My Villainous Husband

23

Picking me up effortlessly, Raniero was just gazing only at my face, not caring about Sylvia, who had collapsed next to her and passed out.

“Let’s go back.”

As he casually left all the unpleasant things behind as if there was nothing more to see since the enjoyable moment was over, I stared up at him anxiously.

Walking in small strides, he looked down at me.

“Why?”

A small boulder caught on his toe was kicked mercilessly and bounced over there. I tilted my head slightly and glanced at the bloody scene—Sylvia—to be exact. Turning back at the same time, he smiled as though he knew. It was a mocking smile.

“You’re still soft and weak.”

After tightening the embrace, he started walking again.

The wind began to blow against us, making all the unpleasant smell of blood wash away from the tip of my nose.

“If I were you, I’d care a little more about yourself than the daughter of the prey. Well, you may be weak because of such a disposition.”

I gave up trying to shake my head.

Regardless, I couldn’t even move my body, and I wouldn’t be able to make Raniero understand by shaking my head here. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. All threats were gone, and I was now safe in his arms. Nonetheless, Sylvia was still lying among the corpses…

No, wait… I almost got it wrong.

The threat is gone…?

Wasn’t this man holding me the biggest threat to me?

‘Again, again, I must be out of my mind—!’

Argh. Since I cannot move my body right now, I should just take this time to reflect.

The heat of the sun did not sting very much because the painkillers dulled the senses in my body. On the contrary, the adrenaline rushed through my body because of the warmth that could be felt through his body temperature coming through a layer of clothing or two.

I shut my eyes quietly with my arms hanging out.

Raniero didn’t talk to me anymore as well. Instead, he whistled softly. The pitch went up and down uncontrollably, as high and low as it could go. It was too crude to be called music, though somehow, it had the magic to make people listen.

After a while, the sun shone on my face. It seemed that we came out of the hunting grounds.

As I slowly opened my eyes, I frowned with a glare. I had to blink a few times because my eyes couldn’t adjust. Meanwhile, the nobles were staring this way, glued to the fence of the hunting ground.

I managed to move my head a little and gazed up at Raniero’s face.

Right now, He was more radiantly beautiful than ever as a strange ecstasy and joy overflowed from his eyes. It was a kind of madness that naturally evoked fear. Still, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. It may be because of the logic of the world where poisonous creatures are bound to be splendid.

He stopped about twenty steps from the fence gate where the nobles twinkled in anticipation of what the godson would say. Then, Raniero’s head slowly turned to the left before looking back to the right. Because the summer solstice festival was a national event, all the nobles of Actilus had gathered.

In front of the leading people, he declared bluntly.

“The Empress hunted the prey herself. The hunt is over. The Empress doesn’t even have a scratch.”