The Monster Duke Mistook Me for His Wife – Chapter 150 – Side Story Chapter 7

Author: Asternkm

A dark night.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”

Mateo cursed nonstop as he hid himself in an alley. Just breathing made his whole body ache. It was the aftermath of his divine power being destroyed.

“That damn girl is the owner of the Oracle?! How does that even make sense?!”

He clutched his chest and panted.

“You think I’ll just let this go?”

Now he had nothing left. Even the slush fund he had hidden was completely gone.

Broke and desperate, he didn’t care about anything anymore.

“I’ll never let her get away with this. I’ll mess up that pretty face so bad she won’t even be able to show— Ugh!”

“Not let her get away? And what are you gonna do?”

“Cough, cough!”

In the blink of an eye, Mateo was thrown into a pile of trash and coughed hard.

“You’re the one who should be hiding your face, you trash.”

It was a woman, as if painted completely in black.

‘What, a girl?’

Just as his shriveled courage began to grow again, her cold, fierce glare made it shrink right back.

Feeling threatened, Mateo scrambled on the ground.

‘Anything is fine, just something— even a rock…!’

But what he grabbed was a teddy bear that had popped out of a toppled trash can. And it was completely ripped open and limp!

“Damn it! I’ve got no choice but to use this!”

Trembling, Mateo held the ripped-up bear in front of him. Laughter burst out.

“Pfft.”

His face burned with embarrassment. Mateo forgot his situation and yelled.

“Who the heck are you?! Why are you attacking an innocent person?!”

“Who are we?”

“We’re Ria’s friends!”

Five birds in masks suddenly jumped out next to the woman.

Five birds flapping their wings threateningly, and one woman standing with a tilted head and a hand on her hip.

‘Uh…? Wait a minute.’

Not her usual white dress, but black clothes. A hat pulled deep over her eyes. A lollipop, not a cigarette, hanging from her lips.

Unfamiliar, yet definitely a face he knew.

“…Aren’t you the Saint?”

“Wrong. I’m Ria’s guardian angel.”

Aina, the girl under the hat, scoffed.

Come on, even if she did a somersault, she’d still look like the Saint. And these guys…

“You’re the Divine Beasts… right?”

“Wrong again! We’re Ria’s besties!”

Oh, come on. Talking birds? That is proof they’re Divine Beasts.

Aina spit out the lollipop stick and spoke with a cocky tone.

“Hey, trash. Say it yourself. Did you mess with our Ria?”

“Yeah, confess right now! You ugly pig!”

“Not even worth recycling.”

“Loser.”

“Human scum!”

“Baldy!”

“Wait a second, Mika! Baldy is too much!”

Even the criminal couldn’t take being called bald and snapped back—but that just made Hanisha even more upset.

“You dare talk back?!”

Smack!

Hanisha slapped Mateo and grabbed his collar, shaking him violently.

“Talk! How did you hurt that sweet girl?!”

“S-Since her divine power kept coming out, I just kept giving her work…”

“Did you feed her three meals a day?! Did she get any free time?!”

He shut his mouth.

Meals? He barely gave her one or two and kept her locked up…

Nathan noticed the silence and pushed Hanisha aside to grab Mateo by the collar.

“You jerk! Don’t tell me you didn’t even feed her! Do you know how much she loves eating?! You used her and starved her?!”

Nathan already knew how much Ria had suffered, but the thought she might’ve gone hungry tore at his heart.

“You disgusting scumbag!”

Wham! Wham! Now the sound of punches filled the alley.

“Come to think of it, if it weren’t for this guy, we could’ve met Ria a lot sooner.”

Ria had hidden from the temple out of distrust and fear of being caught.

And the reason for it all was this worthless piece of trash.

At Samiel’s sharp remark, Aina jumped in next.

“It was because of you that Ria never came to the temple! No wonder she never showed up!”

“Ahh! Ahh! Saint, please, wait, let me explain—!”

“Explain what! Pay with your life!”

“Die! Die!”

“Help! Somebody help me!”

“You’re not a person! You’re a beast!”

Aina and the Divine Beasts jumped on him and started kicking him.

“To think Ria had to look at this pig every day— poor girl! Her taste is usually so good! Ptooey!”

“Blgh! Aah! Spit! That’s spit!”

“Puah!”

Hanisha kept spitting nonstop.

Normally, the Divine Beasts would’ve stopped her, but this time, they cheered her on with one heart.

“Hanisha, save it up and spit more!”

“Focus on the face.”

That wasn’t all. Mika used her foot to yank out what little hair Mateo had left. Areste and Samiel shredded his clothes with their sharp claws.

“Someone like you needs to know shame!”

“Why is a beast like you even wearing clothes?”

How much time had passed? Mateo, barely holding onto his tattered clothes, collapsed, using both arms to cover his chest.

“S-Sob. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!”

No matter where he looked, there was no escape. All he could do was curl up against the relentless attacks.

Then, a sound that might save him reached his ears.

Step, step. Footsteps echoed in the alley, and his ears perked up.

‘A person! A real person!’

Using the last of his strength, Mateo shoved away Aina and the Divine Beasts and ran toward the figure approaching.

“Sir! Sir! Please save me! These lunatics are trying to kill me!”

“Trying to kill you?”

“Y-Yes! Please, I beg you…”

“So this is what you call punishment, huh?”

“E-Excuse me?”

Seeing Mateo covered in spit and rags, Dillian clicked his tongue.

“Saints, Divine Beasts, and anyone in the temple— you’re all hopeless.”

“What did you say?!”

“You jerk, Dillian! If you hadn’t butted in, we’d have finished this already!”

Who barged in now?! Aina and Nathan growled.

“Nathan! Let’s show him how it’s done!”

“You got it!”

Sensing something was off, Mateo tried to sneak away— but it was no use.

“Going somewhere? We just met, that’s rude.”

“So rude!”

Dillian blocked his path, and Hayan puffed up on his shoulder.

“Ahh! What now?! I’ve got no clothes, no hair left!”

Screaming in desperation, Mateo was startled by the intense gaze fixed on him and hiccupped.

Eyes glowing red in the dark— far more terrifying than the Saint.

‘I’m gonna die. This time, for real.’

As that primal fear made his body shake, Dillian gave a soft smile. That was even scarier.

“Don’t be so scared. We’ll just return what Ria felt. Exactly threefold.”

“We’ll pay you back three times! You bad guy!”

It’s always Ria Delice. Always…

“You better be ready.”

In front was Dillian. Behind him were Aina and Nathan. Trapped completely, Mateo gave up struggling and quietly covered his head. Then, with a sigh of resignation, he closed his eyes.

“Waaaah!”

That night, screams echoed through the narrow alley beside the temple all night long.

*****

The next day, morning.

“Oh my goodness, Priest?!”

An early-morning vendor, preparing to open shop, screamed when he saw Mateo sprawled on the ground in just his underwear, his face bruised and swollen.

Other merchants came running at the sound.

“Oh dear, what happened here? Priest!”

“Did you get robbed or something? Someone bring some clothes!”

Not yet having heard of Mateo’s wrongdoings, people reached out to help him out of concern.

“Ahh!”

Mateo, terrified out of his mind, screamed and clapped his hands together, begging.

“I was wrong! I’m the worst! I’ll accept punishment, so please, please lock me up in prison! Please!”

“Huh?”

“I’ve committed an unforgivable crime against Lady Ria. Someone as lowly as me dared to torment and exploit her— I deserve to die! Please, send me to prison!”

“Ria? Isn’t she the Oracle’s chosen one?”

“The priest did that… to her?”

As Mateo made his tearful confession, murmurs spread through the crowd.

The Divine Beasts, watching from a distance, spread their wings and clapped.

“Time for a toast today.”

“Great idea!”

“Bring out the drinks!”

While the Divine Beasts laughed and enjoyed their victory, Aina hesitantly approached Dillian.

“…I learned something today.”

She hadn’t known there were so many ways to punish someone. She was genuinely impressed.

Whether she meant it or not, Dillian kept his eyes fixed on Mateo as he replied.

“If I were being honest, I’d rather just chop off his head. But Ria wouldn’t like that, so I have no choice.”