DSB 50

“It’s not dangerous, but the child is scared, so stop glaring at it.”

“It is dangerous! What if you fall? If you want to ride a beast, you could’ve just told me!”

“Father said that a northerner must learn to tame beasts.”

Yutis turned to glare at Damian.

“I never told him to ride it!”

Damian shouted as if he could not believe it. Lebel sighed.

It seemed he had misspoken. It seemed like they were about to fight, so he changed the topic.

“I’ll show you. I’m not as weak as you worry yourself to think.”

“What do you mean…?”

“They say blades can cut flesh, so if you give me a bow, I’ll hit that target instead. I once hit and dropped a white bird. I never missed a single shot.”

“You must not!”

When Yutis shouted, the startled beast jumped to its feet, and since there was no saddle or reins, Lebel fell back.

“Ah.”

“Young Madam?!”

“Ah!”

Even as his body leaned back, Lebel was still calm, he only sighed. The people around him, however, panicked.

“Yutis, catch him!”

Before Damian even finished speaking, Yutis had already caught Lebel safely in his arms. He exhaled once Lebel was secure in his hold.

“…This is exactly why I told you not to.”

“If you hadn’t startled that child, I wouldn’t have fallen.”

Lebel grumbled while still in Yutis’s arms.

He had wanted to show his skill but felt he had failed. Yutis furrowed his brows.

“Why are you suddenly like this? Is something upsetting you? Did my confession burden you so much that you decided to live alone?”

“What are you saying? You and I are married, so we shouldn’t be apart.”

“Then why…?”

“I told you I cherish you, and because I cherish you, I decided to change.”

“…?”

Lebel pushed Yutis’s chest and pulled away from his arms.

“You see me as too fragile. I wanted to show you that I can help you too.”

“Being by my side already helps me enough.”

“I mean practical help, not that kind.”

This man expects nothing from me.

“…But don’t do anything dangerous. My heart can’t take it.”

So it because he’s worried again.

Then Yutis looked toward Damian and asked Lebel.

“Did you feel pressured?”

“They say raising a son is useless, and now I see why.”

Damian clicked his tongue. It was disgraceful to be scolded by his own son in front of his spouse.

Setting affection aside, watching Yutis hold Lebel so close and fuss over him made his stomach twist.

“It’s not Father’s fault. It’s yours.”

“…Mine? How is it my fault? What did I do wrong?”

“Calm down.”

To stop Yutis, who begged for an answer, Lebel took his hand.

“The problem is that you overprotect me. Because of that, everyone else does the same.”

Yutis’s constant fretting had spread through the castle like a plague.

They treated Lebel like a newborn, even asking if it was safe for him to walk around.

“Didn’t you see just now? Father and the servants all think I’m too delicate.”

Because you are.

Everyone thought it but no one dared to say it aloud.

Lebel believed he was strong, but no one else saw him that way. Each time he stepped outside and shivered from the cold, the illusion shattered.

“So I came to be useful too. You work so hard, yet you won’t let me do anything?”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that you’re smaller and frailer than me…”

“Enough with that.”

It was true that he was smaller. He always had to look up to see Yutis’s face.

Yutis kept touching Lebel’s hand, unable to shake his concern, though he nodded as if he understood.

“I’ll… try to hold back a little. Let’s go back to our room now. This walk has gone on too long. Aren’t your legs sore? Is your coat warm enough? The weather feels a bit milder today, thank goodness.”

Did he even understand?

Yutis still hadn’t let go of Lebel’s hand, which had grown warm from his touch, and he continued asking if he was all right. That was no behavior of a man who had stopped worrying.

“…Then, will you spar with me?”

“…!”

If they faced each other directly, he would understand.

His demonic energy had recovered enough that even if he couldn’t defeat Yutis, he could at least handle a strong knight.

“…Are you trying to kill me?”

“Hmm?”

“You won’t die! He will! Where did you even get the idea to spar with him?!”

When Lebel mentioned sparring, Yutis froze, and Damian looked horrified.

“Enough! Both of you, go back! I’m giving you that beast, so take care of it properly!”

Damian waved his hand to end the chaos and shooed Yutis and Lebel away.

“Madam!”

“What is it this time?!”

As Damian placed his hand on his forehead and was about to step into the castle, a servant came running in a panic to announce that something had happened.

He stopped before Damian, caught his breath, and shouted.

“A beast pack has appeared inside the territory!”

It was only natural that Damian’s face turned rigid.

“Yutis!”

“Yes. I’ll go. Wife, you should stay here. Please take care of him.”

“You don’t need to tell me.”

Yutis left Lebel in Damian’s care, then gestured to Shati. He jumped onto its back and quickly rode out through the castle gates.

Damian began speaking rapidly to the servants while giving urgent orders.

Lebel watched the back of Yutis as he ran alone.

“He’s always so busy.”

Yutis’s days were full, unlike Lebel’s.

Even so, he worried about him, so Lebel had only wanted to help him shoulder some of that burden.

Then Lebel raised his head.

“Young Madam, let’s go inside. The young master will return safely as always.”

Mahan spoke to Lebel, who still looked toward the direction Yutis had gone.

But what Yutis heard was not Mahan’s words. He sensed a familiar aura nearby. It was not an illusion. Someone not far away was crying out for him.

“No, I’m going too.”

“What?”

“I have to go.”

I’m the only one who can stop that child.

Just then, a man approached with a saddle fixed on a young beast.

“I’ve fastened the saddle, but this isn’t the right time to ride it. If you ever plan to, please call me or the young master… Huh? Young Madam?”

Lebel snatched the reins from the caretaker’s hand. Since the saddle was there, it would be easier to keep balance.

When the beast lowered its body in understanding, Lebel climbed on. He gently hit its side with his heel, and the beast started running.

“Hey! Where are you going?!”

Startled by the sudden act, Damian shouted for him to stop, but Lebel ran forward.

[Lord Lebel! Karon, your loyal servant Karon, has come! Where are you?!]

It seemed unlikely that Karon, who was r unning wild in the distance, would leave Yutis alone.

Lebel had not expected him to come this quickly, and with a whole pack.

In his head, he could hear the voice of his longtime subordinate Karon calling his name again and again.

[Lord Lebel, just give me the order! I’ll wipe out every human who insulted you!]

Hmm, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear the rest.

“If I don’t hurry, my husband will die.”

Though Karon acted docile before him, everyone knew he was cruel and thirsty for battle.

It was not for nothing that he had served Lebel for so long.

“Young Madam!!”

Lebel turned his head toward the voice calling him. It was Yutis’s men.

Among them, he recognized two familiar faces.

“Young Madam, it’s dangerous, please return to the estate. I’ll escort you.”

Theo spoke, but Lebel ignored him. He tried to outrun them, but a trained beast was far faster than a young one.

“I understand that you worry for Lord Yutis, but this is dangerous.”

“No, I have to go. This can only be resolved if I go.”

Yutis’s subordinates tilted their heads at Lebel’s incomprehensible words. Lebel looked at those near him and spoke.

“What are you standing around for? You should be by Yutis’s side. Do you have time to talk to me?”

If they could run faster, they should have gone ahead.

Lebel scolded them for slowing down to persuade him, and a moment later, he reached the domain.

Because of the beast pack’s sudden appearance, most villagers had already fled. The knights looked bewildered when they recognized what kind of beasts they were.

“Mo… Morbelk?”

“In daylight… why?”

The Morbelk, called the Watchers of Darkness, were wolf-type beasts with black fur that hunted at night without a sound.

Most victims attacked by them died without ever seeing their faces.

Yet now those beasts stood out in the open under the sun.

“Something’s strange…”

If they had come to hunt, they should have attacked by now, but the beasts stood still.

Yutis was facing them, standing before a massive creature that appeared to be the leader.