The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 40

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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 40
“…Wait, hold on a moment.”
“What do I mean to Elise? Am I merely a body to be used for idle amusement?”
“What are you saying, mmph…!”
I had no chance to refute Rotar Eisenrit’s words. He simply poured out what he wanted to say before sealing my lips once more.
The movement of his thick tongue ravaging the inside of my mouth was rougher and more urgent than usual. I could only gasp for breath and struggle to match his rhythm.
“Mm, mmph…”
When I came to my senses, I was atop the sleeping bag.
I looked up at him, my entire body flushed with heat. Rotar Eisenrit remained expressionless as always.
He had been so tender whenever our lips met, as if he could melt my entire being. Yet something felt different about him now, and my heart stirred with an unfamiliar unease.
“If I have some use after all, then I suppose that’s fortunate.”
Rotar Eisenrit muttered with self-deprecating irony as he unfastened the buttons of his shirt.
“I’m not certain if it’s enough, but it’s better than falling into another man’s hands, wouldn’t you say?”
I could tell what he intended to do. The problem was that today’s Rotar Eisenrit was different from his usual self.
“R-Rotar. Wait. Can we talk for a moment…?”
Without thinking, I scrambled backward, my hips retreating in panic.
“Yes, please speak.”
Rotar Eisenrit casually seized my ankle and dragged me back down.
“I’m listening. I’ll satisfy you however you desire.”
“No, I never asked you to do this…”
“You may treat me like a sex slave if you wish. I’d even welcome becoming addicted to this. Then…”
His hand unfastened the belt of my trousers.
“At least you wouldn’t want to die.”
What followed could hardly be called conversation—only a monologue.
***
When I opened my eyes, silence enveloped everything around me.
In that stillness, someone’s fingers brushed against my eyes.
I realized it belatedly—my eyes were wet with tears. And the person whose fingers wiped them away was the same one who had made me cry.
Rotar Eisenrit sat beside my sleeping bag, cleaning my body with a cloth dampened in water.
Unlike usual, he made no effort to lie facing me or meet my gaze. He was like a servant attending to his master.
Rotar Eisenrit spoke with an expression devoid of any amusement.
“It’s absurd, isn’t it? To show such an unsightly state before someone you cherish.”
“….”
Unsightly? I recalled the moments before I lost consciousness.
It was true that he had been rougher and more violent than usual. It had been difficult to receive him that way.
But if you asked whether I disliked it….
“Sleep alone tonight. I will strengthen the watch.”
Before I could respond, Rotar Eisenrit rose from his seat.
He dressed quickly and moved toward the tent’s entrance, then paused. Without turning back, he spoke.
“Have a good night.”
And he left. Truly.
I was the only one remaining in the two-person tent.
I stared blankly at the tent’s entrance, which remained firmly closed, then lay back. As soon as I shut my eyes, the face of Rotar Eisenrit—the one who had cleaned my body—surfaced in my mind.
His gaze had been dark. Like a child who had done something wrong and regretted it.
“…Why is he making such a fuss over this, really.”
Irritated without reason, I kicked off the blanket of my sleeping bag, though my body lacked the strength even for that—my ankle merely trembled weakly.
I tossed and turned through the dawn, unable to sleep, wondering if a two-person sleeping bag had always been this spacious.
***
“You look exhausted.”
“Shut it.”
“Your temperament seems unchanged from usual, though.”
Several days had passed since I captured the Belgrum.
The expedition followed its familiar rhythm. Advance, fight monsters. Advance, fight monsters.
Throughout it all, Wolfgang had been finding time to pick fights with me.
In the past, I wouldn’t have grown this irritated even after days of it. But today, I felt an overwhelming urge to put a bullet hole through that fool’s skull.
“You really should be careful. That three-inch tongue of yours could end your life in one wrong move.”
“I was only expressing concern. You’re being terribly harsh.”
I brushed aside Wolfgang’s whimpering and turned to walk toward the rear.
The exhaustion was real. I hadn’t slept deeply in days.
Whenever I finally drifted off, the slightest sound of wind outside would jolt me awake. And whenever I managed to fall asleep again, it was already time to rise.
So it was hardly surprising that I’d grown more irritable. I had genuinely spotted a familiar face at the back of the group before I could kill the Holy Knight Commander.
“Hey.”
The source of all this trouble—the Belgrum.
It moved under the watch of the knights, its arms bound behind its back.
Its expression was unreadable, so I couldn’t tell what it was thinking. Yet at least it showed no signs of attempting escape.
‘I’d probably do the same.’
This creature had even attempted an ambush despite lacking food supplies, knowing the odds of success were low. Why would it flee when we provided meals, water, and protection from monsters and demons?
Besides, our destination was Drakenloch anyway.
‘Though I don’t know if this creature actually wants to return to Drakenloch.’
I recalled what Rotar Eisenrit had said when we first captured the Belgrum.
‘Judging by the fact that it travels alone without a group, it’s likely a fugitive.’
He was right. It was uncommon for anyone to wander the perilous Snowy Mountains alone.
So I’d interrogated it directly.
‘Hey. Are you good or bad?’
I’d asked while drawing earnestly.
On the left, a good person holding others’ hands. On the right, a bad person kicking and striking people.
My drawing skills seemed to have improved noticeably since meeting the Belgrum.
The creature had pondered briefly before choosing the left. Well, how many people in the world would admit to being evil?
Still, after several days together, a certain familiarity had grown between us. Yesterday, I’d finally told it my name.
‘Me, Elise.’
‘Shweeek.’
‘Elise.’
‘Shweeeeek.’
‘Is that the best you can do?’
Whether it understood or not, I couldn’t say.
Ah, I’d heard its name too.
‘Shwee, shaaaa.’
‘Shwesha?’
‘….’
Who cares what we call each other, as long as we understand one another? From that day forward, I called the creature Xisha.
And I discovered something of critical importance.
First, the Belgrum’s attitude toward The Empire seemed far less clear-cut than I’d anticipated.
‘So, here’s Drakenloch and here’s The Empire. Do you like The Empire, or do you hate it?’
Even as I posed the question, I naturally assumed the latter. The Empire despised the Belgrum, so there was no reason they would harbor any goodwill toward it.
And yet.
‘…Neutral?’
Xisha pointed to the space between ‘like’ and ‘dislike’.
Wolfgang, who had accompanied us under the guise of protection, showed keen interest in this choice.
‘Two possibilities present themselves, sir. Either the Belgrum have no interest in The Empire whatsoever, or opinion within their own ranks is divided equally.’
His words rang true. Yet the dying knight’s cry still echoed vividly in my mind—the one who had returned through the blizzard.
‘Depart, return to your lands. Do not undo the slaughter of two centuries past through reckless ambition!’
Would one bother issuing such a warning to an indifferent opponent? Was the emotion behind that cry ‘anger’ or ‘concern’?
Another piece of intelligence emerged: the precise location of Drakenloch.
“Hey, this time you draw it. Where exactly is your settlement?”
The journey to Drakenloch was taking far longer than anticipated. Food rations had entered austerity measures days ago.
Frustrated, I handed Xisha a quill, and the creature sketched a rough map directly.
But then.
‘…One large peak. Two smaller peaks. Beyond that?’
‘Shhhhh.’
‘Please tell me you’re lying.’
Despite our diligent progress, the configuration of the Snowy Mountains had changed dramatically from the records of two centuries past.
The troubling news clouded my thoughts. Meanwhile, Xisha drew a single line with the quill.
‘….’
A line connecting the nearest peak to their city.
‘….’
‘….’
A direct path? No detours?

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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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