The Cursed Beast Caught My Leash - Chapter 117

At last, Theia, having learned everything, shook her tear-stained face.

“Peruno is innocent. Please, I beg you, tell me how to turn him back into a man. I’ll give up anything I have, please… show me the way.”

Theia’s voice, choked with sobs and ragged breathing, demanded an answer. The divine messenger, reciting the words of God, replied:

“In the abandoned temple remains the sacred relic once used by a foolish devotee. If pure power is poured into it, your wish shall be granted.”

Theia’s golden eyes sparkled with tears. Pure power—that referred to the Mind’s Eye she possessed.

I can bring him back. Peruno, the one I love more than my own life.

But the next message cast her into despair.

“However, devotee, your power was corrupted the moment you spoke a lie.”

Corrupted…? And to speak a lie… surely not.

Theia recalled the moment she had lied to her adoptive father, claiming to have lost her Mind’s Eye, all because she couldn’t bear to leave Calis. Her desire to stay with Peruno had been so overwhelming that she had chosen deceit. And in that moment, her holy power had shattered. It was the judgment of a cruel god.

“Then… how can I restore it?”

“The Mind’s Eye has already left your body. It will take a long time for it to regain its original value and find a new master.”

Theia shook her head in disbelief. “Then how am I supposed to save my poor beloved?”

“End his suffering now.”

They were telling her to kill Peruno, who was locked away in the underground prison.

How could this be the will of the gods? Struck with a grief that tore through her chest, Theia wept endlessly. Her sorrow, like a surging sea, drowned her day by day.

She whispered tear-soaked words of love again and again to the man who no longer recognized her from behind the iron bars. In the end, it was by her own hand that she took up a sword and ended the life of her suffering beloved.

But she did not realize then that the child growing within her womb would inherit the curse. The boy, once grown, would carry Peruno’s bloodline and become a monster like his father. Nor did she foresee how he would one day escape the castle and spread darkness across all of Calis.

Uncontrollable chaos swept through Calis. And only centuries later did the first divine oracle descend upon the northern lands.

***

Her throat burned and her chest ached like it had been pierced by a blade. Though not yet fully awake, Stella trembled and wept, her body seized by chills. The fate of Peruno and Theia was so tragic, she could hardly bear it.

Peruno’s blood had flowed down through the generations to reach Islay. And the Mind’s Eye had passed to Stella, who bore the most similar spirit to Theia.

And again, the two had fallen in love. They had become the new owners of a fate that had come full circle.

But they must not repeat the same path. She had to stop Islay from writhing in agony and becoming a monstrous being.

Overwhelmed by a grief that clawed at her chest, Stella remembered the ‘abandoned temple’ she had seen clearly in her dream.

It was a sunken patch of land overgrown with weeds and trees, with crumbling stone pillars standing like ruins. Somewhere within, hidden behind thick moss, there had been an entrance. When she opened its doors, it led to an underground temple with a towering ceiling.

Past a hall lined with strange statues staring at one another, up hundreds of steps, stood a rectangular altar made of worn stone. Atop it was a thick candlestick-shaped pillar—and embedded in it was a gem…

“Estella!”

Stella regained consciousness at the touch of someone shaking her. As she blinked her tear-soaked eyes, a droplet of water fell from her lashes.

And the man who had half-lifted her into his arms and now held her met her gaze.

“Islay…”

“What’s wrong, hmm?”

When she blinked, Islay pulled Stella tightly into his arms. Only then did she vaguely recall how he had called her name over and over.

Stella murmured in a daze, “I had the dream again…”

“Damn it, do you know how you looked just now?”

Islay, whispering like a breath, pressed frantic kisses to her earlobe and cheek, asking why she kept having such nightmares.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re here with me…”

Stella patted his shoulder as if to soothe him, the man so shaken as though he had almost lost her. Islay pulled her deeply into his broad chest, as if trying to engulf her—but in truth, it was he who desperately clung to her.

“Estella.”

His voice called her name again and again, as if needing to confirm she was alive. How terrible must she have looked in her sleep for him to be so distraught? Stella buried her cheek in his wide chest, panting softly.

The oracle delivered to Calis had not been wrong. The confusion had only stemmed from human interpretations, but the core truth remained: the curse had to be broken through the Mind’s Eye and the gem.

Had she not known that, she might have gone through with the sacrificial ritual at the Ice Castle without the gem. It would have been a futile sacrifice, leaving Islay cursed and her life shattered before it even began. The very thought made her dizzy.

In the end, it was thanks to Islay sending her away from the castle that she had come to understand the true way to break the curse.

“Thank you for saving me, Islay.”

And so Stella offered a somewhat sudden word of thanks. Islay, lifting his head, let out a breath of disbelief.

“You’re the one who lets me breathe. You’re the one who helps me live as a human. You’re the only one who gives my life meaning, Estella.”

His voice cracked—he had clearly been deeply shaken. Stella tangled her fingers in his hair and embraced his head.

“Mm… sorry for scaring you.”

“Even if you stabbed a knife into my heart, it’s not something you should apologize for. But just don’t ever harm yourself. Not even a little.”

His desperate kiss scattered along her ear. Stella stroked his shoulder, holding back something between a sob and a laugh.

She wanted to save him as soon as possible. If only she could find the location of the sacred relic, she could finally break the curse that bound Islay.

But what would happen once she lost the Mind’s Eye? It wasn’t just a physical eye—it was a power soaked into every part of her body. Would that mean losing her life as well?

She had already prepared herself for sacrifice and death. But what about saying farewell to the man she loved? That thought alone brought her unbearable pain.

***

Islay stood with his arms crossed in front of the desk, looking down at Stella.

She had brought a quill and parchment and, without even sitting, had begun drawing something in earnest. It seemed she was trying to record the abandoned temple she had seen in her dream.

As he glanced briefly at the sketch taking shape, Islay then turned his gaze to Stella. Her slender face, soft in every detail, looked unusually determined.

There was no trace of the woman who used to tremble at the slightest thing. When Stella had her mind set on something, she pursued it with surprising stubbornness. It was almost hard to believe how timid she normally was.

And that worried Islay deeply. Back at the Ice Castle, she had never once hesitated to drive herself to the brink of death.

“Let me say it again, Estella.”

Unable to bear the weight of silence, Islay spoke.

“I came to ally with your brother to bring down Pantege—not to break the curse that binds me.”

“I know.”

“That means finding gems and temples isn’t our top priority.”

Stella answered with a single nod. But from the look on her face, it was clear she wasn’t really listening.