Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 16

Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 16

But even when it wasn’t like that, he could hear his chest. This time, it wasn’t dancing, but it was like it was stamping its feet in anger. It was a little different. 

Ignoring his senses, thinking that she might be somewhere else, he searched the library, the kitchen, the closet, and so on. 

Every time he opened a door, his chest stamped harder and harder. 

No, not here. Not here either……. 

He wondered if she was hiding somewhere. He looked inside the closet, even in the stove. 

She wasn’t there. 

Miela was nowhere to be found. 

Finally, his chest thumped. His thumping heart fell to his feet. 

“Miela……?” 

No matter how much he called, all he got in return was an echo from the end of the hallway. 

“Miela……, Miela! Mielaaaa!” 

Miela……. 

Miela……. 

Miela’s cheerful voice was gone. 

“What happened……. Where did you go?” 

There was no fearless beast that could come all the way to the castle and harm Miela. It was impossible for Miela to disappear like this unless she left the castle on her own. 

The monster, however, did not give up and continued to search the castle until the sun set. He climbed up a tree like a bird to see if she had also climbed up. He dug up the dirt in front of the castle to see if she had dug into the ground because she was still missing. 

As he dug up the dirt without thinking, he realized that Jack was nowhere to be seen. It was just that Jack would occasionally irritate the monster when he saw him, but he was not someone to worry about at all, so he was easily forgotten about. 

It was only later that the situation came into focus. 

Miela and Jack had disappeared. 

The ominous feeling that he had hoped would never come true came true. 

Miela had not disappeared. 

She had left. 

Miela said she was comfortable here, but her actions were different. She enjoyed the food Jack made for her from the human village, and she reminisced while looking at the things he brought her. When she occasionally heard news of the village, her eyes would look far away as if she had missed them.

The villagers betrayed Miela. They sold Miela for their own safety. Miela was furious as she knew that fact. She hated the village. 

But on the other hand, she missed the village. Hatred is a momentary event, and longing is something that is built up over a decade. 

No matter how much he tried to fill the missing areas, there was a limit in the castle in the forest. That was also the monster’s limit. 

Jack was human and lived in the village. 

He was a monster and lived in the forest. 

The differences between the two were too great to catch up with. 

But he was also trying…. If she had waited a little longer, he might have been able to give her everything she enjoyed in the village…. 

The monster shook its head. 

No. Maybe she had something she couldn’t tell him and was just going back for a moment. She wasn’t leaving him, but was just going back for a moment. 

The village wasn’t far. Just leave the forest and you’ll be right at Duke Village. It was close enough that if the monster wanted to, he could jump from the castle and arrive. 

The castle might have been stuffy, or maybe she remembered something she forgot in the village and went back to get it. 

Yes, that’s definitely it. 

The monster forcibly changed the direction of his thoughts. Right now, his heart was beating so hard that he was out of his mind, his thoughts were going back and forth in a mess. 

Miela will come back. He went out for a quick breath of air. 

He tried to convince his reason to believe a lie that he didn’t even believe himself. Of course, he couldn’t believe it. But he had to believe it. 

The more he didn’t believe it, the more his heart pounded, and eventually it hurt. Was this what would happen if someone put their hand in his stomach and twisted his intestines? He couldn’t even breathe properly, so he stood in the middle of the room, gasping for breath for a long time. 

The pain in his chest, which wasn’t getting any better, only got worse once he started feeling it. If this kept going on, he might die before Miela came back. 

He couldn’t. He wanted to see her enjoy the mushrooms he brought her.

Would reading a book help him calm down? 

When he was concentrating on a book, there were times when he even forgot the sound of Miela breathing right next to him. He hoped that happened this time too. 

The monster approached the desk and found a piece of paper on top of the book. It wasn’t his. 

Miela had been practicing her writing skills with the monster recently. She might have written something down because she was bored. 

The monster read the large letters on the paper, one by one. 

“Going back to the village. With Jack. Don’t come. - Miela.” 

It wasn’t difficult. 

She was going back to the village with Jack. And she was telling the monster not to come to the village. 

It was obviously easy to understand, but the meaning of the words didn’t make sense right away. 

The monster blinked blankly. 

Miela was going back to the village with Jack. She told him not to come. Because she didn’t want to see him……? 

She left the castle because she hated him. While he was out of the castle. To keep him from catching her. She said she would never come back. Miela wouldn’t come back. 

Miela was completely gone. 

The monster sank down. 

His head was spinning and he couldn't keep his balance. He was dizzy. All of his strength drained from his body. He gasped for breath, unable to lift even a fingertip. Now the pain in his chest was extreme. 

No matter how much he ran all day, his stamina never ran out. But his legs had no strength. He couldn't get up from where he had sank down, so he stayed like that for a long time. 

The sun set, the moon rose, the moon set again, and the sun rose, and the monster didn't move until the sun rose. 

This was the monster's castle. No one could come in and steal Miela. Unless she left on her own. 

He denied it over and over, but in the end, there was only one answer. 

She left with Jack. She returned to the human village.

It was a hard fact to accept. Miela seemed satisfied here. She gave him warm eyes. She always held him in her warm arms. How could such Miela leave him? 

The monster crawled up to the bed where Miela had been lying. He could still smell Miela’s body scent. 

What came to mind when he saw Miela leaving was not betrayal or anger, but sadness. 

And a deep sense of loss. 

“You told me to come back quickly……. Very quickly……. That’s why I came back quickly…….” 

His heart shattered into pieces and crumbled into dust. 

Miela had chosen the village. Now Miela was no longer even a sacrifice to the monster. 

The moment he first saw her, he could not bear the sweet scent from Miela. It was a scent that could not be tolerated, a scent that touched his monster instinct. 

At first, he thought he was just hungry. He thought he would be filled by eating her. 

Now he knew something else. There was another stomach that was not filled by eating. That was his chest. The way to fill the aching heart that was about to vomit blood was not through eating. 

The warm gaze directed at him, the lively smile, and the warm body temperature that clung to him were the ways to fill it. Only Miela could fill that place. Without Miela, that part would starve forever. 

Instead of spitting blood, the monster let out a long scream. 

The emptiness in his hungry heart grew unbearably large. 

Miela. Miela. Miela. 

No matter how many times he shouted, it was not filled. 

He wanted to hug Miela right away and bury his face in her fragrant flesh. 

It was only a short walk to the village. If he put his mind to it, he could find Miela any time. 

However, the monster did not listen to the village. He deliberately closed his ears. He was afraid that if he heard her voice, he would run right away to her. 

It was more important for Miela to live where she wanted to be, than for his own heart to starve. 

“Miela…….” 

He called, but there was no answer.

He buried his face in the pillow again and took a deep breath of Miela’s scent. Someday, this scent will also disappear. 

His eyes stung. An unknown liquid rolled down from his eyes. Only when the blanket was soaked did he realize it was tears. 

The monster cried for the first time in his memory. The crying didn’t stop for a long time. 

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com)  

“What is this? Where am I? What have you done?” 

Miela, who had regained consciousness, looked around and asked. All she could see was a thin ray of light coming through the crack in the door. 

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could finally see that it was a shabby warehouse. Jack was sitting on a pile of firewood by the door, biting his nails. 

“Hey! Miela. Are you awake? I was so worried because you didn’t open your eyes for two days……” 

“Where am I? Why did you drag me out of the castle?” 

“I couldn’t take you over the mountain, so I brought you to the village.” 

“The village?! What are you going to do by bringing me to the village? Are you going to keep me here forever?” 

“There’s no way I would do that. I told the other kids to help me. They will come later when the sun goes down. There’s another village just beyond the mountain. They will just help us get over the mountain……” 

“Why should I go over the mountain with you?!” 

Miela screamed. 

“I told you I don’t want to go. I just want to live in the castle. I’m going back!” 

“You can’t go! If you go, the monster will eat you. How can I let you go when I know that!” 

Jack shouted as if he was having a fit, embracing Miela who was about to run away. It felt like hives were sprouting everywhere Jack’s body touched. It was so disgusting that she felt like she was going to vomit. 

Miela shook off her body like she was shaking off a bug and tried to get Jack off. However, Jack, who was firmly attached to Miela, wouldn’t let go easily. 

“I’d rather live comfortably in the castle and get eaten by Serian than be trapped here and live off the contempt of people. Let go!”

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