Chapter 110: The King of Monsters
- Reira ☾⋆⁺₊✧ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
- Nov 25, 2025
- 8 min read
“...Are you alright?”
Cabelenus muttered in a low voice.
His stomach churned and bubbled, and thirst surged, but the gaunt arm in his hand weighed on his mind, stopping him from giving in to his own greed.
“This is a bit awkward.”
“Sorry, I should have held back.”
Cabelenus furrowed his brow and lifted his head.
She was a woman barely holding on as it was.
He had no intention of pushing her beyond her limits.
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“…You don’t mean it like that?”
Cabelenus looked at Alicia and froze on the spot.
The woman’s eyes, looking up at the man, burned with heat.
Desire wasn’t his alone.
Cabelenus’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
No matter how hard he tried to steady his voice, it was no use.
Once stirred, his instincts did not easily subside.
He wanted to lick the area around her eyes, soaked with tears and flushed red.
He wanted to bite her pale, slender neck and leave his mark.
And then…
Caught in a chain of relentless thoughts, Cabelenus gritted his teeth.
He felt it would be better to be hacked to pieces with a knife.
“Go inside and get some rest. You must’ve been through a lot.”
“Then what about you?”
“I have matters I need to take care of.”
It was a clumsy excuse, but there was no helping it.
If he stayed in the same space, he felt he really wouldn’t be able to hold back.
He needed a moment away from Alicia to catch his breath.
“I’ll be back soon. So, go ahead first…”
His hand was grabbed.
Cabelenus instinctively squinted.
“You said you wanted me.”
“I know full well the state of your body, so there’s no way I could do something like that. Not even a beast would.”
“Are you worried about me?”
“I’m always worried.”
Alicia pulled the hand that was holding hers toward herself.
He was much bigger than her, but thanks to Cabelenus moving along without resistance, it wasn’t difficult to guide him as she wished.
“You’re very kind.”
“I’m trying not to become a human worse than a beast.”
Cabelenus muttered weakly.
With just a little strength, he could have pulled his hand free easily, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”
“Then what if I do want it?”
“...”
Cabelenus’s pupils visibly trembled.
Alicia carefully pressed her lips to the tender flesh on the inside of his wrist.
Just as Cabelenus had done in the past.
“You smell nice.”
“…I put on some perfume.”
“You don’t like things like that.”
Every time she spoke, the breath that escaped her lips didn’t just tickle his skin; it sent a chill down his spine.
If he could, he wanted to swallow the woman whole, from head to toe.
She said he smelled nice, but the truly pleasant scent was something else entirely.
“…Don’t provoke me.”
“I won’t break.”
“Even so, not now.”
Cabelenus let out a sigh-like breath and gave a bitter smile.
“You keep staring at me.”
“Because you’re beautiful.”
"..."
Alicia’s expression, which had seemed like that of a seductress, crumbled in an instant.
Her cheeks flushed red like a ripe apple.
“It’s something Michael always says, yet here you are, suddenly embarrassed.”
“You’re different from Michael. After all, he likes me so much and follows me around…”
“But I like you too.”
“...”
Her hand went limp.
Cabelenus clicked his tongue inwardly, feeling a twinge of regret at the vanished warmth.
He wanted to bite Alicia’s beautifully flushed face, but it didn’t seem like it would end there, so he didn’t dare try.
“I feel the same about you being beautiful.”
“Ah, you’d better go after all! You have something important to take care of, right?”
“Is it that embarrassing to be called beautiful?”
“Well, I’m not exactly a beauty…”
Alicia’s lips parted slightly.
She could brush off the words of a child spoken in innocence, but the words spoken by a grown man carried a completely different weight.
From the start, it was Cabelenus who was closer to being a beauty than she was.
Even without any special care, his hair was of naturally fine quality, his eyes were sharp and clear, and his nose was sleek. There wasn’t a single feature that wasn’t beautiful.
Hearing the word ‘beautiful’ from someone like him only made her face flush.
“In the past, when I looked at your hair, it reminded me of rusted iron. Such a shabby, unremarkable colour. I really had a narrow-minded view.”
Cabelenus grabbed a handful of Alicia’s hair.
Her red, curly hair hadn’t changed much from before, but now it no longer seemed shabby.
"Your hair isn’t like rusted iron; it resembles the sunset. It’s a very beautiful colour. When you move under the sun, watching your hair sway is like seeing flames flicker."
"..."
"The same goes for your eyes. Their colour is light, so depending on the angle of the light, they take on different shades."
"..."
"Strangely, both your hair and your eyes resemble you. The more I look, the more beautiful you seem."
Alicia didn’t know what expression to make, so she just bit her lips.
Cabelenus’s voice didn’t quiver gently, like a whisper.
On the contrary, the even tone of his voice gave a sense of simplicity.
But that only made her heart swell all the more.
Because his voice, calmly stating what was obvious, was sincere.
Alicia fidgeted with her fingers, then reached out to Cabelenus again.
“…As I thought, it’s better to be together.”
"It’s not the best choice for my patience, though."
"So, you don’t like it?"
"…As if I could ever say something like that."
The woman who couldn’t look in a mirror would have no idea what her face looks like.
Cabelenus clenched his teeth, yet pulled Alicia into his arms.
Even as tears welled at the corners of her eyes, still flushed from lingering heat, he traced her slender body, struggling to hold on to his reason.
・・・・・
“Get some rest.”
"You’ll stay by my side, won’t you?"
"If you want, I’ll stay as long as you like."
Cabelenus’s hand gently brushed aside the hair covering Alicia’s forehead.
Alicia pressed her forehead against Cabelenus’s hand, like a cat seeking affection.
Even though she knew it wasn’t the time to be playful, today she wanted to be.
She felt sorry for Cabelenus, but even so, she kept wanting to confirm his feelings.
She had to savour his affection and be certain it belonged entirely to her in order to feel at ease.
She had told Cabelenus she would end their relationship if he wished, but that wasn’t how she truly felt.
"As expected, the real thing is better than a drawing."
"Of course. You can’t do this with a drawing."
Cabelenus cupped Alicia’s face, leaning in for a kiss, but a rustling sound made him pause.
Before Alicia realised it, Michael was clinging tightly to her back, like a cicada on an old tree.
“Mum…”
At the child’s murmuring, Cabelenus and Alicia’s eyes both wavered, neither reacting before the other.
It felt as if they had been caught doing something naughty.
“Hehe, I like Mum smell…”
Unaware that all eyes were on him, Michael grinned and pressed even closer to Alicia.
Fortunately, it seemed the child hadn’t woken from sleep.
"Once everything is settled, it seems we’ll need to have separate bedrooms."
Cabelenus muttered in displeasure.
The child hadn’t woken, but the mood was broken.
"I like it when the three of us are together."
"It certainly does help increase my patience."
Deep lines creased Cabelenus’s forehead.
With a smile, Alicia gently smoothed out Cabelenus’s crease with her index finger.
"I… I will live. I want to stay alive and continue being with you and Michael. I’ll do anything for that."
"..."
Cabelenus stared blankly at Alicia, but when he met her determined gaze, he immediately smiled.
"Yes. That’s how it should be."
"So, here’s the thing: if you’re okay with it, I’m thinking of summoning the monsters here."
"Summoning the monsters? How?"
"It’s a bit hard to explain, but there is a way I can figure it out."
Alicia lowered her eyes and replayed the moment she had encountered the monster.
She was flustered, but she didn’t miss the important points.
"The monster said that if I want, the monsters can hear me from anywhere in Schwarhan."
“Is that even possible?”
"We won’t know until we try, but that’s definitely what it said. I don’t think there’s any harm in giving it a try. It’s still too early to say for sure, but it seems like they might have the answers we’re looking for."
"Is that answer related to a way to heal your body?"
“I think it’s related not only to my body, but also to a way to eliminate the monster’s blood you have.”
“I don’t care about myself, so look after your body first. Right now, your body is the top priority.”
Cabelenus said firmly.
"You’re very kind."
"I’m just trying to be.”
“Still, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re kind. You try not to ask anything before I speak, after all.”
"I don’t understand what you’re talking about."
Cabelenus turned his head, but Alicia, on the contrary, found her answer in his actions.
As expected, he was pretending not to know this time as well.
Instead of questioning or doubting, he chose silence for her sake.
She was truly grateful for that.
"By now, you should naturally have a question in mind. I think you’ve probably already realised it."
Alicia looked up at Cabelenus intently.
Under her piercing gaze, Cabelenus finally let out a sigh.
“Nothing’s decided yet. You’re just thinking it over, too.”
"I just know that if we want to get the answers we’re seeking, thinking alone won’t be enough."
"..."
"The day I first encountered the monster eight years ago, I was pregnant with Michael."
That was why she was mistaken.
Alicia’s eyelashes trembled.
Michael was born with a special power, and he was even born in the form of a beast.
Thinking back on everything that had happened, it was only natural to assume that the monsters were after Michael.
But when she reconsidered the questions one by one, something seemed strange.
“I can hear what the monsters say, but Michael cannot. That’s also why, whenever he spoke about the monsters, he could only describe them as making strange, eerie cries.”
“...”
“The monster tried to communicate with me using Michael’s body. It said that Michael was nothing more than a passageway to reach me.”
“...”
“So I vaguely realised it.”
That it wasn’t Michael.
Alicia looked Cabelenus straight in the eye.
She hadn’t expected to be able to get this far in speaking, but the man’s silent act of holding her hand gave her courage.
No matter what moment came, she felt that as long as they held hands like this, everything would be alright.
Because no matter what happened, this man would remain by her side.
“It was me.”
Alicia took a slow, deep breath, then spoke again.
There was only one throne.
If it wasn’t Michael, then there was only one person left.
“The king of monsters wasn’t Michael. It was me.”
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