Chapter 577: I’ll Become a Monster With You

Primrose watched as the memories suddenly took a dark turn.

The villagers who had once welcomed them with warm smiles and kind words were now carrying axes and burning torches.

The same people who used to say that a simple life was the greatest blessing now wanted something for themselves, something they believed they could only obtain by capturing the Saintess and returning her to the Holy Temple.

"Miss Vielle, you know better than anyone that my son needs medicine," a middle-aged woman said. Tears filled her eyes, yet she still gripped a pitchfork tightly in her hands.

"I promise I won’t hurt you if you come with us," another villager added. "Besides, why are you refusing to be rescued? Hasn’t this bastard Lycan kidnapped you?!"

It was strange.

Not long ago, these same people had never stopped praising Edmond.

They always said he was the hardest-working man in the village and that life had become much easier after he settled there.

Whenever they needed extra hands in the fields, they called for Edmond.

Whenever food became scarce, they turned to Edmond and asked for his help.

All this time, Edmond had given them everything he could, not once had he ever hurt any of them.

Yet the moment they learned his true identity—a Lycan, a monster in their eyes—they wanted nothing more than to burn him alive.

The rumor that he had kidnapped the Saintess only made things worse. It poured fuel onto the hatred already growing in their hearts and gave them an excuse to justify everything they were about to do.

"He didn’t kidnap me," Rose said firmly.

Her golden eyes swept across the crowd, filled with disappointment and anger. She held her little daughter tightly in her arms, gently stroking the girl’s back as if trying to reassure her that everything would be alright.

"I went with him willingly," she stated.

"Oh, Miss Vielle, don’t be ridiculous!" one of the villagers shouted. "He’s an impure creature! A monster born from the deepest pit of hell!"

"The King of Sorex even saved his life, but how did he repay that kindness? By kidnapping the Holy Saintess and betraying the people of Sorex!"

Primrose found it almost amusing how deeply these people hated beastkins, as if they were nothing more than filth beneath their feet.

She had thought that, since the mysterious voice had said Edmond possessed great fortune in the past, he wouldn’t have suffered the same humiliation he did in the present.

But then she remembered that she was the one who had brought misfortune into his life.

From the moment they met, their fates had become intertwined, and somehow, she had drained all of his good fortune away.

"I didn’t betray anyone," Edmond said firmly.

He stood in front of Rose and their daughter, shielding his small family from the furious villagers.

"I repaid my debt to the King of Sorex by serving the kingdom for many years. I’ve already fulfilled everything I owed him." He tightened his grip on Rose’s hand before continuing. "And now... I’m simply living the life I choose."

"The King saved my life, but I’m not his slave. I have the freedom to decide how I want to live."

He might have owed the King a debt of gratitude, but that didn’t mean he had to spend the rest of his life repaying it.

As long as the King had never branded him with a slave mark, he was a free man and he had the right to choose his own path.

"This monster is trying to fool us with his words!"

"Don’t believe him! He’s lying!"

"He’s a creature from hell! Of course everything he says is a lie!"

As Edmond and Rose faced the angry crowd, he finally leaned closer and whispered to her, "Even if we escape today, they’ll keep hunting us. And sooner or later, they’ll spread news about us throughout the entire Kingdom of Mor."

[It won’t take long before even the King of Mor hears about us,] Edmond thought bitterly.

He silently gritted his teeth. [I have to eliminate this village.]

But he knew that if he did that, he would also bear the sin of killing innocent people.

[I have to leave no witnesses.]

What if they were right?

What if he truly was a creature from hell?

[I have to kill them.]

But what if Rose and their daughter would also see him as a monster?

[Will my dear Rose forgive me? Will she...]

"Do what you have to do," Rose whispered, tightening her grip on his hand. "From the moment you marked me, I’ve become a part of you."

She looked at him without the slightest fear. "I’ll stay with you during our happiest moments and I’ll stay with you during our darkest ones."

Edmond swallowed hard. He turned his head slightly toward her and spoke in a low voice. "What I want to do right now is horrible."

"You’re trying to protect us," Rose replied without a moment of hesitation. Her answer came so naturally that it made his heart ache.

"What I want to do right now..." he repeated softly, his eyes filled with pain. "...isn’t something we can ever take back."

Rose looked into his blue eyes. "Then let me bear that sin with you."

Edmond’s eyes widened. "You don’t deserve that."

Rose gave him a sad smile. "Maybe not."

She glanced at the frightened little girl sleeping against her shoulder before looking back at him. "But neither do you."

She had seen the kindness in this man. The man who woke before sunrise to work in the fields.

The man who shared his food whenever another family went hungry.

The man who carried elderly villagers home whenever they were too weak to walk.

The man who had never once raised his hands against innocent people.

And yet, those same people had surrounded his family with weapons.

Rose tightened her grip on his hand. "If protecting your family makes you a monster..." She took a deep breath. "...then I’ll become a monster with you."