Chapter 19 Where Did You Get Hurt?
Delphine’s eyes widened in surprise.
When? How? Where did he come out of nowhere?
“… Dare.”
A low growl escaped the man’s mouth, enough to send chills down her spine.
Delphine turned her head quickly, and there was a face unlike any she’d ever seen before.
Gone was the disconcertingly elegant and aristocratic look.
The man’s face had changed in an instant, as if he had changed masks, to that of a snarling beast.
Delphine sucked in a breath, momentarily terrified, even though the gaze wasn’t directed at her.
It was like being eaten by that gaze alone.
Torn to shreds by a ravenous flying beast, leaving not a scrap of flesh behind…
She was too overwhelmed to even turn her head.
“It is the Marquis of Pride!”
“The devil has appeared!”
“It’s Ioan Pride!”
Terrified screams came from here and there.
Delphine stared blankly at the knights in Imperial Guard armor pouring out of the alleyway in the distance.
The masked men scattered and began to flee, not daring to confront them.
“How dare you…”
He quickly drew his sword from the scabbard on his waist.
With a ghastly clang, a massive longsword was revealed, glowing brightly.
It was a sword Delphine recognized.
It was the sword that had slit her father’s throat before her eyes…
She could see the man, his eyes still half closed, his whole body tense as if he were about to leap.
It was almost unconsciously that Delphine caught him by the hem of his robe as he tried to run away.
It wasn’t a hard grip, but it was enough to make the man jerk back, wincing violently.
“Ah…”
Surprised at her own behavior, Delphine quickly released her grip on the hem of his shirt.
“Lady, are you all right?”
She expected him to ignore her and run off, whether he caught him or not.
The man came straight to her.
A kind face, a concerned tone.
It was a completely different expression from the one she’d seen earlier, the one that looked more like an animal than a man.
It was hard to believe it was the same man.
Red blood trickled down the man’s face.
The dagger of the man who had threatened her earlier had grazed his forehead.
A thick trickle of blood quickly covered half of his face.
The man of uncanny beauty had not lost his majesty even in this state.
As she stared at him, he spoke in a questioning tone.
“Lady?”
Delphine bit her lower lip in confusion.
Why was she holding this man?
She pursed her lips and hesitated, not sure why herself, before muttering in a disembodied tone.
“… Treatment.”
It’s probably because he’s seen a man get hurt protecting me.
So this emotion she’s feeling is conscience and responsibility.
Or it’s because she doesn’t want to see a man’s head cut off in front of her again.
‘Yes. That’s why…’
Delphine repeated to herself.
It wasn’t because she was suddenly relieved that this man had appeared in her moment of crisis.
It wasn’t because she felt fear and disappointment when he tried to pull away from her.
“Treatment? I think you’re hurt somewhere…”
Delphine shook her head in disbelief as the man’s eyes suddenly turned fierce.
“You. You have a cut on your forehead. I need to treat… you…”
The man stared blankly for a moment, alternating between her face and the hem of his robe that had briefly caught his attention, then gritted his teeth and turned away.
Then he looked at each of the masks as they scattered like herbivores on a prairie.
As if he could make out the faces behind the masks.
He turned to the knights, who were now at his side, and spoke in a chilling tone.
“… Follow them closely. Don’t lose a single one of them.”
“Yes!”
His gaze flicked to the knights on the ground.
“Useless bastards…”
He muttered, his expression devoid of any mercy, and turned back to Delphine.
“They are all my mistakes, My Lady.”
The man’s face was so gentle it was hard to believe he was the same man who had glared at the corpse with such fierce eyes just moments before.
He removed his cloak and wrapped it around her body.
He paused, hesitating for a moment, then carefully wrapped the hem of the cloak around the top of her head.
It left her with only her eyes barely visible.
“You look quite startled. Let us escort you to the manor, My Lady.”
A knight approached, clutching the reins of a huge black steed.
It was his horse, the one the man rode every morning.
“Just a short ride to the crossroads and you’ll find a carriage.”
“…”
Delphine mounted her horse with ease and skill.
Then she sat down on the huge horse and stared down at him.
Then the man lifted his eyebrows slightly in an amicable manner.
“Is there anything you need, Lady? I’m sure you’re not injured…”
“You don’t ride?”
“What?”
“I thought you said you needed to treat …, but I’m not the patient.”
“Oh.”
For a moment, Delphine was glad he was turning away from them and looking at her.
If they saw him looking like this, it would surely diminish his prestige.
“… Yes.”
The man climbed up behind her with a motion so deft that she couldn’t help but feel his body against hers.
His body was unavoidably pressed against hers.
Especially his lower half.
The heat from his hot, powerful body radiated off her back.
And it was irresistibly tempting to her, even in this moment, when the rest of her body was freezing cold.
Delphine relaxed and leaned back against him.
His body, wide and hard enough to encompass her entire body, made her flinch for a moment, but she didn’t care.
Touching him made her feel strangely, strangely safe.
A man so terrifying when he was an enemy, and yet so reassuring when he was on her side.
She was confused to find herself feeling this way about her enemy.
But then the carriage rumbled to a halt, and the sharp ax blade burst through the door.
The dagger lunged for her throat.
“… Umm. Are you cold?”
Delphine shivered weakly, and the stiff man quickly grabbed the reins of his horse.
The man’s arms tightened around Delphine, enveloping her completely in his embrace.
It was more of a relief than a constraint.
“A horse will be faster than a carriage, My Lady, so let’s pick up the pace a bit.”
The great horse began to gallop.
The man drove it with dexterous skill, and they quickly left District 2.
Soon, Delphine’s body relaxed completely as the familiar sight of District 1 appeared.
When Delphine seemed to settle down a bit in his arms, the man slowed his horse down a bit.
She doesn’t know how long she listened to the pounding hooves, but suddenly she heard his voice.
“… I’m glad nothing bad happened.”
Delphine thought blankly.
That’s right. Nothing had happened. Thanks to this man who appeared out of nowhere.
Really, suddenly, as if out of nowhere.
She glanced around the carriage until just before the crisis.
Sure enough, he was nowhere to be found.
He was far too tall to blend into the crowd, and there was no way she could have failed to recognize the dirty blond towering over them.
But where?
How could he appear from nowhere so quickly?
… As if he’d had a premonition of his own crisis?
She must have been putting on an impression.
“Are you ill, by any chance?”
A soft voice spoke again from above my head.
It was a ridiculous question.
Delphine glanced up, lifting her chin to study his face.
Red blood was still trickling from his wound.
The skin must have been torn open for quite some time, judging by the way it didn’t stop bleeding.
In comparison, she herself was unscathed, save for a slight frown.
When Delphine buried herself deeper into his arms instead of answering, the man’s rigid body flinched once more.
He shifted slightly in discomfort.
Wrapped in his rolled-up cloak, Delphine kept telling herself.
It’s that smell of blood.
It’s the smell of that blood that makes her stomach churn and her heart beat so fast.
Soon enough, they arrived at the Pride manor.
Delphine leapt from her horse as soon as they reached the gates.
The man was still sitting on his horse, his face calm.
Delphine was surprised to see him in full view.
He was bleeding profusely, his white uniform red all over.
But the man’s gaze was still fixed on her.
“Is there really no one injured?”
He wasn’t going to stop until he heard her answer.
“…”
Delphine hesitated for a moment as she looked at the man, his upper body covered in blood.
Her lips pursed several times, but she couldn’t find the right words to say.
“… Disinfect, make sure you do it right.”
With those words, she went upstairs to her quarters.
***
“They said he got seven stitches.”
“….”
“The man who came to the mansion, the adjutant, was very surprised. He said it was the first time he had seen him injured.”
“…”
“He said it was the baby… No, he said it was the Lord himself, saving the lady!”
“Anna.”
The nursemaid’s increasingly heated tone forced Delphine to repeat her name.
It was meant as a warning not to interfere further.
