The Beast and the Witch’s Mock Wedding – Part 03
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Translator: Kell
While it was called the stables, there were actually no horses around. It was just an animal pen, and my roommates were pigs and chickens. It was much worse than the stables of a decent inn.
“Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.”
After the man left, I finally felt a little more relaxed. I flattened some pile of straws to make space for myself and threw myself onto it. Zero also set her luggage down before leaping on top of me, not the straw. I thought about dodging her, but as courtesy to my employer, I decided to catch her. She buried her cheek in my fur, looking satisfied.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said. “Can you stop climbing on top of me every single time?”
“I feel most comfortable on top of you. When you lie down, I will lie down on top. You may even call it a law of nature at this point.”
“Law of nature, my ass.”
“Let us go see the festival,” she said out of nowhere.
For a moment, I didn’t know how to reply. “What?” was all I could mutter.
“I saw a lot of fascinating stalls on the way, and I would like to get a closer look at the brides. Now that we have a place to stay, there will be no problem if we go out, no?”
“No, no, no. There will be a hell lot of problems. In fact, there will only be problems. Why do you think I’m staying in the stables? You can go alone.”
“Going alone is boring. I want to go with you.” She flailed her legs around like a child throwing a tantrum.
I picked her up and tossed her onto the straw. “I. Don’t. Want. To. Go,” I said with firm determination. Burying my head in the pile of straw, I shooed her away.
Zero pouted and stroked her chin. She was trying to get me out of here somehow. “A thought came to me,” she said.
“Stop thinking, then. I doubt it’s anything good anyway.”
“Hear me out,” she continued, ignoring my protests. “If the brides see you, they would not want others to know about it, would they? They would pretend that they did not see anything.”
“Oh, for the love of god! I knew it wasn’t anything good. You’re just gonna worry the innocent newlyweds. The fact that they can’t tell anyone that they saw me will torment them. I’m gonna ruin the lives of couples with bright futures!”
“Why make a big fuss over a mere superstition? If they give birth to a normal child, they will realize that it is simply that, a superstition.”
“And I’m saying that for good, normal, powerless people, not witches like you, the truth doesn’t matter! They’ll sink into despair before the child is even born. I’ll ruin their life! And then they’ll take it out on me! Get it?!”
I burrowed through the pile of straw and crawled deeper inside. Sure she was a witch, but I wasn’t about to get dragged out by a woman. If she used Magic, I would lose immediately, but it didn’t look like she would resort to such drastic measures.
After a while of fruitless bickering, Zero finally admitted defeat. “For a big fellow, you sure whine a lot like a child,” she said in disbelief.
“Look who’s talking!” I roared from deep within the straws. “Just go see the festival for yourself. For once, nothing you say will make me leave this place.”
“If you say so.” Zero gave a forlorn sigh and slowly rose to her feet. “I will not force you. As I walk the streets alone, I might get kidnapped by a stranger and trafficked, but I will keep you in my heart. You have made your choice.”
“Appealing to pity is not gonna work. There’s not a single chance that a terrifying witch who could blow up an entire town if she wanted to could be kidnapped by a common thug.” I let out a low growl.
“That did not work either, huh?” Zero clicked her tongue. Finally she gave up for real. “I will be back in the evening,” she said curtly, then left the stables.
“Finally gone.” I felt a little relieved to be alone.
With the threat gone, I had time to really think about my behavior. I began to wonder if there was really a need to refuse so stubbornly. Ah, humans sure are simple creatures. I wriggled out of the pile of straw and lay down in the cramped stables filled with the smell of livestock.
It had been a while since I was alone. Ever since I met Zero, I always slept and woke up with her, and I had never taken the risk of letting her go somewhere alone.
Was it really a good idea to let her go out there alone?
I wasn’t the least bit worried about Zero getting kidnapped, but there was always the possibility that she’d do something crazy and get involved in an incident.
Zero, who had lived inside the cellar her whole life, was oblivious to the unspoken rules of society. What’s more, there were as many priests in town as there were couples. If she accidentally did something a witch would do in front of them, she would be arrested immediately and burned at the stake. She wanted to see the ceremonies up close, so she might get too close to a priest.
Maybe I shouldn’t have let her go. Maybe I should’ve gone with her. I paced and forth in the stables. Should I go after her and bring her back? Nah, I won’t make it.
Then it hit me. “I look like a restless animal. Pathetic.” I threw myself back onto the straw. “A wedding, huh?”
The mere mention of the word brought back bitter memories.
It was a long time ago, when I was just starting out as a mercenary.
Having grown up in a closed village until the age of thirteen, and having lived a life without hopes of ever getting married, I had never heard of any superstitions about newlyweds and Beastfallen.
Then, just like today, I came across a wedding procession on a straight road, and I foolishly tried to pass by them. When the procession noticed me, they froze and tried to move the bride away from me, but it was too late. As soon as she saw me, she screamed in despair.
Of course, I could not grasp what was happening, but when I saw the smiles vanish from the faces of the happy bride, her husband, and the many attendees, I knew that I had made a terrible mistake.
Not only were Beastfallen hated, they were also feared. Everyone thought that if you provoked them, they would kill you. Yet a feeble old man came at me with a razor blade in his hand, yelling at me to get lost.
Since then, whenever I spotted a wedding procession, I would hide myself. Zero might call it ridiculous. I thought so too. But since I was merely renting a spot in a human society, I had to take the people’s superstitions seriously.
Maybe I was just a coward.
“Nothing to do,” I mumbled.
Speaking of which, since becoming Zero’s bodyguard, I’d had extremely little time to myself. I couldn’t even remember how I used to spend my alone time. Not like I was doing anything special when I was with her.
I rolled over on the straw. As I lay there for a while, I began to feel sleepy, but as I was about to fall asleep, sounds of commotion came from outside, and I got up.
The old district was not exactly a safe area. A fight could break out at any time and for any reason. But as the sound came closer and closer, I couldn’t just ignore it and go back to sleep. Especially when a woman’s cries were mixed in with the ruckus.
I was sure it wasn’t Zero’s voice. The woman was crying “stop” and “forgive me” over and over, as if she was being dragged against her will.
I opened the window of the stable and listened to the commotion outside. I could hear men’s voices. I didn’t recognize the first man’s voice, but the other was the innkeeper.
“The Beastfallen you want is in the stables,” the innkeeper said.
“If we throw that bitch in there…” the other man chuckled.
“It should serve as an example. I’m sure the master will be pleased. Who would’ve expected to find an inn with a Beastfallen on a day like this? Must be an unruly bitch.”
I backed away from the window and looked at the door in disbelief. No fucking way…
“That fuckin’ bastard!”
I paid gold coins for this shitty inn to hide from newlywed brides. Now he was bringing one here?!
The door flung open, and a woman was thrown in. Sure enough, she was wearing a vibrant bridal gown.
“There you go! Have fun!” The man with the innkeeper spat at the woman. His outfit marked him as a manservant of some manor. “This is what you get for marrying the master’s son, you lowly servant. I hope you learn from this and never come back to town. If you make it out of here alive, that is.”
The stable door closed as hard as it had opened, and they lowered the lock from outside. Screaming, the woman leapt to the door, crying out and slamming it.
“Nooo! Let me out! Please let me out!”
If I had to guess, I’d say that the servant girl and her employer’s son fell in love, married without parental consent, were captured, and the girl was thrown into the stables.
In other words, the innkeeper sold my sinister nature as a Beastfallen to some rich dude as a tool to make an example.
You give me too little credit.
What a daredevil. Didn’t he consider the possibility that I might get furious and kill him and the woman? Or did he think that because I was escorting a woman, I would have some kind of a slave mentality?
Whatever it was, I had to do something about this situation quick. I could dive into the straws and hide, but if the woman realized that I was lurking inside, she would definitely panic. Being locked up in the same room as a Beastfallen could actually drive her insane.
The woman was frantically screaming and clinging to the door that she hadn’t seen me yet. Or maybe she was doing that on purpose so she wouldn’t have to look at me.
In that case, just keep screaming.
I grabbed my sword and bag and quickly rolled out of the stables through the window. Hearing the sound, the woman stopped screaming and turned fearfully to the place I had been a moment ago. There was silence for a moment as she looked around.
“Oh…” She let out a small, shuddering breath. “There’s no Beastfallen.” She then broke down crying as relief took over her.
I ran away from the inn.
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