Beast in the Woods, Deep in the Night - Chapter 42.2

Chapter 42.2

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Christine, who was struggling with cold sweats, woke up the next morning.

“Ouch…”

Her body felt heavy, and her throat was sore. She barely raised her torso, desperate to get a sip of water.

However, when she opened her eyes and looked around, she didn’t think it was time to leisurely look for water.

‘Where am I?’

She was lying in an unfamiliar bedroom. Judging from the texture and warmth of the bed, it seemed to be the top floor of the guild’s main building where she had been drunk the other day.

A space reserved exclusively for Edgar Richard. She swallowed dryly once she realized where she was. She clearly remembered the situation she had faced last night.

“So, the earring you said you lost.”

“That’s…”

“Weren’t you looking for something else?”

‘I sneaked into the archives and got caught by Edgar.’

Just thinking about his cold eyes looking at her at that moment made her heart sink. It definitely seemed like Edgar was going to lock her up in a dark basement or some other horrible place.

Christine knew better than to believe that a man like him would fall for a lie about losing an earring and hiding in a place she was forbidden to enter.

‘But why am I in a bedroom?’

Just as she was thinking that perhaps this time she was really dead and in the most luxurious space she had ever lived in, the door opened.

“You’re awake.”

It was Edgar.

While Christine flinched at the thought of his menacing gaze, he placed a tray with stew and water down on the bed.

“The doctor said you had a cold,” he calmly continued.

He held out a glass filled with water. Christine wondered if the water was poisoned, but when Edgar motioned at her with his eyes, she had no choice but to drink it.

After confirming that she had drunk the glass of water, Edgar shifted his gaze to the stew. Not knowing what kind of reaction he would give if she didn’t eat, Christine obediently took a spoonful of the stew.

Looking contentedly at the object of observation that listened to him, Edgar continued.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the earring you lost.”

“…”

“It must have been something you treasured a lot if you had to go looking for it in the middle of the night. Should I buy you something similar?”

“Cough, cough.”

Christine choked on her food and coughed for a long time. She was only able to calm down after drinking another glass of water Edgar had given her.

Her eyes turned to his face as she gulped down the water. She couldn’t even fathom what he was thinking while treating her like this.

Seeing the suspicion and wariness in her mysterious purple eyes, Edgar answered as if it were nothing special.

“I told you. If the spy is pretty, I might let it go.”

“…”

“Is the stew to your taste?”

Before she could ask anything more, Edgar asked her something he wasn’t even curious about. Christine hesitated before opening her mouth.

“It’s delicious. And…”

“And?”

“Thank you.”

Edgar raised one eyebrow slightly as unexpected words came out of her trembling lips. Was she thanking him for pretending not to know, or was she thanking him for the delicious stew?

But what she said after exceeded his expectations once again.

“You were by my side the whole time. I remember your hand touching my cheek.”

She was being sincere. She was always alone when experiencing the side effects of the curse. It was always too lonely to endure the pain alone.

But yesterday, thanks to his constant touch, she was able to relieve the pain quickly. It was thanks to him that she woke up this morning.

‘He must have noticed that my symptoms aren’t at all due to a cold.’

Perhaps he even noticed that she was in less pain whenever he touched her. Even if he didn’t know why, from his point of view, it was something that could be questioned and suspected.

Nevertheless, he was pretending not to know all that he had noticed last night.

This was… a strange situation.

She should be the one trying to keep in close contact with him while hiding her true intentions. But now, the one trying to keep her by his side while hiding his true intentions was Edgar Richard.

It wasn’t a good sign that a variable she couldn’t understand had appeared in the Black Fang Guild of all places. This meant that her future might change depending on Edgar’s intentions.

So, Christine thought to herself.

She thought that she had to slowly get away from that dangerous man.