Chapter 198

Chapter 198

“Yes, of course someone about to die can ask.” The Beast let out a low chuckle. “I can tell you, but once you’ve heard it, I’ll kill you.”

He looked at her with ill intent. “Even so, are you still curious?”

“Yes.” Tu Nan was not as panicked as he had imagined. On the contrary, she nodded very calmly. “I am extremely curious about you. I desperately want to know everything about you.”

She met the Beast’s bright eyes. Her own held curiosity, sincerity, and anticipation-everything except fear.

[Target’s Favorability toward you: -10]

Tu Nan raised a brow slightly. Although his Favorability was still in the negative, at least she now knew what sort of person the monster before her, with the body of a man and the head of a Beast, might like.

The room had been left in complete disarray by their earlier chase. Tu Nan walked over to the overturned chairs, set two of them upright, and made an inviting gesture toward the Beast.

“If you don’t mind, we can sit down and talk at our leisure,” she said with a smile.

[Target’s Favorability toward you: 0]

So he liked polite people.

Tu Nan silently made a note of it.

The Beast came over. His body was enormous, but the chairs here all seemed to have been deliberately made larger.

The Beast sat down beside her. His breathing was very loud, giving him a presence that was impossible to ignore.

“Where should I begin?” He stroked his chin and began telling his story.

From his account, Tu Nan pieced together the whole sequence of events-

His original name was Andrew.

Andrew had been young, handsome, and noble. Naturally, he had been raised to be arrogant and spoiled. He loved all beautiful things and loathed anything dirty or ugly.

A privileged life, throngs of servants, a beautiful lover.

One Ball destroyed it all.

On a rainy night, an elderly woman knocked on the gates of the Castle and begged the Prince to take her in.

The old woman was soaked through by the rain, her wet hair plastered to her cheeks. Beneath her black robes, her skin was withered with age.

She asked only for a place to shelter from the rain, promising she would leave the moment it stopped. But the Prince ordered his people to drive her out.

An old and ugly woman had no place at such a lavish, dazzling Ball.

But who could have known that the old woman was a Witch? Enraged by the Prince’s rudeness, she cursed him and the Castle.

Whenever the last sliver of sunlight vanished from the world, he would turn into the thing he hated most, while his servants became furniture until sunlight appeared on the horizon once more.

She left behind a rose and declared that if the Prince had not found someone who truly loved him by the time the rose’s final petal fell, he would remain in the form of a Beast forever.

Andrew’s low voice sounded beside her ear.

“At first, I prayed that such a person would appear. I would give her my wholehearted love. Later, I swore that when she appeared, I would offer her everything I had with both hands. And now, I swear that if such a girl appears, I will eat her.”

At the very beginning, he had held expectations.

A lost young woman would accidentally wander into the Castle surrounded by roses. She would be captivated by his handsome face and gentlemanly bearing, only to let out a terrified scream once night fell.
They had forgotten the promises they made. They attacked him with anything they could get their hands on, begged for mercy through their tears, and finally broke down sobbing after learning the truth.

In that long wait, he had sunk into despair. No one would ever fall in love with an ugly Beast.

Perhaps there was nothing so terrible about becoming a Beast after all.

Andrew licked his sharp teeth and stared darkly at the girl before him.

“Looks like my timing isn’t great,” Tu Nan said with a bitter smile. “You’ve made up your mind to eat me, haven’t you?”

Andrew looked at her. His nose was somewhat like a dog’s, its black ridges wrinkling as a very human expression of disgust crossed his face.

“No,” he said. “You’ve rather killed my appetite. I don’t intend to eat you. However-

“Now that you’ve heard my story, you must die.”

He opened his mouth, revealing the rows of stark white teeth inside. Andrew smiled at her maliciously, waiting for the girl before him to show a look of terror.

Screams, tears, fear-these were the things he knew best.

But Tu Nan smiled at him instead.

“Do I have to die?” she said. “But I don’t want to die yet.”

The bells inside the Castle began to ring.

A violent emotion gradually surged up from the depths of his heart.

Tu Nan heard the bells too.

From Andrew’s story, she had picked up on his hatred for the Witch. He wanted to return to how he had looked before, but every girl he met was afraid of him.

Maybe the key to winning him over lay there.

Andrew had failed too many times. He had even despaired because of it, convinced that no one would ever fall in love with him while he wore the appearance of a Beast.

All she had to do was show him that she was a little different from the others, let him feel hope for love again. Perhaps…

But the bells had rung.

The Beast before her was starting to look wrong.

Andrew lowered his head. A strange “heh-heh” sound spilled from his throat, as if something were lodged there. His massive body began to tremble as well, every strand of fur shaking along with him.

A warning of danger made Tu Nan stand up on instinct, ready to run at any moment.

What was going on? Had she analyzed it wrong?

She had no time to think. The Beast in front of her let out a roar. He suddenly raised his head and lunged at her.

A thick, fishy stench rushed into her face. She had no time to flee and could only grab the chair beside her and smash it at him.

Andrew paused for a brief moment, his head knocked to one side. A terrifying silence settled over the room.

Her Heart was pounding wildly. She couldn’t understand why Andrew, who had seemed perfectly fine just a moment ago, had suddenly erupted.

It seemed to have happened after the bells…

When she had first come into this room, she had heard the bells. Back then, they had rung eleven times. That meant now it should be exactly midnight.

Was that why he had gone berserk?

Tu Nan stared at the Beast before her, alarmed and uncertain.

It snorted harshly through its nose and slowly twisted its head back. At some point, its eyes had filled with bloodshot veins. It stared at her without blinking, a threatening growl rumbling from its mouth.

Her resistance just now had enraged him.

The Beast pulled back its lips, baring its sharp teeth at her. Saliva slid down those teeth and dripped to the floor, giving off a foul stench.

It dropped to all fours, arching its body as it fixed its gaze straight on her.

A fine layer of cold sweat broke out along Tu Nan’s temples.