MHHC Chapter 14

Imitation

Yanik had apparently disappeared tactfully at some point. In the continued silence, Adelheid kept looking at her feet before gathering courage to glance up. Valentin seemed to be pondering the meaning of her words carefully.

"......"

During this time, Adelheid examined Valentin closely. His handsome face had proper color, and his slightly lowered eyelashes cast pleasant shadows on his cheeks. His undulating Adam's apple and steady breathing, the body warmth she could feel from standing close—all tangible sensations.

Every 'sign' she felt from him was that of a living person itself. She couldn't find even a trace of ominousness or evil monster.

'I borrowed and wore Greta's necklace that was blessed by the High Priest, but he doesn't seem bothered at all.'

Valentin was even still lightly holding her elbow.

'If an evil power had taken root and revived His Grace, there's no way not a single one of all those priests guarding the coffin wouldn't have noticed.'

She thought coldly.

'Just look at how, right after he awakened, the priest dabbed holy water on His Grace's forehead and offered blessings. If he were a monster, he couldn't have been so calm.'

The suspicions that had surged up were gradually worn away before rational memories. If a monster really had entered Valentin's body, such smooth recovery wouldn't make sense in the first place.

Ansgar was a family that received Morig's affection. Sacredness that evil things couldn't dare approach was passed down through generations to the heirs. Magic and sacred power were forces of opposite nature, so if an unlucky, foolish monster had taken root, there would have been problems long ago if there were going to be any.

'It was an overly sensitive thought from the start.'

Adelheid exhaled a sigh of relief.

'I've never heard of a monster penetrating Morig's Veil. The beasts suddenly causing chaos also makes sense if I think it's because of another monster that approached near the outer wall.'

As she regained reason, embarrassment increasingly welled up. To make such a fuss summoning hunting dogs, frightened by superstition. Her ears burned with shame.

'Perhaps just this once, Greta was mistaken? Of course His Grace has changed enough to be surprising, but he might have changed while living on the battlefield. Greta's neck might not have been a monster's doing either. The possibility that the healer confirmed it incorrectly...'

"Adele."

She had been lost in thought with narrowed brows when she finally came to her senses after her face was grabbed. Valentin's large hands lightly pressed and lifted both her cheeks.

His face looked anxious somehow.

"Ah."

Adelheid looked back with puzzled eyes, then realized she'd been completely absorbed in her own thoughts with him right in front of her. It was unguarded to the point of being rude. Adelheid's cheeks instantly flushed hot.

"I'm sorry. I've been rather distracted today..."

"......"

"Um, how are you feeling?"

His shapely lips moved as if trying to answer. The voice that barely escaped was as small as a murmur. Adelheid tilted her head without expecting to hear proper words. Since awakening, the only thing he'd pronounced properly was 'Adelheit.'

It had been that way until now, so she casually assumed it would be the same now.

"Al, ways... men, tal..."

"Your Grace?"

"There. Bo, dy is..."

Though unclear, the words had meaning. Adelheid's eyes widened in surprise. The person who hadn't been able to pronounce a single word even this morning was now uttering words that sounded fairly like speech. The reason she could guess was only one.

Adelheid grabbed his sleeve in delight.

"You definitely just spoke. Didn't you?"

"Me, mory... retur, ning..."

"You must rest immediately and have yourself examined first. Wait, just a moment please. I'll call the butler."

As soon as Adelheid hurriedly stepped forward, Valentin grabbed her wrist. Her body lurching forward was caught and pulled back, losing balance. She was about to crash into the stone wall. Adelheid reflexively squeezed her eyes shut just before impact.

"......"

A heavy impact struck her shoulder. But the pain she'd expected was barely felt. Only after opening her closed eyes could Adelheid understand why.

Just before colliding with the wall, Valentin had wedged his hand between her shoulder and the wall.

"Goodness."

Adelheid grabbed Valentin's hand in alarm to examine it first. It had been crushed between a protruding stone wall and her shoulder. The back of Valentin's hand was torn to shreds, blood seeping out drop by drop.

The color instantly drained from Adelheid's lips. It would have been better if her shoulder had hit instead. Her face contorted with guilt.

"The, the wound is severe. Your hand will be completely... It must hurt a lot?"

Valentin himself seemed indifferent to the wound on his hand, his attitude unconcerned. He seemed not to even feel pain.

"...Good, ness."

He finally spoke, gazing down at Adelheid as she busily examined his hand. Adelheid's head snapped up. An inarticulate, unclear voice continued again.

"Wound is, se, vere. Your hand, will... com, pletely, hurt, a lot?"

"...Your Grace?"

"Yooour, Graaace..."

Adelheid finally realized that Valentin was repeating her words. She blinked in bewilderment, still facing him.

'So right now, what exactly is... this situation?'

Before she could fully understand the situation, Valentin moved nimbly to grab her arm. As if he had predicted what Adelheid would do next.

In an instant, a long shadow fell over her head.

"......"

The corridor was dark with no light except torches stuck sporadically in the walls. Valentin's bright yellow eyes were vivid even in the darkness, as if rimmed with gold. The moment she saw them, icy chills ran down her spine.

Could human eyes possibly be like that?

Instinct whispered. This is a beast beyond your control, so run away.

Adelheid shook off Valentin's grip on her arm and hurriedly backed away. But as much as she widened the distance, Valentin closed it again.

"...Don't, don't come... Please..."

It was a tense standoff. They repeated this several times. It would have looked ridiculous to anyone watching. But the moment Adelheid's back touched the wall, she felt terrible fear. He had cornered her from the beginning.

Like a beast hunting prey...

Now there was nowhere left to retreat. Adelheid turned her head in resignation.

"...Hh."

Her heart pounded rapidly as if thrashing about. Her breathing grew as short as if she'd been sprinting at full speed. Suddenly, a sneer from her half-sister Charlotte came vividly to mind.

'They say in Bitzleben, there's been a monster since ancient times that mimics human speech.'

'......'

'Don't listen carelessly—engrave it deeply. Since you're so incompetent, I worry you might not distinguish between monster and human and sully your own honor.'

The Shadow that mimics human speech. The Dragon of Bitzleben. The doubts she'd barely suppressed as delusion and overreaction flooded over like a bursting dam. It was a ridiculous sight, but Adelheid didn't even have the presence of mind to laugh at herself.

"......"

He slowly extended his arm as if blocking even her last escape route, trapping Adelheid between his body and the stone wall.

Adelheid was completely buried in his shadow, seized by extreme terror.

"Ah..."

She gasped, leaning against the wall behind her. Her mind rang out sharp warnings that she should push him away and run right now.

But her body absolutely wouldn't obey. The fear that sharp teeth would bite into her nape the moment she turned her back froze her entire body.

At that moment, Valentin reached his hand toward her neck. He lightly grasped Adelheid's violently rising and falling Adam's apple with his right hand. Adelheid let out a short moan in surprise.

"Hh."

Contrary to expectation, there was no strength in Valentin's hand. It was an extremely careful touch, as if holding a fragile bird.

She could feel warm body heat from his large hand. She felt the pulsing beat colliding with his firm palm and bouncing back. Adelheid gradually calmed down.

Their gazes met.

Absurdly, even in this moment, Valentin was beautiful. He tilted his head at an angle as if pleading for affection.

"Adele. Words, woords... words."

"......"

"Just, a little... Keep, keep..."

He traced her lips with a yearning gaze. It was close to picking through them obsessively. Only after Valentin parted her lips and repeatedly ran his fingers between her teeth did Adelheid realize what he wanted.

He seemed to think that if he parted her lips, the pretty voice he always heard would come out.

"Mm? Adele."

When Adelheid showed no sign of opening her mouth, he now simply began to plead. Adelheid swallowed the saliva pooled in her mouth with difficulty. She opened her trembling lips and barely forced out a few words.

"I, I don't know what Your Grace wants from me. Why you... repeat my words, I'm too dull to understand at all..."

The gasping, stammering voice sounded twice as pathetic as usual. But Valentin smiled brightly as if even that pleased him.

"Your, Grace... what, want from me, don't, under... stand."

He narrowed his eyes into crescents as he repeated her words. It was almost an attitude of appreciating music or art.

Strength subtly entered Valentin's hand around her neck. As if wanting to feel the vibration of Adelheid's Adam's apple a bit more closely. With his fingertips he traced her lips, savoring her breath nestled between sentences.

Not knowing what terror this brought to her.

"My... words, why... repeat, don't under, stand..."

He paused briefly and gazed steadily at Adelheid. His gaze flowed deliberately from her face to her nape, her gasping chest, and her trembling hands. Only then did he seem to notice 'Adelheid's' condition.

The gaze that rose again met pale green eyes wet with moisture. The last sight Adelheid saw before squeezing her eyes shut was Valentin tilting his head as if puzzled.

"......"

He released the strength from the hand holding Adelheid. As if flustered, he touched his own lips and stepped back several paces from her.

"Don't, under, stand. Words, speech. For, give, ness."

"......"

"Rude, ness. For, give."

After uttering what might have been an apology or something else, he hurried across the corridor and disappeared. Left alone, all strength drained from her body. Adelheid slowly sank to the floor.

'What on earth just happened?'

She was too confused to collect herself. Was it because she'd heard that strange story from Greta right before? She'd felt intense terror at that act of simply imitating words and actions.

Adelheid suddenly remembered the necklace around her neck. Morig's symbol, which was supposed to shatter when something wicked approached, was perfectly intact without a single crack.

'That this is intact means the situation I'm in is one of two things.'

Either His Grace the Grand Duke was definitely an unblemished human, or a monster so powerful it could ignore even Morig's sacred power...

She'd never even heard of the latter. But on the off chance that Valentin was a monster hiding its identity within the castle, there was now only one method.

It was time to write a letter to Father Padre.