Chapter 30. If I kill you here
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Fortunately, unaware of her presence, Kayan disappeared into the hut with the old man.
Ihedia could breathe a sigh of relief at the thought that at least she hadn't been seen by him.
She began to formulate her own reasoning about the situation before her.
Upon closer inspection, the hut was too poorly maintained to be inhabited.
It was overgrown with unsightly weeds, and the roof looked like it could collapse at any moment.
The windows, which were out of shape, were completely non-functional and might as well not be there.
‘This must be Kayan's secret place.’
Of course, the building was embarrassingly shabby for a secret place, but why would Kayan visit a place like this?
The most puzzling thing was how the old man had gotten in.
There was only one entrance to the Wolf Forest, and she was hovering just inside the manor's boundaries, so if he had entered through the manor, he must have met her.
But no one had ever entered the Wolf Forest while foraging for herbs.
'In that case, could it be that........'
At that moment, it occurred to her that there might be a path leading out of this wolf forest.
Maybe there was a secret passage where they wouldn't run into wolves.
Or perhaps they possessed a mysterious magical tool to control the wolves.
Anut was said to be filled with the priceless treasures of the neighborhood kingdoms and rare magical artifacts from the spoils of war.
Either that, or he's a wolf clan, and as such, he's an expert at handling wolves.
She had considered all sorts of things, but the bottom line was that it was very dangerous to roam the wolf forest in a woman's body.
Until she had more solid information, she could not make any rash moves.
Once she came to this conclusion, her excitement subsided.
As Ihedia was gathering her thoughts about the mysterious hut, Kayan came back out with the old man.
Together they disappeared into the depths of the wolf forest.
Even after they were completely out of sight, Ihedia remained vigilant and approached the hut.
A stench stung her nose.
Ihedia held her breath and pushed the door open.
She nearly screamed in horror when she saw what was inside.
It was the corpse she had seen in Gebelkato.
The blackened hands and red spots on the nails of the corpse lying inside the hut brought back memories.
Apparently, this was the place Kayan used to deal with things he didn't want others to know.
The white powder sprinkled over the corpse suggested a haphazard application of natural embalming fluid, but it didn't seem to be very effective.
At least the cold weather didn't seem to carry the unpleasant odor too far.
'Perhaps the old man is related to this corpse, or has some useful information to pass on.’
With her assessment of the situation complete, Ihedia turned to leave the hut.
As she turned, she came face to face with Kayan, who was staring at her coldly.
A voice like the snarl of a feral beast rang out at her.
"You came this far without fear."
How long had he been watching her?
She wondered if he knew she was nearby all along.
Perhaps that was why he came back here as soon as he sent the old man away.
He crept closer, noting Ihedia's bewilderment.
She felt a pressure, like a wolf in human form slowly closing the gap, squeezing the air out of her lungs.
"If I kill you here, everyone will think it was just one stupid slave who stepped foot in the wolf forest and fell prey to a ravenous beast, won't they?"
Kayan spat out, a horrifying threat that didn't fit his calm voice.
He stroked his chin and spoke thoughtfully.
"So I get to keep the secret in there and deal neatly with one rude human who invaded my space, huh?"
A red warning light lit up in Ihedia's head.
There was no reason to spare anyone who caught a glimpse of a secret important enough to keep hidden in the Wolfwoods.
His hand went to the scabbard at his waist.
Kayan tilted his head at an angle and raised an eyebrow.
Was he really going to kill her?
He gave her hope of life, and now she was going to die at his hands.
Ihedia would have to use her strength to get through this somehow.
The fact that he hid the body here, and even embalmed it, meant that there was something to be gleaned from it.
Ihedia looked Kayan straight in the eye and opened her mouth.
"The body is still decomposing, and if you leave it like that, you’ll have to bury it without getting the clues you want."
Then a hint of curiosity flickered in Kayan's eyes.
Ihedia recognized the look and gained a little hope.
"How do you know that?"
"I've been interested in medicine since I was a child, so I have some basic knowledge of it, and it's one of the reasons Netira's illness was cured."
Kayan paused for a moment in thought, as if trying to mask the truth of her words.
Now that he thought about it, one of the slaves had been tending to Netira's skin disease.
Though he hadn't expected it to be her.
Not that it really mattered.
Kayan had already made up his mind what to do with the slave who dared to peek at his secrets, but he asked with a hint of annoyance.
"And you are familiar with poison?"
"Enough to be able to give you the answer you're looking for, lord Kayan."
She didn't show much emotion on her face, so he couldn't tell if she was truly skilled in medicine or just pretending to be because she didn't want to die.
But the way she was so confident, perhaps she knew something. .......
Ihedia, reading Kayan's mind, said something that caught his attention.
"That corpse wasn't poisoned by a single venom. I'd have to examine it more closely to know, but based on what I can tell, it was probably from a snake that's only found in the south."
For the briefest of moments, Kayan's eyes flashed.
He remembered something he'd heard from the old doctor he'd met earlier.
“It seems to be a mixture of quite a few different poisons, and these marks here are not caused by poisonous herbs. They are probably taken from poisoned snakes or fish, though I'm not exactly sure.....”
He couldn’t believe she figured that out just by looking at the corpse.
It was even more detailed than the one he scoured the neighboring country for and brought back.
It was more than he could have hoped for.
She was too intelligent to be Anut's slave.
"Do you think my answer was helpful?"
Ihedia asked Kayan, who stood with a serious face.
She wondered if he was really trying to decide whether to kill her or not.
She waited for his mouth to open, praying that this man had lost his desire to kill her.
"You're more useful than you look....... I don't think you've done enough to warrant sending you back alive."
The corner of Kayan's mouth turned upward slightly as Ihedia's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected answer.
So much for the nasty temper.
Even if it was a face of fear, he thought, it was much nicer to look at than one as dry as puffy sand.
Ihedia's green eyes widened at Kayan's response that her words were of little help.
Kayan was frankly a bit mortified to see Ihedia flinch.
He was teasing a deer that was now desperately trying to get out of his trap.
"That's known to the doctor who just visited, is that all you want to do, beg for your life from me?"
Kayan sneered, deliberately fiddling with the sword at his waist.
Ihedia bit her lip in confusion.
But she couldn't back down, so she spoke to him again.
"Let me look at the corpse some more, and I'll give you something useful to tell you."
Kayan stroked his chin lazily, feigning consideration.
"Well. I'm afraid you might be able to get away with something."
"I'm a slave in your hands, lord Kayan, after all. If I lie to you, you can always take my life, can't you?"
Ihedia forced her voice to hide her fear.
The effort was futile, but Kayan could easily see through it.
In any negotiation, the one with the luxury of looking down on the whole was the one with the most objective view.
Kayan's blue gaze lingered on Ihedia for a long moment.
It was a different feeling than when she'd met him in Elmir.
She was no longer the pitiful, abandoned princess.
‘Well, at least she's more mellow than she was in Elmir.’
Her eyes were strangely alive.
Perhaps she had found hope in the land of the barbarians she so despised.
Contrary to his expectations of a homesick woman withering away with each passing day, she seemed quite healthy.
Her shabby coloring and grimy features did not disguise her will to live.
Finally, Kayan gave Ihedia the answer she wanted.
"Very well. Prove yourself, then."
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