<Chapter 101>
At the moment when I blankly looked up at the man, a memory surged in my mind.
‘Say hello. This is your sixth cousin, Rezeck Dryad Hacardella.’
Though it was the first time I faced this middle-aged woman, I could immediately recognize her.
She was none other than the Duchess of Hacardella, the mother of Rose and Marie.
Her deep, ocean-blue hair was elegantly styled, adorned with a tiara encrusted with gleaming diamonds and sapphires exuding a vibrant blue hue.
She wore a magnificent dress that blended white and blue, mimicking the waves themselves, and exuded an aura of cold beauty.
A faint smile graced her lips as she gently placed her hand on the shoulder of a small boy who barely reached her waist.
‘My cousin, Sir Derrick Hacardella, married a princess of Dryas and left Hacardella, so he may not be familiar with our culture here. He also recently lost his parents, leaving him in a pitiable situation… Rose, please take good care of your cousin.’
The boy, who was so pretty that one might momentarily mistake him for a girl, let his delicate silver hair, tinged with a faint bluish hue, fall to his eyes.
He kept his gaze down and bit his lip.
‘Yes, Mother,’ young Rose answered with utmost calm and politeness despite her tender age.
The Duchess smiled warmly at her daughter before leaving the room.
Marie, who was even younger than Rose—barely five years old—clung to Rose’s hem, staring curiously at Rezeck but too shy to approach.
Rezeck, meanwhile, stood silently, his expression stiff, tightly clenching his small fists.
‘I’m happy to meet you, cousin,’ Rose broke the silence, her youthful voice ringing out as she approached Rezeck.
Extending her small hand as though for a handshake, she continued, ‘My name is Rose Hacardella. I hope we can get along like siblings from now on.’
Despite her firm and clear tone, the boy Rezeck furrowed his delicate brow noticeably and shot back with a venomous tone one wouldn’t expect from someone with such a fairy-like appearance.
‘Don’t act so friendly, you creepy girl.’
After spitting out those harsh words, he turned away coldly.
‘Gasp!’
Marie gasped in fright, her eyes wide with fear.
As for Rose, she gazed at the young boy’s retreating figure with a detached expression, seemingly unaffected.
‘…What was that?’ she thought. ‘Was my approach wrong?’
Her reaction was strangely matter-of-fact, devoid of emotion.
Crunch—!
Startled by the eerie sound of something breaking, I snapped out of the memory and returned to reality.
My eyes fixed on a ship that was breaking apart under the force of a surging flood.
Aboard that ship were not only the elementalists of Khalid and Nisha but also ordinary people.
Though the faces of the innocent flashed through my mind, I had no strength left to act. I could only lean against Rezeck’s embrace.
I had caused terrible harm. Overcome with guilt, I bit my lip.
“Can you walk?”
A polite voice, starkly contrasting the rude tone from my memories, reached my ears.
“Ah… No.”
I replied hesitantly.
Still shaken from the hallucination and numb from the icy waters I had been swept through, I could hardly move.
In response to my honest answer, Rezeck adjusted his hold on me and spoke softly, “It seems we’ve stalled them enough. It’s time to leave.”
Leave? Did he mean to control the water to get us to land?
As the thought crossed my mind…
Crack-crack-crack—!
The ominous, darkly swirling river suddenly transformed into a surface of white frost, freezing solid in an instant.
“An ice spiritist…”
I murmured in awe, staring blankly at the extraordinary and familiar sight.
The freezing cold swept across the water’s surface, gradually expanding its reach.
Holding me firmly with one arm, Rezeck stepped onto the solid ice and began walking.
His frosty breath puffed faintly into the air.
As I stared at the cold vapor dissipating in the air, an overwhelming sense of unease gripped me.
I turned to check behind us, worried that Nisha’s crown prince might be pursuing us.
However, the sinking ship beneath the water seemed to guarantee that no further chase would come.
Relieved, I exhaled and gazed at the endless expanse of white ice.
***
Meanwhile…
“Your Highness, are you all right?”
The ship, which had been sinking into the depths, was soon engulfed by black mist and lifted above the frigid water.
“…”
Khalid stood alone on the deck, his black figure surrounded by the white chill in the air.
Irmak, who had been searching for him desperately, knelt before him, waiting anxiously for orders.
Sweeping his wet hair back with one hand, Khalid stared intently at the frozen river with a gaze deepened by inscrutable emotion.
“Judging by the scale of water manipulation and the simultaneous use of ice, it must be a high-ranking spiritist…”
Muttering to himself as he pieced together the identity of the one who had thwarted his plans, Khalid’s thoughts settled on a name.
“Rezeck Dryad.”
Rezeck, the young royal who held claims to the thrones of both the Dryas Kingdom and the Duchy of Hacardella, had long been a person of interest to Nisha.
It seemed highly likely that he was the one who had disappeared with Princess Marie Hacardella…
“The second princess is left in the Kingdom of Dryas, is she? Then the relic as well…”
To think they would even come to rescue the first princess, who was likely left behind as bait to ensure a successful escape.
“…”
As expected, though not desired.
“Must we expedite the fall of the kingdom after all…”
His handsome face bore traces of worry, rippling faintly across his expression.
In a low, subdued voice, as if lamenting, he muttered.
“…”
Throb-
The weighty pain emanating from the wound that had been slashed countless times, bleeding continuously, worsened as the cold moisture seeped into it.
Khalid clasped his bleeding wrist with his other hand to staunch the flow, lost in thought.
The one who had left this scar was none other than the eldest princess of Hacardella, who had just vanished.
It happened on the deck where he had gone after receiving his lieutenant’s report of finding a woman believed to be Rose Hacardella.
‘No more… no..’
A frail woman stood precariously, trembling intermittently, awaiting him.
Her silver eyes, steeped in fear, stared at him, though they were clearly trapped in a hallucination conjured by Arkane’s power.
‘Don’t come near me. Don’t come near me, I said…’
She muttered in a voice soaked with agony, clutching a sharp spear as if it were her lifeline.
Her trembling hands extended, aiming the spear at Khalid as he cautiously approached.
‘…Princess.’
Though he had no way of knowing what illusion she was seeing, Khalid softly mouthed the words as he took another careful step forward, extending a hand.
‘Don’t touch me!’
At that very moment, Rose Hacardella screamed in desperation, swinging the spear.
Thud-
The sharpened blade pierced his flesh. Crimson blood scattered into the air like blooming petals.
‘…!’
Faced with that vivid color, a deep ripple stirred within his empty gray eyes.
‘Your Highness!’
His lieutenant rushed forward, seemingly intent on subduing the princess.
‘…Do not… come closer.’
Raising his uninjured arm, Khalid stopped his subordinate.
‘I will watch over the princess until the hallucination subsides. No one is to approach.’
Obeying their master’s command, the subordinate halted where they stood.
Khalid grasped the shaft of the spear impaling his arm with his other hand and, as if soothing a child, spoke gently.
‘Princess.’
His voice was soft.
‘There is no need to be afraid.’
Do not fear.
‘I mean you no harm.’
I will not hurt you.
‘So, please, stop now…’
Even though he was the person attempting to destroy her country, implanting her body with a parasitic artifact that drained life to prevent the summoning of spirits, and even sought to steal the Spirit King’s relic…
‘…’
Do not fear me, he said.
If I were to be driven into a corner like you…
Would I ever be able to submit to such hypocritical words from my enemy?
‘Ah, ahhh-!’
Slice-
Once again, crimson droplets splattered before his eyes, accompanied by the metallic scent that brushed his nose.
“It would be impossible…”
Khalid murmured blankly, as if he had even forgotten the pain.
“…”
Yet, the oath binding his body and soul allowed him no freedom.
“From now on.”
Turning away from the frozen, silver river, Khalid gave his command.
“We head to the Kingdom of Dryas.”
No matter where they go or where they hide, I will track them down. I will seize the water relic and hold it in my grasp.
“We obey the will of our lord.”
His gray eyes, resembling the hidden side of the white moon, gleamed chillingly, filled with empty determination.
