Chapter 32 CHAPTER 32
“What happened to them?”
“The curse.”
The fire crackled softly between us while the servant creature continued grinding herbs nearby, though even it seemed quieter now.
I frowned slightly. “You keep saying that, but what does that even mean?”
For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then he slowly looked down at his claws.
“The curse was never meant to become this.” His voice sounded rougher now. Tired. “It was meant to protect this kingdom. To make us stronger.”
Us.
Not them.
Us.
My eyes slowly lifted back to him.
“But magic always takes something in return,” he continued quietly. “The stronger the curse grows, the more it feeds.”
“Feeds on what?”
His glowing eyes met mine again.
“Anger. Rage. Fear. Violence.” His voice lowered slightly. “The more someone gives into it… the less human they become.”
My stomach twisted uneasily.
“And those creatures?”
“They lost themselves completely.”
The room suddenly felt colder despite the fire burning beside me.
I thought back to the thing in the hallway. The glowing eyes. The twisted body. The wet breathing.
That thing used to be human.
The thought made me feel sick.
My eyes drifted toward the servant creature beside me. It immediately noticed and puffed its chest proudly again like it was trying to prove it wasn’t scary.
Honestly, it looked more offended than terrifying.
A small smile tugged at my lips before I looked back at the beast.
“And you?” I asked softly.
The room went completely still.
Even the servant creature stopped moving.
For the first time since I met him, something dangerous flickered through his glowing eyes.
Not anger.
Fear.
The beast held my gaze for a long moment before finally looking away.
“Many stopped fighting it,” he said quietly. “At first, the curse felt like a gift. It made them stronger. Faster. Harder to kill.” A dark chuckle left him. “People become greedy when power is handed to them.”
The fire crackled softly while he stared down at his claws.
“Some gave into it willingly,” he continued. “Others simply grew tired of fighting it every day.” His jaw tightened slightly. “The curse feeds on anger. Rage. Fear. The more someone loses themselves to those things, the stronger the beast becomes.”
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
“And eventually?”
His glowing eyes lifted toward me again.
“They stop being human.”
The words hung heavily in the room.
I thought about the thing in the hallway. The twisted limbs. The growling. The glowing eyes staring at me from the dark.
That thing used to be a person.
The servant creature beside me suddenly moved closer to my leg again, almost like it hated the conversation too.
My eyes dropped toward it. “So they’re cursed too?”
The creature instantly looked offended.
The beast snorted softly. “Yes. But not all cursed become monsters.” His gaze flicked toward the tiny creature. “Some manage to hold onto themselves better than others.”
The creature puffed up proudly again.
I stared at it for a second before shaking my head slightly. “Still creepy.”
It hissed at me.
I ignored it and looked back at the beast. “Is there a way to remove the curse?”
Silence.
The question changed something in the room immediately.
The beast’s body went still.
Slowly, his hands curled into fists.
For a second, something painful flickered across his face before it disappeared behind that cold expression again.
The servant creature lowered its ears.
That alone gave me my answer.
Oh.
The water beside the fire finally started steaming softly, breaking the heavy silence. I quickly looked away from him and grabbed the cloth before dipping it into the warm water.
“Well,” I muttered awkwardly, trying to move the conversation away from whatever wound I had clearly opened, “you’re bleeding all over the floor, so…”
I walked toward him carefully and stopped in front of him.
“Take off your tunic.”
The beast looked almost offended by the order.
His glowing eyes narrowed slightly. “Absolutely not.”
I blinked at him. “You’re joking, right?”
“I am perfectly capable of tending to my own wounds.”
I crossed my arms. “And yet you’re standing there dripping blood onto the floor.”
“I do not need your help.”
I stared at him for a second before my eyes narrowed. “Funny. Because I woke up this morning without clothes on after someone decided to undress me without permission.”
The servant creature beside us suddenly made a strange choking sound and started coughing loudly into its tiny hand.
The beast shot it an irritated look before quickly glaring back at me. “You were freezing.”
“You still took my clothes off.”
“To save your life.”
“You could’ve warned me first.”
“You were unconscious!”
I opened my mouth again, but honestly… he had a point.
Still annoying though.
The beast let out a frustrated growl before reluctantly reaching for the bottom of his black tunic. He tried pulling it over his head, but the second the fabric dragged against his back, pain flashed across his face.
A rough growl escaped him.
“Wait,” I said quickly.
I grabbed a wooden chair nearby and dragged it in front of him before climbing onto it.
The beast looked completely baffled.
“What are you doing now?”
“You’re too tall.”
“I noticed.”
I rolled my eyes. “Relax. You have nothing I haven’t seen before. Our farm animals had less hair than you.”
His expression darkened instantly. “I am not an animal.”
I snorted softly. “Could’ve fooled me with all the fur and horns.”
The servant creature made another choking sound, though this one sounded suspiciously like laughter.
The beast shot it another deadly glare.
I leaned closer toward him slightly. “Raise your arms.”
For a second, he just stared at me like he couldn’t believe this was happening.
Then slowly, and very reluctantly, he lifted his arms.
I carefully grabbed the bottom of his tunic and started pulling it upward. The fabric dragged against the deep wounds on his back, and he immediately winced in pain.
Guilt twisted painfully in my stomach.
This was my fault.
If I had listened to him, he wouldn’t have gotten hurt protecting me.
I swallowed hard and tried being gentler as I reached higher, standing on my toes to pull the tunic over his head.
That was when I realized how close we were.
Very close.
My chest brushed against his as I stretched upward, and suddenly I became painfully aware of everything. The heat coming off his body. The way his muscles tensed beneath my hands. The fact that his glowing eyes were now locked directly onto me.
My cheeks instantly burned bright red.
Oh no.
I was still trying to pull the tunic over his horns when the chair suddenly shifted beneath me.
My stomach dropped.
The wooden legs scraped loudly against the stone floor as the chair tipped sideways.
A gasp escaped me.
Before I could fall, two massive hands suddenly grabbed onto my waist.
Strong.
Warm.
Steady.
The beast caught me against him so easily it barely even looked like effort.
Everything went still.
My breath caught in my throat as his hands tightened slightly around my waist to steady me completely. For a second, neither of us moved.
The room suddenly felt very quiet.
Very small.
Slowly, my eyes lifted toward his.
Those glowing golden eyes stared straight back at me, closer now than they had ever been before. Up close, they looked even less animal somehow. Still terrifying. Still sharp. But there was something else there too.
Something softer.
Something that made that strange fluttering feeling return deep in my stomach.
I became painfully aware of how carefully he was holding me.