I Raised the Beast Well

Lart thought of Aymon.

If Aymon had visited Belinda as often as before, Lart would have asked him sooner. 

What was the reason behind this heinous incident? Was the loyalty between the royal family and the Shinsu truly broken?

The Aymon he knew may have been a little twisted, but Aymon wasn’t evil at heart.
Instead of beating around the bush, he would give a direct yes or no answer.

However, for some reason, Aymon’s light steps that always found their way to the Guest Palace suddenly stopped coming.
That’s why the case got even more complicated.

“Your Majesty.
I’m suspicious about something.
As Your Majesty said, Adelai might-”

Lart, who was trying to unravel his suspicions, soon stopped talking.
Because a violent uproar resounded from outside the door.

A chaotic noise followed by a loud bang.
A large beast showed up beyond the collapsing door. 

The existence that Prince Lart was trying to find appeared right in front of his eyes.
But he, whose appearance was like a gift, seemed to have an unusual aura. 

「Where’s Breedee?」

Aymon huffed and began to approach calmly.
Blue flames seemed to burn his eyes in anger.

「If this is your trick, I’ll kill you all.」

It was a warning that reeked of fish blood.

 

***

A few hours before.

Lucy was finally away after a long time.
Belinda looked outside the window.
The birch tree was trembling gently by a gust of wind.

Aymon was probably somewhere in that forest.
She kept staring at the forest because she missed the beast she told not to come before the wedding. 

Not to mention, terrible rumors had been circulating recently.

Even the maid who knew that Aymon was her lover, came to her with a pale face and said, 

“It’s dangerous, please refrain from going near the forest, Princess.”

The same was true for Prince Lart.
He assigned some unknown knights to the Guest Palace and said with a voice full of worries.

“Until Aymon comes back first, stay inside.”

She was going to ask Aymon about this matter when he came back.
However, when she told him not to come, he really did not come for days.
He behaved like an obedient beast only at times like this.

Belinda – not being aware of Aymon sometimes coming around midnight to peep at her like a thief – took a firm decision.

‘I’m going to look for Aymon.’

She heard that leopards were territorial animals.
They might have acted individually and discreetly behind Aymon.
Wouldn’t it be impossible for Aymon to control all animals? 

The moment when she made up her mind and was about to stand up, a raucous disturbance was heard from outside the door.

Sounds of something breaking sharply, loud shouts of knights, and the maids’ piercing scream.
Belinda stiffened in tension as she stood up. 

 

Withstanding the anxiety that crept behind her neck, she held the back of a chair firmly while keeping her eyes on the door.
Shortly after, the door burst open and revealed a Shinsu. 

“…….”

She slowly stepped back toward the window.

The sight behind the beast was horrifying.
The Guest Palace was turned upside down and painted in red.
The knights and the maids were scattered around like broken dolls.

She slowly raised her frightened gaze toward the intruder.

The one she saw in front of her wasn’t Aymon whom she had been waiting for. It was a brown leopard which was approaching her with bloodshot eyes.

Grrrr…..A violent warning resounded low.

It felt different from when she faced a bear in the forest.
Fear sunk in quickly like a calamity.

“Ay….Aymon….”

Calling his name like a habit, Belinda stepped back.

She wanted to run out by the window, but she couldn’t move due to the fear that struck her body.

Is this Shinsu the culprit behind the hideous rumor spread in the Imperial Palace? Why on earth? Does Aymon know about this Shinsu’s atrocities?

However, a human appeared from behind the beast.

“Let’s carry the Princess to the wagon.”

It was Joseph. 

He, who treated the Shinsu like pet cats, approached Belinda.

As Belinda watched him, suddenly she felt a strange sense of deja vu.
But before she could remember anything, her mouth was gagged by the intruder who raided the Guest Palace. 

But before being gagged, she felt something unknown enter her mouth.

 “Uh….mmph!”

She struggled for a while, but she ended up swallowing the unknown substance.
Soon enough, her vision became dark. 

The intruder killed the knights and the maids and left with the unconscious Belinda.
Then she was loaded into a wagon waiting outside.

“Kill her as soon as you leave the capital.”

Recalling Adelai’s order, the horseman swung the whip hastily.
The wagon fled quickly through the dusty wind. 

By the time Belinda’s wagon was far out of the capital, Aymon finally visited the Guest Palace.

He had been killing time in the Shinsu forest aimlessly, but he couldn’t hold it in anymore and came to visit Belinda.

‘As long as I don’t bother you at night.’

He purposely walked there in his human form.
Subduing the steps that were about to become impatient, he tried to reenact in his head what he would do if Belinda kicked him out again.

‘I have to keep hanging on.
I’m going to beg and swear that I won’t do anything.’

Having imagined himself being servile, Aymon smiled satisfactorily.
But his face hardened when he reached the Guest Place.

The smile he had just now cooled down.
There was fish blood scent everywhere.
The smell of death that should not be released near Belinda.

“…….”

Aymon gulped down anxiously.
A fear that he never learned to cope with ever since he was born as a Shinsu, re-emerged.
The same feeling he bore when he met Belinda who stood dangerously in front of the bear.
It resembled the fear of that time.

Aymon turned into his beast form and sprinted toward the Guest Palace.
All the humans in the Guest Palace were dead.
Anxiety spread like poison.

‘Breedee.
Breedee!’

Aymon ran frantically toward where Belinda should be.

He slipped in a pool of blood and stepped on glass shards before arriving at her door, but what greeted him wasn’t her smiling face. 

The window curtain fluttered in the wind and then fell.
There was a mix of heavy breathing and heartbeat sounds.

It was the moment when Aymon’s world was turned upside down.

It felt like the heavy breathing belonged to another person.
He couldn’t even tell whether he was running or staggering.

Aymon ran across the Imperial Palace toward the spire that could be seen from a distance.
The Emperor may know something.
Belinda might have been saved from danger and was in safe hands. 

He was very aware that it was a dangerous situation, but Aymon turned a blind eye to it.
He was holding on to faint hope.

Running recklessly, he barged into the Emperor’s office as if he was attacking. 

「Where’s Breedee.」

The hostility which he did not know who it was directed to erupted like lava.

「If this is your trick, I’ll kill you all.」

Deep in his eyes, anyone could see the blue color sparkling in anger.
It was his shout of desperation because he couldn’t accept Belinda’s disappearance.

Lart and the Emperor, whose space was suddenly invaded, looked dumbfounded.
Shortly after, they jumped out from their seats with a look of bewilderment and confusion. 

“What happened to Belinda?!” Lart shouted.

The Emperor also had the same expression as Lart.
With eyes filled with an unknown fear, he began to approach Aymon.

“What happened to Belinda?”

Aymon’s fear heightened.
The look of terror and concern on their faces were real.
They were surprised by Aymon’s question. 

The faint hope that they might know Belinda’s whereabouts collapsed.

Aymon turned around without giving an answer.
He had to go find Belinda.

Aymon stepped on the ground and started running wildly. 

My mate.

He sprinted toward an unknown place where the imprint mark led him to. 

The Emperor’s fierce voice resounded as Aymon was moving away.

“Go to Belinda’s palace immediately! Find out the truth!”

Everyone’s eyes turned bloodshot to find the missing Princess.

***

The Imperial flag changed to red.
The red color fluttering in the wind meant the Imperial Palace was in danger. 

Someone attacked the Imperial Palace and kidnapped a member of the Imperial Family.
The attacker ransacked the Imperial Palace and killed the servants and the knights.
It was treason.

The people outside the palace were anxious at the sight of the flag. They were certain that something happened inside the Imperial Palace, but nothing was announced so far.
The nobles weren’t summoned either.

Everyone was swallowing their anxiety because they couldn’t grasp this situation at all.

“The servants, the maids, and the knights were all dead, and we couldn’t find the Princess!”

The Emperor clenched his fists when he heard the knight who delivered news about the Guest Palace.

“After sealing up the Guest Palace and blocking the news from going out, find traces of Belinda!”

“Yes Sir!”

The knights rushed outside.

The Emperor clenched his teeth, placing his hand on the armchair to pick up his breath.
Belinda has really been kidnapped.
Anxiety completely enveloped him.

First, he ordered his men to prevent the news from going out.
The red flags were raised, but he hadn’t gathered everyone for an emergency meeting. 

“…….”

The Emperor looked up carefully.

At the end of his gaze, he could see Lart barely able to suppress his nervousness.
Lart looked like he wanted to rush out right away, but since he could not, he seemed anxious.

The Emperor’s eyes moved slowly to the side.
Next to Lart, Adelai stood up straight.
She looked clueless, as if finding this situation strange and not understanding it. 

“What’s the matter, Your Majesty?”

The Princess pretended to be anxious as she spoke to the Emperor.
She appeared puzzled as her father had been looking only at her even though she had been silent all this time.