Chapter 25: The Lion Began The Hunting
“WHO IS IT?!”
Razie quickly wrapped one arm around her slender body and positioned her behind his back. While Adeline swallowed a short scream inwardly, Razie stood protectively in front of her. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“I know you’re hanging on the railing. If you don’t come out right now, I’ll split your head in half.”
Someone was indeed clinging to the railing outside the window. The person held his breath and remained still for a moment despite Razie’s harsh warning. However, he eventually climbed down and began to move.
“Excuse me… please don’t kill me.”
It was the errand boy. His round head popped up, revealing a sly smile. As soon as he entered Adeline’s bedroom, he raised both hands and shouted, “I’m sorry!”
Adeline sighed loudly. “It’s all because of this parrotbill.”
“What?”
“That guy promised he would take care of everything.” Her eyes blazed with fury, reminiscent of Razie’s.
The errand boy immediately raised his hand like a child being punished and began to make excuses as if he were being wronged. “This is all because of the Lion King.”
“What?” Razie was taken aback but quickly shot a threatening glare at the errand boy, as if to warn him that he would kill him if he spoke nonsense. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
However, the errand boy dropped his gaze and mumbled his complaints. “I definitely deployed some personnel in the forest. They’re all talented guys. I had 30 people there, but then the Lion King appeared and started killing the assassins! Can you imagine how shocking that must have been for them? Moreover, if they made even a small mistake, they would be accused of being assassins by the Lion King and put to death…”
“So, are you saying that everyone ran away because they were afraid of the Lion King?” Adeline asked in shock.
The errand boy shook his head vigorously. “You can’t say they ran away! The strongest man on the continent spilled so much blood and warned them to back off if they didn’t want to die. Only crazy people wouldn’t listen! So, the kids thought that since the Lion King had appeared, the princess would be safe. They figured it was better not to come here and make a mess of the palace… better to trust the Lion King than…”
“You really can say that even after looking at my appearance?”
Adeline pointed to herself. She was covered in the blood of assassins from her chest to her toes. Her white nightgown was soaked in dark red blood.
The errand boy mumbled again, “I’m sorry, Princess…” He slowly lowered his head as he noticed Adeline’s murderous gaze, while the Lion King regarded the two of them with an intense stare.
“Then, I guess I need to know the identity of this little parrotbill first,” Razie inquired.
Adeline hesitated for a moment but then made up her mind and spoke without hesitation, “He is the errand boy assigned to me by the information trader, Ordo.”
“Ordo? Did you join forces with them?”
“Not really. I just made a little deal.”
“What deal?”
“I can’t disclose that. I took an oath of secrecy.” By revealing the identity of the errand boy, she had already broken her oath, but in that moment, she didn’t really care. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“The gratitude is unnecessary. I was just trying to keep my promise.”
“What promise?”
Adeline’s expression indicated that she didn’t understand. Her eyelashes fluttered like butterflies as they gently rose toward him.
Razie took the handkerchief she had offered and wiped the dried blood from her face. “My promise to protect you.”
“What? Was there such a promise?”
It seemed she truly did not consider their earlier conversation to be a promise. As Razie frowned while looking at her, Adeline shrugged her shoulders.
“I thought you were just bragging about how strong you are.”
“Adeline.”
“I’m kidding.”
She laughed out loud.
‘That laugh again.’ Every time he heard that laugh, it sounded like raindrops falling on a dry desert.
‘This woman is strange.’ Razie noticed something. That laughter, like rain, filled his head and soaked his heart, tickling his ears. He wondered how the woman in front of him could laugh like that when she had almost died. Razie couldn’t help but stare at her smile.
“What are you thinking?” Adeline asked, noticing that he had suddenly fallen silent.
“You… you’d better change your clothes.” He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he had stayed still because he enjoyed her laughter.
When Adeline heard the man who never hesitated to say anything speak to her with a rare hint of uncertainty, she lowered her head to inspect her outfit. There was so much blood that her long nightgown felt heavy and wet. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
She sighed and nodded. “I see. I need to wash up and change.”
“Then, I’ll head back.”
“Lion King,” Adeline called to him.
Razie, who was about to leave, turned his head toward her and saw that her slender finger was pointing toward her bathroom.
“Shall we wash together?”
“Are you crazy?!”
“Why? You said you wanted to marry me?”
At that moment, the maids rushed in after hearing the news that an assassin had entered the princess’s bedroom, and they screamed in shock.
***
Razie could not resist Adeline’s suggestion to wash himself in her palace, though he still felt genuinely embarrassed by her joke about taking a shower together. After washing his body in hot water and changing into fresh clothes, he was led into a cozy drawing room. The maids brought food and drinks, but he didn’t touch any of it. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Adeline appeared in the drawing room a little later.
“That’s enough. Go back.”
“Yes? But….”
“It’s fine. Go back.”
Once the maids left, she sat down across from Razie and began to eat her food.
“Did they go away?”
“The maids?”
“Right.”
“They went downstairs.”
“How do you know? Come to think of it, you also noticed that the errand boy was hanging outside the window.”
“I could hear the heartbeat. I can feel movements and hear breathing if they’re close.”
Adeline envied his sharp senses. She asked him if all the warriors from the desert had that ability, and after he nodded, she said, “I have something to tell you.”
“Say it.”
“I wanted to know what your next plans are,” she said.
Razie shook his head, refusing the alcohol she offered. Alcohol clouds the mind, and he didn’t like it. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
“Shall I tell you mine?”
“What’s up with you all of a sudden?”
“You saved me, and… I think we could help each other.”
“You mean work?”
“Yes.”
Adeline set the bottle of alcohol she was holding back on the table and picked up a cup of water. She had offered him alcohol, but she didn’t drink it either. She appeared relaxed, wearing yet another nightgown.
“You know there’s a slave market in Marma, don’t you?”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“Do you know which slave is the most expensive?”
“Gypsy.”
To be precise, it was the women among the gypsies known as Guides—those who could navigate by just looking at the stars in the night sky, in the middle of the desert, and tell fortunes by studying the stars.
Adeline smiled. “Though I still don’t understand why the nobles of Marma would covet the gypsies of the desert… it is said they are traded at a price beyond imagination. They’re considered mysterious beings who can be used to contact God by binding and defiling them.”
“Stop talking. It’s uncomfortable to hear.” Razie’s face was contorted in disgust. Read the translation on itsladygrey.com.
Adeline was silent for a moment, then spoke in a heavy tone. “Ten days from now, an auction of expensive slaves will be held in the underground ruins of Sol-Marma. All I want is to get a woman out of there.”
Razie, running one hand through his wet hair, leaned forward toward her.
“A gypsy?”
His voice sounded ominously low.
***
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