The Cursed Beast Caught My Leash - Chapter 122

Islay didn’t respond right away. Stella pushed back her chair and approached him. Then, she gently raised her hand and lightly cupped his face.

“I believe you understand my heart. If you were in my position, you wouldn’t have acted any differently.”

Stella stroked his cheek and added in a softened tone as if to soothe him. Islay’s downcast eyes blinked slowly.

“…Yeah. I would’ve done exactly what you did. I’d have slit my wrist right then and there and drained my blood for you. And anyone who tried to block my way—I would’ve cut them down in an instant.”

Islay gripped her hand tightly.

“But you and I are different, Estella.”

This time, it was Stella who became emotional. She raised her eyebrows, and Islay met her eyes quietly.

“You’re not someone who won’t die easily like me. You’re someone who could shatter like glass in a cold wind, so I can’t help but fear the possibility of losing you.”

“……”

“I know you want to live by my side. I know you want to try anything. I understand it in my head, but I don’t want to bet your life on some uncertain chance.”

“……”

“I can’t help but imagine the worst-case scenario. How will they extract that power? Even those damned priests didn’t know how. Tthey said they’d gouge out your eyes first, and if that didn’t change anything, they’d slit your throat to drain all your blood. That’s the only method I can think of too. That’s what a sacrifice is, Estella. Who survives something like that?”

It’s not that she meant to spill blood recklessly, she only thought that by directly confronting the relic, she might understand it… Stella had meant to respond like that, but then her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Uh…”

“Islay, are you crying?”

What came back wasn’t an answer, but a heavy breath.

Caught off guard, Stella didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t shed tears, but in his sharply slanted eyes, a faint gleam of moisture unmistakably shimmered.

She couldn’t believe it. He was a man with not a single soft part on his body, one who could probably break a boulder with his bare hands without exaggeration… Tears simply didn’t suit him.

As Islay let out a long breath and turned his head, the faint moisture disappeared without a trace. The passion that had surged in his chest also seemed to vanish instantly, but Stella couldn’t calm herself and patted him gently.

Her small white hands tapping his large frame looked a bit ridiculous. Islay belatedly caught her hand and lowered it.

“That’s enough.”

“How can it be? I’m sorry…”

As he avoided her gaze, only the sharp line of his jaw was visible, yet even that looked strangely sorrowful. Stella kept patting the shoulders of a man who had shown no more than a few seconds of tears.

Her clumsy attempt at comfort felt foolish. Wasn’t Islay the one who always held and consoled her when she cried so easily?

Biting her lip, Stella stretched out her arms and hugged him tightly. Though it looked like she was the one completely engulfed by his massive frame, she pressed her chest against his without hesitation. If they had been at a similar height, she would’ve held and stroked his head.

She felt his long breath from the top of her head. After taking a few breaths, Stella tilted her chin up and met Islay’s gaze.

This time, he didn’t look away, and their eyes met in the air. For a moment, they exchanged gazes filled with deep affection, then Stella rose to her tiptoes and placed both hands on his chest. Then, she tilted her head and kissed him as he came closer.

As Islay wrapped his arms tightly around her back, their joined lips exchanged damp breaths. Their tongues tangled, lips bit and sucked urgently, as if they could only breathe through one another, as if they’d never be able to breathe again if not for this moment.

When love is confirmed so fiercely, it always feels like the two of them are the only ones in the world. As if in this vast world, only the two of them exist, as if they’ve reached a world where fate’s cruel chains no longer bind them…

“Estella Lassa!”

The door burst open, and Alexio appeared at that moment. Stella froze like a statue.

“Is it true that you promised a hostage exchange with Prince Hendrick without even discussing it—”

Bursting into the library, furious, Alexio went pale at the sight of his younger sister kissing the Northerner.

He was so shocked, he forgot even the gentle dignity he always carried. He stood rooted to the spot, his mouth agape, completely forgetting that just moments ago, he’d come looking for her in anger.

Roderick, who had come in with him, also turned pale and quickly turned away as if pretending not to have seen the princess’s display of affection. The shoulders of the steadfast knight trembled as if he’d seen something he shouldn’t. From the doorway, Mikel sneered at Roderick, saying, “Bit of a softie, aren’t you, for someone your size.”

What kind of farce was this, all of a sudden? Stella, her entire face flushed crimson, hurriedly pulled away from Islay. She scurried and hid behind his shoulder.

“…This is truly unbelievable!”

Only after a heavy silence did Alexio come to his senses and raise his voice. He now wore the expression of someone whose anger had finally caught up.

“Do I really have to witness this? Are you hoping I’ll drive that Northerner out in the middle of a war?!”

“…Sorry.”

“And Grand Duke, to kiss the princess in the sacred royal library—have you no sense of decorum? Could you not consider the sentiment of someone who received you as a noble guest and benefactor?”

Though it was Stella who had initiated the kiss, Islay did not shift the blame. He had, after all, kissed her despite sensing Alexio’s hurried footsteps approaching from outside. He nodded quietly.

“I’ll be more careful.”

“It was already a difficult decision to allow you to stay the night in my sister’s chamber. Please exercise more discretion in the future.”

Though it hadn’t even been a full night—just a sliver of dawn—Islay didn’t bother correcting him.

“And now, since there are matters to be discussed between siblings, I ask the Northerners to excuse us.”

Yet, unwilling to leave Stella’s side even for a moment, Islay’s feet hesitated.

As always, he trampled down his own desire and brushed past Alexio with long strides, exiting the library. Mikel silently followed behind.

Thud. The door closed, and only the people of Largo remained in the room. Alexio raised an eyebrow at Stella.

“Is it true you went to see Prince Regan?”

His tone made it clear he was about to reprimand her in full. Stella darted her eyes and quickly answered.

“It’s true, but I didn’t make a promise.”

“What?”

“He asked for something in return, so I only asked what it was. I never promised to send him back to Pantege. …Maybe I’m getting craftier.”

Stella added timidly, “We’re people who know the meaning of honor. If we make a promise, we must keep it no matter what. That’s why I didn’t.”

Only then did Alexio’s expression ease slightly. Then, he sternly scolded her again.

“But you can’t just go to the prison on your own like that, Estella. Prince Regan is a vile man. What if something had happened to you?”

“I’ll be more careful from now on. Anyway, as we expected, Pantege received a similar prophecy. They obtained theirs through offering holy power, but still… they knew the location of the gem…”

“We’ve heard about that too. I’m sorry to the Grand Duke, but I have no interest in some ancient gem.”

Alexio, unusually, cut her off. Stella clenched her fists in frustration.

“Even after knowing the gem is in Metlica, you’re saying we should just leave it there?”

“Do you think I’m the kind of brother who’d gamble with his sister’s life?”

“Then what about Islay, who came all this way to help us…!”

“The Northerner asked for nothing in return, El. You know that. The thing he likely wants least is your sacrifice. There will be no search for that relic or whatever it is, so understand that now.”

It felt like a replay of the argument she’d just had with Islay. Stella, enraged, spoke with a trembling voice.

“How many times must I say it’s not a sacrifice?! Closing your ears like this isn’t like you, brother!”

“Estella Lassa, as of today, your dangerous, reckless actions are to stop as well.”

“…What?”

“Let me say it again—once war begins in earnest, there will be nothing you’re required to endure. Everyone here agrees. And if you keep insisting, you’ll only look like a woman disrupting Largo over one man.”

Stella’s face turned pale with disbelief. Then it flushed red.

She had made it clear that the relic wasn’t just related to Peruno’s curse, so what on earth had they heard in her words?

But Alexio understood his sister’s true heart better than anyone. Though she hadn’t fabricated reasons to justify extinguishing the Mind’s Eye, what she most desperately desired was to alter Islay’s fate.

“I…”

Stella shifted her disbelieving gaze to Roderick. Then to Father Gabriel, and then to the elite soldiers who had come all the way to Calis to rescue her.

None of them added a word, as if in silent agreement with Alexio. Overwhelmed with emotion, Stella turned and dashed out of the library.

A beat later, Gabriel turned toward the spot where she had stood with a troubled expression.