Chapter 73……………..
The man once again violently snatched away the chair coming down toward him.
Bang—!
At the same time, the tarot shop door slammed shut, and the inside grew dark once more.
It was a space Everett knew well.
Before the man’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, she had to snatch away the tarot cards in his hand.
Those tarot cards had been what helped her endure after falling into this unfamiliar world.
Her chest ached as though she had lost someone precious.
Everett grabbed whatever she could reach and hurled it recklessly at the man.
Cursing, the man leapt over the table in a single bound and seized Everett by the collar.
“Who the hell are you?!”
Instead of answering, she forcefully shoved the unsuspecting man away using a self-defense move she had once learned.
Inside the narrow tarot shop, a desperate struggle broke out between Everett and the man.
But with only a few self-defense techniques remembered, Everett had no chance against him.
In the end, the man’s rough hands seized her hair and flung her outside the shop.
“Ah…”
After the brief scuffle, slamming onto the ground sent pain searing through her entire body, as if it had been shattered.
The man approached Everett as she lay face down, groaning faintly.
He chuckled, nudging her slumped shoulder with the tip of his shoe.
“What are you? The owner of this place or something?”
Afraid her face might be revealed, Everett slightly raised her head to check his face. But then she noticed a strange bottle hanging at his waist.
It was exactly the same shape as the bottles Hilde had once explained were used to sell explosive powder.
That bottle’s filled with gunpowder.
If she could show that to others, they would believe her. Everett decided she had to get her hands on it.
“They say you’re that famous fortune-teller? Should I at least get a look at your face?”
As the man bent down, reaching for her hair, Everett lunged at him.
Her hand stretched toward the powder bottle, but her strength had already drained, and her body refused to move as she wished.
“You little—!”
Angered by her sudden action, the man began to mercilessly kick her.
Just as her consciousness began to blur in pain—
“Everett! Everett!”
She heard Kyle’s voice calling her name loudly.
Startled, the man spun around and dashed back into the tarot shop.
The first-floor door was open, and he intended to escape through the window.
“I need to show that as proof….”
Summoning the last of her strength, Everett staggered after him.
As the man leaned out the window, she grabbed at him. In one rough swing, he struck her away.
She fell back limply—and with her, the gunpowder bottle dropped to the floor.
Once the powders inside mixed and were jarred by impact, they would explode.
“Damn it! It’s gonna blow!”
The man rolled across the floor at the sight of the mixing powder, then leapt out the window.
At the sound, Everett too rushed outside the shop.
The bottle spun across the ground with a crackling sound, then struck the wall with a clack.
Moments later—BOOM!—an explosion erupted, flames licking up the curtains inside the shop.
Though manufactured to prevent large detonations, it was enough to destroy part of the small wooden building.
She had escaped outside, but the blast’s shockwave shoved Everett down the stairs.
The unbearable impact made her consciousness flicker on and off like a broken light bulb.
In that brief moment, Kyle’s face came into view.
“Everett!”
His golden ceremonial attire and neatly brushed red hair shone beautifully.
Everett felt a fleeting relief—at least she could see Kyle before dying.
“Everett! Stay with me!”
Having fled the palace after hearing of his impending marriage to the saintess, Kyle had rushed to find her, searching from her house to the square.
But the scene before his eyes was unbelievable.
Why had the tarot shop exploded, and why was Everett collapsed, bloodied and bruised?
Shouting for her to hold on, Kyle scooped her up and carried her outside.
“Everett! Everett!”
His voice, breathless as he called her name, trembled with suppressed tears.
Everett strained to open her eyes and look at him.
“Everett, can you hear me? Are you okay?”
He poured out questions, but Everett couldn’t answer a single one.
The fireworks for the banquet had been the trigger for the plaza’s chain of explosions. But one charge had already gone off.
Though time remained before the banquet began, no one could predict how the situation would unfold after the blasts.
Everett wanted to warn him, but her voice barely came out.
Fear made her eyes quiver uncontrollably.
Kyle gently cupped her wounded face and whispered,
“Shh, don’t say anything. It’s too hard for you. Just look at me, Everett. Don’t lose consciousness.”
Everett wanted to obey—but she couldn’t.
Mustering all her strength, she forced out broken words.
“Plaza… more… explosions… to… come….”
Hearing her strained, raspy voice, Kyle’s face twisted with shock.
“Explosions in the plaza? Who would do such a thing?”
But before Everett could say more, her eyes rolled back, and she slumped unconscious.
“Everett!”
Kyle hugged her pale, lifeless body tightly, as if she might shatter.
Before them, the tarot shop was engulfed in roaring flames.
The explosion and fire drew people from the quiet alley.
I have to tell Alf.
Kyle fumbled through his pockets for something to write on, but his clothes were formal banquet attire.
He carefully laid Everett down, pulled out the handkerchief tucked in his jacket, and spread it on the ground.
Then, slicing his finger with the ornamental dagger, he began to write in blood.
“Oh my goodness! What happened here?!”
The coachman came running frantically from a distance.
Kyle hastily folded the blood-written handkerchief.
“Are you all right, Your Excellency? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Go back to the palace at once, find Sir Kiyor, and deliver this.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Saddle a horse. I’ll ride.”
The coachman nodded and hurried off toward the carriage.
Kyle lifted Everett back into his arms.
Her body hung limp, swaying dangerously—it was too risky to place her directly on horseback.
He stripped off his jacket and bound her tightly to himself.
Pressed against his left shoulder, her faint breathing was still there.
To keep her from falling, he held her waist firmly with one arm as he rode.
Just as they left the plaza—
BOOM!
Another explosion erupted behind them, followed by screams and shouts.
But Kyle didn’t look back. He galloped straight toward Everett’s mansion, all his focus on the faint breaths in his ear.
Everett, please! Just hold on a little longer.
At last, the bells rang, signaling the fire in the plaza.
“Ahh! My lady!”
Daisy screamed when she saw Kyle carrying Everett.
Barely an hour had passed since Kyle had left to meet her at the plaza.
She had been preparing a dress for Everett to wear to the banquet, eagerly waiting to see her arrive with the handsome Kyle.
“Your Excellency, what happened to my lady?!”
Tears welling, she followed behind Kyle as he strode quickly upstairs.
When Daisy saw Everett’s face laid upon the bed, she burst into sobs.
Bruises and cuts bled freely, and her exposed shoulders were riddled with splinters of wood.
“Daisy.”
Kyle called her name, but she couldn’t hear him through her crying.
“Daisy!”
“Y-yes, Your Excellency.”
“Pull yourself together. If you’re crying like this, who will care for Everett?”
His words made Daisy hastily wipe her tears, swallowing them back down.
“Go fetch a healer immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Daisy rushed out of the mansion, Kyle staggered, his body swaying heavily.
Finally releasing the tension, he exhaled a long, ragged breath.
Looking at Everett, rage surged within him at the nameless assailants.
“I won’t let them get away with this.”
In his usually clear green eyes—always reminiscent of a deep, tranquil forest whenever he looked at her—anger now boiled.
Everett’s pale face and bruised shoulders were unbearable to see.
Kyle’s hands hovered helplessly in the air, unable to touch her fragile body.
“Those bastards….”
To Kyle, Everett was like a small bird.
A being who might flutter away without warning, leaving his side.
That fear had kept him from showing his true feelings.
But seeing her in such a wrecked state—he could never forgive the ones responsible.
“Everett, I’ll find the one who did this to you. I’ll make them beg for death, make them suffer so much they’ll scream for release.”
Kyle’s low voice carried a chill colder than the northern winds.
Moments later, Daisy returned, drenched in sweat, dragging a healer with her.
“I brought the healer!”
The healer, startled at the sight of Kyle, bowed hastily.
“Y-Your Excellency!”
“There was an explosion. And… she was attacked.”
Hearing “attacked,” Daisy wept again but bit her lips to keep quiet.
The healer carefully examined Everett’s wounds and nodded.
“I see. There are splinters lodged in her neck and shoulders. It will take some time to remove them all.”
“Treat her so that not even a scar remains.”
