All Chapters of I Returned to Kill Monsters, and Created the Worst One: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Elara VeyneIt took me a little longer than I would have liked to start breathing normally again.Kian remained standing in front of me, too quiet even by his standards, while I stayed leaning against the wall, trying to convince my lungs that there was no longer anyone running after us with a knife.At least, I hoped there wasn’t.I looked toward the street we had just come through. There was no sign of the man, no guards, and no sign of the small crowd that had begun gathering near the warehouses.Great.One catastrophe at a time.I looked back at Kian.Now that my heart was beginning to give up on its attempt to escape through my chest, I managed to observe him more closely.He really was dressed like an ordinary commoner.No royal clothes, ornaments, or anything that could easily reveal who he was. Just a long, dark, simple tunic, with light fabric over his shoulders and another piece wrapped around his head, covering his hair and the lower half of his face. If I didn’t know him,

Elara VeyneI stared at the letter for far too long.The words remained there, perfectly still, as though they hadn’t just torn something apart inside me.Another girl.Another... child.Another girl leaving through the back of the Church of the First Light, believing she had been chosen for a better life.I closed my eyes for a moment and forced air into my lungs.Enough.I could cry later.I could spend the entire night wondering what had happened to the girl with the braids, how many times she had begged for help, and whether there was anything I could have done differently.But there was another girl now.And this one, I could still save.That thought was enough to make something inside me fall back into place.I wiped my face, rubbing the tears away harder than necessary.I hadn’t wanted Harun to see that.Much less Kian.Maybe I should have opened the letter somewhere else. In a closed room, perhaps, alone.Far away from anyone who could watch me completely lose control because o

Elara Veyne"So tell me, Elara. What exactly did you do to make someone decide they needed to kill you?"Harun's question settled in the middle of the table along with the scent of freshly poured tea.I stared at the dark liquid inside my cup.It was an excellent question.The problem was that the full answer would probably begin with I'm secretly treating the Crown Prince of Azhareth in exchange for access to the Nythrium mines and end with something involving poisoning, hidden documents, a suspicious queen, and a feral lupine who had apparently developed the habit of trying to kill anyone who threatened me.Maybe that was too much information to accompany tea.I lifted my eyes to Harun, and he was waiting.Kian remained seated beside me, silent.I could tell him the truth.Harun already knew parts of me that almost no one else in this kingdom knew. He knew about Edda, knew I had contacts in Aldervane, knew I wasn't exactly the innocent servant I pretended to be inside the palace.Bu

Elara VeyneWhen Harun said night market, my mind immediately imagined some particularly suspicious gathering of criminals hidden inside dark tents.I was wrong.Very wrong.As night fell, Namarra seemed to finally decide to truly wake up.During the day, the heat made the streets feel heavy. People moved quickly between shadows, awnings, and buildings, trying to stay out of the sun whenever possible.Once it disappeared behind the walls, everything changed.The southern market stretched across several wide streets, illuminated by dozens of lanterns hanging between the buildings. Colorful fabrics swayed above the stalls, shielding merchants and merchandise from the heat that still rose from the stones. The scent of ripe fruit mixed with roasted meat, spices, sweet oils, and some strong drink a man was serving in small metal cups.There was music somewhere, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.Maybe because there were simply too many people.Humans walked beside lupines.

Mireya VareshWhen one of the servants informed me that Rayan wanted to see me immediately, my first reaction was to think of Kian.Not because I knew something had happened. That was precisely the problem.I didn’t know.It was already past midafternoon, and until that moment, no one had come to tell me that he had returned to his chambers. I had done everything I could to keep his absence away from the wrong eyes, instructing the servants in his wing to say that the prince needed to rest and making sure no unexpected visitor came close enough to realize his bed was empty.It had worked for a few hours.Apparently, not all of them.I crossed the corridor toward the King’s private chambers with the unpleasant feeling that perhaps I had made a mistake that morning.Maybe I should have left Kian where he was, allowed Elara to go out alone as she wanted, and simply waited to see what would happen.But I had already waited too long over the years.All of us had.And now that things were f