I’m Hunting My Enemy - Chapter 54
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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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54. Beautiful You (6)
‘And he’s sincere too.’
Standing by the riverside, Glem opened his mouth with an unreadable expression.
“You asked about my oath before.”
“Yeah.”
“The person most precious to me has been offered as a sacrifice to Rkultu. I must rescue him from the god.”
Family? Friend? Or perhaps a lover?
In an instant, potential sacrifice candidates flashed through Ryuie’s mind.
“More precious than me?”
“No.”
“My goodness. To think I’d ask such a question. Of course everyone would treasure me most.”
“Right. You’re allowed to be that way.”
At Ryuie’s arrogant words, Glem agreed without even frowning once.
After looking down at him briefly, Ryuie dismounted her horse.
Their eye levels became equal. Though she still had to lift her chin slightly.
“Why do you like me so helplessly?”
“I never prepared for it.”
“Without even thinking of escaping.”
Glem simply gazed at Ryuie.
It was only at times like this that she realized it, but Glem seemed to look too deeply whenever he looked at her.
Like pouring water into a well that had been dry for a long time.
The more he stared, the more she felt like she’d be drawn in, making Ryuie’s chest flutter.
‘…This feels unpleasant.’
Her insides felt stuffy and her back itchy.
It would be nice if she could resolve it by touching something.
Even though someone was merely looking at her, she felt like pushing him away and knocking him down.
At this emotion she was feeling for the first time, Ryuie deliberately broke the atmosphere.
“Your answer was so quick it’s actually suspicious.”
“Suspicious?”
Glem murmured weakly.
“How unfortunate.”
“…”
Ryuie turned her head. To see if Glem’s hands were wandering because he wanted to touch her too.
He was always positioned perfectly for hugging.
‘Just hug me.’
Ryuie, who had been standing stiffly, turned her head as if turning away from Glem.
“I’m going to send the Crown Prince’s ring to the capital.”
“…Huh?”
“With just the current evidence, since they refused the Saintess coming, I’ll send the ring as evidence and put a crown on that stupid Benito or something – otherwise they won’t believe he’s the Crown Prince, right?”
Only after Glem showed signs of confusion again did Ryuie feel relieved.
That expression really suits Glem after all.
She likes it when he’s restless and anxious.
Glem asked.
“You don’t mind if Benito is the Crown Prince?”
“Well. I should at least use him as bait until it’s proven otherwise.”
Ryuie answered simply. Glem still seemed unconvinced.
“How about verifying once more before sending it to the capital.”
“Verification?”
“Move part of the swamp over here and see if the Crown Prince’s phantom appears.”
Glem suggested.
“Anyway, what you officially filed suit against is the swamp. It would be good to check what kind of magic is cast on it.”
Ryuie’s expression changed slightly. Though Glem didn’t seem to notice yet.
Lightly stroking her horse’s mane, Ryuie answered nonchalantly.
“Sure. We’re already draining the swamp water anyway, so what’s a few more buckets.”
“Will you check it in front of others?”
“Yeah. Holding another banquet isn’t difficult. I want to see those nobles faint from shock when they see Yosua. They were all too lazy at the swamp to see properly.”
Ryuie smiled brightly.
“Should I dress you up again too?”
“No. I prefer watching others rather than myself at banquets.”
Glem, still thinking it was just talk about the banquet, mounted his horse again and said.
“Your dancing was impressive too.”
Watching Glem start his horse first, perhaps embarrassed after giving the compliment, Ryuie chuckled.
But as she followed and mounted her horse, Ryuie didn’t forget to memorize the surrounding scenery. The location of the area where Glem said he couldn’t travel farther than here.
* * *
When Ryuie and Glem returned, Mos was waiting.
Mos, who had been staring blankly at the two people shining like messengers bringing victory, clasped his hands together.
“Miss.”
“Why are you outside.”
Glem, who arrived first, made a large turn with his horse.
He should return it to the stable, but anyone could see he was circling around while being conscious of this side.
Mos was equally conscious of Glem, so he deliberately tilted his head coquettishly toward Ryuie.
“I missed you.”
“It’s good that you come outside often, but you’re still a patient.”
Ryuie’s answer was so calm that Mos was slightly hurt. He stubbornly continued the conversation.
“I heard the Saintess isn’t coming.”
“That’s how it turned out. Things might be different if we present another person as the Crown Prince. There’s already a suspected individual anyway.”
“…That’s why.”
Mos asked from beneath the precariously rippling surface.
“If the priest named Benito turns out to be the Crown Prince, will you marry him?”
“?!”
Glem, unexpectedly struck, staggered.
‘Aha.’
Only then did Ryuie’s voice become gentle as things got interesting.
“Our Mos. Were you worried about that?”
“Don’t tease me, Miss.”
Mos’s eyes even welled up with tears as if he was truly hurt.
“Even now you’ve come back from a date with someone else…!”
Ryuie’s eyebrow rose slightly.
‘Why is he like this?’
Of course she had briefly felt something for Mos, but that was already past, and now she was only interested in Glem.
Moreover, Mos had mixed up the affection he felt for Ryuie with his hope for a savior who would help him out of this tremendous misfortune.
Ryuie had simply pretended not to know.
‘Doesn’t he realize it himself?’
It was obvious that Mos wasn’t truly hoping for romance with Ryuie either.
His clinging to Ryuie seeking answers looked too desperate to be love.
That was just survival instinct.
Ryuie understood the complex and subtle human psychology intellectually.
However, it was also the first time she felt absolutely no excitement while looking at such a sparkling, beautiful man.
‘How interesting.’
In the past, she would have played along with Mos, even acting out the savior role.
Ryuie pulled her lips away.
“Did you forget why I came here in the first place? I have absolutely no intention of marrying the Crown Prince. I’m sick and tired of vows between us.”
“…Then, then that’s fine.”
Mos still looked up at Ryuie in a pose that would make him appear as handsome and cute as possible.
“It’s fine as long as your vow is broken, miss. That’s all I need.”
Ryuie just shrugged her shoulders.
Changing the subject, Ryuie approached Glem again.
With his good hearing, she thought he would be relieved after hearing that conversation.
But Glem looked even more anxious than before.
Her current lover, who should be happy at least as much as Mos if her vow was broken.
‘Is he worried I might cheat?’
Mos was really no longer Ryuie’s type now.
Glem, whom she glanced at, had a dark expression.
‘It’s troublesome if you’re like that already.’
She didn’t have even the slightest desire to meet someone else right now.
However, Ryuie did want to tease Glem with that later.
‘I should save the jealousy games for a bit. What am I doing with someone who isn’t even sure he’s my lover yet.’
Ryuie clicked her tongue softly. Besides, Glem still had one trial left to pass anyway.
* * *
Looking at the Temple Banquet Hall where another banquet was being held, Benito stared blankly up at the ceiling.
The temple’s lamps, which used to be lucky to have a few candles, had all been changed to expensive, good-smelling oil.
The traces of wallpaper that had dust and soot remaining had long since been cleanly transformed.
The old, modest temple now looked as wealthy and unapproachable as any decent nobleman’s villa.
Other nobles naturally approached Benito as he gazed at the changed temple.
“Today at the banquet, Yeongae will show His Highness the Crown Prince a vision.”
“If you see your original form, your memories might return.”
“I’m not the Crown Prince.”
“Of course it would feel that way right now.”
Nobles whose names he couldn’t even remember stared at Benito with gleaming eyes.
The one Ryuie kept around, the one born with blood that priests couldn’t approach.
If not the Crown Prince, then who else could it be?
Benito lightly ignored them and looked for Ryuie.
“Yeongae!”
Ryuie, who had been giving several instructions to the servants, turned toward Benito. For this banquet, Ryuie wore a voluminous dress instead of clothes with good mobility.
Seeing the dress whose hem seemed to wrap around her legs, making it look like she could only sit, Benito asked.
“Not dancing today?”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“But you’re holding a banquet.”
Ever since the speculation that Benito might be the Crown Prince, Ryuie always frowned with one eyebrow whenever she saw Benito.
Even so, she was beautiful.
Ryuie, wearing black lace gloves, lowered her chin in a dark red outfit that was too splendid for a funeral and too ominous for a banquet.
“There’s a separate main course.”
“What meaning is there in showing the Crown Prince a vision? Isn’t the real Crown Prince more important to Yeongae anyway?”
Ryuie blinked her eyes at Benito’s question.
“No.”
Ryuie’s lips twisted.
“What’s important is that the vow made with the Crown Prince is mine.”
Benito didn’t understand. Ryuie paid him no mind and soon went down to the center of the banquet hall.
Unlike nobles who usually tapped silver spoons on glasses to draw attention, Ryuie picked up a glass and swung it like a club.
Clang! Crash clatter clang!
People startled by the sound of glasses rolling and falling all at once immediately focused on Ryuie.
Even while holding banquets for several days in a row, Ryuie’s banquets were never the same.
When had the banquet that was like a country feast come to have such a suffocating atmosphere of the capital?
The silver cups rolling at Ryuie’s feet were like demons under her command, and Ryuie’s appearance looked even more wicked.
“Everyone raise your cups in a toast.”
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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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