Don’t Tame It [Novel]

37.

A low, vulgar voice dug into her ears. It was the voice of a man trying to pull a stunt on Irene.

“Hah!”

Ironically, it was only then that a sigh of relief escaped her. Her constricted windpipe opened, and her shrunken lungs inflated deeply.

*It’s not him. There is nothing to be afraid of.*

Irene twisted her wrist, which had been caught a moment too late. The man chuckled at her feeble resistance. Irene struck the back of his hand hard.

“Ouch!”

Rubbing his stinging hand, the man glared at Irene.

“Stop playing hard to get. Is there any other reason you’re here, anyway? Don’t act so high and mighty; just settle for me. I’m decent enough, aren’t I? Come here.”

Saying this, the man reached out again. Irene swung the medical bag she was carrying with all her might.

Thwack.

“Ugh.”

Clutching his jaw, the man glared at her viciously.

“Why you! I treated you like a lady, but you just won’t listen.”

Irene Rios sometimes could not understand humans. To be precise, it happened with much greater frequency than just “sometimes.”

She hated cnidarians. These underdeveloped marine creatures did not distinguish between a mouth and an anus; they excreted waste through their mouths. And Irene detested anything dirty.

Yet, there were humans who sometimes behaved like those creatures, expelling waste through their mouths. They were no better than cnidarians. Just like the soldier right in front of her.

The man’s clothes, still bearing the remnants of the battle, were caked in blood. Dried stains were visible on his hair and neck as well.

Irene said with an indifferent expression, “You seem to have injured your head; it looks like you need treatment.”

Even Irene knew she didn’t need to use honorifics for the likes of him. The man arched his eyebrows toward his forehead.

“Hmm? Treatment… Ah, I see now. You’re the physician. The new physician the Grand Duke brought in.”

It would have been better if he had backed off then, but the man didn’t seem to have any such intention. He spat on his finger and scrubbed vigorously at the bloodstain on his neck.

Irene’s brow furrowed. Once again, she detested anything dirty.

The mere thought that this hand had grabbed her shoulder made the food she had eaten earlier threaten to crawl back up her throat.

“This isn’t my blood. It’s the blood of those Alvar bastards. Do you know how many of them I killed? How about we have a drink and I tell you the details? You’ll probably beg me to tell you stories all night long.”

“No. You need treatment right now.”

The man smirked. Dirty desire glittered in his mischievous eyes.

“If the physician insists, I shall accept treatment. Where shall we go? There’s a secluded forest over there; shall we go there?”

“If what’s sitting on your neck is indeed a head, you wouldn’t be capable of such behavior. There’s a highly skilled military surgeon at the medical barracks; it would be better to have him remove that useless head of yours. It seems more efficient than carrying around dead weight. And it would be best to cauterize the stump, too.”

“……What?”

The man, who had been frowning as if he couldn’t understand what he’d just heard, only then looked around at the sound of chuckling. Soldiers had gathered in small groups and were watching them with intrigued eyes.

“Hey, looks like you got a taste of your own medicine.”

“He really can’t help but hit on any woman he sees.”

At his comrades’ mockery, the man’s face turned beet red. Unable to suppress his anger, he widened his eyes and raised a hand.

“I showed you the courtesy of a gentleman, you little…!”

Just as he was about to swing his hand—

“!”

Someone roughly grabbed his wrist. It was a violent, powerful hand that didn’t budge even when he tried to twist free. A massive shadow loomed over the man.

“Who is it?”

The man scowled and turned around. An unexpected figure stood there. He called the name with a blank expression.

“Mas… Master Uno?”

“What do you think you are doing?”

As the gravelly voice spread, the surroundings fell silent in an instant. The man gave a lecherous, knowing smile, as if asking if Uno didn’t already know.

“What does it look like I’m doing?”

“You damn bastard.”

Uno spat out the profanity without hesitation. Only then did the man’s face contort. Uno bellowed with a voice as loud as a thunderstorm.

“How could you do such a thing! This person saved your brother’s life today, and you’re here trying to pull stunts? You damn bastard!”

“Pete? Pete would have been treated by Master Uno anyway. His wound is on his face, so he’s ruined for marriage now. The poor guy has such rotten luck.”

“Stop with the nonsense and go see your brother. If you do, you’ll end up bowing down to this person.”

The man looked back and forth between Uno and Irene with a bewildered expression. Uno shouted at the gathered soldiers.

“Are you here for a spectacle? What are you staring at? Hey, you there. The guy bleeding all over his arm—why are you standing here instead of going to the medical barracks?”

The soldier Uno pointed to retreated with a flinch.

“I-It’s fine. It’s just a slight scrape.”

“A slight scrape, but the blood is… Grand Duke.”

The gaze of the blustering Uno shifted a step to the side. Only then did the others notice Diego’s presence, scattering like cockroaches startled by footsteps to clear a path for him.

“Gr-Grand Duke…”

The face of the man who had been hitting on the Grand Duke’s physician until a moment ago stiffened. Diego stared at the soldier before him with narrowed, smiling eyes.

“…….”

A gust of wind blew. The torches flickered violently. Bright light and deep shadows crossed Diego’s face several times.

Diego tapped his thigh with his fingers. He had witnessed countless soldiers unable to calm their excitement after a battle; it was not rare to see them venting that unrest through stunts or violence.

Under normal circumstances, he would have sent the soldier away with a warning to exercise self-control. Having spent a long time on the battlefield, Diego understood their psychology better than anyone.

But why was he so angry? It was something he could have laughed off usually.

*Huh? Why?*

Diego continued to stare at the soldier with thoughtful eyes. He couldn’t stand that the man had mistaken Irene for some woman of the streets. He felt a nauseating urge to kill him for harassing her with his filthy mouth.

As Diego’s gaze lingered, the man’s face turned increasingly ashen.

“Your Highness…”

Diego moved only his eyes very slowly. At that moment, his gaze met Irene’s.

“…….”

She had the same expressionless face as always. She had been trying to handle the situation alone as if she were accustomed to such things. Of course, far from resolving it, she had only worsened it.

Even though Diego had appeared, she hadn’t asked for his help. She hadn’t welled up with tears, nor had she sought his pity.

Yes, he didn’t like that either. That Irene did not look to him for salvation like other women.

And.

“…….”

Diego’s gaze shifted slowly. Very slowly. He stared unblinkingly at the hand of Uno that was gripping the soldier’s wrist.

He didn’t like Uno, either. *Doesn’t he look like a knight appearing out of nowhere to save a woman in distress?*

Perhaps it wasn’t the soldier who hadn’t calmed down from the battle’s excitement, but Diego himself. The thing writhing in his gut was clearly an urge for violence.

“Niseto.”

The vice-commander, who had approached his side at some point, bowed his head. “Yes, Your Highness.” Diego turned to him with the same smiling face.

“The discipline of the army has become quite loose while I was away.”

“I apologize.”

The soldiers held their breath in the heavy atmosphere. Niseto’s face also looked more tense than usual.

“Physician Rios is my personal physician, brought here with great difficulty. I barely persuaded a physician who did not want to come here, yet it happens that my soldier, in my camp, is insulting my physician. My, this is quite a blow to my honor.”

Diego did not raise his voice. He didn’t shout, nor did he scowl. He merely spoke in his usual languid tone, his eyes softened quietly.

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

Niseto bowed his head once more. Then, he offered the answer Diego wanted on his own.

“I will immediately discharge the soldier who committed such impudence toward Your Highness’s physician from the army.”

“Your Highness!”

The soldier, only now realizing he was in deep trouble, stepped toward Diego with a desperate expression. Javier stepped in between him and Diego.

Shing.

The sword, drawn from its scabbard, pointed at the man. The torchlight reflected in the sharp, blue blade flickered back and forth.

He hesitated.

The man looked at Diego with anxious eyes, filled with the hope that he would retract Niseto’s words.

However, the smile on Diego’s face did not fade in the slightest.

“Your Highness, please forgive me just this once. It will never happen again…”

The soldier who had been begging for forgiveness fell silent. Diego said nothing. Yet, everything flowed according to his will. The man realized anew just how terrifying Grand Duke Cassis was.

“Drag him away at once.”

Niseto turned to his adjutant and gave the order. The watching adjutant grabbed the soldier by one arm and led him away.

“Your Highness, please forgive me! I didn’t know! I won’t do it ever again!”

The soldier desperately sought mercy, but Diego did not even look at him. His gaze was already fixed on Irene.

“Physician Rios.”

She, who had been standing there indifferently as if it were someone else’s business, looked up. Diego gave a slightly gentler smile and held out a hand.

“I’ve come to fetch you.”

“…….”

“I thought you might be lost.”

Irene watched him with indifferent eyes. Inwardly, however, she was quite flustered.

As he said, she was lost, and as she always did, she had set out to find a new path. If she kept at it, she would eventually reach her destination.

Of course, it might take longer than it would for other people, or she might have to take a long, winding road, but she would arrive nonetheless.

Yet, Diego said he had come to fetch her. Irene didn’t know what kind of expression to make, so she just stared blankly at the hand he held out.