25.
“Shouldn’t we go look for her?”
“She’ll come back on her own.”
“Why don’t we just stay here for now?”
The girls hesitated, but Lady Daena still didn’t return, no matter how long they waited.
In the end, a few stayed behind while two or three went to search nearby.
It seemed they were all of similar age, grouped together not out of friendship but simply because none were athletic enough to keep up with others.
Even within their group, you could feel little cliques splitting apart.
I clicked my tongue quietly. Then suddenly, I heard the sound of water and guided my horse in that direction.
Some glanced at me, but as expected, no one dared to speak to me.
Pushing through the bushes, I soon came to a steep slope. At the bottom of a cliff ran a valley stream. The direction matched where the startled horse had bolted earlier.
I clicked my tongue again and nudged my horse toward the slope. I had nothing better to do anyway.
That was when I caught a strange smell.
Something odd… I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but it kept pricking at my senses.
“—Let me go!”
A sharp voice pierced my ears.
I tilted my head. The voice was desperate, terrified.
I quickly checked the bow and arrows hanging from my saddle, then urged my horse toward the sound.
“I—I’m helping you! Why… why are you rejecting me? I’m being so good to you, so why?!”
When I pushed deeper into the slope, I saw it clearly.
Lady Daena wasn’t lost or injured.
Instead, a man was blocking her path. His hair was blond, his face pale.
He was trembling so violently that the bottle in his hand slipped and smashed in the bushes.
A glass bottle?
Up close, his eyes looked wrong—bloodshot whites, pupils too wide, shoulders twitching, breath wheezing in strange bursts.
More than just nervous. He looked insane.
“If you lost your horse, you can just ride mine! Why won’t you? Why are you ignoring me!”
A true madman. Dangerous enough that the wrong move would only make things worse.
I slipped off my horse quietly, bow in hand, and stepped closer.
…Blood?
His chest was soaked in red.
A chill raced down my spine. The strange smell I’d noticed—it was blood.
Lady Daena wasn’t hurt, thankfully. So then… whose blood was it?
“How dare you ignore me after all I’ve done for you, you selfish, cheap—!”
“I told you to let go!”
The man screamed and yanked Lady Daena’s arm hard, trying to drag her down.
Whack!
He froze, reaching for the back of his head.
“….”
Then he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
The bow staff I had just smashed against his skull still vibrated in my grip.
“Where did this lunatic come from?” I muttered.
Only then did Lady Daena, pale and trembling, notice me. Her lips parted.
“Y-you…! Ahhh!”
Unfortunately, she had been standing too close to the edge.
Her foot slipped on loose soil.
In an instant, she slid down the slope with a scream.
Heart pounding, I rushed forward.
She was dangling from the root of an old tree, clinging desperately.
Below was a sharp drop—not enough to kill her, but dangerous.
Her face turned deathly pale as she shrieked.
“Help me! Please! Save me!”
That frantic, begging face overlapped in my mind with the sneering one from earlier.
“What kind of woman in her right mind would want to be close to that Duke?”
“It must be another dirty trick for attention.”
“She makes me sick.”
I crouched before her, silent.
“My arms are slipping! Hurry! Pull me up!”
“…Why should I?”
“What?”
“Why should I save you?”
Her face went sheet-white, then twisted with hatred.
“If I die, I’ll curse you forever, you heartless demon!”
“You really thought I was kind? You should know what kind of person I am.”
“I knew it! You’re just a vile, creepy woman—filth like you—!”
I stayed quiet through her curses, then finally extended my hand.
If I truly wanted revenge, I could’ve just walked away.
She stared at me with shaking eyes.
“You—you’ll push me, won’t you? Pretend to save me, then let go? You’re a monster!”
“Don’t trust me, then. Stay down there.”
“You—!”
But in the end, she grabbed my hand.
There was no other choice.
I tightened my grip and pulled with all my strength.
Just as I hauled her up to the edge—
Her eyes widened in shock.
She was staring at me… no, at the shadow looming behind me.
He wasn’t unconscious after all.
Damn. I’d forgotten him, distracted by Lady Daena’s near fall.
I swore under my breath.
Thud!
I twisted aside just in time, but pain exploded in my thigh.
The broken bow staff he swung had stabbed deep into me.
“—!!”
The world went white.
How is he this strong…?
Gritting my teeth, I still managed to drag Lady Daena fully onto the ledge.
But now his eyes shifted toward her.
No.
I bent low and kicked him hard in the stomach.
“Guh!”
He staggered, choking.
Seizing the moment, I hooked his leg with both arms and yanked.
He crashed backward, skull smacking the dirt.
While he reeled, I grabbed the broken bow from his hand.
My elbow pressed into his throat, holding him down, but his strength was monstrous.
I finally wrenched the weapon free, though pain screamed through my body.
He shattered that bow like it was nothing. Something wasn’t normal.
I shoved Lady Daena behind me just as—
“—urk!”
He slammed me down and straddled me. His hands closed around my throat.
I couldn’t breathe.
Lady Daena was screaming, maybe crying—I couldn’t tell anymore.
My vision blurred. Fingers numb, I groped for the weapon…
And struck.
Crack.
Blood spilled.
But not from my strike.
A blade had pierced the man’s chest, stopping just above my face.
The sword slid back out. The body toppled beside me, lifeless.
Lady Daena shrieked and grabbed my shoulder, shaking me.
I coughed, dragging myself up halfway.
My vision cleared.
Someone was standing before me.
Before I even raised my head, he knelt down.
Red hair gleamed with the shadows of countless leaves.
His eyes were black as void, stripped of light.
Duke Ishtan Gladinare.
“…Was it really alright to kill him?”
The question slipped out before I could stop it—born from remembering the horrible rumors.
Not that I believed those lies. I of all people knew how poisonous rumors could be.
But looking into his expressionless face, a chill crawled down my spine.
His presence was cold, deadly, spreading like a web.
Slowly, his hand reached toward me. His gaze dropped, finding the blood soaking my thigh.
Goosebumps raced down my skin.
He was calm, too calm, like someone staring at a grim reality.
He rarely spoke, rarely reacted. Always steady.
That hadn’t changed.
And yet… something about this moment felt wrong.
…Even his breathing.
“Well done.”
His voice was low and heavy.
I couldn’t even answer, confused by the meaning.
He stood. For a brief moment, I thought he staggered—but when he turned back, nothing seemed off.
Maybe I imagined it.
The Duke bent and sliced open the dead man’s clothing with his blade, exposing his side.
I frowned at first, then my eyes widened.
“That’s…”
Carved into the man’s skin was the mark of heresy.
That was his answer.
“How did you know?”
The Duke glanced at Lady Daena, still sitting frozen nearby, then shook his head.
He couldn’t explain in front of her.
Which meant—
This was classified. A secret.
So then… wasn’t it wrong that he had shown me?
