(2) Living as the Villainess Queen

Chapter 203

They first noticed the red horns atop its slimy head and the blue moss over its carapace, with small trees adjourning its body like boulders. Its scarlet eyes stared down at them, and its formidable size made Eugene nervous. She had never thought of turtles as dangerous, but this creature made her flinch just by its sheer size. She gulped.

While the turtle did not attack them, Kasser stayed on guard. He readied his stance, quick on his feet if the creature were to do anything dangerous.

Silence engulfed the two parties, with only Abu’s growl rising with the tension. Slowly, the turtle blinked and then started to sink into the water once again.

Eugene cried out, “Wait, don’t go!”

The turtle paused, lifting its head, curious as to why the maiden asked for it to stay. Eugene, scrambling to say something, stuttered, “Are you… Is the Holy Land… I mean — is the area nearby your territory?

Eugene thought it would reply like Abu, through body language, but something unexpected happened.

Out of the blue, a voice rang out.

‘Are you here to kill me? I don’t want to die yet.’

Eugene gasped, and Kasser’s gaze wavered. Still, he remained alert and held her even tighter.

“Can you speak our language?”

‘I am not speaking but conveying my will.’

Eugene stared at the creature, her mind racing and her eyes wide open. She called out, “Your Highness…”

His warm voice rang out in her ears, addressing her confusion, “It’s the first time that I’ve seen or heard anything like this.”

Although she knew that the novel she wrote was not exactly like this world, Eugene thought that she still had enough knowledge of it, especially about hwansus. However, a speaking hwansu never appeared in her novel.

As the turtle stared at her, she pushed back her questions for a later time.

“We’re not here to hurt you. I apologize if we surprised you.”

The turtle then conveyed, ‘If you’re not here to harm me, then can you get rid of the Praz?’

Surprised by the hwansu’s easy disposition, she tapped Kasser’s arm and looked up at him, asking him to follow the request.

“Your Highness.”

Kasser frowned and glared at the large turtle hwansu, still suspicious of the monster. As if echoing his thoughts, the blue snake around him stretched and curled its body, growling at the creature in the water. The turtle, seeing this, slowly started to trail backward to create some distance. Eugene let out a chuckle, amused at seeing such timid behavior from an enormous beast.

“Your Highness, it’s okay,” she said, trying to reassure Kasser.

She lowered her gaze to the arm wrapped around her waist then looked at the blue snake around him, its scales catching her eyes.

‘Was it like this before?’

While the snake symbolized the Desert King’s Praz, the other kings’ Praz never took such a clear form, especially one of a snake’s. The manifestation of a King’s Praz is translucent, the creature still distinguishable as an aura. However, the snake that covered Kasser’s body right now looked too real, its scales shimmering from the light, fully formed.