Chapter 139
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139
“We are deeply sorry, Lady Benefactor.”
Klaus’s subordinates prostrated themselves, their foreheads thumping against the ground.
“Please forgive our Prince’s rudeness. To the bloodline of Lupinus, the ‘Wolf’s Submission’ is a matter of such gravity that the Prince lost his temper without realizing it.”
“We are truly sorry, Lady Benefactor.”
“Please forgive us.”
Perhaps it was thanks to the subordinates’ earnest apologies, but Klaus and I remained silent, neither of us saying another word as we stared off in opposite directions.
Actually, I was staring at Ddong-byul.
‘Hey. Kim Ddong-byul.’
How are you going to take responsibility for this?
To be precise, it was Tulia’s personality surfacing from within that had driven my relationship with Klaus to rock bottom. But since this whole mess started because of that damn Kim Ddong-byul, I decided to blame him anyway.
‘...We fought way too much. I really shouldn't have let it go that far.’
He was, after all, a Male Lead.
I needed to keep him by my side somehow and raise his favorability quickly. But after I’d just spat out all those harsh words—telling him I wasn't interested, asking if he had a prince complex or if he was some kind of delusional narcissist—if I suddenly asked him to come with me now...
Even for a Male Lead, he’d be pissed, right? I’d look like a total lunatic.
‘I wish I had Corico’s buff.’
If I were the female protagonist, things would have probably worked themselves out even after saying stuff like that.
I let out a sigh—I’d lost count of how many I’d exhaled internally—and started to walk away.
My plan was to stop using my own brain and rely on the brains of Max and Grans to overcome this hurdle.
But after only a few steps...
Grab.
“...?!”
I was suddenly jerked to a halt. And then, just like before...
“....”
Klaus Rocheva pulled me into his arms.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake...”
Experiencing this for the second time, I didn't even look at Klaus. Instead, I addressed his subordinates.
“Hey, guys.”
“Yes...?”
“Is your Prince actually insane?”
“...Ahem.”
“Well, you see...”
While even his subordinates cautiously avoided my gaze, Klaus, who had pulled me into his embrace out of nowhere, let out an “Ah” and scrubbed his face hard with one hand.
“This is driving me crazy. The Submission took hold too strongly.”
“...?”
“Dammit...”
Even as he clung to me, I could feel the lean, bony frame of Klaus’s body, yet his underlying build was as solid as a warhorse. It was a contact that made me feel his raw, unique balance.
Would it be too harsh to describe him as a high-bred stallion that hadn't been fed in a long time?
Regardless, what I was more curious about right now was...
“...Could you explain what’s going on so I can understand too? No, wait. Let me tell you what I’ve guessed, and you just tell me if I’m right or wrong.”
Still held in Klaus’s arms, I asked tentatively.
“This ‘Submission’ thing.”
“Yeah.”
“Is it like... if you’re even a little bit apart from me, you start shaking like a mutt with separation anxiety...?”
“....”
“And that’s why you have to stay glued to me like this the whole time? Because you feel like you’ll go mad otherwise?”
“....”
“....”
“....”
Seeing the subordinates unable to lift their heads and Klaus Rocheva’s face, ears, and even neck turning bright red despite his silence, I got the feeling.
“...Wow. I guess I’m right.”
[System] Congrats! ☆ Acquired ‘Wolf’s Submission’ ☆ Congrats!
* * *
A few days later.
The work of recovering the bodies of the victims from the cave and sorting the corpses of the heretics was still well underway.
“My Lady. There is nothing to be gained from you watching this.”
“I’m the lord of this territory. I should see it for myself.”
“As expected... you are remarkable, My Lady.”
Grans had a peculiar personality. Among the trio that included Adel and the chief physician, he was the most tight-lipped, yet he often displayed this doting, fool-for-his-master side when it came to me.
I stood with my arms crossed, watching the laborers move the bodies. The fact that the victims were all young children left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“There were children who begged not to be sold, promising they’d be good,” I remarked.
“Yes. There were quite a few of them.”
“So the parents sold their own children...”
“When you’re poor, there’s nothing to eat. Perhaps they hoped their children would at least go somewhere better and not starve.”
“If that were the case, I suppose that’s a small mercy. It would be better if the children met their end believing that.”
Since most of the bodies had been dismembered, identification was difficult. I nodded when told that they might be able to trace the identities of at least a few.
“Are all the heretics dead?”
“Three are alive. They are already being transported to the main castle.”
“It’s best if Grandfather checks them himself. This isn't something that can be settled at my level.”
The Temple might even get involved. The fact that this many heretics were performing human sacrifices was a massive ordeal.
Just then, a creeping warmth pressed against my shoulder. I pushed it away with my hand.
“Hey. It’s hot, go away.”
“I stayed away for ten minutes because you told me to earlier.”
“It was only ten minutes. And do you have any idea how much you’re in the way?”
“Ha.”
Klaus’s pupils, filled with a raw, wild intensity, narrowed instantly.
“You think I want to be stuck to you?”
“Then just go!”
“Dammit! You’re the one who made me like this!”
“Did I or did I not tell you people will misunderstand if you say stuff like that in public?”
Klaus Rocheva.
Firmly ensnared by the magic of the Submission, he remained stuck to my side. No, more than just stuck—he had his arms around my shoulders and waist, and occasionally, he even buried his lips against the nape of my neck.
He would then pull away, looking startled by his own actions.
‘He’s being controlled. Poor guy.’
In my own way, I found common ground between Klaus and myself, so I didn't entirely hate him. No, in the first place...
‘There are very few women who could hate a face like this.’
Perhaps it was because he was a prince born of a predatory lineage, but I could bet my entire fortune that any woman caught in his gaze would feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Even I had to admit that Klaus was exceptionally handsome.
The problem was this guy’s incredibly low body temperature.
Was it a characteristic of the Lupinus royalty? It was already freezing inside the cave, but every time he clung to me, my body temperature plummeted. Thanks to him, I’d come out today wearing a fur-lined coat.
“I wonder what those heretics were hoping to achieve with these human sacrifices,” Max, who followed me every day, mused.
Grans frowned slightly.
“I believe I saw a strange sphere floating near the altar that day, but it vanished during the battle.”
“We’ve been searching, but there’s no trace of it.”
“None of the heretics escaped alive, so where could it have gone?”
“Even Captain Samut has been searching for that bizarre sphere, but he says he hasn't found even the slightest trace.”
“It’s as if it evaporated... It seemed like an important clue; what shall we do now that it’s gone?”
The thing Grans and Max were discussing so seriously was the ‘Rainbow Fertilizer.’ The mysterious item that had supposedly vanished during the battle.
‘It’s in my pocket, guys.’
I’d received it as a reward for the Hidden Quest.
As a result, I currently had both the Rainbow Fertilizer and the White Tulip Seeds in my possession. The two items shared a common feature: a beautiful, shimmering rainbow light that rippled along their edges.
Last night, lying alone in bed, I’d stared at them as if entranced. And my heart had been racing so fast.
‘Finally... I’m going to be filthy rich.’
Tulia Frezier—no, Han Ina—who had lived as the poorest of the poor, surviving only on the whims of others!
I was going to be rich!
‘Phew. Let’s stay calm. Stay calm.’
I suppressed my excitement and called out to Grans.
“Grans?”
“Yes, My Lady.”
“How is the preparation I asked for coming along?”
“As you instructed, we are clearing all one million pyeong of the forest land. Although there are many vines, we have plenty of idle hands, so the work is progressing quickly. In about four days, the land will be completely prepared, just like any other field.”
“Good, good.”
* * *
Grans had said four days, but this borderland was a place where the poor gathered. Since a large number of jobs with proper wages had suddenly been created, many farmers flocked to the work.
Thanks to that, the work was nearly finished in three days instead of four.
“Wow. It really is vast.”
Like the plains of France, the fields stretched endlessly without a single mountain in sight, giving me a sense of liberation as if I were looking out at the vast ocean from the deck of a ship.
“What are you looking at?”
Of course, I wasn't alone in my quiet contemplation. The wolf-hybrid (and dazzlingly handsome man) who had been pestering me all day was still stuck to me.
“Can’t you tell? I’m looking at the fields.”
“Your gaze seems a bit more somber than that.”
‘Wow. Sharp brat.’
He must have been studying my expression.
“The land is so wide it looks like the sea. I just thought it was interesting.”
“Is that so? But the sea is much more massive than this.”
“I suppose. I’ve never seen it in person, so I wouldn't know.”
“...You’ve never seen the sea? Not even once?”
“No.”
I’d only seen it on TV or on my phone; I’d never actually seen the ocean. That was why I’d been so envious whenever my younger sibling bragged about going to the beach with the family...
“Should I take you to the sea?”
“Huh?”
“What’s so sad about that? You look like you’re about to cry. It’s ruining my mood.”
“I look like I’m about to cry? What are you talking about? Is talking nonsense your hobby?”
“There’s your usual face.”
He really was an unpredictable prince.
I glared at Klaus once and then completely shook off my thoughts. Right. What mattered was what lay before my eyes.
Money.
Money.
Money!
‘Within a month, this abandoned land will become the goose that lays the golden eggs, growing the most expensive crop on the entire continent.’
A giggle escaped my lips involuntarily.
“Step back for a second.”
“It’s no use trying to run away.”
“I know that well enough after the last few days, so just step back. I have something to do.”
Leaving Klaus behind as he finally stepped away, I leaned down toward the ground.
The vast forest land of the Belus Territory, which had been left to rot for a long time.
I finally planted the ‘Rainbow Fertilizer’ into this earth.