In This Life, I Will Be Your Dog - Chapter 30

Bellona thought that this would be enough to calm Caelus’s anger since she had publicly brushed off Impes’s hand right in front of him. But the man, whose mood had soured considerably, unexpectedly threw her heart to the ground with his next words.

“You ran away so easily while I was sleeping.”

“……!”

“Last night, you begged me to hold you so desperately, and now you’ve disappeared without a word.”

“What are you talking about?” Impes, utterly baffled by Caelus’s words, stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

In contrast to earlier, Caelus now gazed at him with a relaxed smile. “Did you enjoy yourself, Your Highness? I quite enjoyed it myself.”

“What—what are you saying!”

Bellona’s heart pounded fiercely at the conversation between the two men. If Caelus were to reveal that the woman with Impes last night was actually Mona, all of her plans would fall apart. Moreover, neither Mona’s life nor her own would be guaranteed.

As Caelus’s voice continued, Bellona bit down hard on the inside of her mouth.

“But it seems that His Highness is lacking in the lower half. After all, the woman who was in his arms came to me.”

For a moment, her face went blank. What did he just say?

As the meaning of Caelus’s words slowly dawned on her, Bellona’s expression twisted in disbelief. It was so absurd that it made her want to laugh out loud. Both Impes and Bellona glared at him, but Caelus, seemingly oblivious to her inner turmoil, calmly continued to taunt Impes with a relaxed expression.

“And so, I promised her last night. That I would take her to the Grand Duchy.”

“What?”

“So don’t touch what’s mine again. Unless you want to lose that wrist of yours.”

The sharp, gleaming edge of Caelus’s sword briefly flashed menacingly before being sheathed again. Impes’s face turned various shades of red as he struggled to contain his anger, unable to respond to Caelus’s blatant threat, knowing full well the prince’s superior swordsmanship.

Despite this, Caelus, standing tall with a superior expression, continued to provoke Impes with words that further twisted the knife. “If you fail to show proper respect just one more time, I’ll cut out that tongue of yours. You should know that someone with nothing has nothing to lose, Impes.”

“You—you…!”

So enraged that he forgot the knights were watching, Impes glared at Caelus with a look that could kill. Caelus, determined to strip away the mask of the benevolent crown prince that Impes had been wearing, threw out one final, low blow.

“What are you waiting for? Go running to your mother and tell her, crying, that Caelus bullied you and to punish me for it.”

“Caelus!”

Caelus mocked Impes, who could do nothing but shout, before finally stepping back and turning his gaze to Bellona. “Follow me.”

With a brief command, the man turned and walked calmly out of the training ground. Bellona, equally flustered as Impes, felt a strange sense of unease. Was Caelus always like this in the past?

There was something unsettling about the way Caelus’s boldness made her uneasy, but she sighed softly, relieved that the situation had been resolved for now, and began to rise.

At that moment, Impes, who had been seething with anger, reached out to grab her hand again but hesitated. Ignoring him, Bellona bowed her head.

“I should be going—”

“Is it true?”

“……”

“Answer me, Bellona Riknis!”

Even in this situation, as if he wouldn’t believe it until he heard it from her directly, Impes stood in front of her, demanding an answer with a fierce expression.

Slowly lifting her head, she looked at Impes with a blank expression. The young man still looked like he might accept her denial if she gave it, but knowing his nature all too well, she could easily foresee what would happen if she took his hand now.

He would make her pay dearly for today’s humiliation, tormenting and abusing her even more harshly to vent his anger.

But at this moment, he was only grabbing her out of a childish need not to lose to Caelus, as evidenced by the desperate look on his face.

After briefly organizing her thoughts, Bellona gave him a vague response. “I’ve chosen someone who can guarantee me a secure future.”

“…Ha! A secure future? So you’ve chosen a prince who has been exiled from the Empire?”

“As a mere knight, the highest position I can hope to attain in this palace is the rank of commander. That wouldn’t satisfy me.”

“Did he promise to make you his mistress? Wouldn’t it be better to be the crown prince’s mistress instead?”

Bellona stared blankly at the mocking man before throwing out her final bait in a sincere tone. “It was an honor to serve you, Your Highness. I’ll never forget it.”

“You really—”

“When we meet next, I will greet you as the Grand Duchess. Until then, stay well.”

“What…?”

As she turned away coldly and took a few steps, she suddenly stopped and looked back at Impes. Her lips moved slightly as if she had something more to say, but then she offered him a bitter smile and turned away for good.

With a faint, bitter smile, Bellona walked away, heading toward the man who was waiting for her without any hesitation. Meanwhile, Impes, who had been watching her retreating figure with a blank expression, suddenly found his face contorted with anger.

How could she roll around with him so lustfully last night, sneak off to that man behind his back, and then change her mind in a single day?

Ether had been right about everything. These women were all the same, climbing the ranks as knights in pursuit of higher status.

His anger boiled, and it felt like his vision was going to go black with rage. He wanted to kill those two bastards right then and there, but he couldn’t find a justification for it. How could he openly admit that Caelus had taken away his lowly knight?

At that moment, Ether came running from afar, breathless.

“Your Highness!”

At that instant, Impes’s red eyes snapped to Caelus, burning with malice. How dare you take what’s mine without permission.

His lips twisted into a wicked sneer.

***

After walking in silence for a while, Caelus stopped as they entered the prince’s palace garden. Bellona, who had been quietly following him at a distance, also came to a halt.

Caelus leaned his head back, letting out a deep sigh into the air as if trying to contain his anger. Even from just his demeanor, it was clear that his mood had been seriously soured the entire way here.

But why was he so angry?

If anything, shouldn’t she be the one angry?

He had turned her into a vulgar woman who bounced between two men, trampling on her honor as a knight, yet why was he the one fuming?

Moreover, his lies nearly backfired, almost causing her to fall into the trap she had set for Impes. Had it been the cunning Impes before her regression, he wouldn’t have fallen for it so foolishly as he did today.

Yet, there was no room for complaints. After all, he was a member of the imperial family and the lord she had chosen to serve.

Caelus slowly turned to face her, his eyes cold and piercing. Knowing her place better than anyone, Bellona lowered her head as she always did.

“I apologize.”

“Ha! What exactly are you apologizing for?”

“…I mean, everything…”

“Everything?”

Apologizing when she had done nothing wrong left her with no words for an explanation. Bellona’s gaze wandered, as if lost in the air.

Before her regression, when she apologized, the imperial family would simply reprimand and punish her severely. They had never asked her to explain what she had done wrong.

But now that he was asking her what her mistake was, she was at a loss for words.

Suddenly, the man strode toward her and grabbed her wrist. His grip was so tight it felt as if it would crush her bones, and she winced in pain.

“Does it hurt?”

Even though his tone was light and teasing, Bellona bit her lip and endured the pain. Caelus, infuriated by her stubbornness, gripped her wrist even more tightly, as if he really intended to break it.

Finally, blood oozed from her lips as she clung to her resolve. Caelus, seeing the blood, let out a sigh and loosened his grip.

“You really are something else.”

“Does this mean you’re forgiving me?”

Despite the situation, her calm demeanor and emotionless face made something stir within him—an emotion he couldn’t quite place. His face contorted in anger as he suddenly grabbed the back of her head and pulled her close.

He kissed her roughly, swallowing her lips in a forceful kiss. Blood from her crushed lips mixed with the intensity of the kiss, leaving a metallic taste that quickly vanished as he devoured her mouth.

Why am I so angry?

She’s mine now.

She even chose me over Impes.

Unable to control the confusing emotions within him, Caelus poured his twisted feelings into the brutal kiss. The force with which he sucked on her tongue was so intense that tears welled up in her eyes from the pain.

Yet Bellona, enduring the pain, withstood his anger with her entire body. Her body trembled violently, and Caelus, suddenly realizing what he was doing, finally pulled away from her lips, his face contorted in frustration.

Seeing the tears in her eyes only made his inexplicable anger surge even more. He was frustrated by the fact that she didn’t resent him even though she was in so much pain that it brought her to tears.

He was irritated by the fact that she didn’t care for her own body at all. Looking at her, as she stood there silently like a soulless doll, only following orders without any will of her own, made him feel like she was nothing more than a pathetic dog. A loyal dog that only obeyed its master.

But there was something Caelus didn’t know about Bellona.