~~ Thank you so much for the coffee ~~
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Roxis seized his sword, which was partially damaged.
Ares staggered to his feet and spat out blood.
“You’re late, Your Highness.”
His hair, which he’d tied up earlier, was untied again, and he even had the ends cut off at a funny angle.
Julion, examining Ares’ appearance, clicked his tongue.
“Why are you here? Your mission shouldn’t involve combat here.”
“Following my master’s orders is my mission.”
Ares looked at me and shrugged.
Feeling awkward and a bit guilty, I forced a smile, but Julion’s gaze pierced through me.
His gaze, shining like a jewel, carefully examined me, gliding slowly from head to toe.
Disheveled hair.
Ornaments that I didn’t know had gone missing.
A torn dress hem.
And…… shoes with the heels ripped off.
“……ha.”
His gaze lingered for a moment on my bloodied feet, revealing clear emotions.
Like molten gold in a furnace, it was refined anger, seeming about to burst but strangely serene.
“Rohiriel.”
As my name softly escaped his lips, I met his gaze in silence.
“Stay still.”
Julion’s searing eyes cooled as quickly as if cold water had been poured over them.
He spoke a word, rolling it off his tongue as if savoring each syllable, then seamlessly shifted his gaze away from me.
And in the next moment…
― Boom!
A thunderous roar, unimaginable as a human utterance, reverberated through the earth.
“Kirk!”
Julion swung his sword again at Roxis, who had been sent flying and pinned against a tree.
The white-blurred silhouette of the sword breaking the sunlight left dozens of afterimages in the air.
While Roxis was no easy opponent, relying only on a single sword, considering his primary weapons were a pair of swords, had its limitations.
This time, Julion sliced through Roxis’ left leg. He gasped for breath.
As the scene shifted within a few breaths, I swallowed hard, taking in the unfolding events.
‘I knew Julion was strong, but…’
This was beyond imagination.
Despite Roxis being unable to utilize his full abilities, the gap was substantial.
I could see why Roxis, who rarely got hurt, showed up with wounds.
“Roxis Cassian. Listen to my order.”
In no time, Julion’s sword pressed against Roxis’ throat.
Even in this pressured state, Roxis smiled proudly.
“Oh, Your Highness, is it right to harass innocent people like this?”
“The crawling worms would laugh at such nonsense.”
With a mocking tone, Julion raised his sword, ready to strike.
However, the strike never landed.
When I felt someone behind me, it was already too late.
“!”
A gruesome hand grabbed my shoulder, and a chilling sensation touched my neck.
“What the……!”
Julion’s gaze swiftly shifted to mine as he noticed the turn of events.
Taking advantage of that moment, Roxis slipped out of Julion’s range.
Julion moved towards me, but at the same time, the area around my neck became moist.
He’s trying to threaten Julion by plunging the blade even deeper.
“Stop! Do you want this woman’s neck to be pierced?”
Julion, who was about to rush towards us, froze like a statue.
Instead, his expression became fierce, like an enraged beast.
“Tables have turned.”
Julion’s eyes searched for Ares, who stood frozen a few steps away.
‘Ares seems to be hurt somewhere.’
Something must have gone wrong in his fight with Roxis.
Otherwise, Ares wouldn’t have failed to notice this man.
The intense heat from the sudden hostage situation rapidly cooled down.
Without taking his eyes off me, Julion addressed Roxis.
“Do you believe you can get away with this when there are so many witnesses? You can’t escape.”
Roxis frowned and took a few steps back.
“Do you have any evidence that I am Roxis Cassian?”
“What kind of joke is this?”
“Literally, you have no proof that the man who attacked your highness in this very place is Roxis Cassian.”
He shamelessly uttered such words.
If we arrest him on the spot, there would be no room for denial, but if we let him go, it would be a different story.
‘If he claims he’s not the one, then he’s not here.’
Creating a fake Roxis was something that could easily be done.
Perhaps an innocent person would be manipulated into claiming they were the one who did it.
That was Cassian’s method.
“Step back, quickly!”
The man who grabbed me thought he had the upper hand and shouted roughly.
In response, Julion’s expression changed.
‘I need to find an opening.’
Who on earth is the man holding onto me?
It was frustrating not being able to see his face, but I could make some guesses.
I opened my mouth slowly.
“You, you’re not a vassal of Cassian, are you?”
He flinched.
The guy’s arm around my shoulder twitched ever so slightly.
Roxis seemed to click his tongue subtly, too.
I asked again.
“You don’t know me, which is why you did this stupid thing. Isn’t that right, Roxis?”
When I intentionally threw the question at Roxis, the arm holding me tightened a bit more.
I couldn’t see his face, but I felt a subtle reaction.
‘This guy is a mercenary hired by Roxis.’
If that’s the case, there’s more I can get out of him.
While Cassian’s vassals are restricted from speaking, mercenaries are not.
Having thought this far, I smiled cunningly and reached for my waist.
Perhaps due to the tension from the recent conversation, the guy’s body became tense, creating an opening.
As if sensing my intention, Roxis urgently shouted.
“Execute the final plan!”
“All of a sudden, what……!”
“Why aren’t you doing anything?”
Despite the chaos, I reached into the small bag I had been tightly holding onto.
The man, already starting to become flustered, didn’t notice my actions.
“Execute it now!”
Roxis shouted.
Meanwhile, the guy, who didn’t seem to understand, was taking out a small bead from his pocket.
I, too, took out the object I was looking for, despite the turmoil.
“Rohiriel!”
Julion’s eyes widened.
I grabbed the blade that was still pointed at my throat, twisted around, and smacked the man in the face with the vial I’d pulled from my bag.
“Argh…!”
“Damn it, you idiot!”
Roxis cursed out loud as the man went limp.
Due to the impact, the bead he was about to throw fell to the ground and rolled in front of the watchtower.
“What on earth are you doing?”
As Julion threw himself at me, Roxis threw something towards the bead.
Light leaked from the bead, and a flame ignited.
Knowing what it was, I immediately reached out towards Julion, shouting,
“Run, now!”
My fingertips touched Julion’s.
He said something, but all I could see was the shape of his mouth moving, but there was no sound.
It felt like silence had engulfed the entire world.
Then an ear-splitting explosion followed.
Due to the bright light, visibility was obscured, and nothing could be distinguished.
Soon, a fierce wind roared, and only then did the muffled ears begin to perceive the sound.
fluttering sound, like a bird fleeing.
crashing sound.
And…….
“You, really!”
Julion scolded me while holding me in his arms.
“Are you out of your mind? What on earth…”
As he pulled his head back, Julion looked down at me with a heavily distorted expression.
“I’m sorry. If I had acted a few seconds earlier, I could have prevented the explosion.”
Even for a few seconds. No, even just one second earlier, if I had quickly brought down the man, it would have been better.
Before he could take out the bead.
However, Julion, for some reason, didn’t seem pleased and scowled at me.
“Is that what you’re going to say now?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“No, you don’t understand what the problem is right now. Hands, hold them out.”
He told me to hold out my hand, but he reached for it first.
The hand that held the blade was covered in blood.
After carefully examining my hand, Julion spoke in a low voice.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay still? Why did you do this?”
“I had no choice.”
I tried to move my body, looking away from Julion’s gaze.
However, Julion’s grip on me was firm.
He ripped off his cuff and wrapped it around my hand.
“I could have saved you sufficiently. Did you move like this, hurting yourself, because you didn’t trust me?”
“No, it’s not that. I just chose a fast and sure way. I won’t feel much pain even if I get a little hurt.”
The moment I finished speaking, I realized I had made a foolish remark.
The air around Julion, who was holding me, suddenly became colder.
“Didn’t you say you were getting better?”
“……I’m getting better.”
“You also said you’d be fine soon.”
“I’ve been busy today with a lot of work. That’s why I couldn’t take the medicine.”
“……ha.”
Julion’s gaze flickered intensely, but strangely, his voice became even colder.
“It seems like your own safety is not a concern for you.”
His gaze weighed heavily on my shoulders.
Desperately wanting to change the topic, I looked around and found something to divert the conversation.
“What about Sir Ares? Is he safe?”
“Rohiriel.”
“We should check on that man from earlier too. It looks like Roxis…escaped.”
Anyway, he’s surprisingly good at running away.
“Your highness, are you safe?”
In the midst of the awkwardness, Ares rushes over.
Despite bleeding from various places, he seemed to be okay.
“What do we do about that?”
Ares showed distress as he pointed to the watchtower that had collapsed.
The building was vigorously burning, and gray ashes were fluttering everywhere.
