Chapter 66
The farmers’ cries grew louder as the swarm of insects devoured even the food they had scraped together.
Though releasing the stored provisions resolved the immediate problem, it was a grave matter that the swarms kept raging on.
Maya let out a sigh as she listened to the reports.
This is…
She instinctively knew the insect swarms must be connected to the butterfly monster.
“There’s a high possibility that’s the case.”
“Mm…”
Hayden pressed his temples with a pained expression.
This is it.
Maya realized that these swarms were the key that would both tie her to Hayden and ensure the success of this western expedition.
“So if we can just track down and kill this butterfly monster, the damage caused by the insect swarms will naturally disappear as well.”
Twitch. Hayden’s ears, which hadn’t moved a bit until now, flinched.
As expected.
The moment Maya suggested a way to eliminate the insect swarms, his interest was piqued.
Naturally, Maya added another proposal alongside it.
“Even if not that, we can still be of assistance.”
So that Hayden LeBour would not be able to refuse their offer.
Of course, Hayden wasn’t one to give in so easily.
Though the duchess mentioned the butterfly first, truthfully, I stand to gain more from this matter than she does.
Merely allowing them to remain in the west and investigate was too weak a bargain.
Judging by how far they’d come, killing the monster must indeed be urgent… but it left a sour taste to accept such goodwill without compensation.
Part of it was Hayden’s nature—overly sensitive and pathologically averse to owing debts.
A scale tipped too far to one side is bound to break.
For him to genuinely consider the deal, both sides needed to lay down their cards.
“What is it you desire, Duchess?”
Honestly, he even doubted whether this duchess had the power to slay a monster at all.
But the men standing behind her… they look more reliable.
Hayden’s gaze shifted past Maya to Tristan and Alec.
Alec’s massive frame and solid build suited Hayden’s liking.
“There are several things…”
Oh, really. So she had more than one demand?
His head already began to throb. Bringing Kleine here would’ve been a mistake anyway.
Suppressing a sigh, Hayden waited to hear Maya out.
“While we investigate the west, provide us with an excuse to evade the emperor of Riserfield’s scrutiny.”
In other words—hide their true reason for coming here from Riserfield.
This unexpected request startled Hayden.
So they weren’t in league with Riserfield?
“Why do you wish to hide your reason for being here?”
Frankly, Hayden could not understand Maya’s eccentricity.
At a time when she should be devoting herself to social circles after Riserfield’s grand banquet, she suddenly appeared in the west—and now made such an audacious request?
How many people cling to Riserfield’s side with fawning smiles?
Why take the difficult road when the easy one lies open?
Yes, I don’t understand it—but still…
That kind of stubborn foolishness wasn’t altogether unpleasant.
“The reason is…”
Tristan swallowed hard as he pretended to glance at Maya.
He was tense, wondering how she would convey the intentions of House Beiadin.
“House Beiadin does not support Emperor Riserfield.”
As Tristan had feared, she threw the pitch straight.
At her blunt words, Hayden’s face drained of color.
“Duchess… do you understand what you just said?”
He rose from his seat, checking the door and peering around warily.
Though he himself disliked Riserfield, there were still boundaries one must not cross.
There’s a reason I haven’t moved to depose him.
Treason was no trivial matter.
For all Hayden disliked him, Riserfield was still fulfilling his role as emperor.
Now, when unusual weather had driven the people’s resentment sky-high, speaking of rebellion carried great risk.
Maya gazed at Hayden.
It was the same reaction as in her past life.
Even then, his initial stance had been to follow Riserfield out of consideration for his own people.
“How long do you think Riserfield will keep up such an image?”
Maya already knew the answer.
“Once his reign is secure, he’ll be the first to drain the people’s blood dry.”
Never before had anyone spoken of the emperor with such scorn. Hayden let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“Do you harbor a personal grudge against him?”
“I’m only stating the truth.”
Where on earth did this lunatic come from?
And this was supposed to be a descendant of that Pendragon?
I thought the rumors of her openly criticizing her family at the banquet were exaggerated…
But seeing her now, there was no way those tales had been overblown.
“If my words don’t convince you…”
Maya declared without so much as a blink:
“I will stake the name of House Pendragon.”
Though cast out, she still bore the Pendragon bloodline. Having awakened, she claimed it brazenly.
“Mm…”
Hayden could not so easily dismiss her words.
A part of him admitted she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“…And does the Duke share the same opinion?”
Unaware that she had just locked eyes with the duke himself, Hayden asked. Tristan gave a subtle nod.
“Yes.”
Maya’s answer deepened Hayden’s headache.
He had assumed the duchess came only for a brief trip, but her reasons turned out to be far more grave.
But still—she was just a duchess.
That fact left him dissatisfied.
“Why has the Duke not come along?”
He felt Tristan’s absence keenly.
No matter how much a duchess might represent her house, there was still a difference in what the duke himself knew.
If he were to probe the inner workings of House Beiadin and exchange information, the duke would be the more fitting counterpart.
Born into House Beiadin, after all.
But Hayden had no idea he had just squandered his chance to converse with Tristan directly.
…You’re thinking whether or not to reveal your identity because he dismissed you as a servant, aren’t you?
Swallowing down her thoughts, Maya answered vaguely.
“The Duke wished to come, but… circumstances prevented him.”
Hayden sighed again.
“This is the kind of matter I ought to discuss directly with him.”
Truth be told, Hayden’s curiosity was piqued.
If the duchess was this eccentric, what sort of man was the duke who had fallen in love and married her so hastily?
Perhaps a fellow oddball, much like himself.
“That will be for the Duke to decide. Otherwise, take my words as final.”
Maya cut the line firmly for Tristan’s sake.
“The Duke entrusted everything to me.”
Her gaze was resolute, unyielding—like an old tree rooted deep in the earth.
“…Mm.”
Careful and rigid as he was, Hayden could not make a decision so easily.
If that’s the case, then I can’t even bring up asking for Beiadin’s help in a revolution…
What a loss.
It seemed Hayden might not even agree to conceal their presence in the west.
“Still, I must speak with the Duke…”
Maya grew impatient with his hesitation.
“If you need more reason to trust me—”
Just as she was about to speak of her awakening or the vendetta with the marquis, Tristan clasped her hand tightly, then released it.
Meeting her eyes, he mouthed silently:
I’ll step out for a moment.
…The timing wasn’t ideal, but it seemed his body had given the signal.
If I transform now, I’ll have at least three or four hours to talk afterward.
But was he truly about to reveal his real form before the marquis?
There was no need to take such a dangerous risk…
Without risk, nothing can be accomplished. Trust me.
For a short while, Tristan excused himself.
Absorbed in his conversation with Maya, Hayden barely noticed a servant stepping in and out.
Outside, Tristan quickly slipped into a storage shed.
There, he returned to his true age.
The shirt and vest he had worn loosely now fit snugly.
In the mirror propped up in one corner, his reflection stared back.
The man’s face, framed by disheveled hair, was like aged wine—deep and refined.
Thick brows, a firm jawline, broad shoulders—all unmistakably a grown man’s features.
Yet Tristan still felt estranged from this image.
Though this was his true self.
When…
…when will this life end?
He shut his eyes tightly, then opened them.
He prayed that the day would come soon—when the curse would no longer consume his life.
Leaving the north for the capital, and now the west, he felt his own inadequacy more keenly than ever.
