“Cut down the fallen wyverns!”
At Aaron’s command, the knights charged at the wyverns that had crashed to the ground without hesitation.
Amidst the swirling dust and chaos, Derivis, who had been calmly holding a sword in his hand, wrapped his legs in auror and leaped into the air without a moment’s doubt.
“Look, Rosalie! It’s like a circus! Only Devi can strike a pose in mid-air like that!”
Nathan’s comment drew Rosalie’s attention to Derivis, who had leaped incredibly high thanks to his auror. In the air, he maintained perfect balance and precisely struck a wyvern’s neck.
He then gracefully landed on the ground, shaking off the wyvern’s blood from his sword. Derivis glanced disapprovingly at Nathan, who was applauding.
“Nathan, stop fooling around and get moving.”
“Yes, yes!”
Nathan adjusted the peculiarly shaped, bent sword in his hand and threw it. Due to its curved shape, the sword spun in the air like a boomerang and sliced through the wyvern’s wings.
The spinning sword, like a loyal pet, returned to Nathan’s hand.
“Are these two monsters?”
Toronto, who was cutting down a fallen wyvern, muttered in disbelief. Rosalie refocused and fired her crossbow. Her arrow hit a wyvern right in the eye.
“It’s His Majesty the Crown Prince. Be careful what you say.”
“Yes! I’ll go after the one the Duchess brought down!”
Scared of being reprimanded again, Toronto rushed towards the wyvern Rosalie had shot down. Despite reprimanding Toronto, Rosalie was inwardly impressed.
It was true, especially with the way Derivis displayed overwhelming strength to the point that Nathan’s words about how everyone would be dead if Derivis were in danger made perfect sense.
Watching them gave her a chilling feeling.
“Aaargh!”
“If they don’t fall at once, keep striking!”
The fierce battle continued. Rosalie darted around, shooting crossbow bolts accurately at the wyverns’ wings.
“Whitney!”
At Toronto’s cry, Rosalie turned to see Whitney lying on the ground. He had been hit by the descending wyvern, knocking him unconscious from the impact.
“Your Grace! The biggest one up there is the leader! It seems to be targeting Whitney!”
Toronto shouted, pointing to the largest wyvern in the sky.
The leader wyvern, seemingly intent on finishing Whitney, opened its mouth wide in a threatening pose. Rosalie, without hesitation, raised her crossbow and ran forward.
Realizing Rosalie’s approach, the wyvern let out a loud, ripping cry.
“Screeeeech!”
Rosalie positioned herself in front of the fallen Whitney and shot her crossbow. The arrow tore through a corner of the leader wyvern’s wing. Despite being hit, it continued to descend rapidly towards Rosalie.
“Damn it.”
Cursing, Rosalie threw away her crossbow and drew her dagger, emitting a fierce auror.
She couldn’t retreat because of Whitney and planned to plunge her sword into the wyvern’s neck in one strike.
“Your Grace!”
Aaron and Toronto, having noticed this, urgently called for Rosalie and rushed towards her. The wyvern eventually brandished its sharp claws and charged, while Rosalie focused her auror even more on her dagger.
“Ugh, no!”
However, the leader wyvern seemed to discern Rosalie’s intentions and flapped its wings, creating a strong gust of wind that threw off Rosalie’s balance. It then took the opportunity to lunge at her.
With her balance disrupted, Rosalie had a gut feeling that her arm would be torn off by the giant jaws that were about to close in.
“Rosalie!!”
Contrary to her expectations, her arm remained intact. Her eyes widened in shock as Derivis intervened, pulling her away and putting his arm in the wyvern’s mouth in her place.
“…Derivis?”
The wyvern’s large mouth was clamped around half of Derivis’s body.
“Ugh.”
Coughing up blood, Derivis looked at Rosalie. For a moment, Rosalie felt time freeze. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. As a drop of his blood fell to the ground, Rosalie snapped back to reality.
“Damn it!”
She rushed forward with fierce auror, plunging her sword into the wyvern’s neck. Her khaki-colored auror extended longer than the dagger, piercing through the wyvern’s thick neck.
“Screeeeech!”
The wyvern writhed in agony and spat out Derivis. Rosalie, who caught him as he fell helplessly, glared at the struggling wyvern and shouted.
“Nathan!!”
At Rosalie’s piercing cry, Nathan, who had rushed forward, swiftly beheaded the wyvern.
As the leader wyvern lost its life and fell to the ground, the remaining wyverns howled and began to retreat.
“Derivis! Snap out of it! Derivis!”
Rosalie shouted at Derivis, whose eyes were closing. He grasped Rosalie’s cheeks with trembling hands.
“…Stop being… reckless…”
With each word, blood spurted from his wounds. Rosalie pressed his wounds with her bare hands, murmuring desperately.
“Stop talking. Please, please…”
In a hurry, Nathan stripped off his clothes and handed them to Rosalie. She used the clothes to press against Derivis’s wound. However, the blood-soaked through the fabric and continued to flow.
“Please… please!”
Rosalie pressed harder with all her strength. Derivis struggled to keep his grip on her cheek even as his consciousness faded, but his efforts were in vain against the encroaching darkness.
“Derivis…?”
Rosalie felt his hand slip lifelessly from her cheek. She looked down at him in disbelief, shaking her head.
“Rosalie! Snap out of it! The healer is coming right now!”
Nathan grabbed her shoulder, bringing her back to reality.
Rosalie quickly retrieved a potion from her magic pouch and opened it. She poured it into her mouth and transferred it to Derivis’s mouth through a kiss. Rosalie’s actions continued until the healer arrived.
⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰
Four days passed since then. Thanks to the swift handling of the leader wyvern, the others had retreated. While there were injured knights, there were thankfully no casualties.
Amanda, the white-robed healer who had come here at the request of Duchess Judeheart, opened the innermost door and entered.
There, Derivis lay on the bed as if dead, with Rosalie guarding him anxiously. Rosalie turned her head slightly towards Amanda, who had entered the room. Her face, worn out from exhaustion, drew a concerned look from Amanda.
“Did you spend another night here?”
“…Yes.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince will be alright. He’s naturally strong and had wrapped himself in auror during the attack, which helped. Also, taking the potion immediately was crucial; it helped him get through the worst of it. The reason he hasn’t woken up yet is due to the poison from the leader wyvern, but since he’s built up resistance to toxins from a young age, all we can do now is wait.”
Amanda tried to reassure Rosalie, who looked anything but relaxed. However, Rosalie’s face showed no signs of improvement.
“I’m worried you’ll collapse if this continues. You need to rest, even if it’s just for a little while…”
“I don’t want to rest.”
“You’re not eating properly either.”
Amanda approached Rosalie, but Rosalie only shook her head. She gazed into Derivis’s tightly closed eyes, feeling a rush of longing after not seeing those blue irises for just a few days.
“She’s right, Rosalie. You’ll collapse at this rate.”
Suddenly, Nathan, who had opened the door and entered the room, approached Rosalie, his face shadowed with concern.
“Go get some rest.”
“I said it’s fine.”
“Go now before I have to make you pass out.”
Nathan warned her. Yesterday’s argument had ended with Rosalie refusing to leave, but Nathan seemed determined not to back down this time. Rosalie reluctantly followed him out of the room.
“Do you think Devi would like to see you all worn out?”
Nathan’s sarcastic words earned no response from Rosalie. She simply lowered her head. When they reached Rosalie’s room, Nathan spoke again.
“Make sure you get a proper night’s sleep tonight.”
“You too, Nathan.”
Rosalie knew that Nathan had been guarding her room every night. She smiled wryly, conceding defeat.
As Rosalie was about to open her room door, she heard a soft voice.
“Your Grace…”
Turning her head, Rosalie saw Whitney approach them. Then, Nathan gave Rosalie a look and left them alone.
“How are you feeling, Sir Whitney?”
“I’m alright now, thanks to the healer. But the prince…”
Whitney, who felt guilty for having collapsed, which led to Rosalie’s and Derivis’s peril, couldn’t even lift his head.
“I’m sorry. If only I hadn’t collapsed… It’s shameful for a knight to put their lord in danger. And the prince, too…”
His shoulders shook as he continued, overwhelmed with remorse. His head hung even lower.
“Sir Whitney, I am the duchess. It’s my duty to protect the people of the duchy.”
“Duchess…”
“And the crown prince just protected his citizens. So…”
Rosalie bit her lip, unable to say that it was all okay. She simply patted Whitney’s small shoulder.
“Go in and rest.”
Leaving a bowing Whitney behind, Rosalie entered her room and collapsed on the bed. The cheap, poor-quality bed creaked under her weight.
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