TPOSAWB 60

The Price of Saving A Wicked Beast

Translator: Rae

“What shall we do? Are you truly thinking of summoning all of them?”

“Of course not.”

The moment Katarina was sent back to her room, the aide moved to Fabian’s side. Fabian answered his question curtly, as if it were not even worth considering.

“You’re right. She’s becoming more troublesome by the day.”

Fabian muttered this while staring at the door through which Katarina had left.

Contrary to his expectations, the plan kept going awry. It was never a good sign.

Dared. The secret unit bearing the same name as the family was composed solely of those prepared to give their lives for the Grand ducal’s house. It was Fabian himself who had revived the Dared’s unit, which had all but vanished after the war a century ago.

He had had to invest considerable effort to bring them discreetly into the Imperial Palace.

Using such a carefully prepared trump card merely to dispose of the Emperor’s physician had already been a tremendous loss. He could not possibly deploy them again for nothing more than Katarina’s tantrum, especially not now, when Killian was fiercely guarding Adelaide.

“The Emperor and Marquis Brundel alike ought to learn that excessive love for one’s child can turn poisonous.”

A secret was most powerful when it remained a secret.

As if it were not enough that Katarina had gotten in touch with Serrem on her own, she even knew about the secret organization Daerd. Watching her throw a fit and demand their summoning as though she were their master was laughable.

Each time a woman who would never have dared meet his gaze had he remained Crown Prince tried to manipulate him simply because she was his fiancée, the humiliation he had suppressed felt ready to explode.

Fabian thought for a brief moment and scribbled something on a piece of paper at his desk before handing it to his aide.

“Deliver this to Milnyme. We’ll settle this matter at this level.”

“I’ll see to it.”

Tucking the note into his clothes, the aide disappeared back into the darkness.

Fabian glanced once more toward Katarina’s bedroom.

Now was not the time. Katarina was still useful. But when the day came that her usefulness ran out, Marquis Brundel would pay in the most brutal way for having let his daughter speak so carelessly.

*** 

At the news of Killian’s arrival, Adelaide rose from her seat. Their eyes met in the parlor, and Killian’s gaze wavered as though he could not comprehend the scene before him.

He turned away from Adelaide and looked to the head maid.

“Why wasn’t I informed of this situation?”

His voice brimmed with anger, as though he would not forgive even the maid who had served him for years depending on her answer. Adelaide spoke before the head maid could respond.

“I ordered it. I told them not to say anything to you.”

"Adelaide.”

Killian ran a hand irritably through his hair. While he had been handling state affairs, a report had come in from Bertholdt saying that a tea party for noblewomen was being held in the Glass Garden.

No one had breathed a word until it was over. On his way back to the Crown Prince’s palace, Killian was plagued by every nightmare imaginable.

He wondered whether something might have happened to her, what it meant that no one had reported the tea party at all. Distrusting everyone around him and obsessively vigilant about Adelaide’s safety, Killian had lost all composure, his nerves sharpened like a honed blade.

“Tell me what you were thinking when you did that. I told you again and again it was dangerous. Don’t tell me you didn’t understand what I meant.”

Adelaide looked at Killian with a calm gaze.

“So what you’re saying is that I should wait for you forever in an empty bedroom, doing exactly as you say?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Killian’s voice was filled with frustration. The atmosphere froze for a moment. However, Adelaide met his gaze without the slightest hint of intimidation.

“Killian. I am your wife. Not your possession. Just as much as you want to protect me, I want the same.”

At her words, Killian fell silent.

Adelaide would never understand that her words brought him no joy at all, or that he was fighting with everything he had to suppress the anger rising within him.

Though he never showed it before her, Killian had dreamed every night since the day he confined Adelaide to her room. The nightmares changed each time he slept, but the main plot was always the same: losing Adelaide to Fabian’s schemes.

Some nights she drank poison and d*ed coughing up blood; on others she died by hanging. In every dream, he was the loser, forced to watch Adelaide die helplessly, chained by the neck like a dog.

The resolve he had made during their travels had long since vanished without a trace. He was willing to be hated forever if it meant protecting Adelaide this way. As long as she stayed by his side, nothing else mattered.

Each night he woke from those dreams with relief and fear intertwined, terrified that what he had seen might become reality, that he would again be powerless as she died before his eyes.

"I don't need your help.”

His voice was low, suppressed as though being strangled. Adelaide’s gaze wavered for a moment at his words.

"Is that so? I see.”

Adelaide set the necklace she had taken from Katarina down on the table. To Killian, who said he did not need her help, she had nothing more to say.

 

“Dame Romeo. Explain what happened today to His Highness in my stead.”

With that, Adelaide turned away from Killian and left the room.

*** 

In frustration, I walked aimlessly through the palace. Her foot With a heavy heart, she wandered aimlessly through the palace. Her steps led her to a small room deep within the building, where soldiers stood guard despite her assumption that it would be empty.

“Your Highness.”

Recognizing Adelaide, the soldiers knelt in greeting.

“What is happening here?”

Adelaide carefully composed herself so her turmoil over Killian would not show, then asked. One soldier answered in a loud voice.

“The maid of the Marquis Brundell’s daughter is waiting inside.”

It was someone she had completely forgotten amid the chaos. Adelaide blinked slowly in surprise.

“I see. I did order that the maid be taken.”

It had been an impulsive command meant to protect Bonnet from Katarina’s atrocities. She had not thought beyond that moment.

“Yes. She committed no crime, so imprisoning her was inappropriate, and she is very young… The head maid said it would be best to treat her injuries here for now.”

The head maid had clearly brought Bonnet to such a discreet place because of Killian.

Killian was ruthless toward anyone connected to the North. The mere fact that Bonnet, who had served Katarina, had entered the Crown Prince’s palace could have cost several people their lives.

“It’s truly too cruel. What could justify hitting such a young girl?”

Though usually taciturn, the soldier vented his anger with a father’s heart, reminded of his own child by Bonnet’s pitiful state.

“How old is she?”

“She’s only eighteen. She’s served the Marquis’s daughter for just about a year, and she was trembling so much.”

His voice grew heavier.

“Have her injuries been properly treated?”

“The head maid applied ointment as instructed.”

“No. That may not be enough. Summon the physician immediately.”

“While applying the ointment, the head maid said the scratch marks might leave scars on her face. I’ll go fetch the physician at once.”

The soldier's face brightened at Adelaide’s words. He rushed down the hallway as soon as he finished speaking.

Adelaide opened the door to the room where Bonnet was staying. Though clean, it felt chilly, unused despite the arrival of spring outside.

"...Bonnet?”

Adelaide softly called Bonnet’s name. No one lay on the bed, nor was the girl visible on the sofa or by the window table.

"Bonnet?”

At her repeated call, something stirred in the corner of the small room. It was Bonnet, crouched there wrapped in a blanket. Adelaide quietly approached her.

Why are you sitting here like this? Why not lie down on the bed and rest comfortably?”

At Adelaide’s words, Bonnet stubbornly shook her head.

***

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