[Chapter 124] Madness

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I had nightmares the whole way to the Acacia territory.

In my dreams, my father appeared. I shouted at his back, which I didn't turn around.

Why did you abandon Blie? No matter how much I shouted and cursed, there was only one answer.

'Who is this Blie you're talking about?'

I always felt a sense of emptiness at that answer and woke up with my eyes wet.

When I woke up leaning on Roaldness's shoulder or knee, I met his gaze that was shining quietly.

Every time, he wiped away my tears with his lips, as if he had never slept and protected me.

I couldn't have overcome the nightmare without that immense warmth.

"It's okay to cry, Adrienne," Roaldness whispered softly. He kept repeating to me that it was okay to cry all the way there.

"Cry and let it out."

As I listened to those words while being wrapped in his strong arms, I suddenly remembered Roaldness, who hadn't shed a single tear at the Crown Prince's funeral.

'Maybe the one who really needed comfort wasn't me, but Roaldness?'

After the Crown Prince's betrayal and death, Roaldness never took care of himself and only clung to me.

He seemed so anxious that he couldn't reach me, as if there was nothing left in his world but me.

"Roan, you too..."

"Your Highness."

I wanted to tell him that it was okay to cry too.

The carriage, which had been running for a long time, slowed down for a moment, and Neil suddenly stuck newspapers and gossip magazines through the window.

Since Bardenaldo was dead and Roaldness was willing to compete for the throne if necessary, they were always received from the capital via messenger.

But today, it was strangely later than usual, and Neil's voice was also low.

Roaldness, who was quick-witted, couldn't have missed it.

Before me, he quickly scanned only the first page of the newspapers and gossip magazines, and his expression gradually hardened.

Feeling something was wrong, I couldn't say anything and peeked at the contents.

Usually, he would have spread it out and read it together, but it seemed like Roaldness was trying to read it alone.

[Could it be that the real culprit who killed His Highness the Crown Prince was actually the Second Prince?]

[Did the Second Prince, who was greedy for the throne, use the witch Blie, Countess of Acacia, to drive away the Grand Duke?]

[Is it just a coincidence that the monsters started rampaging in the north as soon as the 'Second Prince', who summons monsters, left the capital?]

Roaldness closed the gossip that he had been reading hurriedly. And his red eyes met mine exactly.

"Roan, don't worry. I don't believe in such rumors. Monsters have been appearing for days. Besides, the monsters that appeared in the west were manipulated by Noebian. There weren't even any wild animals on the way we were going, let alone monsters."

So there's no way you're the one summoning the monsters.

His expression, which had been stiff, softened slightly at the excuse that poured out. But it was only for a moment.

"Aaargh! Monster! There's a monster!!"

The air in the carriage froze instantly.

Roaldness's face was much paler than the moment he read the disgusting rumors.

"Absolutely. Don't come out."

"...Roan?"

It was the first time he had spoken to me so strongly. Roaldness grabbed my shoulders tightly, as if giving an order that I should never disobey, and said again.

"Don't come out, Adrienne."

It sounded like a desperate plea.

The ground began to rumble, and Roaldness jumped out of the carriage like lightning.

****

The sudden appearance of the monster occurred right before reaching the Acacia territory.

People were terrified by the monster that could be clearly seen from a distance.

Several huge monsters, large enough to frighten even the experienced 2nd Knight Order, were approaching the group.

With a heavy thud like its massive body, the approaching monster looked like a furry creature covered in dirt.

One of the monsters with three eyes on its head gradually picked up speed and ran towards them with its huge mouth wide open.

"Epero, guard the carriage here."

Before those startled by the commotion could stick their heads out of the carriage, Roaldness rode his horse and jumped over the horse's back, charging forward.

There was no time to say anything.

Roaldness stepped on the hand of the monster that reached for the wagon, jumped up, and immediately cut off all three eyes.

"Kwaeeeeek!"

"Kyaaak-!!"

The screams of the monster in pain and the screams of the servants intersected and echoed through the forest path.

Neil and Victor, who had followed Roaldness on horseback, began to take care of the monsters that were nearby.

Meanwhile, Roaldness climbed the monster whose eyes he had just cut out as if climbing a rock wall. Screams erupted around him as he climbed, clutching the dirty, damp fur.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!!"

Kwaeeeeek-!

The neck of the monster that covered its eyes and was thrashing about was instantly cut off by Roaldness's longsword. The crimson blood that gushed out from the neck poured directly onto Roaldness.

Everyone's mouths gaped at the sudden event.

Roaldness's red eyes burned like wildfire at the sight of the monster's blood. The blood boiled again in his heart, which he thought he had hardened to control his emotions.

'Madness.'

As if his throat was dry and his heart was boiling, Roaldness began to be dominated, swinging his sword like a madman.

Thick blood vessels bulged in the hand holding the sword.

It was a heavy and magnificent weapon that most knights would have difficulty lifting with both hands.

"Step back, Prince Victor!"

Neil, who looked familiar, pulled Victor back, who was struggling with the monster.

"Kwaeeek!"

The head of another huge monster was dropped in front of the group.

Wherever Roaldness's sword passed, the monster's head fell and crimson blood gushed out.

The battle of the Second Prince, who seemed to be able to swing his sword elegantly, was something raw.

Climbing the monster's body, rubbing against the dirty fur, and tearing it apart to cut its neck, the scene offered both awe and terror.

However, Roaldness's mind, who was actually fighting the monster, was gradually sinking underground.

Although he thought the rumor that his red eyes would destroy the world was absurd, he felt his heart grow cold whenever he saw monsters who were particularly aggressive towards him whenever he exterminated them.

It wasn't because he was afraid of monsters.

He was afraid that if that rumor was true, he would lose his mind even a little and end up cutting down his allies instead of his enemies.

And there was something else he was most afraid of.

Roaldness's gaze, which had been staring at the gushing blood, moved to Adrienne's carriage.

'Am I really an unlucky guy?'

The question that had always weighed on him like a rock swelled to the point of bursting.

What if the rumors and the ominous label of the cursed prince created by his image were attached to Adrienne?

A thick blood vessel bulged on the back of his hand holding the sword.

He involuntarily lamented the fact that the past he had dedicated his life to Bardenaldo was holding him back so much. Despite living a life of always proving himself, he did not want to involve Adrienne in that burdensome life.

If the rumors around him shook Adrienne's mind and made her even a little afraid or think of him as ominous...

'I might die.'

It felt like his breath was being cut off just thinking about it.

His dark gaze lingered on the carriage where Adrienne was and then fell away.

A total of about 20 monsters, including the latecomers, were sprawled on the ground. By the time the 2nd Knight Order, who were in charge of escorting them, rushed in and barely managed to kill a few, Roaldness had already killed most of the monsters.

In the space where crimson blood spread like a swamp, Roaldness's red eyes stopped in mid-air after finishing the slaughter.

It was right after I discovered Adrienne coming out of the carriage naturally after the slaughter ended.

'Adrienne saw it.'

My dilated pupils relaxed helplessly, and the blood in my boiling heart turned cold.

Oh, she saw it. She heard it.

Seeing me behead the monster with red eyes as bright as the blood that gushed out beneath my feet. Hearing the terrified screams of the people who had paid their respects.

'A figure covered in blood, so hard to hug you who was covering your mouth and crying.'

Roaldness barely managed to hold on to his stunned heart.

'The eyes of this killer who can't stop killing unless he kills something...'

She saw it.

Roaldness roughly wiped the blood-stained hands on his clothes and hastily took off his jacket and threw it away.

He even took off his shirt, which didn't have a single white part, and wiped his face, but his face, which was only slightly red, couldn't erase even the faint traces of blood.

'I tried to love.'

'But in this world, who...'

'Could love a child as unlucky as you?'

'If Adrienne Pireta had seen your eyes, she would never have been able to love you.'

'If she knew you were that unlucky prince, she wouldn't have even looked at you properly, let alone open her mouth.'

Every time he wiped away the blood, the voice of Bardenaldo, which he had been desperately trying to suppress, tormented his mind.

Yes, knowing that, he hid himself and interacted with Adrienne.

People always feared him.

Adrienne was not the only one who had called his eyes beautiful.

But no one dared to call the eyes that sparkled when his madness arose beautiful.

Not even his mother.

It was an eye he didn't want Adrienne to see.

It was a sight he didn't want Adrienne to see.

Amidst the heavy silence, he could hear the knights, who were exhausted, cleaning up the bodies of the monsters. But Roaldness was desperately wiping his face with his blood-stained shirt.

"Roan."

"Wait, don't come."

As Adrienne's trembling voice approached, he turned his back on her and wiped his face even harder.

When he had wiped his skin until it peeled, he felt Adrienne's presence behind him. Roaldness tensed his back and stood further away from her.

"Roan, look at me."

"Go away, Adrienne. I'm so bloody right now..."

Unable to face Adrienne, Roaldness just put on the shirt that Neil ran over and handed him.

It was no good meeting her eyes.

Even though the madness had subsided, his eyes, which shone like a light in the darkness, had not completely subsided.

It was harder to see Adrienne's eyes, which would be filled with fear, than to face dozens of monsters.

"Roan..."

At that moment, the sound of many urgent hooves approached.

Roaldness, who had come to his senses, hid Adrienne behind him and stepped forward to guard.

At the same time, Epero and Victor stepped forward and drew their swords towards the approaching sound.

"The monster's body..."

A figure with an unexpectedly old voice got off his horse and ran towards the sun that was high in the sky. The sound of weapons clinking followed behind him.

As soon as Adrienne confirmed the identity of the figure who had stumbled and approached, her eyes widened in disbelief.

White-haired and amber-eyed. And wrinkled face with drooping corners of the eyes.

Adrienne had to feel a sense of relief as if her depressed mood had suddenly been lifted.

"...Count?"

The Count of Acacia, who she thought was dead, was standing there perfectly fine.

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