Chapter 48
“Piana!”
The blood splattered on my face was hot. The stick’s magic had lasted over a minute. My vision was already plunged into complete darkness.
“Kyaa… Kreeek…”
I heard the sounds of someone struggling to pull the sword out of their heart. I stayed frozen, struggling just to catch my ragged breath.
“Huff, huff…!”
At this moment, it was actually better that my sight was blocked. The sensation of cutting through soft flesh and piercing a heart with a sword in my hand was something I could never get used to.
‘How many times did Russell do this in the slums?’
Now I understood.
Why he had been so defensive, even though he had stained his hands with blood over and over in pursuit of revenge.
I just hoped he would stop struggling and die quietly.
My hands trembled as I prayed for that, when suddenly—
“Damn it!”
Snap!
I heard the sound of fingers snapping from behind. Instantly, the scent of burning flesh and bone wafted from the tip of the sword stick.
So he had triggered Blaze because there was only one of them.
“Kyaek…!”
“Grrr…!”
Hearing their comrade burn, the goblins attacking Russell screamed in terror.
I could sense them hesitating and retreating, and once again Russell snapped his fingers—click!
“Kraaah!”
“Kyaaaek!”
There was no smell of burning this time. I realized he had restrained the goblins surrounding us in an instant, and my legs went weak.
The goblin I had stabbed had already turned to ash, without even a trace of smoke.
“Piana! Are you okay?”
Russell hurried over and felt my face. I could tell from that that my expression was utterly miserable.
“Russell, Russell! Are you hurt anywhere?”
Clinging almost desperately, I checked his face and body. I worried he might be injured, or that he could die somewhere without anyone knowing.
Like I had in my past life.
That thought terrified me now. I didn’t care how ugly my face looked at the moment.
Thud.
At that moment, Russell grabbed my wrist.
“Piana, I’m fine. I…”
Was he startled too?
Suddenly, he pulled me into his arms. I struggled a few times but gave up and clung to him.
Feeling his warmth, I finally relaxed.
Ah, thank goodness.
If Russell had died somewhere unnoticed, like I had in my past life…
If those monstrous beings had pierced and torn his chest apart—
Remembering the moment he had his heart pierced made me dizzy and drained all my strength.
“Piana? Piana! What’s wrong?”
“Russell… I’m… really glad you’re safe…”
“You should’ve taken care of yourself first! How did you get here? And what about Asha?”
Who’s telling whom to take care of themselves right now?
Ah… my consciousness was slowly fading.
I had known I had overexerted myself. Even today, I had faced the brink of death and had connected with other plants.
Besides, even with memories from my past life, I had never used Scan three times in a row.
And the sensation of killing someone for the first time—
“You… must have been in so much pain…”
Russell, shaking me in his embrace, froze.
“I… I’ve never… killed anyone before… but I didn’t know it would be this… painfully… excruciating…”
After losing his loved ones and feeling helpless, what emotions had he endured?
After staining his hands with blood and realizing nothing would come of it, how desperate and agonized he must have felt.
Even if he killed an evil person, the feeling of taking a life is not something one can easily forget.
It doesn’t matter if there is justification or a greater cause. Feeling a life fade away firsthand is horrifying.
“Your Highness! Are you safe?”
“Guards! Take the Duchess immediately!”
The faint consciousness I still clung to was being pulled away by the sounds of footsteps and shouting.
As I sank into the whirlpool of unconsciousness, the last words I whispered were:
“Rus…sell…”
I could barely hold onto a single thread of his name.
I heard the crisp, soothing sound near my ears. My submerged consciousness slowly returned, trying to discern sight through smell and humidity.
What time was it now?
When I twitched my fingertips, someone grabbed my hand.
In a gentle voice, he spoke:
“You can sleep more. Only half a day has passed.”
“Russell… where is this…?”
“Valerian Palace.”
So we had been moved back to the imperial palace.
As I struggled to sit up, cold, sweet fruit touched my lips.
“You must be hungry, so eat this first.”
“I’m… okay.”
“Eat it. Otherwise, I won’t talk to you.”
I reluctantly took the apple he offered, and he made a satisfied sound of amusement.
Munch, munch.
The Scan function embedded in the stick couldn’t be used today. After I ate about four pieces of apple, he leaned back in the chair.
‘Was he waiting for me to wake up?’
No way. He must be tired too…
I tried to dismiss the thought as a distraction when he spoke:
“News has spread widely. The northern lion has lifted the dark clouds that had settled over the isles.”
“I just received help.”
“No. You saved my life.”
Russell said firmly:
“In a situation of ongoing reinforcement, just restraining them has limits. If it weren’t for you, I would have suffered greatly.”
It was hard to imagine Russell being in serious trouble.
More importantly, I had something to tell him.
“Russell. I have something to say.”
“No more honorifics now?”
“Honestly… it was hard to even use it before.”
“Is that so?”
He chuckled softly, as if amused.
Even though the sound of his laugh was captivating, now was not the time to focus on that.
“Probably, the Casus Kingdom released goblins in the slums.”
I felt Russell’s gaze toward me grow cold. He folded his arms.
“Let’s hear your reasoning first. Why would Casus want to strike the isles?”
“When the Emperor visited the north before, I said there were underground organizations in the slums.”
That had been an impromptu move using memories from my past life.
Twenty years had passed since then, and the current king was seeking friendly ties with the empire, so I thought there was no danger—but I was wrong.
“If my guess is correct, the Casus Kingdom patiently spent a long time orchestrating operations in the slums.”
“Why did it have to be now?”
“Because we had the covenant ceremony. The north could be attacked since you weren’t there, and the isles had troops stationed in the palace, where nobles and royals gathered, making it the prime target.”
“Then they would have noticed the organization while I was in the slums.”
That guess was wrong. I shook my head.
“No. That couldn’t have been the case. Casus would have thoroughly destroyed the evidence.”
Even the people living in the slums weren’t complete lowlifes.
That place, called the darkness of the isles, was mostly populated by those who had fallen from ordinary life or had always lived in the underworld.
So their social status varied. Before Russell requested mercy, the slums were, in a way, a hub of information.
‘From what I remember, as long as someone could get a full meal immediately, selling information about anyone wasn’t a big deal.’
However, the Casus Kingdom killed them to completely erase evidence. That’s what orchestration entails.
Russell listened to me in silence.
Naturally, it would be hard to believe.
He would have investigated me, and knowing no one around me came from the slums, it would seem suspicious.
“It’s a plausible claim, but there’s a problem.”
“What problem?”
Russell calmly stated the fact:
“The ringleader was caught while you were asleep.”
