Chapter 12

'Is he going to release Sylvia Jacques as a hunter on the hunting ground, and make her kill her mother and brother with her own hands...?'

Whatever I imagined, the idea beyond that made me hardened.

"Isn't that a good idea? I know what you're worried about."

Raniero took the glass from my hand and passed over the alcohol I was drinking. Then, he grabbed my waist before slowly walking back to the room.

"Does Sylvia Jacques have any intention of harming you or not..."

"Oh, thank you for recognizing my worries..."

Saying so, I shrugged my shoulders a little.

Eventually, he stopped near the table and poured another glass again. As soon as he filled the glass, the bottle ran out.

"It's obvious that ordinary people have troubles, right?"

He then finished his words.

"So, shouldn't we be more thankful? ...Because now, you don't have to think about it."

To be honest, it was amazing for him to even be able to guess what ordinary people were thinking. In the meantime, there was nothing I could do but to admire the fact that he could see through my thoughts.

"Of course, your ordinary thoughts like that only add to my boredom."

"Ma, may I bring you another bottle of wine?"

Your Majesty, whenever you put the word 'boredom' in your mouth, my heart is filled with suspense...

Though Raniero ignored me and sat down on my bed with a glass of wine.

As he crossed his legs with an arrogant look, he tilted his head to gaze at me. I couldn't put my head higher than him, so I quickly sat on the floor.

At that, his laughter was heard.

"Bring in Sylvia Jacques, my love. However, on a condition."

"Conditional, as expected..."

"Yes, say you would appoint her as a maid as a reward when she performs the role of a hunter well."

Raniero tilted the glass pleasantly. His upper lip was drenched in fragrant wine and glistened slightly.

"If that girl was trying to approach you because of her family's resentment, her mind would collapse the moment she took on the role of a hunter. How could a mad woman do the job of serving the Empress? "

I had no choice but to stare up at Raniero, who had said such things casually, with some blood drained from my face.

Seeing my reaction, Raniero bent his upper body and reached out his hand. Tucking my hair behind my ears, he continued in a sweet voice.

"Then, Sylvia Jacques will fall into the abyss before she can harm you, so you have nothing to lose, do you?"

Numerous thoughts flooded my mind at that moment, though I just shut my eyes tightly.

I cannot refuse the method Raniero suggested. Especially, if he even added the formula 'It would be fun,' to the method.

I nodded my head gently.

The method was as certain as cruel.

My heart pounded.

"Oh... I thought it was a good method, but why do you have such a face?"

As his voice got closer, I slowly opened my eyes. There, Raniero, kneeling on one of his knees, bit the tip of my nose and opened his mouth again.

"It must be because you have an absurdly soft soul. Don't you think so?"

Normally, that was called the human heart, but...

"Since you have suggested good entertainment to me, shall I also solve one of your troubles for you?"

"How—"

"I will be the one giving orders to Sylvia Jacques."

"...."

"Don't you have anything other than your wit and cute face? It would be painful to even say such an order out loud."

Raniero lowered his eyebrows and made the tongue-clicking sound when you called for a puppy.

"It's because you're so weak."

Wouldn't everyone in the world be weak by Your Majesty's standards...?

'But...'

He's right. I'm exceptionally weak. And, that's a relief for me.

Raniero Actilus.

Although he was born as a human, he was described as if he was non-human. From his point of view, everyone except him was like livestock or a worm. He could spend as much as he wanted for a moment's entertainment.

There was no unhappy story of his childhood that forced him to be so cruel.

He was simply a pure evil, born this way.

'The image of absolute evil, who was born stronger and more beautiful than anyone else, holds supremacy...'

However, the brilliance of Raniero, who stood at the extreme of evil, paradoxically fascinates everyone.

Unless you are very upright like Seraphina, or very weak like me.

Since I am so weak that every time I see him, I feel threatened for my survival, so I couldn't be obsessed with him.

"You are very scared. I can feel your breath tremble every time I touch you."

Raniero lifted the glass high and tilted it.

At that moment, the golden liquor fluttered narrowly over the edge of the glass, and soon flowed down in a thin parabola.

My chest was soaked with alcohol, and the thin indoor clothes were clinging to my body. Alcohol traveled along the line of my body, to the stomach, to the lower abdomen, and to the lower part of the body...

When I was preoccupied with the uncomfortable feeling of getting wet, Raniero slowly traced the wet traces with his index finger.

"But, you seem to forget your fear for a while when you groan in bliss..."

At a strange feeling, I wanted to grab his hand and pull it off. I almost did. Thankfully, I came to my senses just at the last minute.

When I didn't make a mistake again this time, I could hear his pleasant laughter.

"It's going to be fun, right? Isn't that the only entertainment that both me and you can enjoy?"

Raniero hugged me from behind and placed an ear on the nape of my neck. When I made a slight sound of pain, he let out a pleasant laugh. What's funny about this?

The hand that continuously swept and touched the lower abdomen is large, rough, and cold.

I laid my back on him, trying not to fall asleep.

"You're loosening your hair today."

This is the third time I've seen him.

Once was the wedding, and once was in the audience room, so I had to raise my hair properly both times. However, today, Raniero has invaded my personal time.

"Do... you like it?"

I asked carefully.

Raniero didn't say anything for a while, probably because he didn't hear my question. He was just biting the spot he had bitten with his fangs over and over again.

Aw, it hurts...

With Raniero being out of sight, it seemed as though the tension was less than usual.

I crouched slightly in his arms and asked another question.

"Are you going to sleep today?"

"Yes."

I asked because I didn't want you to sleep here!

Nevertheless, I couldn't even ask if he could go back to the Imperial Palace and sleep.

So, I just blinked at the starry night sky outside the terrace. My whole body was tired. At that moment, even if we suddenly had a sexual relationship, I was again a little curious as to why the act of touching or biting my body while lying in bed was not boring.

You know I'm not complaining because I didn't get on his nerves during the relationship. I just can't understand why he's trying to stick with me like this without seeing me as an equal?

'Does it feel like touching a cat's back...?'

But, I'm not fluffy, I don't make a growling sound, and I don't have a soft tail...

"Are you sleepy?"

His tone of voice was a little looser than usual.

I was startled by the stinging pain from being bit at my ear as if waking me up.

"As you said. You don't have good stamina."

He hugged me a little tighter. If anyone looked from behind his back, they wouldn't even be able to see my nose. It Was almost like a total solar eclipse.

​​

"Besides, being small..."

There's nothing I can do about being small...

"It's difficult."

I waited for a while because Raniero said those words out of nowhere. Fortunately, he soon explained to me why.

"When will you be able to make it into a great hunting ground?"

I covered my mouth at that moment.

...Right.

I decided to be the Emperor's prey in the winter.

That's what I said.

'I was busy with work, so I forgot.'

No, no matter how busy you are, there is nothing to forget, Angelica! Because I was rushing to deal with the immediate task, I didn't even think about the future after the seasons changed.

I was out of breath and quickly took a deep breath.

At that time, I said that I would devote myself to 'to become an excellent prey for the Emperor's hunting grounds until winter.'

...Until winter.

Of course, I had no intention of entering the hunting grounds as prey. I planned to wait until winter, and when Raniero left for the expedition, I would try to run away.

What if Raniero, who has lost his prey, gets angry and comes to find me?

No, that wouldn't be the case.

He would come back and meet Seraphina before he found out about my absence.

The moment he sees Seraphina, all five of his senses would be focused on her. Looking into those blue eyes would be the cataclysm of Raniero's life. Such a natural disaster had occurred, so what about the small and weak prey?

Moreover, such intense emotional sparks didn't occur after two people built a narrative and interacted. Everything just explodes the moment their eyes meet, either by chance or by the inevitability of the author's intervention.

With a self-evident reason that seemed to explode like when an ember sparked in oxygen.

Do you know how Raniero changed after meeting Seraphina?

Conquest activities, pleasure-seeking, and all that were left behind. He only indulged in Seraphina—that is Raniero's blindness. At first sight, the sky and the earth were turned upside down, and all the standards he had set up became useless.

It made him forget everything he was originally pursuing.

'Ha...'

Even though I know his future, he doesn't know his own future yet.

"Now that I think about it, I didn't tell you the second rule added to the hunting game."

Saying so, he put his hand under my waist and turned my body around with ease. And so, I got to face him instead.

"You must attend as a hunter."

...Huh?

I forgot everything I had been pondering.

A hunter...? Me?

I've never held anything heavier than a pen...?