Chapter 133 - Poor Enzo

“ENZO!…… AAAHHH!”

Freya’s scream rang out, and Ivan lunged ahead.

By the time he grabbed Enzo’s staggering shoulders and spun him around, the front of Freya’s dress was already stained bright red.

And it wasn’t her blood.

The screams started again.

This time it came from everyone in the garden except Ivan.

Ivan didn’t scream, but he was just as horrified.

The scene was just that terrifying.

By the time the rushing knights covered Leah and Arien with their arms, it was too late.

Even the two young girls saw the horror with their own eyes.

“Gahhhhhh!”

“Gonfalonier!”

Blood splashed everywhere.

It was the blood of Romagna’s young commander-in-chief.

From his eyes, from his nose, from his mouth, from his ears….. from every orifice in his body, blood was pouring out like a fountain.

It was a ghastly sight to behold.

A cruel and terrifying form. One would call it cursed.

At the same time, it was pitiful enough to make them shudder.

“Lord Enzo, Lord Enzo, wake up, Lord Enzo!”

The sight of Freya mumbling her futile cries while soaked in Enzo’s blood was nothing more than a tragedy.

Enzo had already collapsed into her arms.

The hem of her light dress was stained bright red.

A wail echoed through the air.

It was Arien.

* * *

“Aren’t you sick of… it?”

When you’re forced to see each other every day, you have to put up with some ugliness.

But Izek didn’t have the heart to share a rhyme or reason with this worthless reptile.

He was sick to death of it.

“Hey.”

“…….”

“Is he dead?”

He flicked him on the bridge of his nose, but he didn’t respond.

Was it really dead?

If it was, he’d be free, but Izek decided to check anyway.

He grabbed the dragon by one of its ears, all scales crackling like a fireball, and yanked hard.

“…..Krrr.”

“If you’re not dead, why don’t you respond? I’m sick and tired of wrestling with you for every meal. I don’t care if you starve or not, but my wife will be sad.”

Indeed. And this little b*stard was an endangered species.

As the Paladin of the North, it was his duty to prevent the fate of the last remaining endangered species.

Add to that the fact that they had all suffered day and night for this cub, and he couldn’t just let it die at this point.

“If you don’t want to eat what I’m giving you, then just go and find something else.”

“Po, po…”

“You need to shut up and stay put.”

Popori, who had been flapping its arms like a troubled child, shut its mouth grimly.

The griffin clucked its beak as if mocking Popori, but then it was hit in the beak with a diamond gemstone and stunned for a moment.

“… Damn it, it’s already tough to keep them half-alive.”

The mermaid he had brought for dinner was showing signs of losing its breath.

It was like this every time these days.

He’d bring them out till here, just for the dragon to refuse.

Every time.

With a sigh, Izek glared at the dragon, which was now stretched out, barely breathing.

More curled up than stretched out.

He didn’t like the way it was sleeping today, curled up on its stomach and tail between its legs.

Why did it insist on burying its head?

It wasn’t a turtle, and besides, Izek hated turtles.

“Do you dream about your time in the egg?”

He didn’t know if he remembered being in an egg, but Izek moved anyway, trying to prevent this being who had nearly crushed him to death the other day from crushing its own head.

“For a dragon, you’re not much better than a reptile….”

He grunted, approaching the dragon’s feverishly crooked nape.

The tip of its enormous snout shoved him back, snapping at him, trying to bury itself under its belly.

The force of the blow sent Izek tumbling backwards onto the meal he’d been so carefully airlifting.

With a loud, final scream, the drake slowly turned to dust and dispersed.

The only sound that remained was of the rolling diamonds.

“You unworthy son of a..!”

Izek’s eyes blazed and he was about to unleash his power on the cocky dragon, but what happened next left him flustered.

“What are you doing?”

The dragon didn’t answer.

It still hadn’t opened its eyes.

Except that if it had been trying to bury its head under its body a moment ago, it was now trying to bury it somewhere else.

The size of the dragon’s head was comparable only to that of Galar the Bear.

Imagine having something that resembled Galar’s size burrowing into his arms, poking him with its wet nose.

How horrible was that?

Izek murmured a silent prayer as he was gripped by this indescribable feeling of horror.

There was only one person in this world he wanted to burrow into his chest.

And it wasn’t some clever, spiteful, reptilian demonic creature with no room in his heart for a square inch.

“I’d rather see you dead …. you insane b*stard.”

“Po, po, po!”

The Popori and then the griffin suddenly began to make noise.

And for once, Izek left them alone.

No, he had to.

“You…….”

The dragon, who had been nuzzling his chest as fervently as if he were the father it hadn’t seen in a hundred years, drew in a long, hot breath.

The texture of its fluttering indigo scales was uncanny.

In unison, they folded in one direction and then the other, rippling uncontrollably.

The waves grew louder and louder.

Izek realized what was about to happen.

It was inevitable.

It was a phenomenon that his esteemed master had been hammering into his ears several times a day…….

“… Izek! Iz! Iz! Iz! Iz!”

His fellow paladin’s voice rang out from the doorway at such a crucial moment.

Izek turned his head away from the dragon, still cradling its snout in his arms.

“Quiet….”

This was the moment everyone in the kingdom had been waiting for for the past few days.

If he didn’t pay attention to even the slightest noise, he might end up with a big mess right in front of him.

I tried to whisper to them to shut up.

But when Ivan burst into the room, breathless, tumbling into a pile of jewelry, he found himself strangely unable to say anything.

A certain premonition that came over him at the sight of the unspeakable flame of terror and rage in those frozen, pale green eyes stopped him in his tracks.

* * *

Curses, slanders, accusations, threats and mockery.

What good would all this do?

The damage had been done, even if I took my anger out on a human being who can’t do anything about it.

After all, I wasn’t the only one suffering.

So I decided to stay calm.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to be sarcastic.

“Wow, Cardinal Valentino, didn’t think you would pick up sorcery. I have to admit, I was surprised. Did you miss me that much?”

“…….”

“Why don’t you say something? This is everything you wanted. Shouldn’t you be dancing for joy? You even sent Enzo away without a drop of blood on your hands.”

“…….”

“Did you hate Enzo that much? I always knew you hated him, but I didn’t realize you hated him enough to kill him.”

Cesare, who had been staring at me wordlessly, slowly opened his mouth.

In a blunt, accusatory tone.

“It’s because of you.”

“What…?”

“You were so stubborn that you stuck around and forced me to do this. I had to get rid of him that way. And if I had to kill him, I would’ve done it with my own hands.”

Yeah, that’s just the way you are.

I threw my hands up in frustration.

Though I was crying inside.

“Whatever. It’s none of my business anymore, but I’d like to know what the hell you want to do with me.”

His dark blue eyes bore into mine.

Like they were trying to pierce, like they were trying to see through…

It was a familiar stare. I desperately suppressed the tingling sensation on the nape of my neck.

“You’ve gotten pretty bossy lately, huh.”

“…….”

“I suppose I should start by making the divorce official.”

“Divorce?”

“Call it a divorce, call it an annulment. It would be difficult normally but after all, no one other than my brother, His Holiness’ son, has been murdered in Elendale under mysterious circumstances. It’s a justified reason.”

I had guessed it would go something like this, but now that I was hearing it with my own ears, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger.

Poor Enzo.

“Where is Father?”

“Why? Do you want to tell him all about what I had to do to get you here?”

“Don’t be annoying, because I’m irritated as it is. If Father was fine today, do you think he would have let you do what you did?”

“I can’t argue with that. He’ll be quite pleased to see you, come on.”