Chapter 45
The next day, Roni woke up, drew the curtains, and stretched. The mornings had started to get chilly.
She stepped into the bathtub and let the warm water soothe her body. Coming from the cool air into the warmth made her drowsiness fade away.
As she bathed as usual, she noticed a mark near her right wrist that she hadn’t seen before. It was red, as if bitten by an insect.
Was there a bug in my room?
After finishing her shower, she applied ointment to her wrist and stuck a bandage on when Kan knocked and entered the room.
“Let’s have breakfast together, sister.”
Roni tilted her head at Kan, who spoke cheerfully early in the morning.
“With me? What about His Highness, the Crown Prince?”
“My brother said he wanted to know about you and told me to bring you along.”
Kan smiled innocently. It seemed he had already told the Crown Prince about her.
Roni hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was okay to join them for breakfast. Since it was a direct invitation from the Crown Prince, she couldn’t exactly refuse.
She quickly got ready and walked to the dining hall with Kan. Freddie was already seated at the table, where the food had been laid out.
Freddie stared at Roni intently. His eyes were the same gray as Kan’s. Roni kept her manners and sat at the farthest seat from him.
“Roni Shallygan,” he said.
“I heard you formed a sworn sibling bond with Kan. Is that true?”
Freddie asked with a formal smile, trying to be friendly. In the comic, Freddie appeared outwardly kind but was cautious, clearly distinguishing between friends and strangers.
His gaze seemed curious about her, someone close to Kan. If she were dangerous, he might consider cutting ties immediately.
Roni spoke as humbly as possible.
“It’s only because Kansio-sama thinks well of me.”
“I see.”
Freddie nodded lightly with a casual response. Somehow, his eyes seemed to linger on the bandage on her right wrist.
Throughout the meal, he often glanced at her wrist while still asking about what had happened between her and Kan.
He seems like he wants to say something…
Roni broke into a cold sweat at Freddie’s mysterious behavior. She wanted him to just ask directly, but instead, she remained quiet and waited.
As the meal neared its end, Freddie, who had been silently staring at her wrist, finally spoke.
“What’s that bandage on your wrist for?”
“Oh, I got bitten by a bug overnight, so I put it on.”
“What?! There was a bug in your room?! I thought this was a five-star hotel!”
Kan immediately grabbed her wrist, peeled off the bandage, and fussed over it. The swelling had gone down slightly, but it was still red.
At that moment, Freddie let out a small laugh from a distance, observing her wrist.
What? Is this funny?
Roni didn’t understand what was amusing. Kan seemed to feel the same and frowned at Freddie.
“Brother, is this funny?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just curious, and now it’s resolved. You’re even more interesting than I expected. Haha.”
“What are you talking about? Since when did you become friends with a bug?”
“A bug… Well, something like that. Haha.”
Freddie waved his hand, signaling not to ask further, and apologized to her for laughing.
Roni realized she should have seen this coming from Kan and Freddie’s antics. Even though they weren’t real siblings, they acted strangely in similar ways.
Roni felt a bit uneasy but smiled as if it were fine.
After the meal, Kan immediately ordered her bedroom to be relocated, giving her a better room than before—a favorable outcome.
On the first day, Kan and Freddie’s factions camped in the center of the Red Forest. Afterwards, the elite group set out with the painter.
Kan frequently checked on Roni to see if she was comfortable. Strangely, Freddie also glanced toward her often.
Roni, who had been tense, relaxed as nothing unexpected happened. At this point, monsters should have appeared, but there were none.
“It’s strangely quiet,” she said.
Seira, noticing the oddness, came over to Roni. Indeed, they had ventured deep into the forest multiple times, yet no monsters appeared—only small animals.
It wasn’t a mistake with the date; the red moon was clearly visible. The forest was saturated with demonic energy.
So it was strange that no monsters appeared. Another odd thing was that when they tracked demonic energy, the monsters seemed to vanish without a trace. Were monsters always this elusive?
Roni scratched her cheek and asked,
“Is it normally like this?”
“No, normally on days with this much demonic energy, monsters gather everywhere. It seems another noble family has already cleared many of them.”
By lunchtime, they hadn’t seen a single monster and returned to camp. Many family flags were already visible around the center.
Roni asked Kan for permission and went with Jack to the Shallygan camp. She told Jack to wait outside for a moment and entered where Gale was.
“Gale.”
“…Sister?”
Gale’s eyes widened when he saw Roni. He quickly got up and approached her.
Roni smiled awkwardly, remembering their bittersweet farewell before—it must have seemed strange to see her here now.
“Why did you come to such a dangerous place? Or… how did you even get here?”
“Haha. I wonder. I don’t even know why I’m here, but here I am.”
Roni’s hollow laugh made Gale frown. She explained how she ended up here as a painter for the Ron royal family.
Gale, upon hearing the story, grabbed her hand and pressed,
“Sister, how did you even meet the prince?”
“Somehow… it just happened.”
Gale looked incredulous. He would probably be even more shocked if he knew she had formed a sworn sibling bond with Kan.
“Does Allen know?”
“Hmm, if you don’t know, would Allen?”
Roni gave an awkward smile at the mention of Allen. Just then, Allen arrived at the camp.
“Oh.”
Roni let out a small gasp and watched Allen. Unlike Gale, he didn’t seem surprised, acting as if he already knew.
Even so, she thought he should show at least some concern in such a dangerous place, though it was selfish of her to expect it.
Allen smelled strongly of blood. His clothes were stained, as if he’d just fought.
How many monsters did he take down?
Roni, who hadn’t seen a single monster so far, was amazed and worried about Allen’s condition. Gale muttered, noticing Allen,
“Brother! Don’t disappear like that.”
Apparently, Allen had acted recklessly, ignoring Gale. Allen said with a sullen look,
“There were too many minnows; I was late because I had to deal with them.”
He brushed his bangs aside and wiped the blood from his sword with a towel.
“Do you plan to exterminate them all? You can stop now.”
“I only caught what I could see. That’s why.”
“But that’s not even our territory.”
Gale, frustrated, thumped his chest. Allen seemed to have been catching monsters recklessly all this time.
Could it be the reason they hadn’t seen any monsters was because of Allen?
Roni, feeling strange, watched Allen. In the comic, he only hunted as necessary and stayed put. Why was he acting differently now?
Allen seemed completely uninterested in Roni, which hurt her pride a bit.
At that moment, a knight came to consult Gale about disposing of bodies and left with him.
Ah, don’t leave just us, Gale!
Roni, suddenly left alone, nervously tapped the table. Allen sheathed his sword, sat opposite her, and closed his eyes, looking tired.
Why this dry reaction? Even though her fiancé came to such a dangerous place, he showed no curiosity—leaving her feeling a bit slighted. Still, it wasn’t unreasonable to at least be curious.
After a brief silence, Roni spoke.
“Aren’t you curious why I came here?”
