Sea Monster Stew Chapter 44

“This can’t be…”

Biche muttered dazedly, looking around the garden overgrown with weeds.

“Just five years ago, thanks to my mother, this place was always full of life…”

 

The main door leading into the mansion also opened easily. The smell of dust and rotten wood stung her nose.

 

Biche slowly scanned the dust-filled great hall. 

 

The interior of the long-abandoned mansion was a wreck, as if a storm had swept through. 

 

All the curtains were torn, and shattered glass fragments littered the floor.

“Mother?!”

 

She called out loudly, looking around, but only her own shout echoed back in reply. 

 

Biche stared blankly at the dusty staircase.

 

“…Father…”

“There’s no one here.”

Calante sighed, looking at the shattered chandelier lying in the center of the hall.

“It seems your family left this place long ago.”

 

Just as Biche was blankly surveying the place tinged with loss and longing, a rumbling presence seemed to approach from beyond the garden. 

 

The low shout of a man came, accompanied by the clatter of metal.

 

“Who’s there?”

Knights clad in black uniforms instantly poured inside. 

 

They swiftly scanned the room and surrounded Biche and Calante in a circle.

 

Calante quickly pulled Biche behind his broad back, but the knights’ gazes were fixed solely on Biche.

“This is the territory of Count Fion. It’s no place for vagrants like you.”

“Is that so? It’s such a mess I thought it was abandoned.”

As Calante quipped, the knights’ expressions hardened rapidly. 

 

Biche gently grabbed Calante’s shoulder and shook her head. 

 

Seeming to understand her signal not to provoke them, he clicked his tongue and took a step back.

 

Biche stepped forward quietly before the knights. 

 

She pulled her necklace out from her collar and carefully showed them the back of the locket. 

 

The crest of the Helio Imperial family was clearly engraved on the back.

“I am Arcobicche Akstain.”

She composed her voice and spoke as calmly as possible. The knights exchanged bewildered glances.

“Count Fion’s father-in-law, Duke Akstain, is my maternal grandfather. I wish to see the Countess.”

Biche’s official father was Count Fion, her mother’s husband. 

 

To easily reveal her identity, it would have been clearer to say, “I am the daughter of Count Fion, the owner of this mansion.”

But she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She didn’t want to utter such a lie when she had a father she loved.

For a moment, a strange silence fell over the entire great hall, as if frozen solid. The knights’ gazes were tensely intertwined.

 

The knight who seemed the eldest among them approached Biche and examined the locket. 

 

His eyes gradually widened as he confirmed the Helio Imperial crest.

“…We thought you were missing…”

The knights looked at each other with embarrassed faces. 

 

Some tilted their heads as if in disbelief, while others narrowed their eyes fiercely, still unable to lower their guard.

The older knight who had inspected the locket bowed politely.

 

“His Grace the Duke of Akstain has been searching anxiously for you for a long time, Miss. We will escort you to the Ducal house immediately.”

“The person I wish to see is the Countess Fion.”

“Meeting His Grace takes priority.”

 

At that moment, Calante coughed awkwardly. 

 

He gestured with his eyes towards a specific direction, visible only to Biche. 

 

Biche rolled her eyes to glance where he indicated.

Young knights with stiff faces were fidgeting cautiously with their sword hilts. 

 

They looked ready to draw their swords at any moment. 

 

A subtle discomfort and wariness was evident on their inexperienced faces.

Her body stiffened automatically at the suspicious atmosphere flowing among the knights. 

 

No matter how she looked at it, it was strange. A premonition told her she shouldn’t go with them.

“…I appreciate the offer, but I will not go to the Ducal house.”

The moment she politely declined, the older knight’s expression hardened frighteningly. A quiet stillness filled the vast space.

Just as Calante subtly shifted to hide Biche behind him again, the sound of hurried footsteps approaching from afar was heard. 

 

A beast’s sharp cry cut through the tense air.

“Fui?”

 

Calante’s eyes widened upon hearing the cry. 

 

Simultaneously, armed knights dragged Fui roughly into the mansion, a chain around his neck.

Red blood was caked around Fui’s mouth and head, and his front legs were bound with rope.

“Fui!”

“Don’t move! If you resist, this monster is dead!”

The knights’ faces instantly transformed. A sword was pressed against the struggling Fui’s neck. 

 

The older knight pointed his sword at Biche and issued a cold command.

“By the Duke’s order. Come outside and get in the carriage immediately.”

“You… you’re not the Count’s knights, are you?”

“If you refuse, we will behead this monster right now.”

 

Biche’s mind went blank instantly. Even the knights’ soft breaths felt cruel.

‘I’m sorry! I let my guard down while napping and got caught! Master… I’m sorry!’ Fui whined, his eyes wide open. 

 

Biche looked at Fui and the knights with trembling eyes.

‘From where had they been watching us? They know Fui is with us. Could it be they’ve been surveilling us since the moment we arrived on the coast?’

“You vile bastards!”

 

Then, Calante clenched his fist and shouted angrily.

“Arcobicche, you mustn’t give in to them… Ugh!”

 

The older knight pressed the tip of his sword against Calante’s throat. Calante let out a sigh and slowly raised both hands.

On land, far from the sea, he was utterly powerless. Without seawater, using magic was impossible.

Biche looked back and forth between Calante and Fui in despair. It’s my fault. 

 

Because they brought me to my homeland, these two innocent souls are in danger too.

She bit her lip and forced out a voice.

 

“I’ll do as you say… Please release these two.”

Only then did the knights nod with satisfied expressions. 

 

They instantly surrounded Calante, forced him to his knees, and bound his arms behind his back with rope.

“Let me go!”

Calante shook his head and struggled, but it was futile against the knights’ strength.

“Calante! Fui!”

Biche quickly ran towards Calante and Fui, who were being dragged away. 

 

But the older knight blocked her path with a leisurely gesture.

“Calm yourself.”

“What are you doing?! I said let them go now!”

“Take the young lady to the carriage.”

The knights pulled Biche’s body away with cold faces. 

 

Without even a chance to look back at her childhood home filled with memories, she was dragged outside.

A black carriage stood on a pile of wet leaves. The knights shoved Biche roughly inside.

“Behave yourself.”

“Ugh…”

She was thrown onto the seat, hitting her head hard against the inner wall. Biche clutched her throbbing head and curled into a ball.

“Such a fuss.”

 

With the knight’s dissatisfied mutter, the door closed, and the sound of a latch locking echoed from outside. 

 

The interior of the windowless carriage was as dark as pitch.

Clutching her shattered heart, Biche sobbed in the darkness.

 

* * *

 

Hildert’s laboratory was located on the main island of the Karabas pirate archipelago. 

 

It was a place where all manner of magical tools, strange potion bottles, marine specimens, and old books were jumbled together, creating an eerie silence.

 

Something entered Hildert’s field of vision as he stood on the balcony, staring into the darkness outside. 

 

It was a parrot familiar flying towards the main fortress, passing over the quiet village.

The bird, inhabited by a demonic spirit, cut through the knife-like wind and landed directly on the balcony railing. 

 

Its eyes, glowing with a strange light, flashed in the darkness.

 

Hildert quietly extended his hand. The parrot used its beak to untie the small scroll clutched in its talons and placed it on his palm.

 

“Well done.”

He magically opened the door of an old birdcage. The parrot flew inside familiarly and began preening its feathers with its beak, grumbling.

 

“Please change my next body to a sturdy seabird. This one is too weak for crossing the vast ocean.”

“Fine. Understood. Go choose one you like.”

Hildert nodded quietly and unrolled the scroll. Heavy letters spread gloomily across the slowly unfurled paper.

 

[Subject] was discovered in the eastern sea of the Helio Empire with a man, but has since been moved towards the Ducal house.

 

The subject was not written. But Hildert knew this referred to Biche’s recent whereabouts.