Chapter 6 (2/2)

“Didn’t you hear the rumors about me?”

“I did.”

“Then you know I am a monster. I look scary and horrible. And you’re saying that you weren’t running away?”

“Yes.”

“When I look at myself in the mirror, I scream as well. I think God still hasn’t fixed my face.”

“But.”

“Don’t lie, you’re a daughter of a Count from the capital. You shook your hands as soon as you saw me. You’re still shaking because you’re scared.”

“I won’t deny it.”

Leticia said resolutely.

“But it still doesn’t change the fact I don’t want to run away.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to leave. Whatever happens, it’s better than going back to the house. So…”

Leticia stared at him.

“Take me as your bride!”

She asked with all her strength and courage.

But…

He refused without a second thought.

“No.”

Leticia was discouraged.

Although she expected it, it was different to receive such a final notice. She looked like she was sentenced to death.

“I see.”

Leticia said in sorrow.

“Okay. But don’t tell me to run away. I’d rather be a sacrifice than leave.”

“What?”

Again, his reaction was absurd.

“What did you just say?”

“I’d rather be a sacrifice.”

She felt like she could do what she wanted. Leticia poured out her words into even more painful words.

“That’s my situation. It’s either I become a bride or a sacrificial flock. It’s a fate that I have.”

“No, neither are true!”

“How come?”

“First, my favorite foods are chicken and bread pudding. Second, that doesn’t make you my bride.”

He spoke solemnly.

“I’m a minor too, so I can’t.”

“Ah, yes… what?”

Leticia once again doubted what she heard.

Did she hear that wrong?

For a moment, she forgot her fear and asked.

“How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

He became ill.

He spoke like an adult, but still… Fifteen years old?

She was so ashamed that she couldn’t understand for a moment.

How much is the age difference between 12 and 15? One, two, three—.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s nothing.”

She quickly hid her hands behind her back. But he had already seen Leticia’s action and spoke to her.

“Three years is a long time. The four seasons need to pass three times.”

“Yes, it is.”

Leticia replied in an ambiguous tone.

‘It’s so weird.’

She was still scared. But before solving the questions that came to her mind, her intuition didn’t seem to work out.

Finally, she asked with courage.

“If you are a minor and you can’t take me as your bride, why did you bring me here?”

“Ask my father.”

The Monster Lord answered.

“My father was always worried about his successor. My family’s customs have been like this for generations. The demons are going to swarm, and he is determined to have a successor to protect the castle in the north.”

“Of course, heirs are important.”

“But do you think I need to use a ruse to get married? I don’t think so. If I subjugated the demons with my battalion, I don’t need a successor, right?”

He spoke words that were full of courage. Leticia replied feeling under the pressure of the situation.

“Well, that’s true.”

“But, we already have our families involved, which is why I contacted you first to avoid the curse. We can just fake the wedding and divorce when a good opportunity arises. I can’t believe it, I don’t treat people as brides or sacrifices. There’s no such custom in our castle!”

“Then why did the chef tell me that I’m nothing but bones and that I need to fatten up?”

“Because that’s a chef’s job!”

“You think Mrs. Cassaro was doing bad things, but it’s not actually like that. They aren’t professional employees, they were people who my father saved from a devil’s hands. That’s why they aren’t as kind and courteous as normal employees. But rest assured that when someone new comes in, they are all scrambling to be nice.”

Leticia is speechless.

He is right in what he said.

The meal was just a meal. The bath was just a bath, and the light clothes were likewise.

But there was still a concern in the corner of her mind, it was the voice of her cousins.

-Is that so? I don’t know anyone who’s gonna be nice to a kid like you?

-There’s a reason. You’re just being fooled again, aren’t you?

Leticia shut her eyes tightly. She opened her mouth and spoke with a faint voice. Even if there was a knife near her neck, she had to ask.

“So what’s the room of sacrifice?”

“The room of sacrifice?”

“A locked room. The scary room that my sisters told me about was really in this castle. I asked them what room it was, and they were all flustered. So I took a peek and the butler was scolding some servants and preparing an altar on which the offering will be made…”

Silence prevailed for a moment.

“That’s…”

He hesitated to answer.

Leticia grew sensitive to other people’s senses since she was a child. She could roughly guess how others felt.

The Monster Lord was at a loss. For the first time, he is in the position of not knowing what to do.

As expected, the room is suspicious.

‘This time I hit the nail on his head.’

Leticia gave the Monster Lord a shot of remorse!

But she wasn’t happy at all as what surrounded them was complete darkness.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────