The Cursed Beast Caught My Leash - Chapter 109

Stella once again woke in the middle of the night.

The place where she had fallen asleep was a bedroom in the Largo palace, but now, she was in a room within the Ice Castle, filled with the characteristic chill of the North.

The dry air brushing against her skin, the howling wind from beyond the castle walls, and the snowflakes swirling outside the window… Everything felt so vivid, as if it were real.

Yet now she could sense it instinctively. This dream, continuing for the third time, might truly be a story from long ago—of Peruno and Theia’s past.

“Ah, aa…”

The moment she realized it, a lewd moan spilled from her lips. It poured out without a chance to stop. The sensation embedded deep within her flared the instant his warm body wrapped around her bare waist.

‘Theia’ clutched the man’s forearm as he rammed into her wildly from behind. Even as her thin fingernails left marks, Peruno did not stop.

In the heat-filled room, the wet sounds of mucous membranes colliding echoed. Gasping continuously, Theia turned her head and locked eyes with him.

In contrast to the ruthless thrusting of his hips, the moment their gazes met, Peruno leaned down and kissed her gently. Writhing between pleasure and pain, she willingly parted her lips. The sheer ecstasy of realizing there was no place on her body untouched by him sent shivers down her spine.

Quite some time had passed since she’d come to stay at the Ice Castle.

Just as Theia had wished, the snowstorm continued without end, and she still visited him each night under the pretense of being awoken by the cold.

However, they no longer met in the wide hall, but began their secret rendezvous in his bedroom. A moment had come when there was nothing left to hold them back.

What began with a kiss naturally continued to her lying in bed, receiving his lips and caresses, and just as naturally, led to coupling. A girl who had never even brushed hands with a man now found herself riding atop his body.

With her vision shaking into a blur, Theia looked into Peruno’s crimson eyes.

Among those serving under the same roof in devotion to the divine, she had united her body with a heretic. Ignoring her adoptive father’s harsh teachings that a saint must never even meet a man’s eyes, she had crawled on all fours, letting him explore every part of her.

Teachings no longer mattered. She had fallen for him helplessly. Her desires grew like a snowball. Even if the snowstorm stopped, she didn’t want to return with the missionary group. Theia just wanted to remain here at the Ice Castle with Peruno, whispering love as they lived together forever.

“I love you…”

The burning feeling that had long been kept inside spilled out in her voice, entirely by her own will.

He, who had been pressing kisses along her round shoulder and leaving red marks, opened his eyes wide. And he momentarily stopped the movement of his thrusting hips.

Right then, from the place where they were joined without a gap, an unusual sensation began to stir.

“Ah, what is this…”

“Don’t move.”

When Theia twisted her hips in confusion, Peruno embraced her, biting her earlobe.

“Just a moment, stay still or you’ll get hurt.”

His tangled breath pierced her ear in a voice thick with tension. Before long, she realized he was growing abnormally large inside her and cried out in ecstasy. Any worry that someone might hear in the dark silence of night vanished from her mind.

Peruno tightly hugged her slender back and let out a low groan. Clinging to him with her body impaled like a stake, Theia gasped for air. The shape pressing into her lower belly was impossibly distinct.

And yet, as if lost in a state of bliss, her heart swelled. Even knowing this moment marked the crossing of a boundary they could never return from, her heart, filled with affection, beat faster.

Could this feeling be a sin? Was the love that led her to abandon the high priest who had taken her in, and to forget the teachings of purity—was it truly such a wrong?

Her body had awakened to carnal desire, and her spirit had begun to doubt her faith. Theia no longer possessed a body and heart she could dedicate to the divine.

And that fact brought her nothing but joy.

“Theia.”

Peruno softly whispered her name into her ear.

“My body and heart now belong to you as well.”

His voice returned her confession of love just as it had been given. As if he had read her thoughts moments earlier…

Smiling in return, Theia closed her eyes and fainted away. Her mind blackened as if a curtain had fallen.

Thus, she had no way of knowing. That in the corridor not far from the bedroom, a follower of her adoptive father had been standing.

And that person, having heard every explicit sound, had quietly slipped away without a word.

Stella’s eyes snapped open as she emerged from the past, fully immersed in Theia.

She sat up abruptly, gasping for breath.

“Haa, haa…”

Though no firewood had been lit, her nightclothes were drenched in sweat. After panting heavily for a while, Stella pressed her throbbing forehead, then curled up, burying her face between her knees.

A bad feeling gnawed at her. Like watching black storm clouds gather, she couldn’t shake the dread that something terrible was about to happen.

***

How long had it been since they traveled south?

Eight moons had waned, and tonight marked the ninth night.

Islay, reflecting on the time passed, jumped down from his horse.

Having marched without rest day and night, they had already reached a fork in the road leading to Largo. But the soldiers following him were not the kind to complain of fatigue even after days of forced marches.

The army had been assembled for swift movement, made up of those who would not tire easily. All of them, like Mikel—who had survived a direct hit from a poisoned dagger—were Northerners.

They were more threatening than a vast number of men enough to darken the plains and, when split into units, could vanish into the shadows without leaving a trace.

They had been charging ahead without pause, but came to a halt because Islay, at the front, had discovered something strange on the well-trodden ground.

He walked with heavy steps and knelt on one knee. With fingers scarred by countless battles, he brushed over hoofprints in the dirt. His brow furrowed, and a shadow darkened his eyes.

“Captain, is it an army?” Mikel dismounted and approached.

Without turning to look, Islay muttered, “Yes. The traces are at least a day or two old.”

“Judging by the number, they’re slightly more than us.”

Tilting his head, Mikel gave his assessment. Judging from the tracks scattered in the dust, he had accurately gauged the size of the force.

For Northerners, such numbers posed no problem. Even with several times as many, they could trample them without struggle. Yet Islay couldn’t shake his unease.

“Dora’s side has been sending updates regularly, but it seems Pantege is indeed planning to launch an assault.”

Islay glanced toward another fork in the road—the one leading to the Pantege Empire.

But what bothered him was this: the approaching force was composed of regular troops. And for all their numbers, it wasn’t enough to overturn an entire kingdom.

What were they scheming? Perhaps they didn’t intend to commit fully to the Largo campaign.

In any case, the bigger issue was that their path pointed straight to where Stella was.

“We’ll need to increase our pace. Notify command that our objective is to reach our destination by tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

Mikel let out a heavy breath and turned to run. Since they were already moving at full speed, pushing harder meant they couldn’t afford a second’s delay.

Islay rose and strode toward his waiting horse. As he brushed aside the hair scattered by the wind, veins bulged on the back of his hand.

Countless emotions and thoughts had surged within him on the journey here.

Knowing it would be the final hour, he’d hurt Stella.

He hadn’t even said goodbye.

Regret. Guilt. Longing. Love.

Would it be allowed—when they reunited—to hold her tightly just once? Should his first words be an apology or a confession?

He still didn’t know.

It was a moment when everything burned away.

What if he had hesitated even after receiving news from Stella’s maid?

He couldn’t believe he had let her go, even while knowing things might turn out like this.

He had simply believed that being by his side would only bring her pain and sacrifice, and that it was better for her to be under Alexio’s protection.

But as long as forces threatening Largo existed, that shield would constantly be tested. If Alexio’s struggle ended in failure, Stella would be in danger.

Then before fate could claim her, he would use his final moments as a man to carve out her rightful place.

That wild, destructive urge—he would unleash it instead on the wretched bastards of Pantege.

Having resolved himself once again, Islay mounted his heavy horse with a light motion and tugged the reins.

He had to ride with all speed to where she was.