is he helping me?’
Knowing the bastardly temperament of the male lead, it only made her more anxious.
Lucy was clenching her fists with tension whenâ
“Hmm.”
A low, throaty laugh rumbled from within the armor.
Soon, Edward slowly tilted his helm toward the guard.
She had just thought the gesture looked oddly innocent, ill-suited to his massive frame, whenâ
“You look young.”
“Y-Yes! Yes! I’ve only just been conscripted…”
“And yet your earholes are already clogged at that age?”
“…”
“How pitiful. Shall I bore them open for you?”
As he spoke, Edward casually took hold of the sword at his hip.
As if his intentions were truly, purely sincere.
“Ears pierced by none other than a dragon incarnation himself.”
“…”
“You could make it a family honor.”
And to top it off, such a self-absorbed remark…
Scrape.
Soon, the sharp blade slowly revealed itself.
The horrified soldier let out a strangled squeak and stumbled backward, hiccuping.
Lucy’s mouth fell open in awe.
‘So this is where our male lead puts that filthy temper to use…’
Using it to fight other bastards.
Go. Go, win!
Not that there was any need to cheer him on.
A mere temple guard vs. the continent’s sole dragon incarnation, duke, savior, and whatnot.
The victor was already decided.
“I-I… was out of line…”
“As long as you know.”
“…”
“Go find a physician at once. Be sure to get your hearing checked.”
“…I shall… keep that in mind.”
The soldier, eyes glinting with resentment, retreated at a blistering pace and vanished.
Hm. Edward let out a satisfied sound and began to walk with measured strides.
Lucy, who had been lying meekly in his arms the entire time, moved only her eyes to steal glances at him.
And found herself staring straight into the red eyes looking down at her.
‘Yikes.’
She flinched and averted her gaze, breaking into a cold sweat internally.
If she held eye contact a moment longer, he might very well announce that he would bestow upon her the honor of personally gouging her eyes out as well.
‘I don’t know why he helped me…’
But if she could just stay still like this, clinging to him without any presence, like a decoration, and then slip away…
“Your name.”
“…”
She had been thinking just that.
“…Me?”
“Do I need to ask twice?”
“Lucy! It’s Luciana!”
When she answered without missing a beat, a sound rumbled from within the armor once more. Hmm. It was the sort of sound a satisfied cat might make.
‘A cat.’
It was a terribly unfitting comparison for someone so massive, but absurdly, it was the first thing that had come to mind.
“Why were you in there?”
“That’s…”
“Well. Not important, I suppose.”
…What do you mean, not important?
‘Because he’s going to kill me or hand me over to the temple anyway?’
The unpredictable conversation made Lucy’s head spin.
‘He pulled me out of a tight spot just now.’
But if she rubbed him the wrong way, there was no telling what would happen.
‘This guy is the type who’s only sweet to the female lead. To anyone else, he acts like they’re dogs.’
And in the original story, he’d never even gotten to properly meet the female lead, all that and his personality was still this rotten.
How much of a nuisance must her very existence be to a man like him right now?
One wrong answer, and she might just find herself on the road to the afterlife.
‘Keep your wits about you. Think of a way out of this.’
Lucy broke into a cold sweat, grabbing by the scruff of the neck her own flagging stamina and her willpower, which was screaming that it was about to pass out any second.
Meanwhile, Edward was peering intently at the little mouse that had fallen into the jarâno, into his arms.
Truth be told, Edward was in a very fine mood.
‘How long has it been since I’ve felt this refreshed?’
With the rampaging headache and the surging power dying down, he even felt more magnanimous than usual.
Magnanimous enough that, toward someone he would have slapped away on any other day, he had instead shown the generosity of offering to personally bore holes through his ears before sending him off.
‘What exactly is this?’
The temple had rung the emergency bell and released men to hunt for her. Anyone could see she had made a desperate escape.
And above all⌠this feeling when she touched him.
This was…
‘A rather important test subject, it seems.’
