Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 58: Murder In The Inn (3)

’’When these creatures first appeared, we consistently raised complaints to make this matter reach the capital. And it seemed like the matter did reach their ears but they merely sent two envoys and two useless exorcists who perished not long after. After that, our pleas fell on deaf ears,’’ The demon answered Azrael

Some of the other demons echoed his words.

When Lareina looked at Azrael, she only caught a fleeting change in his expressions before it quickly disappeared. A wild conjecture was forming at the back of her head and she wondered if he was also thinking the same way.

The innkeeper punched his chest in grief as he spoke, ’’The great commander should never have spared those pests. Rather, he should have annihilated their entire realm so we would not have faced a day like this. Today, it was my poor brother and tomorrow, it could be any of us who knows!’’

’’This might not necessarily be the doing of a ghost or the humans,’’ At Azrael’s words, the entire crowd parted and turned to look their way.

And suddenly, they were under the spotlight. The glares from everyone seemed to be piercing this time around. If it was before, they still kindly explained the circumstances to Azrael thinking that the man was new here and he was naive about these affairs. But now, they must be thinking he was defending the humans.

He always seemed to have a silver tongue that made every situation turn into his favor. But he suddenly seemed so inflexible now. It was as if he was determined to incur the public’s wrath by his insensibility.

Lareina closed her eyes and distanced herself from the man by taking a few discreet steps back. She had impulsively offered her life on a silver platter tonight but in any case, he had not killed her so it was up to her to protect her delicate life. So, she completely did not feel guilty for abandoning her troublemaker husband in the middle of an angry crowd.

However, Lareina had just stepped back when from her angle, she caught a clearer glimpse of the corpse of the local guide and her eyes narrowed. Her expressions returned to normal within a split second and she looked away but she did not notice Azrael’s gaze lingering on her right in that moment.

Somewhere far in the darkness, Astra snickered, ’’Look... look... Lady Lareina has stepped back and disassociated from His Highness completely. His Highness has it coming.’’

Rune’s lips twitched as he quietly shot her a stare that seemed to state ’Exactly whose subordinate are you?’

’’Huh? Where did this arrogant man even come from?" one of the demons in the crowd expressed his displeasure at Azrael’s statement.

’’Who knows? I think we should report this to officials.’’

’’That’s right! He might be in cahoots with those disgusting humans...’’

Voices of dissent grew further and further and people closed in on Azrael as if they would smother him in the crowd.

Standing isolated from the chaos, Lareina stroked her chin and looked up at the moon that was once again hiding between the clouds. A soft yawn had just escaped her mouth when Azrael’s calm voice sounded.

’’You don’t believe me, do you?’’ The man’s stance was completely cocky and unbothered, ’’But I need to tell you that I have an expert here with me who can provide you with evidence to back my words.’’

Suddenly, Lareina’s eyelids twitched and the yawn seemed to have climbed back, making her choke a little. She coughed twice and stroked her twitching eyelids.

’’Nonsense! An expert? Are you taking us for fools? How can we not notice if such a master was here?"

’’Right! Who even is the expert amongst us?"

’’Naturally, the expert I am talking about is my wife!" Unabashedly, the second prince pointed his hand towards the said wife who had long assumed the role of a passerby. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Three ominous crows flew over Lareina’s head as she looked at Azrael in utter disbelief.

But the man did not give her a chance to say a single word as he walked towards her and led her towards the cold corpse of the local guide.

’’You... stop right there! That’s my brother. You cannot just experiment with his body at will,’’ the pot-bellied innkeeper blocked their path.

However, before Azrael could say anything, another demon spoke up, ’’This brother just said that his wife is an expert. Can you please tell us who this esteemed master is?’’ His voice was half questioning but still respectful as if he was afraid of offending some big shot.

"My wife is the niece of the previous imperial coroner. Naturally, she is an expert.’’

Lareina’s lips twitched violently. This black-bellied man felt no sense of shame in pitting her under such circumstances.

Suddenly, she realized why he had shown such generosity when she had offered him her life. He did not slit her throat then because it would be too simple of a death for her. He wanted her to die little by little under his torments.

However, the audience was not privy to Lareina’s little thoughts. Rather, they were immediately entranced by what Azrael had just said.

Even though Lareina and Azrael were in their disguises, their postures were still straight and their bearing was exceptional. Even if one would not pass them off as a member of royalty, they would still be seen as someone from a decent family.

Especially Lareina who had had minor tweaks done to her appearance looked like a pampered lady of a decent family compared to Azrael who was tall and broad but was covered with scars.

’’Heh~’’ The innkeeper scoffed twice, ’’Brother, must you insist on defending those filthy humans to the very end? My brother is already dead, why would I want you to torment his body and frame innocent people in order to save those pests?"

Azrael did not say anything and the way his posture was, it seemed to scream—Ask my wife. She takes the decisions here.

Lareina suppressed the tingling rage growing inside her as the crowd’s impatience grew.

’’Men, help me carry my brother’s body away. I will see him off with proper rituals... Also, report this incident as part of the ghost havoc and add it to the complaint list that is being written to be sent to the hospital...’’

’’We do not want to torment your brother’s body but you seem to be in a rush to get him out of our sight.’’

The crowd’s attention shifted towards the source of the voice.