HRTC 29

Leonhart steadied his breathing and continued.

“The sin of deceiving me and mocking love.
The sin of betraying my love.
Spencer shall never be joined with the one he desires.”

“He must take the cursed bride sent by the witch.
If he does not marry her, they will both die.
And to make it harder, Spencer will be stricken with a blood-madness.”

What a dreadful curse.
To be unable to be with the one I love—and on top of that, to heap curse after curse so that love itself becomes impossible.

‘Isn’t the witch actually the villain here?’
Callie pondered the thought.

“To break the curse, Spencer must truly love the cursed bride.
That’s the end of it.”

“That’s not much different from what I already knew.”

“But then a question came to me.
Why is the bride cursed? Spencer’s wrongdoing is obvious, but…”

“You’re right… where did the cursed bride even come from?”

Their eyes met in mid-air.
And they thought the same thing at once:

This wasn’t just about lifting the curse.

“Um… Leon, I have a thought.”

“So do I.”

The smile faded from Leonhart’s face. He rubbed his chin, suddenly serious.

What is the true relationship between Spencer and the cursed bride?
Why was she cursed?
Where did she come from?

So perhaps all of this means…

“First of all, I need to return to being human—in some sense.”

“I agree.”

Leonhart slowly nodded, then drew the corner of his lips upward.

“Callie. I’ll give it my best shot.”

“What… exactly?”

His eyes softened.

“I’ll do my very best to love you.”

A few days later.

Nothing had changed. Everything was as usual.
Neither Callie nor Leonhart was any different.

“Callie. Wake up.”

The only slight change was that Leonhart was now often up earlier than Callie.

He gently grasped the squirrel’s tiny body between his index and middle fingers and gave her a little shake, watching her sprawl with all four limbs stretched out.

Sharing the same bed had once made her wake early from discomfort, but she must have grown used to it—now she slept soundly.

“Huh… unbelievable.”

He gave a soft snort, then poked her belly.
Callie twitched and furrowed her brow but didn’t wake.

Sitting up, he soon lay back down again, propping his head on one arm and gazing at her.

“Hey, Callie. When are you getting up?”

She didn’t budge; only faint sleep-talk escaped her.

Leonhart swept the hair from his eyes, thought for a moment, and a sly smile curved his lips.

“If you won’t get up…”

Then I’ll just have to take you with me.

He murmured the words.

Callie had slept deeply for the first time in a while, dreamless.

So when she opened her eyes, she thought she was still dreaming.
Everything around her was pitch-dark.

Outside came the sounds of something being cut down, heavy thuds, and occasional cries that were not quite human.

‘What… is that?’

It had to be a dream—what else could explain such strange noises?

Blinking rapidly, she rubbed her eyes with a tiny paw. Was this real or a dream?

“Incoming! Be careful!”
“Behind you—!”

Callie rolled her eyes, trying to grasp the situation. Where was she?

Then, a familiar voice spoke right by her ear.

“Who said you could be so careless?”

A voice she had heard countless times at the closest range.
Only then did Callie realize where she was.

“Inside the pocket!”

“Ah, Callie. Awake now?”

Leonhart’s cheerful laugh rang out.

A large hand slipped into the pocket.
Instinctively she tried to back away, then instead pressed her head against his fingertip.

“You wouldn’t wake—I thought you’d fainted.”

His finger brushed beneath her chin as his other arm swung outward.

‘Monsters are attacking! And you brought me along while I was asleep?’

Of course, she knew that when he fought monsters his blood-madness surged and he needed her to calm him.

Still—kidnapping her mid-sleep?

Callie bit his fingertip in protest.
Leonhart only laughed more richly.

“Callie, why so angry?”

“Where exactly have you dragged me?”

“I told you.”

Whoosh—
The clear sound of a blade slicing the air made her curious, but his hand gently blocked her from peeking out.

“Callie, you have to stay with me everywhere. We can’t be apart.”

“…Except for the toilet and the bath.”

Leonhart chuckled. A moment later came the wet thunk of a strike.

Callie flinched, and feeling it, Leonhart stroked her softly until she exhaled in relief.

“How is it?”

“How’s what?”

“The madness—are you all right?”

“Thanks to you.”

He murmured with a smile in his voice.
Callie reached out and clasped one of his fingers.

“Your Highness! Are you unharmed?”

“I’m fine. Seems there are no more coming.”

“Disgusting creatures, crawling out everywhere.”

“Ugh, endless no matter how many we kill.”

Grumbling voices of the knights echoed all around.
Only then did Callie realize the fight was over.
She climbed to the pocket’s edge and peeked out—

And instantly regretted it.

“Ugh…”

“See? I told you not to look.”

The ground was littered with monster corpses.
Not red blood, but still far too grisly for her taste.

Leonhart’s fingertip brushed her face, shielding her from the sight.

“This won’t be the end. They’re persistent.”

His voice dripped with scorn for the beasts, and the knights shouted their agreement.

Callie slipped back into the pocket. Definitely not a pleasant view.

“Let’s rest a bit before moving on.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Forest of Darkness was vast, teeming with monsters.
One skirmish wasn’t enough; they had to clear area after area.

They headed deeper to a broad clearing to rest.
Under a large tree, Leonhart drew Callie out.

“Callie, you were sleeping so soundly I brought you without a word.
Why were you sleeping so deeply?”

“Because I was sleepy, of course. Waking up like that startled me.”

“Forgive me. I had no choice—I need you with me.”

He bent one knee and set her atop it. Callie lay comfortably on her stomach.

“Fine. I’m generous, so I’ll forgive you.”

“Such jokes…”

“Not a joke.”

She tapped his knee with her tiny paws.

Just then, knights began edging closer, curiosity in their eyes.
Even the captain and vice-captain were among them.

“Your Highness, surely you’ll introduce us this time?”

At Gerald’s voice, Leonhart’s brow twitched.

“Last time you brought her, you left without a word.”

“That’s right, we deserve to know!”

“Noisy lot.”

He waved them off, but they only drew nearer—indeed, the crowd grew.

Callie’s large eyes darted around.

‘Great… I feel like an exhibit at the zoo.’

How many pairs of eyes were on her?
She seriously considered retreating back into the pocket.

“Not leaving, are you?”

Leonhart’s voice, calm but edged, cut through the air.
Yet the knights didn’t flinch.

Still smiling, he drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground.
The chatter died instantly.

Callie swallowed hard.
The scariest people are the ones who smile every day—they hide real menace behind it.

“Um… Leon.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Shouldn’t we at least say hello?”

“Do you want to?”

“Well… yes.”

It’s not like this is our first time meeting.

She added that last part softly.
Leonhart tilted his head, glancing from her to the hopeful eyes of the knights.

With a resigned sigh, he stood, holding Callie in his hand.

“Attention.”

His face and tone made it clear he’d rather not, but he obliged because she wanted it.

Even the knights who had been resting came running.
Callie already regretted speaking up.

‘I should have stayed quiet…’

Her eyes rolled nervously.

“My pet squirrel…”

She snapped her head to glare at him.
A low chuckle vibrated in his throat.

“…or so she may look.”

He lowered his hand slightly, shielding her from the curious stares.

“She is the Grand Duchess.
From now on, if you see a white squirrel, do not ignore her—be sure to greet her.”

“Uh, wait… that’s not what I meant.”

“Wasn’t this what you wanted, Callie? Hmm?”

“Not at all!”

“Ah, I thought you meant it that way when you said you wanted to greet them.”

At that moment, the knight-captain at the front turned to the others.

“All ranks—attention!”

Without prompting, he barked another order.

“Pay respects to the Grand Duchess!”

“Pay respects to the Grand Duchess!”

It was the first time in Callie’s life that she’d experienced such a thing.

A crowd of sturdy men bowed their heads to her in unison.
Goosebumps raced across her entire body.

‘Th-this is way too much!’

Her mouth hung open, unable to close.
Slowly she turned to look at Leonhart.
He was beaming.

‘Would it be too rude to spit on that smiling face?’

Callie swallowed hard.

“Uh… okay. I see. Hello, everyone.
So… please just go about your business.
I, um, look forward to working with you.”

Flustered, her words tumbled out in a jumble,
and she caught sight of Leonhart trembling with laughter.