Who Could Have Loved the Monster Princess? - Chapter 36
Even while I tried to place him, Geoffrey kept talking to himself.
“Poor constitution, you see.”
And that—that—shook something loose.
“If he weren’t so squeamish, he could be the next Grand Duke, don’t you think?”
That voice. That smug drawl. It was the one who’d jeered at me during the coming-of-age ceremony.
Now that I focused, I could match the voices to the rest of that giggling little pack. They were all here following me.
I stopped walking.
“You’re not on my team. Doesn’t that make this a disqualification?”
“It’s hardly worth worrying about. If we can be of help to you, my lady, a mere disqualification is a small price to pay.”
Smiling like sin. Like he had no idea I remembered exactly what he’d said that night. Or maybe he thought I’d never heard.
“Who told you to do this?”
“Pardon?”
“You lot… Weren’t you penalized for disgracing a royal ceremony during the coming-of-age event? You shouldn’t even be eligible to participate in this tournament.”
Even if no one knew what they said about me that day, the scandal surrounding their families had already gone public: the charge of insulting the Crown, the seizure of their assets in the capital, the heavy fines. That much had been widely reported.
Geoffrey Buser, he said his name was. Odd—didn’t match the house name. Not uncommon, but telling. It usually meant a remarriage somewhere, and the child never got formal use of the family’s proper name. Whatever the case, it was a weak disguise, and the fact that he thought it would fool me was almost laughable.
I stared at them. And sure enough, the coward, little Little, cracked first.
“H-His Highness the Crown Prince told us to beg for your forgiveness!”
…The Crown Prince? Carnelian sent these rats to me? Then I remembered what he’d said, just hours earlier.
“I have a gift of my own for you, though.”
“You’ll find out once the tournament is underway.”
I turned my gaze to the other three. They looked uneasy, likely fearing that their sins would be exposed. What kind of “gift” was this? Was there any difference between this and being insulted to my face?
I sighed.
“You say the Crown Prince sent you to seek my forgiveness…”
“Yes! He said that if we beg for your forgiveness, our punishment will be lessened!”
“Yes, yes!”
My head started to throb. Did Carnelian really think I wouldn’t despise these people? Or did he actually think they would apologize to me properly?
Or perhaps, did he want me to deal with those who insulted me however I pleased?
I exhaled sharply and spoke with finality.
“Fine. What I’m looking for is the Emperor’s flag. Bring it to me, and I’ll forgive you.”
“Wh-What? You want us to find something that may not even exist?”
“Then perhaps I should have asked you to bring the Crown Prince’s flag instead, one that surely exists?”
The moment I mentioned the Crown Prince’s flag, the culprits fell silent. It was clear they were racking their brains, trying to figure out how to convince me. I ignored them and moved on.
Sir Bolt was nowhere to be seen now.
The Bittern estate was vast, with many hills and forests, and there were no other participants in sight either.
‘Something’s off.’
A thick, sticky malice hung heavily in the air around the Bittern estate. I couldn’t even tell where it was coming from.
‘I know there was a great battle here, but…. Didn’t the priests purify the area?”
Ah, wait. There was no lord of the estate to request the purification.
‘Then the Imperial Family should have taken action, right?’
If this had been the case, the Imperial Family should have intervened. The nobles participating in the flag hunt were mostly novices who had never even seen a monster. Even though there were mages, mercenaries, and knights nearby, it was impossible to protect them all.
‘When did it start feeling like this?’
As I walked further along the route, the hostile aura only grew stronger.
‘It’s not supposed to be like this. There’s something here!’
I quickened my pace. I had to find Sir Bolt.
‘We have to stop the tournament!’
A vengeful spirit can shatter the mind and drive a person mad. If even the slightest fear takes hold, it’s more dangerous than any monster. It causes people to attack one another under its influence.
At least Sean was here. He was the only one who could purify the entire Bittern estate in an instant if it was overrun with vengeful spirits.
‘If it feels this wrong to me, Sean must have sensed it first…’
Suddenly, the overwhelming unease made me stop in my tracks.
“Sir Bolt wouldn’t have gone this far.”
The administrators must not move too quickly. They were supposed to set the pace for the participants, so they had to move at a fixed speed.
As soon as I halted, I became aware of my unfamiliar surroundings. I had been paying close attention to my surroundings and following the path carefully, but somehow, I had ended up deep within the forest.
“This… is bad…”
I had already entered the realm of the vengeful spirit.
‘I let my guard down. I figured Sean would take care of it.’
But it didn’t matter. After all, the vengeful spirit couldn’t do me any harm. The powerful curse that lingered on me rendered most other curses useless.
Even if they tried to trap me like this, the curse I carried would eventually destroy this space. I could either exhaust myself by moving or simply wait. But the strange sound I’d been hearing since earlier persisted.
Creeeak…
I turned my head in different directions, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.
