Rosie's Games

Chapter 54: The Beast 1

"Since coming back, the Prince has been different," Emperor Nicholaus sat down. He just arrived from the palace to close the hunting event. "Were you able to find out what happened to those people?"

"I did not anticipate that the Duke would find out about the plan," Federico said. As always he had a calm expression on his face, but he could no longer hide the anger in his voice. "It was my mistake."

"Your Blessedness, the only one who made a mistake was the Duke," Emperor Nicholaus comforted. "The knights were able to confirm that there were two mangled bodies that belonged to the servants and they ruled it as an animal attack. On the other hand, they couldn't find any traces of any other people inside the forest."

"It must be the Duke," Federico said. "He must have done something"

"Then does that mean your granddaughter is somehow involved?"

"Rosalind is nothing but a stupid woman who thinks that she is now favored by the Duke. The child is smitten, thinking that finally, someone was giving her the attention that she needs. She is nothing more than a disposable pawn."

"Aren't you going to do something about her then?"

"There will be actions that I need to do, but for now I do not want to focus on that woman. She is not the enemy. It was the one who is defending her from the shadows."

"Duke Lucas is indeed very smart." Emperor Nicholaus uttered. "The love between a barbarian and a lady who had been abandoned by her family is the thing of stories," the Emperor sneered.

The man was able to use someone from the Lux Family as a shield and now, all the nobles could only see the Duke's sweet gestures towards the woman that he 'liked'. The reputation of the Duke was slowly changing.

All the women were gossiping about the Duke and Rosalind's forbidden romance. Now, if Federico should somehow break apart this 'couple', he would become the antagonist to their pure love story.

Again, this was the Duke's method of putting pressure on the crown. He wanted the crown to give in to his demands.

The Emperor always thought that they could easily manipulate the Duke by framing him, making the people who already feared him, scorned his very presence.

It seems that they made the wrong move.

The two stopped talking when the Duke approached them, greeting both of them with a warm smile on his face. Seeing his dashing smile, the Emperor could not help but wonder what he was up to this time.

"That was a pleasant event," the Duke said. One attendant found a chair for him and he sat opposite the Emperor. On the other hand, Federico got up and respectfully stood behind the Emperor. "I believe the strength of the nobles is quite good."

"These people had been learning swordsmanship since they were young. I am glad that the Duke found their skills alright. Though, I am certain that they are not as strong as the Duke's soldiers."

"You are right," the Duke said without an iota of humbleness. "We cannot send these nobles to fight, it would be a shame to see them die on the battlefield."

The Emperor nodded cordially.

"What of the Duke's gains this time? I heard some nobles were able to kill a demonic animal," the Emperor said.

"There were small demonic animals," the Duke said. 'Nothing that would warrant fear to the people."

"Even smaller ones can infect someone," the Emperor said. "A dark curse from an animal is still a dark curse."

"I agree," the Duke said.

"If the Duke is interested, Princess Isabel is still unconscious. His Blessedness already looked at her wounds."

"Ah" the Duke looked away, clearly not interested to hear what the Emperor had to say. To some, this action was extremely disrespectful. But

"AHHHHHHHHHH A demon!"

A shrill scream interrupted the peaceful atmosphere in the encampment. A loud bang followed by more panicky screams ensued.

Knights immediately surrounded the Emperor and Federico, escorting them to safety.

"Duke Lucas! Where are you going!?" the Emperor screamed. "You must come with us!"

His words were too late as the Duke already vanished in front of them. He immediately looked at Federico but before he could say a word, a loud growl echoed.

"Fight the beast!" someone shouted.

"Run! It's too big!"

"Protect the Emperor and his Blessedness!"

"Protect the Emperor!"

Cries of surprise echoed as chaos started inside the encampment. Knights with swords were running towards the tent where a large animal with a lion's head, wings that should belong to a bird, and a body of a horse, was currently wreaking havoc.

"How did it get here!?" the Emperor asked but none of them answered. Not even Federico had the answer to his question.

Protected by more than ten knights, the group ran away from where the animal was.

"Go! Leave us here! You must kill"

"Your Majesty! It seems that the Duke is fighting the beast!" one of the knights informed him. Hearing this, the Emperor gritted his teeth. He met Federico's gaze before he pushed the two knights that were blocking his view aside.

He stepped back and narrowed his eyes at the current fight not far away from him.

However, his gaze was not exactly on the Duke and his large blazing sword, it was on the body of the woman not far away from where the Duke and the beast were fighting.

"Isn't that"

"I know, " Federico said as he gritted his teeth, his expression grim. The woman was none other than Rosalind Lux and she looked unconscious from afar.

Earlier, the scream came from the direction of the tent where the Duke was staying and that was the reason why the Duke ran away without saying a word. He must have noticed that the animal came to attack his tent.

"Did you say that the Duke escorted Rosalind Lux to his tent?" the Emperor asked.

Federico nodded.

The two of them frowned, their thoughts swirling. What were the odds that a creature like this would appear here? What were the odds that no one else could fight against the creature other than the Duke? What were the odds that the creature would appear next to Rosalind Lux, giving the Duke a reason to fight the creature with his life?