The Hunting Season (9)
Kalit said that he did not want to become someone like Oslo who uses me for his own ambitions.
I feel strange.
Just as I became important to him Kalit became important to me.
You can use me however you want.
"I don't trust people in general. But once I like someone, I tend to cherish them very much."
"..."
"So don't pressure me to use it. It makes me sad."
Kalit put the painting in the crater and gave it back to me.
"You do this."
"Yes?"
"No matter who uses this, I'm the one who benefits the most in the end. So I'll give you the joy."
"Use it whenever you want, however you want."
I thought you were calling me to replace the aides, including Baron Nokron, but I guess not?
"Then why did you call me..."
"Because I miss you."
"Weren't we always together in the conference room?"
"Don't act like you don't know me. I wanted to hold your hand and talk to you like we do now, play chess, and laugh together. Can't I?"
He smiled faintly and slowly reached out his hand to me.
His bulging knuckles dig into mine. When I come to, his hands and mine are tightly intertwined.
I took a deep breath.
"Your Highness, you know that it's a really annoying habit, right?"
"Habit?"
"You're talking to me as if you're tempting me when you don't mean it. What if I really make a mistake?"
Don't they casually invite you to their bedroom to play or pressure you into getting engaged?
Fortunately, I know his true nature, but if it were anyone else, she would have been possessed by him already.
Kalit tilted his head.
"Millenia."
"Yes?"
"Have you ever really thought that it could be true?"
"..."
Of course, I thought it was a joke.
He often said things that confused people.
Of course, I felt that the way he looked at me, the way he touched me, and the way he spoke to me were different than before.
But we have overcome life and death crises together several times. Our relationship has become stronger, and our attitudes toward each other have changed.
Now, I thought that it was because he had opened his heart to me, just as I had come to accept Kalit's jokes without any problem.
I was so embarrassed that my words came out stammering.
"Oh, no, I haven't thought about that..."
"You didn't mean to pretend not to know?"
"...Why me?"
"That's Interesting."
A faint smile escaped Kalit's lips along with a soft hum.
Suddenly, the back of my hand felt ticklish.
He was gently rubbing the bulging veins on the back of my hand with his thumb.
"You've never hunted, have you?"
"..."
"The fun of hunting lies in the chase. It's about stalking your prey stealthily and deliberately, and then taking its life in one fell swoop the moment it lets its guard down."
Kalit pressed his lips to the back of my hand. It was a gentle and respectful kiss.
"Keep running away."
But the gaze was completely different.
The silver-gray eyes looking up at me with their lips buried in the back of my hand were those of a beast hunting its prey.
"The more you do that, the more excited I become."
A chill ran down my spine.
***
While Kalit and Millenia were meeting, Oslo paced the bedroom like an angry beast.
"Fuck, fuck damn it!!!"
A fierce voice reverberated through his anger, and he overturned the table.
Wow!
As the table fell over, all the alcohol and glasses on it shattered.
The attendant who had been standing there like a criminal suddenly backed away in fear. Even that sight, which would normally have been laughed at, was a thorn in his eye today.
"Get out now!"
"Yes, yes, Your Highness..."
When he proposed excluding the Guardians from the summit, he didn't really hope it would pass.
Rather, he wanted to clearly inform Millenia that the summit was already under his control.
If things had gone as planned, Millenia would have been treated as a guardian by the attendees and would have just looked at him with a timid expression.
"If I had just pushed a little harder, I could have made her come back to me!"
Oslo has known Millennia well.
It is a great shame to be excluded from the summit. It is also a disgrace to the family..
There was no way her personality could endure such a situation.
Although she held out at first, eventually she had no choice but to apologize and beg for help.
Then he planned to use that as an excuse to make her come back. He couldn't let her side with Kalit.
But things turned out completely differently than he had imagined.
Not only did she manage to escape the crisis with an item called the Anti-Demon Herb, but she also drew a picture of the Great Rift and made it public.
All the efforts made to persuade attendees using information about the Great Rift were rendered useless in an instant.
"This is not the time to be doing this. We need to re-plan right away."
What really occupied his mind was someone's face.
Millenia's face, has become much more beautiful than before.
"It was mine..."
Oslo bit his fingertips with an anxious look on his face.
Until recently, she was a boring woman.
The atmosphere is gloomy and lacks charm. Not only does she not smile much, she also does not dress up.
She wasn't attractive as a woman. So why is she different now?
She was the only one who shone in the grand hall.
He looked at her without realizing it, turned his head in surprise several times, and did not even notice Rahon's face, which everyone admired.
And the thought that came to mind was regret.
Yeah, he regretted it so much. He lost a woman named Millenia, who wasn't a guardian.
Suddenly Oslo looked at the palm of his a
hand.
He thought it was because he overturned the table, but a red scratch appeared on his palm.
Oslo muttered.
"Millenia, I'm sick."
The monologue was scattered in vain.
The lover who worried even if he hurt his fingertips was no longer there.
A father who was just an Emperor, a mother who was only interested in her own power, and a half-brother who looked down on his younger brother like a bug.
The only people who approached him were women who dreamed of rising in social status, seduced by his looks and status, or corrupt nobles who wanted to get a piece of the action.
Among them, the only person who truly loved him was Millenia.
Oslo clenched his fist as if on impulse. He felt a sharp pain in his palm and chanted again.
"I'm sick."
Weird.
Why is it more than a wound on the palm of his hand, or a plan that he had carefully prepared falling apart.
"My feelings for Your Highness have already burned away to nothing. Now, the hatred that grew from blood has taken deep root, so I will never return to Your Highness again."
Why do Millenia's words hurt more?
Oslo stood blankly in the middle of the messy bedroom.
"I have Millenia..."
One day, when Oslo saw Millenia with Kalit, his blood boiled in his throat.
It finally occurred to him that she might love another man.
She will act as if she would even give her life for that person.
Even if he just holds her hand, she'll blush in embarrassment, and when he says something he doesn't mean, she'll smile like the happiest woman in the world.
"Just like you did to me."
How could she look at that? He would rather she die than be taken away by someone else.
Not because she's a guardian...
Oslo licked his lips.
"Because I love her."
Suddenly, Sierra's voice rang in my ears.
"It seems to me that Your Highness is being mean to Millenia. Please don't forget me."
That vain bitch was so nice. She was the first to notice emotions he didn't even know he had.
Oslo crossed the bedroom and sat down on the sofa, the scattered shards of glass crushed mercilessly by his shoes.
Nothing changes.
Just like before, just gets rid of anything that blocks his way and goes for what he wants.
A mad smile appeared on his delicate lips.
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