Max had recently given up on subduing a magical beast because even someone as close to reaching transcendence as he was still couldn’t fully control the wild creatures. If something were to go wrong, many people— including the targets, Jubelian and Beatrice—would lose their lives.
Although he had always despised his father, his hatred had never reached heights as profound as this. She would be fine as long as his master was around, but... if she got hurt, he was not going to let his father die peacefully. Cruel thoughts filled his mind. Max spurred his horse faster.
Eventually, he was almost at the arena. With a tight grip on the reins, Max stopped his horse. He knew that if he went back now, the emperor would release the beast immediately. He looked toward the basement under the arena. It was obvious where the old man was hiding the wild beast.
Stroking his horse, Max whispered, "Wait here, Nox. Dennis will be here soon."
The clever horse, who had gone through hell and back with its owner, obeyed. She gazed at him as she remained in place. Reminded of how Nox would stare at him like this in the moments before he went into battle, he smiled faintly before turning away.
He needed to stop his father from releasing the beast. He needed to do this for Jubelian.
His crimson eyes shone with determination.
I contemplated whether I should stop Sir Victor from recklessly provoking Mikhail. In the original story, Mikhail was the one who dealt the final blow to the magical beast, and he needed to be a first-class swordsman to defeat such a creature because only mana could inflict a wound deep enough on the beast's protective skin. Amid the confusion, Mikhail would climb onto the beast's back and stab it, becoming the winner of the hunting competition. Then, he would confess to Beatrice by dedicating the winning prize to her.
I turned to Beatrice. Then, I took in her disgusted face and smiled. Since a lot had changed, it was unclear whether a magical beast would appear today or not. What was certain, though, was that Mikhail was a first-class swordsman. Therefore, I tried to stop Victor and Mikhail from arguing any further.
However, before I could, someone intervened, prompting them to retract their blades. Seemingly frightened by the fierce gaze he was now on the receiving end of, Mikhail grew silent.
Serves him right, I thought contentedly.
The man giving Mikhail a death stare turned around and looked at me. After finding the person I had been waiting to see all this time, I beamed and gave him a warm greeting. "Dad!" I chirped happily.
I was about to approach him when Mikhail suddenly shouted at me urgently. "Jubelian!"
I gave him a dirty look. What did he want now?
His voice was low. "Please, don't go. It would be dangerous to go back to the arena now," he said.
I thought of dismissing his words as nonsense, but by the look in his eyes, I could tell he was serious. Taken aback, I briefly wondered if there was something I didn’t know about.
Then, a voice tore my attention away.
"Jubelian,” my father called.
Perhaps I was imagining things, but his eyes looked even colder than usual somehow. It didn’t feel like I could approach him as easily. However, he extended a hand out to me and said, "Let’s go back.”
I looked at him for a moment before giggling. In the past, I had always mistaken his expressions for indifference or scorn. Feeling sorry, I locked my arms with him and gazed up at him. He smiled faintly.
I knew it. I was just imagining things. I turned around to return to the arena.
"You’ll regret it," Mikhail shouted after me, still trying to stop me.
Ignoring him, I rested my head against Dad's arm. Everything was going to be okay now that he was back.
Count Pyrex had been someone the emperor could discard at any time. As a result, the nobleman had been ill-informed of the plan.
"His Majesty didn’t tell me where the beast was hidden. However, I know that the beast would be released once the flare signal goes off,” he had said. Because of this, Max had ordered his subordinates to fire the signals. Aware of his father’s nature, he knew the man would be preoccupied by now.
The emperor was a perfectionist, so it was obvious that he would only let the beast out once all of his safety measures were secured. Now that the signal was fired, Max believed that once he showed up at the arena, the beast would be freed. Therefore, he sneaked into the basement of the stadium.
He still continued to glance back occasionally, however, because he couldn’t stop worrying about Jubelian. He kept wondering if she was okay. He tried to shake her off his mind, but he couldn't help her place in it.
Eventually, he managed to soothe his nerves.
It would be fine, he told himself. Master is by her side.
Suppressing the urge to run to her immediately, he scanned his surroundings. Then, he remembered that he wasn’t wearing his armor. It wasn’t that he was reluctant to expose his appearance to the nobles, but rather that he wouldn’t be able to protect Jubelian properly if she were ever put in danger. With his face exposed, the emperor would be able to gauge the full extent of his feelings for her. If he revealed that he was affected, there was a chance that his father would send more threats to her in the future.
However, if he stopped the beast from leaving the cage in the first place, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. Max planned to remove those standing guard at the beast's cage and lock the doors leading aboveground.
Was it here? He swallowed nervously once he reached the tall iron bars before him. The beast should be in there...
Tensing up, he carefully observed the cage’s interior. Then, his eyes widened. It wasn’t here and the door was open.
Max wondered if the beast had already been set free before he realized that there were no guards in the basement. What in the world happened here? He hastily looked around and noticed that the door had been broken by force.
A faint groan emanated from the distance. "Ugh... Please... Help me..."
Max headed toward the direction the sound was coming from and frowned once he reached its source: a knight that was drenched in blood. He was missing the bottom half of his body. Was he still alive? Was he hit by a sword? No, it looked like he was bitten by an animal...