Demon Prince's Forsaken Bride-Chapter 68: Back Then (3)

’’Degrading other women in order to praise me is such flattery that I am unworthy of it. Rosie, close the door,’’ Lareina turned around.

The innkeeper almost cried tears of blood, ’’I was being foolish, My Lady. Please pardon my offense.’’

’’You have a daughter yourself. How can you say such mindless things?" Lareina tilted her head to the side.

’’Yes yes,’’ the man held his potbelly with a hand and gave two tight slaps on his face, afraid of having offended the ’lady expert’ badly, ’’I won’t again. I won’t again.’’

Lareina sighed and turned to me, ’’Tell me, has that maid been meeting somebody in the recent weeks or months?"

’’I... cannot tell,’’ the man was stunned by the question but after thinking for a while, he shook his head, ’’But I can look into it. Maybe it would not be easy but all of us live in this inn so it would not be difficult to find if she had interacted with anyone...’’

"There is no need,’’ A cold voice cut off the innkeeper.

When he turned around, he spotted a tall and broad man walking towards him.

Seeing Azrael, the innkeeper was filled with disdain. In his opinion, how can this scarred, brute-looking and attendant-worthy man deserve such a great woman? At most, he was only worthy of carrying her shoes and doing petty jobs yet such a lecherous man was lusting after a goddess.

Not knowing that he had been labelled as a ’lecherous-attendant-worthy-man’, Azrael glanced at the innkeeper as if he was waiting for him to scram.

The innkeeper merely turned to Lareina, awaiting her orders, not paying the ’husband’ any mind at all.

Lareina glanced at Azrael. As their gazes clashed, the man narrowed his eyes at her.

A long time passed before Lareina turned to the innkeeper, ’’This matter... just drop it.’’

’’Huh? But My Lady, didn’t you say...?"

’’What major motives can an ordinary maid have? I have been overthinking things probably.’’

The innkeeper was only confused for a moment before he thought of something. This great lady was the royal coroner’s niece so all the cases she had seen closely must be high-profile cases with intricate conspiracies which is why she took his brother’s case for a complex one as well.

’’Regardless, I would forever be grateful to you, My Lady,’’ the man hit his chest with fist twice. If not for her, his brother would have died without getting justice.

As the innkeeper passed by Azrael, he shot him a disdainful look that screamed ’You unworthy pest, worship the goddess the moment you see her feet. What are you standing so straight for? Bend over and pray already!’

When Azrael entered the room, Rosie bowed to the man and quietly retreated, closing the door behind her.

Azrael glanced at Lareina, waiting for her to say something but after looking at the man for a while, she turned around and walked to the bed.

’’Didn’t I ask you to stop looking into this matter?"

She had just picked up her book when she heard him speak, ’’Am I supposed to do what you ask me to do?"

The way she questioned him and looked at him with clueless eyes made his throat dry a little.

He could not, for the sake of his life and decades of existence comprehend this woman who looked like a harmful little lamb but was so ready to extract her claws and scratch him like a wild kitten anytime.

’’This is dangerous. The further you stay away from this, the better it will be for you.’’

Lareina closed her book and placed it by the pillow.

Her movements were poised and slow, he noted. And there was even a touch of annoyance on her face as if his presence was very much unwelcomed.

But he still welcomed himself and sat on the chair next to the bed, watching her.

She paused, frowned as she gazed at his chair and him and then looked away again, ’’This place is full of perils and since I am here, I don’t dream of going unharmed.’’

’’The person is dead and so is the murderer. What could you possibly get by delving any further into this case?"

’’The truth.’’

’’What does the truth of this matter have to do with you?" Azrael felt a massive headache looking at the woman’s aloof face. It did not seem like anything he said would make its way to her considering the way she treated his words as entirely ’insignificant’.

’’The truth of this matter will give me a sense of completion.’’

A sense of completion? Azrael’s lips twitched as he looked at her undecipherable face.

’’When I start doing something, I must see it to the end or it leaves a nagging feeling in my chest as if I am doing things wrong,’’ Lareina looked at the man sincerely.

"_" Azrael frowned.

’’Furthermore,’’ her gaze turned more serious as she looked at him like she could see through his soul, ’’Your Highness, you must have gotten to the bottom of things by now, am I right?"

As she leaned close, Azrael’s heart skipped a beat.

Her intense gaze was interrupted by the tip of his index finger that pressed against her forehead and pushed her back, ’’Be good.’’

Lareina blinked and with a gentle wave of her hand, she removed his finger from her forehead.

’’We would be able to leave this town and go back soon enough. Till then, I expect you to sit still and not mess around,’’ Azrael sighed, ’’You have already dealt with a lot of things and made things easier but from now on, stay here in your room and stay out of these things. I will deal with everything and escort you back, safe and sound and when we go back, we will need to have a good talk.’’

Lareina fell silent.

’’The reason we are seeing each other so frequently or talking to each other like this...’’ When he thought that she would not respond to his words, she spoke up, ’’is because we are here. When we go back to the capital, it would be better to keep our distance again, just as it has been a past few months.’’

An uncontrolled rage pressed on his chest when she looked away after saying those words. A voice in his head screamed ominous things, unsettling his chest. His heart burned with a familiar and intense hatred. And before he realized, his hand lifted towards her neck.