Chapter 37

After leaving those words, the man left the tent.

After all footsteps had disappeared, I headed toward the entrance.

Following Riorem’s request, the table set up at the entrance was covered with a coarse-textured cloth.

I recognized it without much difficulty. It was the robe worn by the attendants serving the knights.

“Haha.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

I had worried the crown prince might ignore my message, but I never imagined I’d have to meet him in person.

After lightly finishing my meal, I prepared myself.

The robe’s fabric was so stiff it was hard to put on alone.

Somehow, I managed to wrap the robe around me and waited.

Then, Paletion Danos appeared.

“Hmm, hmm.”

He cleared his throat as if signaling from outside the tent.

‘Not exactly the type suited for a covert operation,’ I thought as I stepped out of the barracks.

Paletion Danos cleverly avoided the places where Riorem’s soldiers were stationed.

With his head bowed low, I followed behind him for a while until we reached the forest boundary.

“His Highness will arrive soon… no, he will come.”

Apparently, Paletion Danos felt awkward having to use honorifics with a slave, and his voice was sheepish.

“If you hear a whistle, return immediately. That means General Riorem has left the area.”

I nodded and walked in the direction he pointed.

The tree the crown prince mentioned was easy to find.

Among the huge cedars, there was one with a bark strip peeled off in a band shape.

‘Since he went so far as to call me out, he must want to be sure.’

He would probably demand a vow, not just a verbal one, but something with real effect.

Whatever he wants, I planned to finish quickly and return.

I wasn’t even Riorem’s master, after all.

If I had to warn him not to provoke Riorem, time would be tight.

Then, unexpectedly, a sound came from the other side of the forest.

Keng! Kengkeng!

The baying of a hunting dog echoed through the quiet forest.

‘That’s strange.’

I involuntarily looked toward the forest.

Because they are thoroughly trained, hunting dogs only behave in ways their owners predict and control.

For example, they don’t scatter toward different targets but chase a single prey together.

However, the hunting dog’s bark coming from the forest was singular—not multiple dogs, but just one dog barking loudly as it ran.

Soon, a beast with dark red fur leapt out from the dense bushes.

It was an unusual color for a hunting dog, so I recognized it quickly.

It was the troublemaker that had made Riorem and me spend a day at a cabin before.

‘Damn.’

I clicked my tongue without realizing it.

The dog’s presence here meant Riorem or his subordinates were nearby.

Without hesitation, I turned back the way I came.

If I returned like this, contact with the crown prince would be unlikely.

Tomorrow was my return day, and there was a banquet tonight anyway.

But it was better than being caught by Riorem or his men.

‘And…’

I glanced back at the hunting dog approaching quickly.

‘No matter how I think about it, that dog isn’t chasing prey, but a familiar scent, isn’t it?’

These kinds of ominous predictions always come true.

I walked quickly, but the hunting dog caught up to me soon.

The red beast blocked my path.

At the same time, a heavy sound came from farther away.

Footsteps chasing the hunting dog.

I didn’t look back.

Damn… I think I know who’d bother bringing a hunting dog that can’t do its job properly and even come personally to catch it.

As if to confirm my suspicion, a sharp sound rang out at the forest boundary.

Piiiiiik!

By now, it was laughable.

It’s always like this.

When something goes wrong, everything falls apart.

A chain of failures stops in the worst possible way.

For me, that was Riorem.“

Crunch. Crunch.

The fast footsteps gradually slowed.

The sound of leaves and dirt underfoot also became slower and slower.

The hunting dog, having found its master, wagged its tail as if glad to see me.

Even though I probably felt no joy at all.

“What is this?”

As expected, Riorem recognized me at once.

“What are you doing here? Why are you outside?”

I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or annoyed that Riorem could see right through me, even through the ragged cloak I wore.

For now, I decided to answer honestly.

Trying to hide anything from Riorem would only deepen his suspicion.

But before I could speak, he snapped sharply:

“Have you come to meet the crown prince?”

Right.

He wanted to be certain if I was really going to stay by his side.

That answer didn’t come out of my mouth.

Before I even opened it, Riorem grabbed my wrist and started pulling me along.

‘Come to think of it, maybe I didn’t need to answer at all.’

The fact that I had made it through surveillance to the forest meant there was an accomplice.

If someone like me, who doesn’t enjoy hunting, came this far, it could only be because of someone else in this hunting ground.

I was dragged back into the forest.

Riorem roughly pushed me against a tree trunk even larger than the oak from before.

Thud.

He roughly pulled off my hood.

“Why?”

Riorem asked.

“Why have you come to see the crown prince? What is your reason?”

His voice was agitated, questioning me intensely.

It was an ominous sign. Riorem, when this excited, always chose the most unreasonable course of action.

Panting heavily, Riorem muttered in a low voice:

“I am your master.”

That deep tone, boiling up like an abyss, pierced my ears.

“Where you belong is by my side.”

Saying that, Riorem grabbed both my wrists and fixed them above my head.

It looked exactly like a captured prey hung up.

“You know this isn’t the first time I’ve told you this.”

He pulled out a dagger tied to his waist.

Screeeech.

The overlapping layers of my robe tore with a sharp sound.

“No matter how many times I say it, it seems you forget. This time, I’ll make it very clear.”

Riorem whispered in a gentle voice.

But I wasn’t fooled.

The anger and heat flickering in his blue eyes didn’t match the softness of his tone.

As expected, Riorem chose an unpredictable action.

It began with biting my ears and neck, leaving teeth marks.

He bit persistently at the exposed skin while binding my hands.

If his teeth had been sharper, he might have bitten off chunks of flesh.

I silently accepted the sensation and thought that the small irritation was spreading, gradually increasing in range.

When the breath near my collarbone made my waist tremble from sensitivity, he bit my shoulder.

It was a caress that seemed to carve his presence onto every inch of my body.

“Ah… ugh, yes.”

Every breath I took filled my lungs with the cold, damp air of the forest.

It was a peculiar feeling. To have your skin sucked like that in a forest without even the trace of a tent or a person.

Riorem’s hand traveled down my spine.

Although the stimulation could have felt neutral, I sensed it entirely as sensual.

Was it because of the desire emanating from Riorem? Or the unfamiliar situation?

I wasn’t sure, but I was steadily getting wet.

Then, suddenly, a large hand grabbed my buttocks.

“Ah!”

A sharp scream burst out.

The dress I wore under the robe was meant for indoors.

The rough touch was too much for the thin, delicate fabric to filter.

So the heat transmitted through the cloth was fully exposed.

In some ways, it was even more stimulating than bare skin.

That hand kneading my buttocks felt strangely familiar.

A sensation like this but entirely different had awakened a burning point deep inside me.

Then Riorem pushed the flesh under my buttocks upward.

Between the slightly parted mounds, I felt wetness trickling down.

Sure enough, my body remembered the strange pleasure I felt when my buttocks were touched.

Riorem must have noticed it too, but he showed no reaction.

Normally, he would have sneered something like “Your body remembers well.”

By now, I was curious why he was so uneasy.