Chapter 18
Lucy suddenly felt uneasy.
“No way…”
Edward was the male lead and the Dragon Incarnation.
There was no way he could be injured or killed by some ordinary monster near a checkpoint like this.
In the original story, Edward had never been hurt by such weak monsters.
But then a forgotten worry suddenly appeared.
‘…Things have already changed from the original story.’
The moment she stepped in to save herself, the story had already gone off its original path.
But what if that had caused unexpected changes?
“I really wasn’t planning to go outside.”
Maybe she would just step outside the front door and see what was happening.
She was hungry after waking up, and she needed to know the situation.
Thinking that, she hurried toward the inn’s front door and reached for the handle.
Just thenā
“…It was an order that couldn’t be obeyed!”
Someone’s loud voice reached her ears.
* * *
Earlier, right after Edward left Lucy’s room…
“This way, Your Grace!”
Edward calmly followed the innkeeper.
Although he looked completely normal to everyone else…
His mind was unusually distracted.
In fact, to others he looked even colder than usual, as if he might kill someone with a glance.
“R-Right this way!”
Seeing Edward’s sharp expression, the innkeeper was deeply moved.
‘His Grace really takes monsters seriously!’
Thinking that, the innkeeper hurried ahead with his short legs to guide Edward as quickly as possible.
Edward caught up in only a few long strides.
Then he slowly raised a hand.
He absentmindedly touched his lips.
The same lips that had just touched Lucy’s.
“…”
Honestly…
He had never expected it to feel like that.
The warmth that had flowed into him the instant their lips met…
The burning sensation that had spread through his entire body…
He had smiled calmly when their eyes met afterward.
But inside…
‘Amazing.’
He hadn’t known a kiss could feel like that.
Which wasn’t surprising.
Edward only knew about relationships with women in theory.
He had never actually experienced one.
Everyone believed he and Sepina had done everything together.
But that rumor mostly existed because Sepina enjoyed hinting that they had shared an intimate relationship.
Edward had never bothered to stop her.
‘It wasn’t important.’
People expected the Dragon Incarnation to defeat monsters.
Not to prove how experienced he was in bed.
He didn’t care what rumors people spread about him.
So he simply ignored them.
Even when Sepina went around claiming how wonderful their nights together had been.
‘Exaggeration is still exaggeration.’
That was what he had always thought.
But now he realized…
One thing Sepina had said was actually true.
“…It feels…”
It felt…
Good.
It was the first time he had touched a woman like that.
Yet it wasn’t unpleasant.
Unlike when he was with Sepina, he didn’t feel disgusted or dirty just from touching bare skin.
Instead…
He wanted to stay close a little longer.
Originally, part of the reason he suggested the kiss had been to properly test Lucy’s purification ability.
If it wasn’t good enough, he planned to throw her away immediately.
“Yes! Let’s do it!”
When the tiny woman shouted that so boldly…
He couldn’t help laughing.
She was strangely brave.
And somehow ridiculously cute.
At the same time, he felt annoyed.
‘Who had she kissed before, to act so naturally?’
But…
The moment their lips actually met…
An uncontrollable heat surged through him.
He clearly remembered holy power flowing into him and purifying his body.
He knew he wasn’t the only one affected.
He had seen it in Lucy’s eyes.
Her wide black eyes staring at him in shock…
Then slowly becoming hazy…
‘It’s not enough.’
He wanted more.
Because she had been so underfed, her lips were slightly rough.
He wanted to slowly lick them.
To cover them with his own saliva until they became soft.
Then bite them.
He imagined forcing her little mouth open…
Sliding his tongue deep inside…
Then slowly moving lower…
Biting the pale neck where blue veins showed beneath the skin…
The moment he imagined her round black eyes widening in surpriseā
He suddenly stopped walking.
“…”
He silently looked down at his lower body.
“…Why…”
He almost laughed.
His heart and body were burning hot.
Yet his mind suddenly became ice cold.
‘Just from this?’
Yes, kissing that tiny woman had felt wonderful.
But…
‘I was on my way to kill monsters.’
Losing control of himself like this was unacceptable.
Wasn’t the reason he hated his berserk episodes because he hated losing control over himself?
‘This isn’t right.’
After thinking for a moment…
He slowly clenched his fist and lowered it toward his lower body.
“Your Grace?”
The innkeeper stared at him in confusion before hurriedly pointing ahead.
“O-Over there!”
At that exact momentā
Screeeech!
Monsters burst out of the forest beside the checkpoint.
Edward immediately pushed every distracting thought aside.
Then he kicked off the ground and charged straight toward the monsters.
* * *
“What should we do with the monster corpses?”
“They’re poisonous. Send them to the Temple.”
“But the nearest Temple is…”
“Do I have to figure that out for you too?”
“N-No, Your Grace!”
The battle ended almost effortlessly.
Before dawn, Tepe and Gorgo had already arrived.
After luring the Temple soldiers far away in the opposite direction from where Edward had flown…
The two of them judged the distance was safe enough.
Then they used teleportation scrolls that took them directly to Edward.
Finding him already fighting, they immediately joined the battle.
Once the Dragon Incarnation and his two most trusted knights entered the fight…
Victory was only a matter of time.
Especially since Edward was moving much faster than usual.
No one knew he was in such a hurry because of what he had left behind at the inn.
After the battle ended, people surrounded him with endless praise.
Most of them were nobles from the checkpoint city.
“Amazing. As expected of Your Grace.”
“This area rarely has monster attacks, so none of us really know how to fight them…”
“Please allow us to properly repay you with a grand feast.”
Even when Edward ignored them and headed back toward the inn, they followed him all the way into the courtyard.
“Please listen. We have a truly famous chef in this city…”
They were desperate to build a connection with the famous hero.
Growing annoyed, Edward smiled crookedly, still covered in monster blood.
“You think words and food are enough?”
“…”
“If you have something to offer, give me money. Or land. A mine would be nice.”
“H-Haha… Your Grace certainly jokes…”
“Does that sound like a joke?”
“…”
“Actually, never mind. I already have enough of those. They’re annoying to manage.”
As expected, the nobles reacted in two different ways.
About half looked sick of him and wished he would leave.
The other half continued worshipping him or desperately tried to stay close in hopes of gaining something.
It was a familiar sight.
Nothing new.
“Your Grace… We have another report.”
Tepe and Gorgo approached him with troubled expressions.
Edward looked toward a group of nervous soldiers standing nearby.
They were the guards responsible for protecting the checkpoint.
“So…”
“…”
“I ordered you to evacuate everyone to the west.”
“…But you evacuated them to the east.”
He had specifically ordered the townspeople to take shelter in the silver mine to the west.
Since he hadn’t explained why…
The soldiers had decided on their own.
Instead, they evacuated everyone to the largest academy in the eastern district.
As the soldiers nervously watched Edward’s reaction…
Someone else stepped forward.
It was Count Moro, the lord of the checkpoint city, who had been standing nearby with a dissatisfied expression while the other nobles praised Edward.
“I sincerely apologize, Your Grace.”
The count straightened his back confidently.
“But from the beginning…”
“…Your order was impossible to obey!”
