The Beast of the Albard Mansion - Chapter 19
I couldn’t sleep, lost in thoughts about Desi. Had he gone out? What was he doing? How could his eyes be so bright yellow? How could his body be so large? Why did his voice sound so pleasant? These random thoughts kept coming to me every now and then.
If I stayed lost in these thoughts every night and slept in the next morning, Ellie would scold me. She’d probably tell me to stop reading books at night. The truth was, these days I often found myself thinking about Desi even while reading, which was a big problem.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fall asleep quickly. But no matter how long I lay there, I couldn’t sleep, so I leaned my chin on the window and felt the night breeze. Winter had passed, and spring had come. The puddles of water were thawing in the midday sun, only to freeze again in the night breeze.
In spring, the cries of wild animals continued through the night. As the grass sprouted, the animals began shedding their fur and entering mating season. Listening to the sounds of animals crying in voices only they understood, I stared blankly outside.
During this time, I saw a black shadow quickly pass through the garden. The shadow disappeared in the blink of an eye. Anyone else would have thought they had seen a ghost, a wild animal, or a hallucination.
But I knew that shadow was Desi.
He was the only one who would be out of the house at this hour.
“Come back safely,” I said in a small voice, hoping Desi’s keen ears would catch it.
Desi would have a good meal tonight. He should eat his fill because he might go hungry when the hunter arrives.
Living with Desi, I found myself becoming like him. I no longer thought his nightly outings were strange. After all, Desi needed to eat and live, too.
***
It was a day when white feathery clouds drifted across a clear blue sky. Spring had fully arrived, with the bushes bearing a green hue and spring flowers blooming in the fields.
On such a beautiful day, the hunter arrived.
The hunter who visited our mansion was dressed in black from head to toe. His appearance was out of place on a spring day. The hunter, with a blank expression, scanned the mansion. He looked more like an intruder than a visitor.
The hunter, with a large quiver on his back, was a head taller than my father.
” Welcome. You’ve come a long way.”
“Yes.”
The hunter showed no particular respect to my father, who was a noble. My father’s eyebrow twitched at this.
The hunter had been granted the title of viscount by the imperial family for capturing rare beasts for them, but he was born a commoner. Normally, my father would have erupted in anger. However, for some reason, he did not criticize the hunter’s rudeness. He merely cleared his throat and led the hunter into the mansion.
Curious about the hunter, I went to greet him at the front of the mansion with my father. I followed them inside, looking up at the hunter.
“What a cute young lady.”
The hunter, who claimed to have no interest in anything but rare game, as he smiled at me. When he smiled, a long scar on his face crinkled up.
“Hoho. She’s the jewel of our family. Isn’t she pretty? She’ll be a great help to the family,” my father said, thinking the hunter was flattering him.
I wondered how I could be of great help to the family. Until now, my father had not had any expectations of me.
Then it struck me. Perhaps it was because he expected me to marry into a good family, bringing benefits through marriage. Father often said that if I grew up well, I could marry into a good family, which would be beneficial for both me and the family.
I realized that my role was quite simple. Unlike my eldest brother, I didn’t have to endure daily questions, study more, or come up with plans for the family’s advancement. I just had to grow up well, which seemed so easy that it was almost boring.
The hunter, seemingly impatient, ignored all my father’s small talk. My father, as usual, tried to talk about the family’s history, the region’s resources, and more, but the hunter didn’t let him finish his first sentence.
“The beast hasn’t appeared recently?”
“Well, no.”
“Where did it first appear?”
“The first time was here at the mansion. A horse in our stable was brutally killed.”
“And the second?”
“The second was an animal on 103th Street. It was a mule, smaller than the horse. That place isn’t far from this mansion either. I’m very worried about the dangerous beast roaming around our mansion.”
The hunter asked persistently. He asked about the third, the fourth, and even the tenth night’s incidents. Where did it die? How did it die? What traces were left? Were there any witnesses?
“It seems to be moving farther away from the mansion. And it’s been more than a fortnight since the beast last appeared?”
“Yes. Do you think the beast is completely gone?”
“I doubt it. It will come back when winter comes, and food is scarce again.”
“I thought so too.”
“Someone was killed, right?”
“It was someone working at our mansion. He worked in the stables and was brutally killed. Even a sinner who betrayed God wouldn’t have died so cruelly.”
