Chapter 2

Floris said something else. “… Father will surely repay you. Of course, you can also grant me a title by pleading with the High Majesty. If the one in your left hand is the heart of a monster, you might be able to receive a knight order.” 

Floris walked past him with a slow gesture and opened the small door that she had pointed to. There were full bath facilities. He knew the complexity of the situation, but it was an unspoken command to wash up first. Kagen was conscious of the strong scent she could smell as she passed in front of him. It was the seductive figure of her that he had imagined a hundred times a thousand times alone. 

The outfit didn’t seem like her will, however, her tone, gestures, and expression are the same as that of the proud master lady in the duke’s house. Oh, I’m out of breath. 

Kagen took a deep breath in the sense of separation, then looked at her calm expression and spoke. 

“Are you guessing?”

 “What?” 

Her beautiful blonde hair was loose to the waist, revealing a white underside that no one had ever seen, and its owner stared at him with calm purple eyes. 

“I told the peasant to return to demand.”

Without even touching a single finger on her body, Kagen said calmly as he looked down at her with a piercing gaze. 

“You are a princess.” 

Floris looked at him with somewhat startled eyes, but made no response.

The castle was dark. Kagen took the lead, holding the light that Floris had reached out. Neither of them said to wait until morning when the sun goes down. He washed away the blood of the monster and took off all his heavy clothes. Wearing only a shirt and pants, Kagen consciously tried not to look at Floris, but as she kept falling behind, she was forced to pace and walk side by side. The monster’s castle was originally where the mad wizard lived, so he didn’t know what kind of threat it might pose.

“Have you heard of the monster Gatrashu?” 

“Tell me.”

 Floris replied as if she would allow it. The castle was gloomy and quiet and dark, and intermittently the torches on the walls flickered. Their bodies collided momentarily as they descended the old stone steps.

 “100 years ago, a wizard who was crazy about women made a contract with the devil to keep his stamina and slowed the aging process. In return, after losing their humanity, they say that Gatrashu is a monster that has only an obsession with women.” 

“That’s correct.”

Monsters were sensitive to blood, so the legend that if a woman falls or bleeds on Mount Rinobe, where the monster castle is located, would be immediately kidnapped by the monster. The legend was quite popular. 

“When the princess fell in front of me and was captured by a demon, I promised to rescue her unconditionally.” 

“It’s okay if you feel guilty. Because I always climbed the mountain voluntarily. It was my kindness to teach you, and I think I deserve to pay the price for it.” 

The reason Floris regularly climbed Mount Rinobe, where no one went, was to teach Kagen, a slave of the duke, secretly.  Then she finally smiled.