The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 27

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 27
“Your complexion is quite pallid, Your Highness. Perhaps you should rest as well.”
Konrad offered his concern to me first, even as he lay there with his wounds stitched closed, cold sweat pouring down his face.
On the face of the man I had deemed fragile, a smile bloomed—one meant to reassure me.
I swallowed the emotions rising in my throat and left his bedroom.
And now.
“Elise. There is no war where no one is wounded. You fought well enough.”
The Staufen Margrave did not reproach me, even knowing of Konrad’s condition.
“…Thank you.”
What else could I say to that? I offered her the answer she desired.
After she departed, silence reclaimed the room. I gazed quietly down at Rotar’s sleeping face.
Beyond the window, the sunset was already painting the sky. Winter in the Northern Region meant the days were short.
The man’s face, bathed in crimson light, appeared younger and gentler than usual.
No—had he been born into an ordinary household, he might have lived with such serenity. Had he not been born as the Second Prince, forced to contend with Maximilian, that madman, for the throne.
Yet he was born as the second son of the Eisenrit Imperial Family. From earliest childhood, he had gripped a sword and lived a precarious existence, like a candle flickering before the wind.
And then, almost by accident, he was abducted by a Saint, and he came rushing forward with his life on the line, determined to protect that woman.
Still, Rotar succeeded. In rescuing me from Maximilian.
But I.
“A Saint with not a single healing ability to her name.”
When I saw Rotar surrounded by priests and holy knights, I was more disgusted by my own helplessness than ever before.
I rose quietly from my seat and walked along the connecting passage. Entering my own bedroom, I opened the small table beside my bed.
“…”
A gun.
Before I drank the poison, I had removed it from my possession just in case and hidden it here.
Thanks to that, it had escaped Maximilian’s notice.
“Does it matter?”
I muttered sardonically, wrapping my fingers around the grip. I hooked my finger on the trigger and aimed into empty air.
My stance was flawless, unwavering. At this distance, I was confident I could hit my mark with my eyes closed.
But there are no bullets. I cannot use magic. A gun without ammunition is nothing but a heavy lump of scrap metal.
Or rather, it should be.
“Elise. You’re good at everything, but your intelligence seems a bit lacking.”
Suddenly, the words of the Cat I had met in a dream came back to me.
“If it were me, I’d have done a one-shot, one-kill by the third attempt at the latest.”
Precisely that part. The expression the Cat had used: “one-shot, one-kill.”
It was clearly spoken with a gun in mind. As if it knew something.
And what else had it said?
“What do you think a Saint is?”
“Never forget. A composed and ruthless hunter—that is your true nature.”
A Saint.
A composed and ruthless hunter.
….
“Nothing’s connecting at all?”
A dog’s dream? Or perhaps a cat’s dream?
Everything felt far too vivid to dismiss as merely a dream.
I would need to have a proper conversation with Rotar once he awoke. I withdrew the gun from thin air and turned around.
That was when I stepped into Rotar’s chamber through the connecting passage.
‘Huh?’
I saw the Butler standing beside the bed, holding a tray. He appeared to have brought a meal and medicine.
I was about to approach and speak to him.
“….”
I noticed it too late.
The Butler’s shadow was not reflected on the wall.
‘…Maximilian, you bastard.’
I first saw a demon during the first cycle.
Maximilian, who had offered the souls of the Empire’s people to the Demon Lord, grew increasingly powerful day by day, eventually commanding dozens of demons as though they were his subordinates.
Those creatures with their long horns, pale skin, and crimson eyes often displayed curiosity toward me.
‘Why is a human overflowing with holy power doing this here?’
Watching them cackle while poking at my limp body, I came to understand: demons not bound to the Human Realm cast no shadow.
And now.
Maximilian’s subordinate, wearing the Butler’s guise, set down the tray.
I thought it was withdrawing obediently, never imagining it would employ such a scheme.
The demon tilted its head toward Rotar and murmured.
“They said this human carries Zaikas’s blood? It would be a waste to kill him.”
Its hesitation lasted only a moment. A spear materialized in its empty hand.
‘Ah.’
What came next was unmistakable.
The demon raised its arm. Just before it plunged the spear into Rotar’s heart.
“Stop.”
I called out to the demon without thinking.
“Huh?”
The demon twisted its neck with a sickening crunch. It met my eyes from behind, at an angle no human could achieve.
Cold sweat began beading on my forehead. Why had I called it to stop? It wouldn’t change anything.
I possessed no ability to overcome this crisis. It was nothing but a meaningless stalling tactic.
The demon’s lips curled upward the moment it saw my face, and it whispered.
“Well, well, isn’t this the woman who’ll become Maximilian’s concubine?”
“…!”
My stomach churned at the mockery in its laughter.
The reality struck me once more.
In those crimson eyes, I was nothing but prey that Maximilian coveted—a mere piece of meat. Not a Holy Maiden with threatening power.
‘A Holy Maiden who fears even passing demons, what is this?’
Throughout every life, I had suffered from shame and helplessness. Not once had I ever lived as I wished.
No matter how desperately I fled, I could never escape the inevitable end—confinement in the Imperial Palace, drowning in everyone’s scorn and contempt.
Yet I had persevered this far without surrendering. And this was the price.
The demon stood motionless like stone, twirling its spear in lazy circles. The gesture reeked of arrogance—the confidence that it could subdue me and kill Rotar Eisenrit whenever it pleased.
Then the demon’s gaze fell upon the gun I held in my hand.
“Oh? A Mage’s firearm, is it? An antiquated one at that. It’s been ages since I’ve laid eyes on such a relic.”
“….”
“But why do you possess it? Surely you don’t intend to shoot me dead with that?”
The demon’s mouth split horizontally in a grotesque laugh, and between the gaping jaws, two forked tongues writhed obscenely.
“Pitiful Elise. You’re incapable of doing anything, aren’t you?”
“…Shut up.”
“Except spreading your legs and swallowing a man’s seed, hmm?”
The demon withdrew its hips with a metallic screech of laughter, then began shrieking in a distorted, mimicked voice.
“Ah, Maximilian, yes, yes! Don’t do this, yes! I’m a Saint, yes!”
“….”
“How is it? Just like you?”
Perhaps I should simply die here.
The thought I had long suppressed could no longer be evaded.
‘It’s all over.’
Konrad had lost his arm. Rotar Eisenrit would die here at the demon’s hands.
This life too was ruined. No matter how I struggled and fought with all my strength, I could not alter my fate.
Perhaps I was being punished.
Not as Pelmira’s proxy, but as her criminal. Cast into this hellish world for some grave transgression I could not remember.
A world where I must live my entire existence as Maximilian’s plaything.
….
No. Even so.
“Hey.”
“Hmm?”
“Stop your bullshit.”
I raised the gun. Keeping it trained on the demon’s head, I stepped forward.
“Elise, what are you doing?”
I know. This is madness.
But Rotar Eisenrit was mad first.
‘Who comes to save someone while bleeding profusely?’
Since he had fought so desperately to save me, I could not abandon him in this life and die.
“Haha! What will you do with that?”
The demon clapped its hands in delight, laughing with glee.
“Will you play a hunting game? Should I pretend to flee? Isn’t that your role originally?”
“….”
That’s right.
I fled. Maximilian pursued.
And then I was caught far too easily—like a beast deliberately released for a hunt.
That was why the dream from not long ago surfaced in my mind.
‘Get a grip, Elise. You are not prey.’
…Then what was I?

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