One Day My Sister Died - chapter 29

**Chapter 29: The Hunted Beast**

Regina stared at the monster prince’s normal half of his face and then glanced at Drakecup, suddenly realizing that he truly resembled a horse’s head.

“Unbelievable. Did I really try to seduce that guy all this time?”

Just last night, she had been thrilled at the thought of tricking Drakcup Trelawney into an engagement, thinking she might bring the estate under her control—especially compared to Louise and Yuan, who had both ended up marrying monsters.

“This is so unfair.”

What would Yuan Felice think of her, standing next to Drakecup Trelawney?

The exiled prince, Claude Yufrees, who covered his scarred half with a mask, seemed all the more mysterious because of it.

Regina’s impression of Claude had changed drastically from the first day to the second, just like her impression of this mansion.

“No. No, this can’t be.”

As Regina compared Claude and Drakecup, despairing, she locked eyes with Yuan’s uneasy gaze, and suddenly, her fighting spirit surged.

She furiously jabbed at her breakfast with her fork, shoveling food into her mouth.

“No matter how beautiful, he’s still just half a man.”

A man with no title who can’t even step outside without a mask is no comparison to Drakecup.

Regina tried her best to cling to that line of thinking, just as she had yesterday, suppressing the sudden flashes of annoyance that kept bubbling up.

If she thought about it, the most pitiful one here was Yuan Felice, sweating bullets while trying to act calm. Dressed in bright clothes that didn’t suit him, he looked like a crow.

Uncomfortable as it was, she had to accompany Drakecup Trelawney to the entrance of the debutante ball.

Who knows? Perhaps a more decent man would approach her, encouraged by the sight of Drakecup by her side.

For now, Regina set aside the debutante ball and forced herself to focus on her parents, who were glaring at Yuan as though they wanted to kill him.

She was going crazy with frustration. Why on earth did her father need that girl Yuan so much, and what had she stolen from them? He never told her anything.

Her mother was just as puzzling, secretly hoping for Yuan’s return whenever she struggled with the account books. It was as if everything would have been easier if that girl had been there.

Regina’s irritated gaze drifted past the exiled prince and his bride and landed on Bolonico, the first prince standing next to the emperor.

And then—

“!”

The moment her eyes met his intense blue ones, Regina froze.

The first prince, Bolonico, who looked like a doll, smiled warmly at her, as if he were truly pleased to see her.

That smile was like a ray of light for Regina, who had only received brief nods of acknowledgment from the horse-faced Drakecup.

***

As soon as breakfast ended, about 50 horses were lined up at the mansion’s entrance, neighing impatiently.

The reason? The doll-like first prince, Bolonico, had suggested a hunting game.

People who had wanted to explore the mansion, rumored to be haunted, quickly changed into appropriate attire and headed for the entrance. At the end of the group, Claude appeared.

Just like when he first greeted the emperor yesterday, Claude wore his mask and showed his wax-like face, as if the chaotic events of the previous night had never happened.

The emperor, already mounted on his horse, observed Claude before speaking as soon as he saw him climb onto his horse.

“You must be enjoying your honeymoon, Claude.”

“……”

“I heard the attendants had to endure quite some embarrassing noises all night.”

“……”

“Even in your crow-like state, you’re still a man after all.”

A tiny crack appeared on Claude’s delicate, ice-sculpted face, and the emperor laughed with glee.

The others, unaware of Claude’s slightly shaken expression or the horrors of the previous night, praised the emperor for his wit and rode off behind him.

Claude, who was now practically a puppet on a string, finally recalled what had happened at dawn—Yuan visiting him.

He had cornered her against the wall, threatened her.

He also remembered embracing her as she apologized and asked for forgiveness.

“Did I really embrace her at that moment?”

The violent exiled prince, Claude Yufrees, had spent a steamy night with his ninth bride after inviting numerous guests to his home.

As he galloped through the cold winter forest, those rumors swirled around him, rattling him to the core.

Claude gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by the shame he’d felt the previous night and the self-loathing that had hit him hard that morning.

It was only later that he realized how light his body felt, despite the blurry memory of the night and the humiliation.

Once again, he had taken Yuan Felice’s medicine and succumbed to her.

How long had he been riding now?

**Claude faced the cruel smile of his uncle, who aimed a grotesquely twisted hunting arrow, meant for monsters, directly at him.**

The question of why his uncle was pointing such a weapon at him didn’t even come to mind.

All that surfaced in his thoughts was last night—when he grabbed his uncle’s shoulder, stopping him from advancing on his wife. He remembered his uncle’s furrowed brow in that fleeting moment.

Claude stood motionless amidst the chaotic sounds: the terrifying whistle of the arrow cutting through the wind, and the voices around him shouting, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Not that way!” It was an arrow he neither could nor wanted to avoid.

***

“The emperor has gone mad!”

The shrill scream of Priscilla Felice, Countess of Felice, echoed through the garden of the black mansion.

The moment she saw the exiled prince, Claude Yufrees, brought back with the hunted beasts, his body battered and his mask torn off, she hid behind her husband, trembling.

She couldn’t help but scream at the sight of Claude’s mutilated body and unmasked face.

“How could he do such a thing?”

“Quiet, Priscilla.”

“Husband! You went with them, why didn’t you stop it? If you went hunting, then just hunt the beasts! Why, why—”

“You think I didn’t try to stop it?!”

The count lowered his voice, watching the emperor dismount his horse without a trace of remorse, even as Claude was carried inside on a stretcher.

His eyes, bloodshot with rage, glared at the emperor. But fearing that their eyes might meet, he quickly bowed his head.

“If you’d seen that face—shooting his own nephew with that monstrous arrow—you wouldn’t say such things! Opposing him is certain death.”

The count, still whispering, wiped the sweat off his hands by rubbing them vigorously against his clothes.

The emperor had casually tossed the hunted animals to be roasted for his nephew’s recovery and then, with a snide remark—“Since the master of the house is injured, I suppose the party is off for today”—he ordered preparations to depart.

Just as the butler, Gustav, hurried out, Yuan appeared behind him. The sight made the count’s face turn crimson.

The whole reason he attended the party was to meet Yuan, as she was family to the exiled prince.

But now they would be leaving with nothing to show for it. Unacceptable.

“We need to leave! I can’t stay here any longer. It’s too dangerous!”

“I have to speak with Yuan first!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The emperor is right there—”

Yuan, standing pale as a ghost in the mansion’s doorway, watched the chaos as servants hastily prepared for the guests’ departure.

Emperor Igor, full of confidence, approached Yuan and brazenly embraced her as he said his goodbyes. He even seemed to nibble at her earlobe.

The emperor, grinning as he watched her face turn from pale white to sickly blue, let out a chuckle. When told everything was ready, he nonchalantly turned and mounted his horse.

Pushing his way past the other Felice family members scrambling into their carriage, the count rushed over to Yuan.

“Yuan! Don’t you realize how dangerous this place is? You need to get a divorce, now!”

Yuan, pulling herself together, took a step back.

She saw Doctor Vile hurrying up the stairs.

She couldn’t shake the unease she felt when the butler sent her outside to bid farewell to the emperor—Claude must have been hurt.

Just before the long procession left, her uncle’s face came close, desperate to say one last thing.

“Yuan!”

“This is my home now. What are you talking about?”

Her mind was too scattered to fear him.

After facing Emperor Igor for two days, she now realized how utterly insignificant and small the uncle she once feared truly was.

Yuan scrubbed the places the emperor had touched her, her eyes sharp with anger.

“Go. This is my home now. You have no right to tell me what to do.”

Her uncle, desperate, clenched his jaw so hard it seemed his eyes would pop out.

“You’re delusional. How could this be your home?”

“Leave.”

“Your husband, that monster, killed your sister!”

As Yuan froze in her tracks, the Count’s warning voice grew more insistent.

“Do you think your sister just died of natural causes? Before her, seven other brides entered this mansion. Do you think they all just ran away? Some of them died! Claude Yufrees, that exiled prince, turns into a monster at night and goes mad! What do you think he did to his wives? Your sister, too, came to this mansion! And what happened? She died!”

The Count took another step toward Yuan.

“Do you understand? The one who killed your sister could be the very man you’re calling your husband! Stop blaming the wrong person, Yuan Felice! How could you sever ties with your own family? That’s outrageous! I’m your real family—me, your aunt, and your cousins! No matter how much you hate us, you can’t break the bonds of blood! That’s a disgrace to your lineage!”

It was shameless of him to say such things, considering he now served the emperor who had ascended to the throne by abandoning his own nephew and son.

Yuan shook her head, trying to quell the rising wave of anxiety. This wasn’t the time to argue with her uncle.

She turned away, attempting to head upstairs, but her uncle grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her.

“The emperor ‘hunted’ your husband! Something about him must have displeased the emperor. That’s how he operates—if someone even slightly bothers him, he’ll humiliate or kill them! He never lets things go! Do you really think you’ll be happy, running away from your family to live next to a hunted monster, feeding off his suffering?”

“Anything is better than suffering on behalf of people I have nothing to do with.”

“You—!”

The Count’s face, already red, turned an even deeper shade of crimson, and then paled, as if the blood had drained entirely from his face.

“You—have you revealed your powers?”