If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 146

Standing before the massive pile of rocks that had buried the carriage, Dominic cautiously called out. Naturally, the surroundings remained dead silent.

 

“Aah, right. Of course there’s no answer. Because she’s not here, that’s only natural.”

 

Dominic nodded as if it were obvious and smiled. The corners of his mouth were trembling violently. But that forced smile didn’t last long.

 

“Rosasia.”

 

The princess’s name emerged again from a voice devoid of laughter.

 

“Rosasia.”

 

His voice began to shake.

 

“ROSASIA!” He called out like a madman.

 

The self-brainwashing he had used to comfort himself unraveled. Dominic rushed to the pile of rocks and began digging through it. The knight who had always been nothing short of arrogant now clawed at the stones with his bare hands like a beast. He paid no heed to his uniform being covered in dirt or his fingernails breaking. All his flesh-bruised hands could grasp were rocks and more rocks.

 

Time passed only confirming the hopelessness of the situation. The focus gradually vanished from eyes that had forgotten how to blink. It was just when he was truly about to lose his mind. Rustle.

 

“…!”

 

His senses, sharpened to an extreme, detected someone’s presence. Dominic’s bloodshot eyes immediately found the hidden figure. A figure flinched inside the bush under the weight of his unfiltered killing intent. At that moment, all of Dominic’s thoughts and actions stopped.

 

“Rosasia…?”

 

No matter how well hidden by cover or concealed beneath a hood, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize her. Shrinking back inside the bushes in apparent surprise was none other than the princess.

 

“…Dominic.”

 

An answer came in response to Dominic’s hope. He casually tossed aside the rock he had been holding and rose as if possessed, walking toward her.

 

Meanwhile, Sasha drew in a breath as she watched Dominic approach. Making a sound had been a mistake. She had been so startled by the scene she witnessed unintentionally that she misplaced her hand in the undergrowth and accidentally made noise.

 

To Sasha, Dominic did not seem normal right now. He was already someone who could not control himself even under ordinary circumstances. In his current half-crazed state, she had no idea what he might do. Moreover, the closer he came, the clearer his face became. And it was disturbingly expressionless.

 

To be honest, Sasha was a little afraid. From Dominic’s perspective, she had run away, hidden herself, and then been caught.

 

While mentally preparing herself for the possibility that he might even strangle her, Dominic stopped right in front of her. A callused hand reached toward her. Sasha somehow managed to resist the instinct to back away, but facing him head-on was impossible. She squeezed her eyes shut. And indeed, Dominic did something outrageous.

 

Sasha felt his hand grip her shoulder. The next moment, she was pulled forcefully into his embrace. What? She blinked in confusion. A low, unstable voice rang in her ears.

 

“You’re safe.”

 

“…”

 

“Thank goodness. Truly.”

 

“…”

 

It took Sasha a long time to register the fact that she was being embraced by Dominic. Because it was not as disgusting as she had expected. Only afterward did revulsion wash over her. It was less directed at Dominic himself and more at herself for not feeling disgusted.

 

“Move. I can’t breathe.” She deliberately spoke coldly. Then, a foolish reply came back.

 

“Yes. Me too. I thought I was going to suffocate to death. It feels like I can finally breathe a little now.”

 

“…”

 

Sasha shuddered with intense revulsion. Sensing keenly that her patience was at its limit, Dominic loosened his arms and stepped back. Once he regained his composure and had room to think, his condition changed. His energy settled, but his eyes became sharp.

 

“What happened?”

 

“…”

 

“Where’s that short-haired b*stard?”

 

“…”

 

Sasha didn’t answer. The longer she remained silent, the more Dominic would fill in his thoughts with negative assumptions on his own. And as expected, he didn’t disappoint her.

 

“Judging by your reaction, he doesn’t seem to have been buried alive under that pile of rocks.”

 

“…”

 

“Aah, so he left you here and went to call his men, did he? Telling you to stay hidden?”

 

“…”

 

Wearing a bitter smile, Dominic pressed her. “So you obediently waited here in this corner? Listening to the guy who wants to make you his concubine, pretending not to know I came to fetch you?”

 

“…”

 

“Answer me.”

 

The misunderstanding only deepened. It was exactly as Sasha intended.

 

“Fine. Then keep waiting here prettily and obediently. I’ll kill him and come back right away.” Growling, Dominic turned his head and glared into the fog. Murderous intent blazed from him. Somewhere in that white haze was Emilio. Dominic looked determined to find him and tear him apart.

 

At that moment, Sasha broke her silence. “Don’t go.”

 

“…” Dominic froze mid-step. He turned back toward her, staring as though he could not believe what he had heard. Then his gaze lowered. His eyes landed on the fingertips clutching the sleeve of his uniform.

 

“There’s no one here except me. Don’t leave me behind.”

 

“…”

 

The strength holding him was weak, barely enough to grasp a piece of cloth. Yet Dominic found himself completely restrained. The knight’s broad chest expanded deeply. Damp, cold air churned through his lungs.

 

Dominic laughed with a twisted expression. “You think I don’t know?”

 

“…”

 

“I know you’re stalling for time.”

 

“…”

 

“I know this is your trick to keep me here.”

 

“…”

 

The anger in his crimson eyes was unmistakable. But Sasha was no longer afraid. An opponent who could be controlled and predicted could not terrify her.

 

“So what?”

 

“…”

 

“Even knowing that, are you still going to go?”

 

“…”

 

Sasha struck directly at his weakness. Her hand slid down from the part of his uniform she had been gripping. Her slender fingers wrapped around the thick wrist exposed beneath his sleeve.

 

Dominic’s answer had already been decided. “Damn it.” He gladly accepted the loose restraint and remained where he was.

 

Sasha never took her eyes off him. Ten minutes like this would be enough. She had effectively achieved her goal, yet she felt no joy. What was left to gain by obsessing over someone who made her miserable? She couldn’t tell. No, she felt like she shouldn’t know.

 

✦

Even the weather refused to help Emilio. The sky visible through the narrow gap of the canyon was filled with dark clouds. The world gradually dimmed as though disrupting his sense of time, and then rain began pouring down. The horse, forced to run along muddy roads while carrying a soaked and increasingly heavy rider, slowed its pace.

 

With his vision and hearing hindered by the heavy rain, Emilio arrived near his destination in a state of heightened tension. From here onward, the path went through the forest, so he would have to leave the horse behind. Using arms whose muscles screamed from all the whipping he had done, Emilio pushed aside branches and entered the woods.

 

The knights should definitely be somewhere around here. The troops Emilio had stationed in the canyon to ensure Regenhart’s elimination. They too were traitors to the kingdom. As fellow conspirators, they had obediently assisted and followed Emilio.

 

Emilio did not trust a traitor’s loyalty, but he trusted their selfishness. They were extremely useful tools. Therefore, everything would be resolved once he reached them. Even if some mysterious being threatened him, it would not be able to break through the ironclad defenses of an armed force and kill him.

 

Come to think of it, quite a while had passed since Emilio had poisoned Regenhart and sent him to his death. The most important objective for bringing troops here should already have been accomplished. Which knight had delivered the final blow and cut off his last breath? Emilio decided he would reward generously the knight who had severed the neck he himself had failed to cut. As he entertained such pleasant thoughts, the tension that had filled him almost as much as the breath caught in his throat seemed to ease considerably.

 

Right on cue, Emilio spotted what he had been hoping for, and his face brightened. Three figures stood among the trees. Even from their silhouettes alone, he could immediately tell they were his knights. All of them stood perfectly still, as if keeping watch.

 

“Hey,” Emilio called out to them cheerfully. But none of them turned around.

 

That was a deeply unsettling sign. Cold sweat joined the rain already soaking the back of Emilio’s neck. Something felt wrong. And yet his feet steadily carried him toward the source of that ominous feeling.