He was taller than me, yet his face was buried into my shoulder. I wondered what other people thought of us. If they knew that he was crying, they would be shocked, but I thought his actions were nothing short of lovable.
"Don't cry, Max," I whispered, patting his back.
"I was afraid that I would lose you,” he responded sorrowfully.
I was too. I was frightened that I wouldn't be able to spend any more time with him or Dad. I was terrified to think that my life would come to an end like this. Swallowing those words back, however, I stroked his tear-stained cheek.
He pressed his forehead against mine.
"I'm sorry,” he whispered. Sincerity laced his voice. "I will never let you go through something so scary ever again.”
I looked up and met his eyes.
"Get your filthy hands off her right now, commoner. Otherwise, I will behead you."
Surprised, I looked toward the source of the sudden interruption. Mikhail was pointing his blade at Max.
"Mikhail, what do you think you’re—" I stopped myself. Max was my lover, and I wanted to protect him, but the problem was…
"Don't worry about it," Max whispered, gently placing his index finger against my lips.
Then, he turned to Mikhail. "Strike me if you can."
Mikhail was aware that he was doing something reckless. Nonetheless, he proceeded to attack the beast because of his petty greed. He believed that if he showed Jubelian that he could inflict a critical blow upon it, she would return to her former passionate self.
The result of his folly was disastrous.
He felt his heart sink when he saw her lying helplessly on the ground, pinned down by the beast's front paws. All of this had been for her... His amethyst eyes obsessively captured every part of her.
If only she came back, he thought. I would treat her well.
Mikhail fantasized about hugging and kissing her—about sharing each other's warmth every night. He pledged to whisper to her all the sweet words in existence. Everything he hadn’t told her before. Once her lovely face and beautiful body were his again, everything would be fine, yet she had willfully sacrificed her life just for the sake of the princess.
Don't joke with me here, he silently fumed. You can't die without my permission!
Gathering his remaining strength, he tried to get up. However, the beast's gaping maw was rapidly approaching her. Despair stained the knight's face. Unable to say anything when faced with the horrific situation, he let out a silent scream.
Just then, something appeared in a flash. At the arrival of a man covered in a black cloak, the beast stopped what it was doing and took a defensive stance. Why was it doing that? Who the hell was that person? Mikhail's eyes widened once he recognized the man's face. This was Jubelian's lover—the commoner. Did he participate in the competition as well?
Infuriated, Max kicked the dire wolf's body. Unexpectedly, the beast fell helplessly at the impact. Now on its side, the dire wolf jerked once. It didn’t stand back up.
How did he do that? He reminded Mikhail of...
"However, after seeing how all of you conceited fools are trying to manipulate my daughter, I have reached the limit of my patience.”
Witnessing power great enough that it was comparable to that of Duke Floyen, someone who destroyed a mansion with his bare hands, Mikhail shuddered.
"Max," Jubelian said, her voice mournful.
She fell into his embrace. Shame and resentment washed over Mikhail. How could a commoner like him...
Mikhail used to be her lover. If nothing had changed, he would have defeated the beast and he would have been holding her in his arms by now.
How dare you... take what is mine? he thought angrily.
Furious, he forced himself to get up and approach the couple. Using his uninjured hand, he pointed the sword at the commoner.
"Get your filthy hands off her right now, commoner. Otherwise, I will behead you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Max looked back with menace in his eyes. He smirked. "Strike me if you can."
Mikhail was enraged. To him, it seemed that the commoner was being overly confident since Jubelian was by his side. Did that lowly thing underestimate him? He pointed his blade up to attack the arrogant commoner’s neck.
However, he soon felt something tightening his body. His legs began trembling. What was this? Damn it! He tried to resist the overwhelming pressure, but it was to no avail. In the end, he couldn’t stand the suffocation and plopped onto the ground.
"M-Max. What you did just now...!" Jubelian cried, bewildered.
The commoner kissed her on the cheek.
"Ah, I didn't want that insignificant bastard to bother you anymore from now on,” he whispered in her ear.
Mikhail's blood boiled at the fact that he had to hear such insults, let alone from a commoner.
You conceited rat, he seethed to himself. I’ll teach you where you belong!
Exasperated, he managed to stand up. As he got ready to swing his fists, however, new voices emerged.
"Are you all right?!"
The crown prince's knights had come rushing in, returning from the hunt.
As expected of the prince's dogs—they were late. Mikhail frowned at this, but then he quickly adopted a sinister smile. Even if he was strong, commoners had an insignificant status. They weren’t protected by the law. No matter how skilled they were, they were treated like mercenaries at best. Given the importance of class, Mikhail could simply dismiss this incident using his social status. It was unfortunate that the crown prince was not among the guards. In any case, Mikhail believed that the knights would side with him.
Pointing his finger at Max, he ordered, "Arrest this man. Right now!"
The captain of the prince's guards wrinkled his nose.
"For what crime do you want us to arrest him?" he asked.
How haughty of him to doubt Mikhail when he was merely the captain of the bodyguards. Mikhail was particularly talented among the royal knights and he was often the subject of envy from others until now, so he decided that Dennis must have been harboring similar feelings.
"This lowly commoner disturbed the subjugation of the dire wolf. He also insulted me, the eldest son of a marquis,” he explained. "If you adhere to chivalrous ways, you must realize that he has committed a felony."
The women, who had been silent until now, opened their mouths in shock.
"This is ridiculous!"
"You are the one who interrupted, Sir Victor!"
Mikhail shook his head. "I originally intended to inflict a critical blow on the dire wolf. This man took the kill away from me, and as if that wasn’t enough, he is now threatening me."