Chapter 139

“Why are you so late?”

Dimitri, whose hair had turned into a crow’s nest from repeated tugging despite his efforts to tidy up nicely, was starting to worry about Rowaine. It was because he had expected her to return after calming down for a moment, but she had been gone longer than he thought.

“Shall I go look for Madam Rowaine?”

Dimitri shook his head in response to Hyle’s question.

“I’ll go. You go and keep the carriage waiting. I intend to return as soon as I find Rowaine.”

“Yes, understood.”

After sending Hyle off, Dimitri walked in the direction Rowaine had run, thinking about what he should say when he saw her. In the meanwhile, his hands were busy adjusting his disheveled hair and clothes.

Dimitri, who had Shedim lead the way in search of Rowaine’s traces, soon sensed her presence.

“Hmm?”

There were two people. It seemed she was with someone else.

His ears perked up at Rowaine’s voice coming from a distance. It seemed like she was saying something, but it was too far for his keen ears to discern anything more than a faint murmur. But then, at one moment, she called out a name in a slightly louder voice.

“Cadis!”

‘Cadis?!’

Dimitri’s pupils dilated and contracted rapidly as his narrowed gaze quickened.

‘That b*stard again!’

He recalled the annoying face of Cadis, who had an innocent look in his eyes in front of Rowaine.

Dimitri disliked Cadis.

He didn’t like him pretending to be friendly with her, he didn’t like him smiling in front of her, and he didn’t like him speaking to her. He couldn’t understand why Rowaine treated an imperial hunting dog so well.

Dimitri ran towards the direction where he heard Rowaine’s voice, almost as if he was flying. As he approached the two closely, he widened his eyes at the scene unfolding before him.

“This…!”

Before he could finish his expletive, he swung his fist at Cadis’s head faster than he could utter a curse. Since he swung his fist with considerable force, the sound of the punch landed with a loud thud.

“Huk!”

His body toppled to the side with Rowaine still in his arms. As Dimitri quickly pulled her away from his grasp, Cadis was left rolling on the marble floor alone.

“D-Dimitri.”

Rowaine grabbed Dimitri with a pale face.

“What’s going on? Why did that b*stard…!”

The words ‘Was he kissing Rowaine on the lips?’ didn’t quite make it past his lips.

He glared at Cadis, growling in anger without realizing it. Seeing that, Rowaine held onto his waist tightly as he seemed ready to rush at him at any moment.

“Wait a minute, Dimitri. Just a moment.”

“Don’t stop me. I wouldn’t mind killing him right now.”

“Listen to me, Dimitri! Something is wrong!”

Rowaine, whose face flushed with confusion, clung to Dimitri with a tearful expression on her face. Still, Dimitri couldn’t contain his anger and turned to her with a straight face.

“Rowaine always stops me whenever that man is involved.”

Rowaine took a step back when she saw Dimitri’s widened pupils, and his breathing was ragged.

Cats have a behavior called ‘Redirected Aggression,’ where they may aggress towards a different target when unable to release their aroused emotions on the original stimulus.

Shapeshifters possessed animal-like senses and capabilities but also had reasoning, which allowed them to suppress instincts better than animals, though they couldn’t always restrain instincts with reason alone. Wouldn’t humans sometimes lose their reason when angry?

Dimitri, too, had lost half or more of his sense of reason due to his anger.

“Why are you stopping me? He’s the one who did something that deserves death.”

Without provoking Dimitri sharply, Rowaine slowly distanced herself from Dimitri with calm movements without provoking him, who was being harsh towards her.

At the same time, she soothed him with a low, gentle voice.

“Dimitri, I’m not trying to defend Cadis’s actions. He clearly did something wrong to me, too. I understand.”

Her actions calmed his agitation a little.

“Ha.”

Taking a deep breath, Dimitri realized he had been sharp with her due to his excessive agitation and apologized.

“I’m sorry, Rowaine.”

“It’s okay, but look at Cadis.”

Rowaine pointed towards Cadis, who was still sprawled on the ground and struggling to get up.

It was then that Dimitri realized that something was wrong with him. Cadis was writhing on the floor, breathing heavily, not sure whether from pain or excitement. His eyes welled up with tears, and his hands trembled a little. He looked at Rowaine helplessly as if he didn’t know what to do.

Noticing a physical change in him, she subtly averted her gaze in the other direction.

‘…What should I do? Why is he behaving like this? Do dogs suffer like that when they’re in heat?’

Since she didn’t know much, it seemed like he should see a doctor, but there was no proper way to secretly call a doctor in the imperial palace without the Emperor’s knowledge. Even though she worried about what might happen if the Emperor found out about Cadis’s current condition, it was impossible to secretly sneak him, the Emperor’s hunting dog, out of the palace.

“Something is strange, right? I don’t think he did that in his right mind. It might be best to hide him somewhere for a while.”

That was the best option she could come up with.

“Will you help me do that, Dimitri?”

Dimitri glanced at Cadis with resentment before looking back at Rowaine as if disapproving.

“Do we really have to help him? If I hadn’t arrived, who knows what he might have done to Rowaine.”

“No, he wouldn’t have done anything.”

“How can you be sure? He’s still not himself right now.”

“That’s…”

Before Dimitri came, Rowaine recalled that Cadis’s lips had been touching hers for quite some time. They were really just touching lips. He let out a hot breath of excitement and trapped her tightly in his arms, nervously rubbing their lips together as if not knowing what to do next.

After briefly explaining the situation, Rowaine looked up at Dimitri earnestly.

“Please, Dimitri. Before anyone sees him, we need to hide him…”

But then, at that moment, someone suddenly appeared at the end of a deserted hallway.

“It looks like something is wrong with that hound.”

The expressions of the two froze upon hearing his voice.

Rowaine glared at him with cold eyes.

“Count Heres.”

Herman smirked, his mysteriously beautiful violet eyes twinkling.

“It’s been a while, Rowaine. Oh, where are my manners? Duchess.”

Then, he glanced at Cadis, who was sprawled on the ground.

“Oh… Did this hound do something to the Duchess?”

He closed the distance in an instant using magic. As he stepped closer to Cadis, a corner of his mouth twitched up, and he casually nudged Cadis’s center with his foot.

“Could an ignorant fool like him possibly have gone after the Duchess because he’s in heat?”

“Don’t touch him, Count Heres.”

At her words, he glanced at Rowaine with interest.

“Why? Ah, maybe it wasn’t him who started it, but the Duchess who seduced him first?”

“Shut up, Count.”

When Dimitri pressured him with intensity, Herman shrugged his shoulders.

“Unless you have a better explanation, it might be best to report this to His Majesty the Emperor. He dared to harm the Duchess, so we can’t just let it slide.”

Rowaine was puzzled by Herman, who appeared belatedly and spoke as if he knew everything. It was also suspicious that he appeared here at exactly this time.

She sensed it instinctively.

‘…It’s a trap.’

Herman seemed to deliberately provoke her, forcefully kicking Cadis’s stomach.

Thud!

“Huuk!”

Even though she wanted to stop him, she couldn’t act like she was protecting Cadis here.

She gritted her teeth.

‘What are you planning, Herman?’

Cadis, who was barely able to put any strength into his body, was helpless and had to endure Herman’s kicks. His body was so languid that he couldn’t even take the defensive posture to protect himself.

Herman lifted his foot again.

Seeing this, Rowaine flinched and took an involuntary step forward, which made him widen his eyes in surprise.

“Why? Are you trying to protect him?”

Herman smirked.

“You’ve been playing with this guy a lot before, and now it’s him again.”

Dimitri looked at Rowaine as if to ask what that meant.

“I’ll explain later, Dimitri.”

“Is there any need to postpone? Before her marriage, the Duchess often requested His Majesty the Emperor to specifically call this guy over to play with him, day and night. She takes a great interest in him, Duke Blois.”

Dimitri responded coldly, not succumbing to the provocation.

“I’ll hear about my wife directly from her.”

Herman sneered, his lips curling into a spiteful grin.

“Anyway, since this guy has done something inappropriate, it would be best to report to His Majesty and give him an appropriate punishment.”

Rowaine asked.

“What are you going to do with him?”

“Well, the process may be different each time, but the result always remains the same. I’m sure you know.”

The outcome that Herman spoke of meant death.

Mistakes weren’t tolerated among the Emperor’s hunting hounds. A single mistake always meant death.

“He dared to commit an enormous offense against the Duchess, so shouldn’t he pay for it with his life? His Majesty the Emperor will contact you regarding this matter in the future.”

He laughed and shouted loudly.

“Guards!”

At his call, guards appeared from somewhere, along with other hunting hounds. There was no doubt he had concealed himself using the dog shapeshifter’s barrier magic.

“Lock him in jail!”

Rowaine was appalled by Herman’s blatant behavior, openly revealing that it was a trap, but she had no choice but to watch as he took Cadis away.

Dimitri didn’t seem to have any intention of stepping forward. After all, he disliked both Herman and Cadis.

 
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