The Cursed Beast Caught My Leash - Chapter 102

The sun quickly set. Surrounded by countless thoughts, Stella gazed endlessly at the moonlight streaming into the inn room.

It was hard to believe so much had happened in just a few days. She needed to be strong, but she was afraid and uncertain. Fortunately, Stella knew how to regain control of her wavering heart, even if just a little.

The people she wanted to protect. Those precious to her. She recalled each of their faces, trying her best not to falter.

She still could not think of any definitive course of action, but even as she agonized over it until the moment she fell asleep, the drowsiness eventually took over, and her eyes slowly closed.

A short while later, she woke up to a coldness that seeped into her very bones.

“……”

Cold? She had come to the southern region, where the climate was far warmer than in Calis. It was warm enough inside the inn room that there was no need to burn firewood. Alexio, worried about his frail younger sister, had even shut the windows tight before he left to keep the night breeze from seeping in…

Yet Stella trembled in the chill, her teeth chattering as she sat up. The fire crackling in the hearth greeted her, but the cold did not dissipate. Judging by the still-dark night outside, she had only been asleep for an hour or two.

Wrapping her trembling shoulders in a blanket, she climbed out of bed.

As she stepped out of her room, she saw him sitting in the center of the hall, where a large fireplace was lit. Stella’s steps naturally led her toward him.

The man, who had been gazing into the flickering flames, lifted his head. Seeing the faint smile spreading across his face, Stella hesitated for a moment.

“Awake again in the middle of the night.”

The man had jet-black hair that seemed to absorb the darkness of night, sharp features, and crimson eyes.

Stella stood still, lips slightly parted. Was this not the very sight that had always made her heart race?

However, sensing a subtle difference in his features from Islay’s, she scrutinized him closely. The man then pulled the wooden chair beside him closer.

Understanding what that meant, ‘Stella’ silently approached and took the empty seat.

Was the warmth spreading through her body from the fire in front of her, or from the man sitting beside her?

“You’re trembling. Was the night air too cold?”

“I shouldn’t be saying this to the one who kindly gave up his room for me, but… yes. I’m not used to the northern wind.”

The voice that drifted from Stella’s lips was not her own.

“Still, I should be grateful for a roof over my head that shields me from the howling blizzard and piercing wind. Once again, thank you, Sir…”

“You may call me Peruno.”

“…Yes, Peruno. Thank you.”

Speaking his name made her lips tingle. Just as ‘Theia’ was about to ask him to call her by her name as well, she glanced behind her.

The fortress, built of solid white stone, was still incomplete, giving it a bleak atmosphere. Hadn’t the construction been paused for the winter?

Yet, what weighed on Theia’s mind was not the eerie air. Peruno’s crimson eyes were fixed on her.

“Are you afraid your father might see us?”

“…Yes. He dislikes it when I speak with men. He does not even allow me to meet their gaze.”

That was why Theia came to see Peruno in the dead of night, when everyone else was asleep. Using the excuse of waking up from the cold, she would slip out of her room and into the hall, where the large fireplace burned.

It had been ten nights since she discovered that this man sat here every night.

“What a cruel man. And yet, he takes his frail daughter along with the missionary group traveling to the North in the dead of winter.”

“……”

“If you were to fall ill, he would likely refuse even a doctor’s treatment.”

That was the truth. The only doctors among the missionaries were men, and her adoptive father was the type to insist she would be better off dying pure rather than allowing a man’s hands to touch her.

And yet, in Calis, there were female doctors. Her adoptive father relied on the kindness of the Northerners, yet secretly sneered at the idea of entrusting the wounded to barbarians. Peruno had pointed that out in a single remark.

Various thoughts crossed Theia’s mind, but her focus settled on an unexpected matter.

“Do I appear weak in your eyes?”

“Quite so.”

The man with red eyes was exceptionally direct. However, there was no trace of insult or mockery in his words, so Theia simply blinked her clear eyes and then let out a small laugh. Peruno, who had been about to say something, closed his mouth and could not take his eyes off her face.

In truth, anyone perceptive enough would realize that her body and mind were not particularly strong.

Possessing the Mind’s Eye, Theia was acutely sensitive to the changes around her. When she read the emotions appearing on another’s face, the waves of those emotions struck her directly.

It was not uncommon for her to see a young maiden smiling shyly in admiration toward her, only to sense a deep, crimson malice flickering beneath that expression. She often caught glimpses of wariness and disgust in those who feared or despised her because of her ability.

Once, she had asked someone who appeared deeply troubled if they were all right, and though they forced a smile and nodded, she had felt the thick, suffocating despair of someone on the verge of throwing themselves into the river.

The ability to see what others could not was no blessing. Had not a wise forerunner once said that ignorance was bliss? Theia often suffered from anxiety and tension, which took a toll on her body.

And above all, what she feared most was deception. Specifically, her adoptive father’s deception.

“Come here, my beloved daughter.”

Simon, the High Priest, who was said to possess the strongest divine power among the existing apostles of the gods, always spoke those words with a shadow flickering across his face.

“Repeat after me, Theia. ‘I live solely for the gods, my body and soul belong entirely to them, and as their instrument, I shall burn in their glory at any time.’”

Each time he said this, a myriad of emotions writhed within his expression—ecstasy, greed, and anticipation… What exactly had he been hoping for?

Simon insisted that she revere her Mind’s Eye as a sacred relic, a holy force drifting through the world in search of its rightful master, a divine blessing granted only to the purest of beings.

He firmly believed that if the “Mind’s Eye” came into contact with impurity or corruption, it would be tainted and disappear. That was why he had so strictly emphasized that she must never look at a man’s face, let alone speak to one.

Each time, his eyes gleamed—not with concern, but with desire. Seeing his subtle intentions, Theia could never feel at ease.

Even so, she had to be grateful. It had been Simon who had taken her in from a meager orphanage and provided her with an abundant life. Compared to before, her existence had improved greatly once she had begun serving the gods.

Life in the monastery was peaceful, and most of the priests were not deceitful or harboring sinister intentions toward her.

“Ah, I don’t know why I’ve ended up rambling like this again.”

At Peruno’s comment about her appearing weak, Theia had unwittingly spilled her heart out and now waved a hand dismissively. Over the past ten days, she had shared an endless stream of thoughts with this stranger.

Peruno had silently listened to all of her disjointed confessions. Though he was not one to speak much, he did not hesitate to express his disapproval of her strict adoptive father when he deemed it necessary.

Perhaps that had been a source of comfort to her.

After all, they said that merely voicing one’s burdens to another could provide relief. Perhaps Theia had begun seeking him out in the dead of night because she needed that solace.

She felt at ease around this man. Not once had she ever sensed any contradiction between his outward demeanor and his true self. Though only ten days had passed, she had come to deeply cherish the quiet nights they spent together. She found herself anticipating them to the point of excitement.

She wished the blizzard that had nearly swept through the missionary group would never cease. Since this was a missionary journey, she knew she could not stay in Calis for long, and that realization made her heart ache.