CHGD 05

Chapter 05

‘He’s not human.’

In that moment, I instinctively knew the Count was not human.

This world was a fantasy world, but magic wasn’t as common as in fairy tales. I’d never even heard of magic that could put someone into a trance.

Moreover, the unidentified aura emanating from him felt overwhelming, like being in front of a massive beast.

Someone with such power couldn’t be human. Shouldn’t be human.

Just as a herbivore can sense the king of beasts from afar, I intuitively realized he was a monster, not a human.

‘……Then, why?’

I had thought that since he was the lord of a castle where monsters lived, he might not be human.

That’s why it was even stranger.

Why was a monster pretending to be human, and why had he gone through with a marriage… To put all those questions together bluntly:

‘Why is this monster going so far as to transform and acting so kindly toward me?’

It was a direct suspicion I couldn’t bring myself to voice.

“Count, you are…….”

I tried to ask as indirectly as possible, but I met his eyes and closed my mouth.

I felt an uncontrollable fear from his eyes, now glowing completely yellow.

‘Wait, this…’

Had I crossed the line?

Alarm bells signaling a life-threatening crisis began ringing wildly in my head. At the same time, the Count spoke.

What was strange was that his voice began to come from behind me.

As if someone was pressing down on my shoulders and whispering in my ear.

“Deliana, are you saying you can’t forget the past you lived in that house?”

“…….”

“Are you saying the past is more important than my words, than the future we’ll build together?”

I wanted to make an excuse that that wasn’t what I meant, but I couldn’t move my lips, let alone my tongue.

An unidentified pressure that had descended upon my shoulders seemed to grip my entire body.

This was different from the hypnosis earlier.

Just now, he’d tried to gently manipulate my mind. This was like a snake coiling around its prey to prevent escape.

“I can do anything for Deliana. For your nest, your happiness, your joy, I would gladly…… or kill…… anything.”

It was only then I realized.

In this castle, I was not the lord of all creation.

Even during a peaceful breakfast, I was merely prey that could have its throat cut in an instant.

The Count, now uttering something not in human language, looked even more like a predator.

“But leaving me…… loving that place more than me…… that, I cannot forgive.”

“You said yesterday. That in the morning, you would send me back…….”

“I said we would talk. I never said I’d send you back, Deliana.”

What a sneaky way of putting it. I bit my lip, frozen in fear.

“We’re married, we’re husband and wife. Right? So, if you can’t forget the past, if you try to leave me, then I’d rather…….”

My survival instincts screamed at me to break free from this situation immediately.

What I needed right now wasn’t a question to resolve my doubts, but a spell to quell the beast’s anger.

‘So what is it!’

Unlike my frantic instincts, my reason couldn’t come up with an answer. I was almost getting angry at my useless tongue.

“If I…….”

Just as I sensed his yellow aura was about to consume me—

“Your plate is empty.”

Just like when I’d met Blacky and Valos, my mouth began to move on its own.

“Count, aren’t you going to eat?”

“……?”

For a moment, as if he didn’t understand my words, his aura faltered.

I stared straight at him, blinking in bewilderment. And with trembling fingers, I pointed at his plate.

“You haven’t eaten anything since earlier.”

“We-well…….”

“So this time, I’ll serve you.”

I took a piece of fruit from my plate and cut it with a knife, making it bite-sized.

Fortunately, the Count had already peeled it, so even with my trembling hands, I could easily prepare it.

I stabbed it with a fork, lifted it, and……

“Here, say ah—”

I brought it to his face.

‘……Are you insane?’

I asked myself, and of course, no one answered. Instead, only embarrassment and regret came flooding in.

The strategy I’d come up with just before being eaten by a monster was… feeding him a piece of fruit.

Even a middle schooler going through puberty wouldn’t fall for that.

The shame, even stronger than with Valos, made my face burn.

‘It’s over now.’

He’d surely swat the fork away, asking what kind of trick I was playing. And my neck would be cleanly sliced like that cut fruit.

Sensing my death, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Ah, ah—”

The Count opened his mouth.

And he actually made the embarrassing “ah—” sound, bringing his mouth to my fork.

*Nom.* The Count took the fruit into his mouth.

At the same time, the oppressive pressure vanished.

“It’s…… delicious.”

I stared blankly at the stammering Count.

‘Why did you eat that?’

I never dreamed he’d comply so easily.

His eyes had already returned to their crimson color. As if he were a young man having a civilized conversation for the first time, he awkwardly moved his mouth, unable to meet my eyes.

His wavering gaze momentarily turned to the fruit basket.

‘Anyway, this is it.’

What I needed to do next was clear. Before I could even give the command, my hand reached for the fruit basket.

And I took out another fruit, quickly slicing it.

“Here, try this one too.”

Every time I offered fruit, the Count opened his mouth and gobbled it down. Like a baby bird receiving food from its mother.

‘No, this…… it doesn’t feel bad, though.’

Feeding someone I didn’t particularly like should have felt awkward, but perhaps because the recipient was handsome, it actually felt quite pleasant.

With his malevolent aura gone, the Count looked as fresh as a high-teen drama actor.

‘For now, let’s keep this up.’

His anger toward me could erupt again at any moment.

To get through this crisis, I had to set aside my questions and suspicions for now and keep my hands busy.

“What kind of fruit do you like?”

I mixed in some small talk to pretend I wasn’t scared.

“Anything, as long as it’s from Deliana.”

“……Ah, yes.”

My hands briefly paused at that cheesy answer.

Fortunately, he seemed too focused on the fruit to notice.

After shoving four or five pieces of fruit into the Count’s mouth, he casually changed the subject, as if he’d forgotten our previous conversation entirely.

“Doing this makes me feel like we’re truly a family.”

“We’re married, aren’t we? We exchanged vows.”

“Right, of course?”

Seeing him smile as if my answer scored a perfect hundred, I forced an awkward smile as well.

‘He’s not wrong.’

Whatever his true nature, under Imperial law, he and I were indeed married.

My surname on the noble registry would have changed from Royd to Archeim.

Husband and wife are family, and this much between family isn’t embarrassing.

Thinking that, the heat in my face seemed to subside a little.

“……It’s been a while since I’ve seen Deliana smile.”

“Has it?”

The Count looked at me with an even deeper smile. It was only a formal smile, but in his eyes, it seemed to have pleased him greatly.

Feeling inexplicably parched, I took a sip of the tea beside me.

‘This is really fine now, right?’

Putting down the teacup, I quickly scanned his surroundings.

The unsettling aura and yellow light I’d felt earlier were nowhere to be seen. The atmosphere was peaceful, as if my desperate gasping just moments ago had been a brief nightmare.

I had survived.

I felt an indescribable relief at that fact.

After that, our conversation continued peacefully, like that of a real married couple.

“I have work left to do, so I won’t be able to join you for lunch. What will you do, Deliana?”

The abrupt change in atmosphere was unfamiliar, but I wasn’t foolish enough to step on a landmine again.

I’d learned from this experience that saying I wanted to leave for no reason or reminiscing about the past in front of the Count was suicidal.

Hiding my complicated feelings, I continued the conversation calmly.

“Is there anything I need to do?”

“No. For now, I’d like you to get comfortable with life in the castle.”

In other words, I was free to rest and spend my time as I pleased.

Still, I couldn’t just stay in my room, so I asked about the location of the library and gardens.

He said he’d assign Valos as my escort knight and told me to be careful.

‘It’s a bit odd that he said “be careful.”‘

He himself didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness of the phrase, but I wondered why the lady of the house would need to be careful just to look around.

Perhaps it meant danger lurked somewhere.

And so breakfast ended.

The Count said he’d leave first and departed, and I said I’d like to enjoy the lake view for a while.

He smiled and said, of course, Deliana could do as she pleased.

“…….”

I leaned back against my chair, blankly gazing at the lake, when I sensed someone by the shore.

Turning my gaze, I saw Valos approaching, his entire body covered in leaves. He seemed to have emerged from the bushes by the lake.

“Don’t tell me you were there the whole time?”

“Yeah, the master told me to wait until you finished eating.”

“……You could have just waited nearby.”

“If I interrupted the meal, I’d be killed.”

‘Don’t say it like you’d actually be killed. It’s scary.’

I swallowed hard. My throat felt even drier.