The Ugly Lady’s Secret Pouch

Everyone looked at Theobald and began to talk. Theobald, who was now feeling a little better about their demeanor, turned to Lucas.

“I know it’s fun, but let’s keep it in moderation.”

“… Yes, I will.”

Far from being offended by his words, Lucas was excited at the prospect of seeing Lila, if only for a moment.

He couldn’t wait to see her reaction to the beast he’d captured.

After a quick gallop, they returned to the departure site, which was untidy.

The ladies were white and shaking, and the young ladies were looking for their courtiers with tears in their eyes.

“What has happened?”

Theobald asked, and one of the ladies shivered.

“I was in the tent, my lord, and I heard a beast crying–it sounded like a wolf crying, my lord. I wonder if Lupus is angry, why I heard a wolf crying here… It’s so scary.”

At a hunting tournament in honor of Lupus, a wolf howl was suddenly heard. The wolf was an unlikely beast to appear at this early stage of the hunt and was not part of the hunt.

Not surprising for an empire dedicated to the ancient wolf god, Lupus.

Theobald looked around, puzzled.

“Why don’t I see any courtiers?”

Before he could finish his sentence, a clatter of courtiers began to approach from the distance.

Lucas’s stomach churned with a strange sensation. There was not a trace of Lila’s scent, the faint perfume he could smell even at a distance.

Lucas stood in front of Theobald and addressed the noblewoman.

“What else is going on?”

There was a commotion that could not be explained by hearing wolves howl, and then Charlotte approached, being carried by Lady Huras.

Tears streaming down her face, she looked distraught.

“Charlotte!”

Heinrich ran to her in alarm. Alfonso followed, studying Charlotte’s complexion.

“What’s wrong, what happened?”

“Heuhk. because of me…”

Charlotte stammered, tears streaming down her face. Alfonso and Heinrich wrapped their arms around her as she shivered and sobbed pitifully.

“I think we should go inside and get some rest.”

“Of course, Charlotte.”

Lucas felt a sense of foreboding. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see Lila.

“Where is my wife?”

A murderous tone assaulted Charlotte’s ears. He instinctively glared at her and asked again.

“Where is she?”

Theobald looked at Charlotte in disbelief. The Charlotte he knew was not very good with her temper. He didn’t know if Heinrich and Alfonso knew that, but Theobald had always known that.

He liked Charlotte for that, and he kept her by his side, but his pride was bruised by the way she treated him and the others. That’s why he kept Monaca by his side…until a recent dream changed everything.

“…I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Heuhk.”

Charlotte tearfully apologized.

“Me, because of me, huheuk.”

Unable to speak, Charlotte choked on her breath.

“Charlotte!”

Alfonso shouted, and Heinrich swept her into his arms.

Lucas grabbed Heinrich’s shoulder as he turned to leave.

“Wake her up.”

“What?”

“Wake her up, I want to know what happened to my wife!”

Heinrich, faced with a fierce stare, stepped back. When no one could answer, Theobald looked at the lady.

“…E, Lady Este…”

“Go ahead.”

Theobald couldn’t wait, his heart beginning to beat wildly. He knew she was not the ugly young lady of his dreams, but he was strangely unable to calm himself.

Something was going wrong. This was strange.

“Wolf, I heard a wolf howl, I can’t see behind me, She said she was going to the garden with Lady Pinatelli…”

“Which garden!”

Lucas asked, tugging on the noblewoman’s shoulder.

“The Ninth Garden…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Lucas took off running, so fast that no one could keep up with him.

Theobald’s eyes widened in surprise at the unearthly speed.

Lucas followed the trail of Lila’s scent where it had been cut off.

When he reached the path to the garden, he spotted a suspicious mark: a beast’s paw prints in the grass, pressed together like a tangle.

Identifying it, Lucas gritted his teeth. What if Lila wasn’t safe…

No, he didn’t even want to think about that. How did you meet your own mate…?

He pulled a tool from his pocket and summoned Vincent. Over the comm, he ordered.

“Right now, contact Owen, and tell him to bring the knights. Something has happened to the Duchess.”

—…Yes, Duke!

The bead-like communication tool was a gift from Michael.

Lucas paused to make contact, then took off running, following the scent. His heart raced as Lila’s scent drifted further and further into the mountains.

As he flew up the steep slope, he kept hoping.

Please stay safe.

No, just stay alive.

He wanted to clamp his hand over his pounding heart, his breath catching in his throat at the mere thought of it.

Gritting his teeth, Lucas ran after the scent, his eyes widening at the sight of blood on the trees.

The intense scent of blood made him think it was hers.

“I’m going to kill them all.”

He couldn’t think straight, the blood in his veins pulsing wildly as if he were on a rampage.

“Heh, heh.”

Lucas covered his face, clutching at his heart. Pausing to catch his breath, he looked up when he heard the footsteps of the men running after him.

Lucas scanned his surroundings quickly, running at a pace no normal human could match.

Following a trail of footprints, he broke into a full sprint.

* * *

Lila kept looking back, her feet moving quickly, her dress tangled in sharp vines and torn in places.

“Isn’t she crazy?”

She chuckled, remembering Charlotte from earlier. She jumped, cursing herself for letting herself be fooled by the sincerity of the young woman’s expression.

She followed Charlotte’s instructions to wait for her in the Ninth Garden, and as she walked, a wolf suddenly appeared.

The wolf’s fur was a mix of black and gray, and it seemed to be unaware of the situation.

As Lila tried to run away, someone grabbed her wrist. She stifled a groan at the sensation of clawed fingernails.

“How dare you speak to me?”

The sullen voice belonged to Charlotte.

“Get off me!”

Lila tugged on her wrist. Charlotte, who let go obediently, smirked back at her.

“Don’t you realize that if you’d done what I told you to do, you’d be alive?”

“Why should I listen to you?”

Lila wondered sincerely, why should I listen to her, and why would she force me to?

“Everything you’ve been was a lie, you pretended to be gentle, you pretended you didn’t know, you pretended you didn’t care, it was all a lie!”

Charlotte screamed in a bouncy fit. She continued in a fed-up tone.

“I hate people who pretend to be nice, and I’d understand if you were that way from the start, but you weren’t! It’s an abomination!”

“What the hell are you talking about…”

Lila was distracted by the wolf growling beside her. She wanted to run, but she couldn’t because Charlotte was blocking her path.

Then Charlotte threw something at her, a small pouch that hit her in the face and reeked of foul odor.

“What is this…”

Before she could ask… a wolf howled loudly. Lila turned her head at the creepy sensation.

The wolf that hadn’t pounced on her just a moment ago was drooling and eyeing her.

Charlotte, meanwhile, ducked through the vines.

“Grrrr!”

The wolf leaped high. Lila began to run as fast as she could. She ran for a while, not knowing where she was going.

The wolf continued to follow her, keeping her at a distance, until suddenly it started barking in a different direction.

Lila didn’t bother to look at the situation and kept running, until she stumbled and crashed into a tree. It slammed into her, stripping her bare skin.

“Heup!”

Hot blood gushed out. A wolf howled in the distance. The sounds of wolves and other beasts echoed loudly.

The birds in the trees flew up in unison. The forest was suddenly silent, creating a strange sensation.

Lila shuffled in fear, not knowing where she was going.

“Stupid… You stupid…”

Lila burst into tears of self-pity. She didn’t know how she had thought to go to see Charlotte alone.

“I didn’t think it would come to this.”

Running without looking, Lila tripped and fell.

“Aah!”

After hitting a tree and falling to the ground, Laila couldn’t think straight. It hurt so much. The pain, the hot blood, the fear.

She wanted to reach out and grab something, but she could only scratch her nails.

“Lu, Lucas!”

Barely managing to squeeze out a voice, she called out the name of her husband. Just as she thought of Lucas, the man who had told her he would protect her with his life, Lila slammed into a rock.

Hitting her head, she plummeted to her death.

With a thud, she fell into the ravine beneath the rocks and was swept away, unconscious.

No one followed her, disheveled and disoriented. Only a wolf was chasing after her.

The wolf plunged headlong into the water after her, unable to close the gap in the fast-moving ravine.

The wolf began a long howl.