I Tamed the Monstrous Prince - Chapter 8
Chapter 8
She cautiously pointed outside the window with her index finger.
“That sound, though loud, won’t harm us. Are… you… alright?”
Only then did Cesar react to her words. Huddled and trembling, he lifted his head towards her. A strange sense of relief washed over her. His gaze, somewhat softened, now glistened with moisture.
His eyelids fluttered, blinking once, then twice, closing and opening again. At that moment, a merciless flash of lightning, a silvery brilliance, pulsed through the room, illuminating the dark space completely. Finally, she could see Cesar clearly.
A gasp escaped her lips involuntarily.
‘What is this? What have I seen?’
Instinctive fear and revulsion surged within her. Most grotesque was his left hand. The fingers were each a knuckle longer than a normal person’s, the joints prominent. The nails were dark and sharp, and the back of his hand was covered in hideous, black scales.
‘No matter how I look at it, this isn’t human. It’s too… alien.’
A deafening crash of thunder, as if shaking the very earth, roared through the air, erasing her thoughts. Cesar’s body convulsed again, and he screamed, “Aaargh!” She wanted to scream too, but she couldn’t.
He continued screaming for a while, then gasped, catching his breath. With a sickening crack, his body contorted unnaturally. His heaving chest twisted grotesquely. The sound of bones grinding echoed from each vertebra, and black, web-like veins bulged on his cheeks and forearms. Then came another cry of agony.
“Aaah! Aargh!”
The sight was painful, agonizing to witness.
“Calm… down…” She reached out, trying to soothe him, but all reason had vanished from Cesar’s eyes. Only a primal, instinctive wildness remained. A guttural, animalistic growl rumbled in his throat.
Primordial fear coursed through her. Her teeth chattered, and her body trembled.
‘This is different from before. I don’t know exactly why, but that look… it’s not normal. I’m going to die. I might really die.’
She wanted to scream, but even if she did, no one would come. Because she was the sacrificial offering, presented to the monster before her.
‘They say all four women betrothed to the First Prince died.’
‘Bloody corpses…’
The whispers from the wedding ceremony echoed vividly in her ears. In this terrifying situation, all she could do was cling to her consciousness, preventing herself from fainting. There was nothing else she could do.
The screaming suddenly stopped. Then, a heavy thud echoed as he collapsed to the floor. That was her cue. She ran, or rather, tried to run towards the door. Dragging her limp leg, she crawled towards it. Finally reaching the door, she yanked at the handle with all her might, but it wouldn’t budge.
Desperate, she pounded on it with her fists. She knew the knights had locked the door as they left. As expected, the heavy wooden door remained firmly shut. It wouldn’t open.
Still, unable to give up, she clawed at the door with her fingernails. Then, a chilling silence descended. An icy dread washed over her, like ice water poured over her head, sending shivers down her spine. She froze, holding her breath. She shouldn’t have looked back.
But her body, like a runaway horse, moved on its own. Slowly, she turned her head. All she saw was the eerie glow reflected in his crimson eyes. She had met the gaze of ‘it’.
“Aaaaagh!” She shrieked, clutching the dagger in her hand like a lifeline, swinging it wildly. Blinded by panic, she couldn’t see anything. Cesar, on the other hand, seemed to be calmly observing her frantic actions.
“Aagh!” A searing pain shot through her palm. She had cut her own hand with the wildly flailing dagger. It clattered to the floor. Something hot gushed out, a burning pain, as if she had plunged her hand into boiling water.
Drops of blood splattered on the floor, forming a small, spreading pool. Cesar continued to watch her, like a child fascinated by a curious sight. Dizzy and weak-kneed, she couldn’t stand properly. She slumped against the wooden door, her legs giving way.
Then, he slowly started to move. He took a step, looked at her face, then took another step, as if assessing her condition. They were now quite close.
“There…?” His attention was drawn to the pool of blood on the floor. He lowered his head, sniffing at it. The tension was suffocating, making her forget even the pain.
