In the Nest of the Fallen Serpent - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Benedict leaned down and lifted Hilde’s chin with his forefinger. Still half-kneeling on the floor, she was beaded with sweat on her forehead and temples, a weary pallor clinging to her cheeks.
“Divine power?”
Hilde’s lips moved soundlessly, like a fish out of water, before she reluctantly nodded. “…Yes.”
His suspicions were confirmed. In truth, Benedict had already sensed his slave’s divine power. He’d witnessed her using it in the prison, staunching the bleeding from a prisoner’s wrist. Though she’d tried to conceal herself in a corner, draping a blanket over her hand and the wound, she couldn’t escape his notice.
That was why he had deliberately allowed himself to be injured by a lesser beast, one he could have easily killed. First, to gauge the extent of her power. Second, to test whether she would use it on him.
“A useful ability to exploit, in many ways.” His finger slid from Hilde’s chin, slowly tracing the delicate curve of her pale throat. “Which is why you hid it.”
He could feel her tense, her breath catching in her throat. Like a fragile rabbit, its vulnerable point exposed. He could feel the faint throb of her pulse beneath his touch.
“So why reveal the divine power you’ve hidden for so long, now, in front of me?”
“Ugh…!”
A large hand wrapped around her slender neck. He didn’t apply pressure, but the threat was clear. “Hmm? What calculations are going on in that small head of yours, slave?”
“Nothing, nothing…”
“Just an act of kindness?” His sun-bright golden eyes narrowed, coldly observing the woman before him.
“I… I thought I was partly to blame for your injury, Master.” Hilde’s voice trembled with fear, but her words were clear. “And… you saved me when that beast attacked….”
“Ah. You wanted to repay the favor.” A chillingly sardonic smile touched his lips. “But who said I was trying to save you?”
Hilde’s eyes widened. Benedict ruthlessly crushed the slave’s presumptuous thoughts with sharp, venomous words. “If I’d known you were capable of such foolish assumptions, I should have left you to lose a limb to that beast.”
Her already pale face blanched further. The way she trembled was quite a sight. It was a fitting appearance for a slave who dared to interpret her master’s actions to suit her own wishful thinking.
“I, I actually….” Hilde finally spoke, her voice hesitant. Her anxious expression, the cautious way she spoke, was like someone bracing themselves to reveal their most vulnerable part. “I… I can’t bear to see others hurt.”
Benedict frowned. “It’s so agonizing and difficult to just stand by and watch.…”
“Ridiculous.” He cut her off abruptly. It was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. “Do you even realize how preposterous you sound?”
“I, I’m telling the truth.”
Sharp golden eyes glinted between narrowed lids, as if searching for the slightest hint of falsehood. But it wasn’t difficult to discern the sincerity in her gaze, her desperate expression, and the tremor in her voice.
At the same time, a question arose in Benedict’s mind. ‘Why?’ Why should she care whether a stranger was hurt or not? Why should it cause her such unbearable distress?
The unanswered question morphed into displeasure and sharp suspicion. He didn’t believe in selfless kindness. To him, a man who calculated human emotions and underlying intentions, unpredictable situations didn’t exist. Yet, a mere slave was getting under his skin.
In that case, he had to unravel it completely.
“Well, since you’re so eager to repay your debt, I’ll graciously accept.” In the blink of an eye, Benedict released her neck and drew a dagger from his coat. The blade flashed sharply in the sunlight, and then, slit, the fully healed wound on his side reopened.
“Master…!” Hilde’s face went ashen at the gush of blood. She frantically pressed the cloth she had used earlier to dress his wound against the fresh cut. “Why, why… why would you do this…?”
Her pink eyes were wide with shock, her face a mask of disbelief. Benedict took in her distraught reaction, every detail registering in his mind. “What does it matter, when you have your divine power?” He met her now glistening eyes, his gaze arrogant as he commanded, “Heal me.”
