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Chapter 6
“What is this now?”
Surely the Empress hadn’t built an entire castle here just to kill him.
Though, considering how vicious she was, there was no telling what kind of madness she might attempt. Still, Valentin did not refuse the wide-open gates welcoming him inside.
“A mysterious castle in a forest connected to the Black Swamp.”
It was very interesting.
Valentin slipped on the public mask adored by all citizens of the Empire—
like a single blossom in full bloom within a grand garden.
“Excuse me. Is anyone here?”
His voice echoed into the air.
Someone was definitely present, yet no answer came.
Unperturbed, Valentin followed the rabbit guiding him and entered the castle. Night was falling anyway; he needed a place to stay.
Moreover, the hospitality far exceeded his expectations—meals, clothes, a bath, even a bed prepared for him.
The potion placed atop the bed was especially effective. The moment it touched his tongue, the pain that had been slowly tightening his nerves from the poison vanished.
That was why, even when he discovered the beast, he did not draw his sword.
Instead, he observed it closely, wondering if it might be a mutated monster.
The bright golden eyes staring at him and the tail wagging hard enough to stir the air.
“It looks like a monster, but it acts exactly like a dog.”
Curious about its identity, he stayed one day, then two, then three—more than a week in total.
And he reached a conclusion.
“It’s a talking puppy.”
At first, he had wondered whether it was an undiscovered magical beast or perhaps a deformed evolution among monsters.
Yet whenever it displayed those dog-like traits so at odds with its appearance, his tension naturally eased.
It was too trivial.
Valentin, whose thought process was incomprehensible to most people, gave a harsh evaluation of the beast that stood a head taller than himself.
The beast wasn’t his only subject of study. The splendid Laphelia Castle was as well.
It was rare to find a place so densely woven with magic.
“I should investigate further.”
Rabbits occasionally cast burning gazes his way.
But what captured his interest most was the trivial beast—particularly its monstrous strength.
It was obvious who had been wrecking parts of the castle.
“Can it even break iron?”
Or fight monsters?
He wanted to see for himself how strong it was, but it refused to appear before him.
Judging by how it wagged its tail whenever he saw it, it clearly longed to speak to him, yet it stubbornly refused to reveal itself.
Even when Valentin deliberately created opportunities to talk, nothing progressed.
“Even noble ladies are bolder than this.”
He curled one corner of his lips, recalling the countless aristocratic daughters who would conveniently trip in front of him whenever he visited the capital.
“I don’t have time to linger here much longer. Perhaps it’s time to leave.”
Having decided to return to Berenice and investigate this place properly, Valentin left behind a card bearing his farewell.
Before fully departing, he deliberately lingered in front of the rose bushes to draw the beast’s attention—
a secret known only to him.
“Last chance.”
If the knights of the North heard him say that, they would faint.
Valentin was like a finely honed blade—he preferred finishing everything in a single stroke.
“You failed? Then bash your head in.”
That was his usual way.
Even so, he was willing to visit again to uncover the beast’s identity, so he chose to be unusually generous.
At last, the beast appeared before him…
“What do you think you’re doing in my garden?”
It had absolutely no talent for acting.
The furrowed brow meant to look dignified and the occasional glimpse of fangs were painfully awkward.
Its sparkling golden eyes and wildly spinning tail revealed just how delighted it was to see him.
Despite the bizarre manner of speech—who knew where it had learned it—Valentin merely smiled.
If he pointed it out, it might whimper, tuck its tail, and run away.
“That would be troublesome.”
He hadn’t yet uncovered its true identity.
Even when the beast spouted nonsense about how breaking a rose required him to visit again as compensation—despite him not breaking one—Valentin politely agreed.
And finally, he learned its secret.
“I was originally human… but I was cursed and became a beast.”
“If I receive a kiss filled with true love, I will return to being human.”
“Yes—specifically, a kiss filled with a man’s love.”
It wasn’t even funny.
“So all that desperate behavior was just to get a kiss?”
For a moment, Valentin wondered whether his looks had reached the point of captivating not only people but beasts as well.
Then he quickly accepted it.
Any creature with eyes would inevitably fall in love with him.
“Well.”
True love?
He didn’t care about that nonsense, but if it possessed power far surpassing that of magical beasts, it would be extremely useful in subjugating monsters.
“I’ll take it with me.”
The decision was quick.
Valentin decided to raise a puppy.
Others might protest that nothing about its size or appearance resembled a puppy at all, but he had little interest in outer shells and felt no strangeness.
“This puppy can’t do anything.”
He looked down at the golden eyes trembling as if from an earthquake.
It couldn’t bark. It couldn’t lie down on command. There was so much to teach.
* * *
“Where am I? Who am I?”
Feeling the vibration of the carriage, I stared blankly at the man before me.
Flinch.
Startled by the beautifully curved eyes that seemed capable of enchanting anyone, I quickly turned my head away.
Just moments ago, I had been convinced he wore a smile like an angel.
Now it looked like the false smile of a grim reaper waiting for my death, granting me a final farewell to the world.
It was no different.
“So this place I’m in right now… is The Flower That Bloomed on the Cliff?”
The moment Valentin revealed himself, a flash of realization struck me.
The handsome man before me was the male lead of the romance fantasy novel The Flower That Bloomed on the Cliff.
It was only natural that I hadn’t known this during the past few months I’d spent in this world.
Because the character I possessed—Nathan Laphelia Armium, the Black Beast—was barely mentioned in the novel at all.
The Flower That Bloomed on the Cliff—or simply Cliff Flower—is a growth-type romance fantasy following the heroine Lucy through every hardship imaginable.
Just look at the title. She bloomed on a cliff.
An orphan who drifted from one orphanage to another, enduring a miserable childhood yet never breaking.
Adopted into a noble family, she seemed to have found a better life—until the family’s long-lost daughter returned, and Lucy was quickly cast aside.
After being disowned, life at the orphanage became even more unbearable.
Eventually, Lucy fled the estate and lived on the streets. There, she met the former Tower Master, and her dormant magical talent awakened, allowing her to enroll in the Empire’s Academy.
“After that, she has a flirtatious campus life with the third prince and the Tower Master, eventually becoming a master of healing magic.”
As for where Nathan Laphelia appears in the story…
He shows up during a date Valentin carefully plans to win Lucy’s heart.
At a circus famous for its animal that could understand human speech.
Though suspected of being a monster because it comprehended human words, the circus remained wildly popular.
During the performance, the beast leaves its spot and injures Lucy—
and Valentin…
“kills it.”
The circus troupe collapses for bringing such a dangerous monster into the Empire.
“Even if I transmigrate, why did I have to become such a minor extra?”
But I couldn’t deny it.
The setting described a Black Beast. Anyone could see I was a beast.
This world being The Flower That Bloomed on the Cliff—
and the ominous note Nathan Laphelia had written, Please stay away from the circus—
only strengthened my certainty.
I shifted awkwardly, having grown sore from sitting in the same position too long.
But I absolutely did not meet Valentin’s eyes.
I hadn’t yet made up my mind.
“Why did I meet Valentin now, unlike the original story?”
In the novel, Valentin first meets Lucy after being attacked by assassins and wounded.
Naturally, Lucy—maxed-out in healing magic—treats him, and that’s how they leave an impression on each other.
“Did the injury Lucy was supposed to heal get cured at Laphelia Castle instead?”
It wasn’t impossible that Valentin had been attacked more than once.
Still, crises that befall a great male lead usually tie into the female lead.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling that I’d swallowed their first meeting whole.
“But hey, good things are good, right? Thanks to that, I got acquainted with Valentin.”
From here on, the original story had already begun to twist.
Which meant I might not get sliced to death by Valentin at the circus!
Maybe—
just maybe—
he might turn me back into a human.
“Because…”
Embarrassment surged through me, and I lightly tapped my snout. I could still feel the soft sensation of his lips.
“If it’s just kissing, I can do that as much as needed.”
Before departure, Valentin had kissed me.
If that was what I wanted, he’d give it as much as necessary—so I should follow him.
Then he had arrogantly asked:
“What can you do for me?”
From what I knew, Valentin had been gathering forces to deal with the rapidly increasing monsters for several years.
He was also investing heavily in forming a knight order against potential invasions.
Only then did I realize why he had shown interest in my beastly strength.
That left me with one card to play.
I raised my sharp claws before him.
“I’m stronger than anyone you know.”
Probably.
I wasn’t certain, but I declared it confidently.
“Even if Valentin has excellent knights, they’re still ordinary humans. I’m probably stronger.”
Whether my guess was right or not, Valentin put me into a carriage that seemed to have been prepared in advance.
“Yes. This is an opportunity.”
There weren’t many people who could kiss a terrifying beast besides Valentin.
…Correction. There were none.
Among the five men, only Valentin had shown no reaction whatsoever to my appearance.
So what if I used that to my advantage?
If we… k-ki… ahem… if we kept kissing, wouldn’t some real feelings eventually develop?
Even looking like this, if I tried my best to seduce him, maybe I’d find a way forward.
“There’s only one path: straight ahead.”
Having reached the monumental conclusion that I would seduce the man before me, I finally gathered the courage to meet Valentin’s gaze.
Perhaps sensing my fervent stare, he curled one corner of his lips, seemingly surprised that I no longer avoided his eyes.
“Valentin, I will seduce you.”
I had already escaped the gruesome death route.
Of course, depending on what I did next, he could still swing his sword at me—but so far, there was no sign of that.
“Lucy, I’m sorry. Once I become human, I’ll disappear.”
Apologizing to Lucy, who existed somewhere in this world, I burned with determination for the first time in a while.
