TNMN 00

Prologue 00

“They really do enjoy throwing people into the jaws of death.”

The banquet hall, which had been bustling with chatter only moments ago, fell into an uncanny silence at the words spoken by a single man.

With the steady sound of heavy footsteps, a towering figure entered, his entire body drenched in fresh blood as he calmly walked toward the gathered guests.

“Duke Whistler…”

A notorious butcher, rumored to leave a trail of blood wherever he went and to sever the heads of anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path.

‘Wait… is that thing he’s holding…?’

The closer Duke Whistler came to the crowd, the quieter the hall became.

“…Is that… a bear’s head in the Duke’s hand?”

At the sound of people nervously swallowing, the more timid noblewomen had already fainted or hidden behind their escorts, watching the terrifying scene unfold.

When Duke Whistler finally stopped walking, he removed the helmet covering his face.

Beneath it was a strikingly handsome man with sweat-soaked silver hair and melancholy violet eyes.

“…You’re all too noisy.”

As his deep voice echoed through the hall and his icy gaze swept across the murmuring nobles, silence instantly fell over the pale-faced crowd.

Having silenced them, Duke Whistler turned his head and began searching for the tiny woman who was always chattering endlessly in front of him, constantly getting on his nerves.

“There you are.”

She had brown hair and an ordinary build, yet for some reason she stood out to him even in the middle of a crowd.

Unlike everyone else, who kept their distance from the blood-crazed murderer, she insisted on staying by his side, telling him she loved him, urging him to trust her, and endlessly talking around him.

“Alosha.”

“…Eddie.”

She clearly seemed afraid of him.

Yet at times she would casually shorten his name into a nickname, smiling brightly at his face as though nothing were wrong after trembling and begging him not to kill her only moments before.

Alosha Nocturne.

A strange woman who constantly unsettled Duke Whistler’s peace of mind.

For some reason, he suddenly felt like teasing her.

“A gift.”

With those words, Duke Whistler tossed what he had been carrying in his right hand toward Alosha’s feet.

Though it was unmistakably a bear’s head and certainly not a ball, it rolled across the floor with surprising ease before gently bumping against her shoe and coming to a stop.

“…”

“…”

Whatever Duke Whistler had been thinking, Alosha’s mind was in complete chaos.

She had been showering him with compliments—telling him he was kind, wonderful, lovable—in hopes of softening his brutal nature.

So why…

A wave of terror crept up from her feet, sending chills through her entire body.

“Why that expression? Didn’t you once say that no matter what I gave you, you’d gladly accept it?”

She vaguely remembered saying something like that.

But she had definitely not meant this.

Staring at Duke Whistler, still covered head to toe in blood, Alosha felt her mind go completely blank.

She had to say something…

But no words came.

‘I actually believed… I could teach a man like that what love is and make him fall for me.’

Wasn’t she supposed to change the story if she wanted to survive?

Yet despite her determination, everything kept spiraling in the strangest direction, and her confidence was rapidly disappearing.

“Alosha? Come here.”

The Duke called to her lazily, like a lion that had already eaten its fill.

But Alosha could no longer bring herself to answer him.

Nor did she have the courage to walk toward him.

‘At times like this… the answer is obvious.’

Fainting would be far easier than trying to deal with that terrifying man.

“I’m going to faint.”

The moment Alosha swayed where she stood, Dain, who had been standing to her left, jumped in alarm.

“Alosha!”

‘Ah! I can’t collapse into his arms!’

Dain hurried forward to catch her, but Alosha gritted her teeth and deliberately avoided him, throwing herself into the arms of her older brother, Alexis, who stood beside him instead.

“Alosha!”

As consciousness faded, she heard Alexis calling her name.

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

‘At least this keeps Whistler and Dain from wasting pages fighting over me.’

Even in a situation like this, she couldn’t help making calculations like an author.

‘I’m amazing. The readers should be grateful to me.’

With that final thought, darkness completely swallowed Alosha.

She had executed a perfect faint.