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Chapter 9
“Why the Retel Ducal House?”
“Oh my, don’t tell me you still don’t know?”
“What happened? Don’t drag it out, just tell me.”
The young ladies who loved gossip couldn’t stand the suspense and pressed her.
“Lady Charlize of the Retel Ducal House has completely vanished.”
Though the noblewoman lowered her voice, the young ladies who heard the rumor only grew more agitated.
“What?! Lady Charlize?!”
“Oh my, so you really didn’t know? A few days ago, when the maid went into her bedroom in the morning, the bed was already empty.”
“Heavens, could she have been kidnapped?”
“I wonder. If it were kidnapping, there should have been some sort of demand, but it seems they still have no idea of her whereabouts.”
The chatter of nobles drifted further and further from Arteph’s ears.
His heart pounded fast, his breath grew ragged. He could not maintain composure.
Arteph fought the urge to leap out immediately and instead downed his wine in one gulp.
“The young lord, Leandro Retel of the Retel Ducal House, enters!”
At the herald’s booming voice, every noble in the banquet hall turned their gaze to the door.
Arteph too fixed his sharp, honed eyes on the entrance.
“So he came alone, it seems. For the Duke himself not to attend His Majesty’s birthday banquet…”
“Well, he is the duke. I suppose he can excuse himself. Still, the young lord looks terribly worn.”
“Even so, he’s still quite handsome. In fact, I think he looks even more alluring than usual.”
“Yes, with that radiant silver hair and those shadowed features… it’s strangely decadent—oh, heavens, listen to me giggling. Ho ho.”
Arteph’s gaze fell on Leandro’s hair.
Silver hair, the same as Charlize’s.
Her hair had never lost its brilliance, not even in the dazzling halls of banquets. Instead, it always captivated the eyes of those already accustomed to the finest things.
She had first appeared in the capital two years ago, in the spring.
“Your Excellency, today’s the day at last.”
“What is.”
Inside the imperial banquet hall, Allen was brimming with excitement, while Arteph answered with a dull face.
“Goodness, I’ve told you so many times. Today is the day Lady Charlize of the Retel Ducal House debuts!”
“And?”
Arteph sipped his wine. No matter how tedious things were, at least the imperial wine was good. Without it, the banquet would have been unbearable.
Though truthfully, he wanted to leave already.
“They say she’s a tremendous beauty! So dazzling, in fact, that rumor has it some men have been blinded by her light!”
“Nonsense.”
Allen was getting worked up over a ridiculous rumor.
How is this fool even my aide?
Arteph was seriously considering firing him when Allen once again flailed dramatically.
“It just means she’s beautiful! And isn’t that the important part?”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“You never know. She was frail from birth and could never leave her lands, but she’s recovered now. There’s always a chance. Better to keep the possibility open, don’t you think?”
For once, Arteph showed some interest.
“And how did she recover?”
There had been no specific diagnosis, no extreme pain. She had simply been too weak for normal activity, collapsing with the slightest exertion.
She had been like a candle about to gutter out at any moment.
“No one knows. Not the priests, not the doctors, not even Lady Charlize herself. She only said that when she woke one morning, it felt as if she had been reborn.”
A woman who had been fragile her whole life suddenly recovered overnight.
“Reborn…” Arteph murmured.
‘Impossible. And yet…’
He needed to know what had happened.
If there was some special method, perhaps it could also cure him of his curse of turning into a wolf.
“The young lord, Leandro Retel, and Lady Charlize Retel enter!”
“At last!”
Allen nearly shrieked in excitement, staring at the doors.
All eyes in the hall fixed on the awaited figures—some out of desire to see her rumored beauty, others to hunt new prey in the social circle.
And for the first time, Arteph himself watched with true interest.
He was thinking only one thing:
If there is any chance I might stop becoming a beast, I will seize it, no matter the cost.
‘It’s only going to get louder,’ he thought, frowning at the already swelling murmur of the crowd before she had even appeared.
But when Charlize finally entered, the expected uproar never came.
Instead, silence fell. The only sound left was the gentle drift of music.
“…”
Even Arteph was speechless, his eyes wide.
At the grand doors stood Charlize, the crescent moon above her head.
Her mysterious silver hair glowed with pale light under the moon.
Her skin was like snow, her dress—pure white, diamonds stitched along its mermaid silhouette.
Her eyes, clear as a bright spring sky, drew Arteph away from the night and into a fresh dawn.
In that frozen space where everyone held their breath, Charlize took her first step.
“Ah, g-greetings, my lady!”
One brave young man approached her, and at once, the nobles snapped from their daze and swarmed her.
The silent hall erupted like a marketplace.
“Your Excellency, did you see?!”
Allen squealed at him.
But Arteph could not even manage his usual curt reply.
Charlize was beautiful. More beautiful than the rumors, beyond description.
And yet it wasn’t beauty alone that gripped him.
His heart ached. Overwhelmed, he wanted to rush to her, seize her, and never let her slip away.
“Your Excellency! We can’t just stand here!”
“…What are you babbling about.”
He forced himself to answer, Allen bouncing at his side.
“You must go greet her! If not, some other young noble will steal the chance!”
“…”
If he had been rational, he would have known every word was wrong.
But rationality abandoned him. Pressed by Allen’s nagging, Arteph took a step.
Finding Charlize was easy—the great crowd gave her away.
As he drew closer, her blue eyes found him.
For an instant, he could not breathe.
Her gaze softened into a gentle curve.
“Y-Your Excellency? Where are you going?!”
Arteph turned away, hiding the tears that welled in his eyes, and fled.
Arteph opened his eyes.
Every time he recalled that first meeting, his heart pounded as if he were there again.
And he regretted it.
He regretted running instead of speaking to her.
Had he spoken, perhaps she would have addressed him directly. Perhaps he would have heard her voice calling his name.
But those regrets always ended in harsh self-reproach.
“Know your place. My greed would only bring her unhappiness.”
How could a man cursed to live half his days as a wolf ever take a wife?
Once Allen too climbed into the carriage, the coachman flicked the reins.
“Allen Bendingk.”
“Yes, sir?”
The beast’s sharp eyes bored into him.
“Why did you not report Lady Charlize’s disappearance to me?”
Allen swallowed hard.
If he truly hadn’t known, he was incompetent. If he had known but kept silent, he was foolish.
“…My apologies.”
Allen was foolish.
Arteph looked down at him coldly, unmoved by the apology.
“I told you I would not use the lady as a pawn against the royal family.”
The royals already knew of the curse laid upon Arteph.
Long ago, when Redmond’s founding lord struck the Demon King down, the demon had, with his last breath, left behind a curse.
