Chapter: 11
Bang!
The core of the magical beast the man was controlling erupted in flames and exploded.
“Ugh!”
With a groan, the man clutched his hand. The hand that had burst apart along with the core was in a horrific state—blood and flesh splattered across his pristine white clothes, leaving him a gruesome sight. From beneath the hood pulled low over his face, a pained groan escaped his lips.
He had been certain it would succeed.
Unable to endure the pain, the man rummaged through his robes with his remaining intact hand and pulled out a healing potion, pouring it into his mouth. He had prepared it just in case—if he hadn’t, things could have turned disastrous.
Only after swallowing the bitter liquid did the pain finally subside. The man, who had been gasping roughly, forced his trembling body to steady itself.
Then he looked out the window.
In the darkening sky, a single brilliant star had appeared.
One star.
That should never have been her.
“Lynette….”
The name slipped through clenched teeth, thick with fury.
After Lynette met Derbel—
During the single month that felt short and yet long enough to pass for two years, Lynette had never once seen Derbel make such a dumbfounded expression. Nor had Derbel ever seen Lynette stare ahead with such utter blankness.
Thud. Crackle.
The magical beast, struck head-on by the powerful flames, had already been charred pitch-black by the time its head hit the floor.
There was no chance for its poison-laced blood to spill. The severed body and head turned into black ash before they even touched the ground, scattering into the air without leaving a single trace.
And then—
“Buuurp.”
From Françoise’s mouth came a loud belch, followed by a puff of black smoke.
As if it had finally finished digesting its meal.
“What in the world is this…?”
Derbel was the first to regain his senses.
Lynette stared down at the baby pig with a dazed expression. The piglet that had just done the impossible looked back at her with innocent eyes, then opened its tiny mouth and yawned.
“…!”
Both Derbel and Lynette stiffened.
Neither said it aloud, but they were clearly afraid that flames might pour out of that small mouth again.
“Françoise?”
Lynette called its name cautiously. The piglet was already dozing off, nodding sleepily.
Derbel’s expression grew cold as he glared at Françoise.
“A pig breathing fire.”
Looking at the spot where the last remnants of black ash still drifted through the air, Derbel let out a hollow laugh.
“…I can’t believe what I just saw.”
Lynette felt the same way.
Still, it was a relief. For it to breathe fire in a place filled with books—and yet burn only the magical beast to ashes. What if the flames had spread elsewhere?
No—more importantly, a pig breathing fire made no sense to begin with.
Surely it wasn’t a magical beast itself?
“A magical beast.”
When her unspoken thought came out in a man’s voice, Lynette flinched and looked at Derbel. Before she could even be surprised that they’d thought the same thing, Derbel had already leveled his sword at Françoise.
“Duke!”
Cold air swept through the room as strange patterns began to move along the blade.
“Hand it over, Princess.”
“Why would I give you this child?!”
“Is a fire-breathing pig normal? There’s no guarantee that thing isn’t a magical beast.”
“You can’t take Françoise!”
Lynette hugged Françoise tightly and twisted her body away—just like what had happened a few hours earlier.
“Hah. That damned ‘Françoise.’”
Derbel let out a bitter chuckle. The crooked curve of his lips made him look far more ominous than usual.
“Let’s do this the easy way, Princess. Hand it over now, and I won’t kill it.”
“How am I supposed to believe that? Françoise is our lifesaver.”
Derbel’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
“If it weren’t for this child, you and I would’ve died from poison.”
“Poison, you say.”
A spark of interest flickered in Derbel’s eyes as he gestured for her to continue.
“Malphas is a magical beast that lives in the north. It feeds on humans and would never normally come this far south. Worst of all, its blood is a deadly poison.”
“Oh?”
At some point, Derbel had sheathed his sword and was listening attentively.
“No matter how cleanly you cut it down, if even a single drop of blood had touched the floor, the poison would’ve spread. We wouldn’t have survived.”
“So you’re saying that piglet is our savior?”
“What kind of tasteless joke is that—! It’s a baby pig. And yes, it is. It burned everything before any blood could spill.”
Lynette met Derbel’s gaze without backing down.
Wasn’t it obvious? It had saved their lives—something even this man couldn’t deny.
Derbel suppressed a laugh.
No one knew the traits of Malphas better than he did.
Who was Derbel Crystian?
In the Empire—no, on the entire continent—there was no greater authority on magical beasts than Duke Crystian and the Aster Order of Knights. And among them all, Derbel Crystian was the most experienced and knowledgeable.
And yet, here was a princess from the Holy Kingdom, raised in safety, trying to explain magical beasts to him.
“…You know quite a lot about magical beasts.”
“There are plenty of good books on the subject. You should try reading some yourself instead of staring at paperwork all day.”
Derbel tossed out the remark with a hint of sarcasm, and Lynette shot right back without losing ground.
For a brief moment, sharp gazes clashed.
Watching the princess meet his eyes unflinchingly, Derbel felt a flicker of admiration.
Even hardened knights and ferocious magical beasts avoided his stare—but Lynette didn’t yield an inch.
Looks like she has no intention of backing down.
Letting her win once wouldn’t hurt.
He could keep an eye on that suspicious pig himself.
“For now.”
Derbel forced down the smile threatening to rise and sheathed his sword.
Whew.
Seeing him step back, Lynette let out a quiet sigh of relief. Thankfully, it seemed he had no intention of taking Françoise any further.
“Let’s go to the main building and talk.”
…Or maybe not.
“I won’t allow something of unknown origin to remain in my territory. We’ll summon a mage and conduct a proper examination.”
It wasn’t an unreasonable demand. In the end, Lynette nodded.
“But I have one condition.”
“A condition?”
“I’ll be present when the mage examines this child.”
“…Very well, Princess.”
Derbel agreed, and only then did Lynette have the presence of mind to look around her.
“By the way.”
At that moment, Derbel’s cold voice sounded above her head.
“They’re late.”
Though the subject was omitted, a chill ran down her spine.
What should be done with those who failed to do their job properly?
With a dark glint in his eyes, Derbel muttered the words.
“You’re not planning to blame the knights, are you?”
“Isn’t that only natural? Those fools failed to act in time, and my precious fiancée nearly got hurt.”
“……”
That precious fiancée.
At the barb hidden in those words, Lynette let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry about destroying the archive.”
“It’s fine. You weren’t the one who did it. That damned magical beast was.”
“I’m telling you again—I won’t give up Françoise. Don’t forget that this child helped us.”
Derbel’s expression grew complicated as he looked at the pig cradled in Lynette’s arms.
Judging by the situation, there was no chance she would let it go.
Seeing the way affection practically dripped from her eyes irritated him for some reason.
Her small, pale hand.
He couldn’t tear his gaze away from the gentle way it moved.
Before he realized it, his body acted on its own.
Derbel reached out and grabbed the hand that had been stroking Françoise.
“Derbel?”
Lynette’s tea-colored eyes widened in surprise.
Before he could even process what he’d done, her eyes narrowed.
“What exactly do you mean by this?”
