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Chapter 11
It was a movement as natural and confident as if she were simply reclaiming what was hers.
“…Lady Viscountess?”
When Roman snapped back to his senses, the princess was already walking away.
He quickly stepped forward and blocked Belladis’s path.
Immediately, a sharp, piercing gaze stabbed into him.
That look brought to mind the words of that fool, the captain of the imperial guards.
“Be wary of Princess Belladis. Something has changed. It was she who cast us out.”
“Ah… that little one is quite pretty, isn’t it? But a newborn needs its mother. Wouldn’t it be better to return it to her?”
But Belladis did not answer. Instead, she looked down at his hand.
Roman, following her gaze, faltered.
In the slanted sunlight, his palm—stained with blood—was clearly revealed.
The informant standing behind Belladis asked,
“Sir Roman, are you injured?”
“Ah, this? It’s nothing seriou—”
But Roman never finished.
Because Belladis had turned her head and was staring at something behind him.
Thump. Thump.
His pulse quickened; cold sweat broke out down his back.
Where her gaze landed… lay a bloodied spear, and the young wolf impaled upon it.
The massacre’s traces, not yet cleared away.
“Well.”
“……”
Belladis turned back, speaking as if she already knew everything.
“This hardly looks like a place fit to raise a wolf pup, either.”
As she passed him, she left behind a single line:
“I’ll be taking this one.”
As though that had been her only purpose from the beginning.
“My apologies, Sir Roman. I’ll inform the physician to see to your injuries.”
After Belladis and the informants passed by, Roman’s eyes grew vacant.
Feeding useless wolves, killing them again and again—decades wasted.
That endless stretch of time flashed before his eyes like lantern slides.
And now, today, he finally had a chance to leave this accursed place…
Who gave her the right to take it away?
“Wait.”
Roman called to halt the informants and turned.
“I’ve a question. Aside from you, is anyone else coming?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“Ah, nothing much. It’s just… if no one else is coming, there’s a message I’d like you to deliver to His Excellency on your way back.”
The weight in his words made the informants glance at each other, exchanging uneasy looks.
And in that instant—
Roman lunged. From behind his back, he swung a hidden blade in a ruthless strike.
One informant barely dodged, but not without a deep gash along his arm.
Roman licked his lips and grinned.
“Arms aren’t good enough. How about you show me your neck, eh?”
“Lady Viscountess, run!”
Another informant drew his weapon and charged without hesitation.
But this was Roman’s domain.
Once a training ground for knights, the place was shaped like an arena.
Buildings encircled the basin in a ring, like fortress walls.
What had once been an open colonnade had long since been remodeled into a wolf pen.
Where light and wind had once passed freely, there now stood a prison in the shape of a doughnut, with only one entrance.
Roman sprinted to the gate and yanked down a lever on the wall.
Clang!
With a thunderous crash, iron bars dropped between him and the informants, trapping them inside.
“No!”
The informants, imprisoned, cried out in despair.
“Lady Viscountess, run!”
Roman sneered.
“Did I not say? The item I’m sending to the Duke of Calypse… is that woman.”
“Roman!”
“Ah, but I suppose I can’t let you lot take her.”
Standing at the entrance outside the bars, he pulled another lever.
With a roar of pulleys, the cages of the wolves began to rise.
“Now the wolves of Calypse shall taste Calypse knights’ flesh.”
Roman strolled out leisurely, shouting after the retreating figure of Belladis.
“Your Highness! Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
For a fleeting moment, he wondered if perhaps the Emperor had ordered the princess to retrieve the white wolf.
But no, that was impossible.
*‘We depart, but you remain. His Majesty wants Princess Belladis dead inside Calypse. Only then will His Majesty have grounds to strike.
So when the time comes, do whatever it takes to kill her.’*
Yes—this was his chance.
How else could he have lured the princess here?
Since she had come of her own will, he only needed to kill her and toss the body into the wolves’ pen.
The wolves would tear apart her corpse, and the Emperor would have his pretext.
Meanwhile, Roman would escape with the white wolf before the Duke caught on.
Eyes wild with killing intent and madness, Roman charged.
The distance shrank rapidly.
When he was within ten paces of her—
The princess suddenly stopped, as if she’d run out of strength.
“Is this as far as you go, Your Highness?”
Laughing loudly, Roman seized her shoulder.
“Caught you.”
He spun her around roughly—only to meet her pink eyes head-on.
Who told you to covet what isn’t yours?
Looking into those eyes, he raised his blade.
“Die.”
Stab.
He drove the sword deep into her abdomen.
“Grrrrrr.”
Trapped in the cage with the wolves, the informants pressed shoulder to shoulder against the wall.
Their opponents were the wolves of Calypse—creatures brimming with hatred for humans.
They bared their fangs, snarling, then lunged without warning.
One informant, driven to the wall, swung his sword in desperation. The wolves leapt back, but their gleaming fangs did not retreat.
The snarls.
The thick drool dripping from massive teeth.
As the deadlock dragged on, regret and despair only deepened.
Clang! Clang!
Suddenly, the shriek of metal reverberated through the cage.
At the highest part of the wall, beyond human reach, a vent creaked open—
Roman’s face appeared.
“Roman!”
The informants screamed his name, but he only tossed something down.
Thud!
“Here’s another meal. Tear it to pieces.”
What fell into the cage… was Belladis.
“Lady Viscountess!”
Startled, the informants rushed to her.
She had landed in the middle of the standoff between wolves and men.
There was no time to check her condition.
All they could do was shield her with their bodies and face the wolves.
But even without checking, her state was dire.
She hadn’t moved since her fall, and the thick smell of blood filled the air.
Enough to drive the wolves into frenzy.
The standoff shattered into a hunt in an instant.
“Urgh!”
How could they possibly fight through this darkness, this pack of wolves?
No… was this the end?
Crushed beneath despair like a tidal wave, they could hardly breathe—
When suddenly, a whisper seeped into their ears.
They forgot life and death for a moment, turning as if spellbound.
The sound was like leaves rustling in the wind, or a priest chanting scripture.
And it came from Belladis, lying like a corpse on the ground.
What was she saying?
Was she even alive?
A chill ran down one informant’s spine. He cautiously stepped closer.
And then—the endless murmuring ceased.
Deathly silence followed.
In the blood-scented stillness, Belladis lifted her head.
Her face was ghostly pale, but her pink eyes glowed with an otherworldly light.
They were entranced before they even realized they’d been overwhelmed.
Her lips parted.
“Flames of purification.”
And without warning, a miracle appeared.
From where she lay, blue fire began to shimmer—
Then spread outward in waves, like ripples racing across the surface of water.
