I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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39. Love and Subjugation War (6)

 

‘Even if rumors spread, so what.’

 

Seeing how even this strange human who just arrived had come after hearing all the gossip, he felt slightly regretful about confessing.

 

Everyone was so interested in other people’s love lives.

 

Yet Ryuie herself didn’t place much meaning on it.

 

‘What’s the point then.’

 

Glem crossed his arms.

 

“That’s right.”

 

“Right… Ha! Ha!”

 

He had only answered “yes” when asked, but Rankin dramatically looked up at the sky and let out exaggerated hollow laughter. Quite a theatrical person.

 

‘That human must also be someone who likes Ryuie.’

 

Glem had become so accustomed to this that even when a new competitor appeared, he felt nothing.

 

You only feel jealous and wary when there are just one or two.

 

Only Bendam, who had been assigned to escort Rankin following Ryuie’s orders, looked troubled.

 

‘Sorry about that.’

 

Glem, finding it somewhat amusing, watched Rankin make a fuss while still keeping his arms crossed.

 

Soon Rankin, who had swept back his bangs that had drooped from looking up at the sky, pointed accusingly.

 

“So Ryuie’s taste is just this.”

 

“Publicly, I’m known as a handsome man. Even the knights of the ducal house say I’m most to Yeongae’s taste. No need to say more.”

 

“Ha! How shameless!”

 

Even Bendam stared at Glem with his mouth agape. His expression clearly showed surprise at whether this had always been his personality.

 

‘Facts are facts.’

 

Glem didn’t particularly like lying. Except in truly unavoidable cases. He preferred to be honest when he could be honest.

 

Of course, the timing might have been a bit off now.

 

Rankin, wrinkling his nose, tried his best to deliver some insult.

 

“As expected, those without shame can’t be reasoned with! If you had any honor, you couldn’t be so brazen after falling for someone who has a fiancé! You adulterer!”

 

“Huh.”

 

Glem was dumbfounded.

 

“Why should I have to hear such words from someone who isn’t even her husband?”

 

“How shameless!”

 

“Please calm down.”

 

“Besides, they’re not even married yet, and she’s actively going around trying to break her engagement vows, so who exactly are you demanding loyalty from?”

 

Though Glem had asked Ryuie to please keep her engagement vows, this was a different matter.

 

The vows weren’t there for other people to interfere in such a manner.

 

“Do you like Ryuie too? Why don’t you act more confidently?”

 

“What, what, you! How dare you make such comparisons! You criminal!”

 

Though he hadn’t told him not to like her, Rankin, feeling guilty for no reason, made a fuss.

 

“Don’t you dare come near Ryuie from now on! If, if by any chance! Good heavens! Even if Ryuie breaks off her engagement, the next candidate would naturally be me, a fellow duke’s heir! I’m practically her husband-to-be!”

 

“Pfft. Not even a baron-to-be, but husband-to-be is something I’m hearing for the first time.”

 

“What! You bastard!”

 

“Ahhh, please calm down! Glem, you stop it too!”

 

Glem now openly snorted with derision.

 

With high expectations but low actions, and being in such a state despite his high status, it was understandable that Ryuie would search the entire country for a decent man.

 

Living life, he even got to receive such checks from a duke’s heir.

 

It was interesting.

 

Was this all thanks to Ryuie too?

 

‘Ah, thinking about it makes me miss her.’

 

Though they had agreed to leave for the swamp together tomorrow morning, there was a chance to see her before then.

 

Because a full-scale banquet was scheduled for that night.

 

Ryuie had the carriages she brought dismantled to make tables and chairs, and had the area where the knights had stayed swept clean so people could dance. Since the temple building alone wasn’t spacious enough, she generously opened up the entire courtyard.

 

The head table was naturally inside the banquet hall with a ceiling. The idea was to drink inside, then go outside to eat and play when the mood struck.

 

Though smaller in scale than the balls Ryuie usually held, it was still much livelier than most village festivals.

 

Thanks to Ryuie inviting the villagers too, it was quite noisy everywhere.

 

Therefore, all those who came to discuss truly important matters gathered under the dim lamplight rather than the bright starlight.

 

“His Majesty the Emperor is also paying attention to this incident.”

 

At the table where she had previously drunk with Benito, Ryuie listened carefully.

 

Though the minstrel’s performance and people’s chatter were loud, the low, quiet voice came through clearly.

 

“Is there a reason you’re hurrying from the very next day when you haven’t even recovered from travel fatigue?”

 

“My travel fatigue is long gone, and your travel fatigue isn’t my concern.”

 

The answering voice was apparently too loud, as uncomfortable coughing sounds came from here and there.

 

Ryuie looked at them pathetically and added.

 

“The first investigation will only involve hunting. Before salvage work to see what’s in the swamp, approach itself is impossible.”

 

“We thought Yeongae would have cleared all the obstacles long before we arrived.”

 

“I wanted to show you something before clearing them.”

 

Ryuie cut into meat dripping with blood. It wasn’t just the meat she wanted to devour alive.

 

‘There’s no guarantee Yosua’s apparition will continue appearing even after removing the monsters.’

 

She needed witnesses to add credibility besides herself.

 

‘The Imperial Court won’t move based on just traces of the Crown Prince.’

 

To move an Imperial Court that hadn’t budged during ten years of disappearance, the bait needed to be something like treason.

 

‘It won’t work unless I personally deliver their son’s body. That’s exactly what the Empress said too.’

 

Though Ryuie acted as she pleased, she didn’t overestimate her own power either.

 

To drain an entire massive swamp to the bottom, the people she had brought weren’t enough.

 

‘Not enough.’

 

Watching Ryuie devour meat without even dipping it in sauce, the nobles exchanged uncomfortable silence.

 

That beautiful Yeongae, who couldn’t be touched, was becoming an increasingly fearsome existence.

 

If she hadn’t continued causing scandals while talking about love, they might have doubted whether she was even human.

 

After all, hadn’t humans who had truly transformed into monsters appeared in this very village?

 

It’s common for vows to become curses.

 

“So you’re saying we’re only here to watch.”

 

“If you want to work, I’ll give you tasks.”

 

“Yeongae. Rumors are already spreading in the capital. That Yeongae’s purpose for leaving was to break her engagement vows.”

 

“But since His Majesty sent investigators, evidence of treason must emerge.”

 

“Otherwise, even Yeongae won’t be able to handle the aftermath of this incident.”

 

“Are you truly certain all this commotion won’t end as a joke?”

 

The nobles warned in unison.

 

They probably weren’t really worried about her, but wanted to boast about having foreseen this much.

 

Or perhaps they wanted to see Ryuie go mad after failing to break her vows.

 

Either way, their belief that they would be safe was cute.

 

‘If I fail, you’ll all have a hard time too.’

 

Ryuie smiled with her eyes over her wine glass.

 

“I’ll gratefully ignore the advice. Everyone should eat and drink now. Isn’t this a place for dancing and listening to music?”

 

At her uncharacteristically gentle tone, the nobles’ hearts fluttered despite knowing better.

 

People who knew Ryuie well found her unsettling yet couldn’t help but give in when she treated them kindly.

 

And they always made excuses with other reasons.

 

Because she’s from a ducal house. Because refusing is useless. Because it’ll be beneficial later. And so on.

 

But if they honestly opened their hearts, they often gave in simply because they wanted to listen to Ryuie.

 

Without keeping their wits about them, they’d want to please Ryuie.

 

The power of beauty was that tremendous.

 

Just as things were getting noisy with eating and drinking following Ryuie’s suggestion.

 

There was a sound of something dropping into a wine glass.

 

Plop.

 

It was a small sound that could barely be heard by Ryuie’s ears alone.

 

‘A beetle?’

 

Ryuie tilted the glass to check inside and realized what had fallen into the glass wasn’t a beetle.

 

It was a small white pebble.

 

‘…It’s a bit early for me to receive divine punishment and have the temple collapse, isn’t it?’

 

When Ryuie looked up, a human silhouette appeared above the ceiling beams.

 

The flickering of the red candlelight briefly passed by like a moon turning white.

 

It was Glem.

 

“…”

 

When their eyes met, he raised and lowered one hand as if greeting.

 

With a peculiar expression, Ryuie shook her glass as if making a toast.

 

‘What an unusual way to get attention.’

 

Seeing that nothing but the stone floated on the surface, it seemed he had cleanly washed it before dropping it.

 

‘These kinds of stones are useless, so there’s nowhere to sell them either.’

 

Could it be that Glem himself had personally selected, picked up, and polished the stone?

 

“Pfft.”

 

Imagining that scene, Ryuie suddenly burst into laughter and giggled to herself.

 

The nobles didn’t find it strange that Ryuie was laughing out of nowhere. They already thought of her as an odd person.

 

In a good mood, Ryuie brought the glass to her mouth to drink the wine as it was.

 

But before her lips could even touch it, the wine splashed toward Ryuie first.

 

Plop. Plop.

 

It was because Glem had dropped stones again in succession.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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