Beast’s Flower - Chapter 3

‘He must be a r*pist!’

 

Layla gripped the scissor she was holding even tighter.

 

Although he looked much stronger and more muscular than Layla by any means, she might be able to win if she surprises and stabs him in the neck.

 

Layla counted one, two, three in her mind and decided to put her thoughts into practice.

 

‘One… Two… Th…’

 

“Thank you very much.”

 

Just before Layla counted to three, the man smiled.

 

There was a world of difference from his smile earlier. He now has a smile that seemed very sentimental, kind, and contains no ulterior motive.

 

Thanks to that, Layla’s hand holding the scissor, flinched when he took a step forward.

 

“Thanks to you I’m alive.”

 

The man just walked in with a gentle smile.

 

Then, as if trying to match the man’s footsteps, Layla stepped back inward.

 

The man looked at Layla strangely and took another step inside, and Layla took another step backwards.

 

Like a waltz where they don’t touch each other.

 

“Don’t come closer!”

 

Nervous, Layla exclaimed.

 

“Ah…”

 

The man’s forehead frowned. Seeing that, Layla’s expression visibly hardened.

 

The man will say it as well. ‘It stinks. What smell is this?’

 

And sooner or later, knowing that the smell is coming from Layla, he would point his finger at her, condemn her and detest her.

 

At the thoughts of the words that she couldn’t get used to despite hearing them so much that they’re stuck on her ears, her fists automatically clenched tightly. It was clenched so tightly that the joints on her small fists turned white.

 

“You didn’t turn on the light.”

 

“What?”

 

But the words that came from the man were different from what she had expected.

 

When the puzzled Layla unconsciously asked a question, the man smiled.

 

It was an easy-going smile. Like there was no problem, and that there was nothing to feel bad about.

 

Like he could not smell anything coming from Layla.

 

“Isn’t it too dark?”

 

The man, who leisurely looked around Layla’s cabin, was named Bioust.

 

Bioust Black of Orlion.

 

That was the name of the uninvited guest that visited Layla today.

 

Perhaps if Layla had asked him his name, she would’ve known immediately. That he was the Crown Prince, the only heir to the throne of the Orlion Empire.

 

And he actually could not smell the stench that Layla was giving off.

 

Rather, it was the smell of flowers, and not the stench, that bothered his nose.

 

He came all the way there chasing the scent of the faint scent of a flower in the air despite the crazy wind and rain outside.

 

No, it wasn’t enough to just call it the scent of a flower. No other flower has given off such a sensual scent.

 

It was a scent that seemed to be caressing his sleeping instincts one by one, awakening his subsided wilderness, as if turning Bioust into a beast in heat.

 

It was bad luck to meet the rain in the middle of the hunting ground. It was also bad luck that he ignored the rain and chased after a silver fox that ran away.

 

However, it was his instinct that sensed the faint scent, and it was fate to come this far led by his instinct, Bioust thought.

 

And that fate is in front of him.

 

In the form of a small, skinny, nervous-looking woman.

 

“Why don’t you turn on some light?”

 

Bioust said, suppressing his instinct that would likely attack the woman.

 

Before she knew it, Layla’s hand that was clenched tightly to an extent where her bones were visible, had loosened and dangled weakly.

 

“Isn’t it dark due to the rain outside?”

 

A lightning struck outside the window.

 

Flash.

 

With the light that peeked into the cabin, Bioust, once again, saw the woman in front of him.

 

Her dry blonde hair, the blue eyes that were doubting him like a cornered mouse, her thin face and body that seemed to have been starved due to poverty.

 

No man would have a woman like this as their ideal type.

 

But he smelled something that no other man did. That was enough.

 

He didn’t care about the woman’s shell.

 

“Shouldn’t you turn on some light.”

 

He pointed at the candlestick on the table. He also saw the lamp, but he purposely pointed at the other.

 

A candlestick that the nobles used was too out of place to be in a run-down cabin.

 

“The oil ran out.”

 

“Aha?”

 

Looking at the woman who talked about the lamp instead of the candle, Bioust simply nodded his head with an innocent smile.

“I’ve also done that from time to time. It’s good to do it in advance, but people just don’t do it.”

 

For example, cutting off the head of that stupid guy for standing in his way, not framing the king of a small country for not doing what he told them to, or when he didn’t execute three generation of a family that goes against him.

 

At that moment, the crap Bioust had to deal with flashed through his mind, but he quickly crossed them out. No, he erased them.

 

The sensual scent that awakens Bioust’s brain was telling him to focus on the thing in front of him right now.

 

“Then, it’s a little early, but how about lighting the firewood? I also want to dry myself a little.”

 

Stealing a glance, he pointed at the fireplace with twigs as thin as the woman’s arm, she glanced at the, but she immediately looked at Bioust, remaining vigilant.

 

Her eyes were filled with a mix of doubts and confusion. And a very little hope.

 

“How much is the compensation?”

 

“Aah~”

 

The vigilant cat asked, revealing its sharp claws. As well as its weakness.

 

“As much as you want.”

 

Bios grinned as he watched the cat reveal what it needed and its weakness.

 

He could hear the cat turning its head all the way to his place.

 

“T-ten shilling.”

 

Bioust almost burst into laughter at the small amount that came out of the cat’s mouth after a while, but he held it in.

 

“Okay.”

 

Instead, he readily accepted it and sent her a kind smile.

 

Perhaps because he readily answered, bewilderment crossed her face once again. She was a woman who was easy to understand.

 

“Well then, now that our negotiation is over, shall we light some firewood?”

 

“Firewoods are separate.”

 

“How much is it?”

 

A look of bewilderment crossed the woman’s face again.

 

“F-five shilling?”

 

The unure voice of the woman ended in a question. Bioust was about to be entertained.

 

“Okay.”

 

When he readily accepted it again, she became even more bewildered. He just did whatever is it that she wanted, Bioust found it funny why she was that bewildered.

 

As he walked over to the table and tried to sit down, the woman shouted again.

 

“W-ait. Table usage fee…”

 

“I will also pay. How’s five shilling?”

 

This time, Bioust took the initiative and said it first. The woman’s eyes widened slightly, then it returned to normal.

 

“Show me the money first.”

 

The woman who has all her thoughts showing in her face, has endless doubt.

 

She had already let him inside her house, what’s the point if he did say that he doesn’t have money?

 

Whether she was full of suspicious, or naive, Bioust just smiled at the woman’s attitude and pulled out a purse from his pocket.

 

And here’s a very little problem. Bioust did not have twenty shilling. The smallest money he had was one hundred shilling.

 

“Shall we negotiate again?”

 

“B*llsh*t!”

 

A swear word immediately came out of the woman’s mouth.

 

“As expected, you’re a r*pist, right? Is that why you’re putting up with the smell so you can violate me? I knew it! No one with money would just come to me at the perfect time. There’s no way I have that kind of luck!! Just try and come close to me, I’ll stick this scissor in your neck right away! Then you’ll bleed and beg for your life, then go to the other world!”

 

The woman threatened Bioust with a pair of not-so-sharp scissors that appeared to be used for sewing.

 

“Uhm… You must be misunderstanding it a little.”

 

Of course, she might have threatened him, but Bioust wasn’t threatened. Such a blunt scissor was just laughable.

 

“First, I’m not a rapist, Second, I’m not holding anything, and third, I have money.”

 

Bioust took out one 100 shilling and placed it on the table.

 

“See? It’s 100 shilling.”

 

Bioust pointed at the money on the table.

 

“I was just trying to add a little more into our negotiation. What I’m saying is, other than staying in this cabin until the rain pauses or completely stops, I would like to add other services such as, using this chair and table, and you would light the firewood so I can dry myself.”

 

Glancing, Layla looked at the money on the table.

 

“I want warm food that I can eat, and tea as well. And it would be great if you could give me a towel to dry myself. As much as possible. And I’m offering this 100 shilling in return.”

 

Layla was still staring at Bioust with skeptical eyes.

 

However, after checking the money, the scissor in her hand shook. Although she didn’t even aim properly in the first place.

 

“How about it?”

 

Bioust asked once more. Her skeptical eyes looked at the 100 shilling on the table.

 

“Okay.”

 

After answering quickly, Layla tried to pick up the 100 shilling. But she couldn’t.

 

When Bioust looked at her in the dark, her nails were so short that she couldn’t pick up the money.

 

They weren’t trimmed neatly, but ungly shortened nails that were bitten off. In particular, the thumb was so short that it looked painful even for the people who saw it.

 

“It wasn’t a cat with sharpened claws, but a cat with its claws missing.”

 

“Excuse me.”

 

When Bioust picked up the money and put it in her hand, she backed away immediately once she received the money.

 

She looked at Bioust as she hesitantly walked towards the fireplace. Looking at her backside lighting the fireplace to keep her promise, Bioust sat down.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

“What’s the point of knowing it?”

 

“I should be staying here for a while, I can’t just keep on calling you ‘you there’ all the time, can I?”

 

“…Layla.”

 

She just threw her name with no last name. After a while, the fireplace caught fire, and a warm temperature flowed out from it.

 

“I’m Bioust.”

 

Just like Layla, Bioust just threw his name at her.

 

Of course, it was a calculated action.

 

***