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Chapter 24
“Actually, since I’m a gentleman, killing a child felt a bit… off.”
“…Lies.”
“Well, normally this sort of thing would be left to my subordinates anyway.”
He grinned at Damia. The forced friendliness made her skin crawl.
“But your crimes are so severe that I can’t just let you go.”
“…….”
“However, if you tell me everything honestly, I’ll spare your life.”
Damia didn’t believe a single word he said.
“Who exactly ordered you to give the Young Viscount that potion to kill the dragon?”
A potion to kill a dragon?
The unexpected words made Damia’s purple eyes widen in surprise.
Fortunately, the man didn’t notice her reaction.
“I-I don’t know. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She started sobbing immediately.
“Haha, suddenly so polite, huh?”
“I really don’t know anything…!”
“Is that so? If I interrogate you, I’ll find out the truth.”
“You… you’re going to kill me? Isn’t there a way to solve this through talking?”
Damia asked, trembling.
She hoped that appearing pitiful might make him lower his guard.
“Ha, talk?”
“Yes… talk…”
Contrary to Damia’s hopes, the man’s once-perfect face twisted into a cruel scowl.
“Because of you, that damn Young Viscount’s heart started beating again, and you’re casually talking about… chatting?”
“Sniff… why are you angry…?”
“Don’t you understand the situation?”
His voice almost sounded like a growl.
‘Hot-tempered? Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’
His roar made the carriage windows shake. He was clearly not human.
‘I can’t lose my focus.’
Every jolt made her head throb. One wrong move and she might faint.
Damia bit her lip hard to stay conscious. The sting brought tears to her eyes.
“Please… just let me go.”
“Begging won’t help.”
“I still have so many things I haven’t done. I was always scolded at home. You saw how the butler tried to sell me to that old man!”
Her purple eyes filled with transparent tears that quickly streamed down her cheeks.
She was genuinely scared, so she didn’t even need to act.
The girl looked so helpless that she broke the man’s defenses.
“…Hey, stop asking. It’s annoying.”
Finally, he twitched his well-shaped eyebrows.
The expression was eerily identical to Cassian’s when he was flustered.
“Sniff… I’m only thirteen years old.”
“I don’t care about human circumstances… though, you really are young. Almost nothing but a lump of flesh, aren’t you?”
“If you’re not going to kill me right away, don’t keep getting angry. Every time you shout, my head rings. It hurts too much.”
Even in this situation, Damia boldly voiced her demand. The man chuckled incredulously.
He glanced at the dark forest, then stepped back.
Damia, her body completely drained, slid down.
“Don’t get on my nerves like before. Stay quiet until we arrive.”
“You’re not going to kill me right away, are you?”
Damia hesitated as she tried to stand.
A rattling sound came from inside his coat—glass bottles clinking.
“Right. I need to interrogate you about where you got that disgusting potion.”
Fortunately, the man seemed not to notice the sound.
“Where exactly were you taking me?”
“All my clan is waiting for me at the Nest. They’re all curious how I’ll dispose of you.”
She didn’t know where the Nest was, but she was certain she must not be taken there.
“The Nest?”
“We’ll be moving again, so get up and sit down quickly.”
“You call the dragons’ hidden haven a ‘Nest’?”
“Shut up and get up.”
“P-Please help me up.”
“What?”
The man narrowed his eyes.
“Please… my legs won’t support me at all.”
“Do you even understand the situation? You really aren’t in your right mind.”
Damia ignored him and sniffled.
The girl’s cries made him furrow his brows as if disgusted.
He closed his eyes, as if trying to control his anger.
Damia seized the opportunity and quickly reached into her pocket for the glass bottle.
“Here.”
The man, who had been conflicted, reluctantly extended his hand.
It looked as if he was giving the final mercy to the one whose life he could take.
“I shouldn’t have stepped in. I thought it would be a fun diversion, but this brat turned out so troublesome.”
“Th-Thank you anyway…!”
“Get up quickly.”
“Yes… Ah!”
Damia staggered as if her strength had left her.
“What’s wrong with you?”
The man leaned toward her curiously. This was her chance.
Swish!
Damia splashed the purple liquid onto him.
“Ugh!”
The liquid hit his face and neck. He collapsed instantly.
Even in small amounts, the burning smell was overwhelming, and his skin began to melt immediately.
“You… human girl!”
“You said it was a potion to kill dragons, right? Thanks for showing me its true nature.”
Her legs trembled, but Damia stepped forward.
“There’s still a lot left. Let’s see what you can do.”
“You… ugh!”
The man clutched his face, gasping for air.
“I won’t… let you… I… kill… you!”
His eyes blazed as he crawled toward her.
Damia swung the glass bottle threateningly. The remaining liquid soaked his chest.
“Ugh…!”
He collapsed forward, limbs convulsing, scratching the floor.
‘Is the heart his weak point?’
His reaction was much more violent than when she attacked his face or neck.
Damia glanced at the bottle. Only about half of the healing potion remained.
This was the only emergency bottle she carried. She had pretended to have room to spare, but she was in a desperate situation.
‘Now I have to aim carefully.’
She approached the man, who was now gasping with his head thrown back.
Half out of his mind, he didn’t even notice her approach.
‘I can do this. No, I must.’
Damia leapt.
Just as she tried to tilt the remaining bottle toward his heart,
“G-Get away!”
The man swiped his arms, summoning his remaining strength.
Before she could pour the potion, she had to stop his resistance.
Instinctively, Damia pressed her hand against his neck.
The cold sensation ran up her fingers. Hardly believable as the warmth of a living person.
“Ah… ahh!”
The man suddenly began screaming.
What? The potion hadn’t even touched him yet…
“L-Let go…!”
Could it be? Damia looked at her bare hand touching his neck.
“Ahh!”
She recoiled in shock, and the man’s bare face came into view.
Her hesitation didn’t last long.
“Ugh!”
Under her touch, he coughed up blood.
The healing potion that delayed the Young Viscount’s curse was called a dragon-killing potion by this man.
‘Cassian said contact with me has the same effect as the potion.’
Just as the potion was deadly to dragons, contact with Damia seemed lethal to them.
In that case…
Damia gripped the man’s face tightly and lifted the bottle.
If contact and the potion worked simultaneously, its effect might be amplified.
“G-G-Go!”
But this time, the man was slightly faster.
“Ah!”
He pushed Damia hard. The bottle slipped from her hands, scattering the purple potion into the air.
“No!”
She had to secure even the remaining potion. Damia stretched out on the ground, reaching for the bottle.
“Ah!”
The man who had gotten up stepped on her hand.
“What… exactly are you?”
His slit pupils gleamed with lethal intent. The man who had played along with her before was completely gone.
He truly wanted to erase Damia now.
