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Chapter 40
“……What? An escape key?”
Startled, I asked again, but Yuanna didn’t seem to have any intention of answering.
“You really don’t want to come with me? Not even be friends? Then I guess I’ll have to take the bag.”
“Hey, Saintess. What do you mean by having an escape key—could you explain—”
Ignoring me, she reached out toward me again, and Ruzep came running over. He shoved Yuanna aside and stepped in front of me.
“That’s enough.”
Anyone watching would think I was trying to eat the young lady alive. Your reaction is really hurtful.”
Despite Yuanna’s words, Ruzep didn’t move an inch from in front of me.
Off to the side, Kaiden and Diego were still grappling with each other.
It was impressive that neither of them had drawn blood yet, considering how hard they were fighting.
For Diego to hold out that well against Kaiden, who had monstrous strength, meant he was no ordinary man either.
When there was no sign that the fights would end anytime soon, Enoch finally stepped in.
“That’s enough. All of you.”
Enoch grabbed Kaiden by the back of the neck and yanked him backward, then drove his fist straight into Diego’s face.
Diego, struck by Enoch, went flying lightly through the air and slammed into a wooden pillar.
“…?”
No, wait. Why was “stop it” so violent?
And he’d just sent a huge, muscular man flying with a single punch.
I stared at Enoch, completely at a loss for words.
I already knew it, but Kaiden and Enoch were both monsters when it came to strength.
“Stop and get up. Margaret is waiting. It’d be a problem if anyone bled. I’m still unstable when it comes to controlling my rampages.”
At Enoch’s words, Kaiden grumbled but got to his feet.
Come to think of it, if Enoch saw blood, he’d have a seizure—this really could’ve turned into a disaster.
“Yuanna’s weird talk threw me off, so I didn’t even think about that.”
But the real problem was that, at that exact timing, Diego came back with his face smeared with blood.
“You can’t just leave. Knock me down first.”
It seemed Diego was starting to forget that he was the captain of the imperial guard of the Langrid Empire.
I could understand that anyone would go a little crazy living on a deserted island full of monsters instead of people, but still—get a grip.
Worried, I looked back at Enoch and pressed a hand to my forehead.
As always, my bad premonitions didn’t miss. In Enoch’s golden eyes as he stared at Diego, a faint madness began to flicker.
“H-Hey, wait—!”
“It’s dangerous. Don’t go any closer.”
I tried to run toward them in shock, but Ruzep immediately stopped me.
“No, that’s not what I—!”
Enoch slowly turned his body.
Noticing something was off about his condition, Diego made a puzzled face.
Asdal must have noticed too, because he called out to Enoch.
“Hey, Half-Emperor.”
But Enoch didn’t answer.
As Enoch walked toward Diego, a harpoon lying on the ground caught under his foot. He stopped and quietly looked down at it.
He didn’t do anything yet, but somehow the sight was deeply unsettling.
Enoch slowly bent down and picked up the wooden harpoon.
“Enoch!”
I called out to him urgently, but it was as if he couldn’t hear me.
“Please, wait, Enoch!”
Still no response. Seriously—he handled himself just fine when the anaconda showed up! Is controlling it a matter of luck?!
“Y-Your Majesty?”
“What’s wrong with him?”
Diego and Kaiden spoke up in confusion, one after the other.
Enoch reached up and undid the top button of his shirt, loosening it from his throat. Then he rubbed the back of his neck and tilted his head to the side, as if stiff.
“There’s blood.”
Enoch smiled as he pointed at Diego’s lip, which was bleeding badly.
As Diego flusteredly touched his own lip, Enoch’s gaze slowly traveled downward.
Only then did Diego seem to realize that Enoch was in the middle of a seizure.
Very few people knew about Enoch’s trauma: the emperor of the Langrid Empire, Enoch’s close aides, and Diego, the captain of the imperial guard tasked with protecting the imperial family.
Only that small number of people knew his secret, and the empire had managed it by administering sedatives as needed.
Which meant this was also the first time Diego had ever faced Enoch’s rampage without sedatives.
“Please calm down, Your Majesty.”
Hearing something odd in Diego’s words, Kaiden glanced at him once, then looked back at Enoch.
“What? Why—”
Just as Kaiden began to speak in confusion, Enoch’s leisurely steps suddenly sped up.
In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Diego. He grabbed Diego by the collar and raised the wooden harpoon high.
It all happened in an instant.
“Enoch, stop! Look at me for a second! Just look at my face and talk to me!”
Enoch’s hand, about to drive the harpoon down, froze in midair.
Thankfully, this time he seemed to react to my voice.
It looked like my voice had been engraved deeply enough in him that it reached him even when he’d lost his reason.
But it only lasted a moment. The hand gripping the harpoon began to move again, slowly.
“If you don’t stop right there, I’m leaving. I’ll abandon you and go on my own!”
I made a huge gamble. Last time, it seemed like something like this worked.
Sure enough, the words must have shocked him badly, because Enoch’s body flinched and his movement stopped completely.
For some reason, Diego didn’t try to dodge and just stared at him.
They stayed frozen like that for quite a while.
But I could see Enoch’s hand trembling as it clutched Diego’s collar. The veins stood out on the back of his reddened hand, showing how much strength he was using.
It looked like Enoch himself was fighting to suppress his rampage.
“You’re doing great. You can stop now.”
At last, Enoch slowly loosened his grip on Diego’s collar.
Now he could really be controlled by voice alone. That was an incredible improvement.
I let out a breath of relief.
Then Enoch tilted his head crookedly and wiped the blood from the corner of Diego’s mouth with his thumb.
“You’re bleeding. It makes me want to see more.”
My heart lurched at those words. Saying you want to see more blood like that—so seductively—was a problem in itself. And the target was a man, no less.
“You’re lucky, Sir Diego. Don’t make me angry. If you spill blood like today again, I might really want to kill you.”
Enoch murmured quietly toward Diego.
Soon, both of Enoch’s hands dropped completely. The harpoon fell from his grasp and clattered onto the ground.
Staring blankly at the harpoon rolling across the floor, Enoch slowly turned to look at me.
The ferocity was completely gone, replaced by a much gentler expression.
“I stopped as you wished. Does that mean you won’t abandon me now?”
With a perfectly calm face, Enoch said something so shameless.
I thought my heart was going to drop out of my chest.
Does he have any idea what I just went through?!
I really thought he was about to skewer Diego with that harpoon. It was even scarier because I vaguely remembered a similar episode happening in the novel.
“It seems I’m not the only one who’s become well-behaved thanks to you.”
He added that and thanked me. Still, it was a huge relief that Enoch was back to his usual self.
My legs gave out, and I sank down onto the ground for a moment.
I stared at the floor, letting out a deep sigh. When I lifted my head at how quiet it had become, I saw everyone staring back and forth between me and Enoch with stunned expressions.
Kaiden turned to me with an incredulous look.
“What was that just now?”
At Kaiden’s question, I finally snapped back to my senses. This was no time for this!
I immediately loaded the flare, pulled the hammer, and aimed it at Asdal and Diego.
“You two—hands up again.”
Asdal and Diego made sour faces. I shook the flare once more to urge them on.
“Hands. Up.”
Having already seen what the flare could do, they hesitated, then eventually raised their hands.
“Enoch, Kaiden. Come here.”
Keeping the flare aimed at Crown Prince Asdal and Diego, I beckoned Enoch and Kaiden over. As if they’d been waiting for it, they ran toward me with bright expressions.
As soon as Enoch reached me, he grabbed my hand and pulled me farther away from Yuanna and Bishop Ruzep. Ruzep shot Enoch a hurt look as Enoch pushed him aside.
“Enoch goes berserk when he sees blood. Could you wipe it off? Unless you want all of us to die like dogs.”
The moment I finished speaking, Diego hurriedly wiped the blood from his face.
Asdal looked dazedly at Diego, then absentmindedly brushed over his own clean clothes, as if relieved.
Yuanna, arms crossed the entire time, simply watched the chaos with an expression that said she found it all highly entertaining.
“What, you didn’t even tell me why last time. So that’s why it turned into such a mess then?”
Kaiden asked, looking at Enoch and me.
I glanced at Enoch’s profile and quietly nodded. Given the situation, it wasn’t the time to explain.
“Hey, Half-Emperor. Since when did that start? You never had seizures like that before.”
Asdal stared at Enoch with an incredulous face, a hint of betrayal in his eyes—as if asking why he hadn’t said anything sooner.
“…It’s aftereffects of the war.”
Enoch answered briefly, tightening his grip on my hand again.
“Oh, you mean the Battle of Romalizan? From the Divine-Demon War?”
Asdal asked knowingly.
Enoch didn’t say a word—he just silently nodded.
