110

Screech!

The carriage swerved violently.

I struggled to keep myself from being thrown to the floor, but a cold chill ran through me.

‘A gun?!’

There was only one person in this world who owned a gun.

One of the three male leads who could wield magic tools—Dante, the master of the magical gun.

I quickly leaned out of the window to look.

In the distance, I could see Dante, his face set in stone, half-hanging out of his carriage, aiming directly at us.

White smoke curled from the muzzle of his gun.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots echoed once again.

“It’s dangerous, Lady!”

Benedict yanked me back into the carriage forcefully, and I tumbled inside.

“Go faster!”

Lucian screamed furiously from outside, leaning out of the carriage and unleashing his magic.

Boom!

A loud explosion erupted.

Neighhhh!

The sound of a horse screaming in pain rang out from Dante’s side.

I had no idea what was happening outside, but the violent shaking of the carriage was enough to tell me that a fierce battle was underway.

Boom!

Another explosion roared.

Bang! Bang!

In response, more gunfire rang out.

Lucian turned toward the coachman, shouting once again.

“We’re not moving fast enough! At this rate—ugh!”

Suddenly, Lucian staggered.

Blood spurted from his shoulder.

He’d been shot.

I gasped in shock.

“Duke!”

But Benedict reacted faster than I did.

“Marguerite! Tend to the Duke!”

“Yes!”

Marguerite quickly pulled Lucian back into the carriage.

Blood poured from his shoulder, staining his clothes.

“We need to stop the bleeding…”

“Hold on.”

I grabbed at the hem of my dress.

Luckily, since I had been confined to my room for so long, I was only wearing a soft indoor gown made of delicate fabric.

Though my hands were trembling and weak, I managed to rip the fabric.

‘First, I need to stop the bleeding.’

I pressed the torn fabric tightly against Lucian’s shoulder, trying to staunch the flow of blood.

“Gah…”

Lucian gritted his teeth, trying to endure the pain.

But the real problem was the strange light flickering in his blue eyes—a sign that he was on the verge of losing control.

Thankfully, Marguerite took care of that.

“Calm down, okay?”

She soothed him, her voice gentle.

Lucian squeezed his eyes shut.

Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his face had turned pale. It was clear that the combination of his shoulder injury and the agonizing pain from his impending outburst was overwhelming him.

At the same time, Benedict cursed under his breath and threw something outside.

Boom!

White smoke billowed up like a cloud, obscuring the view.

A smoke bomb.

“Go! Faster!”

Benedict urged the coachman again.

The carriage picked up speed, racing madly forward.

‘But if this keeps up, Dante will catch up with us.’

Something felt off, though.

The sounds from outside were growing quieter.

‘Could it be… Did Dante lose us?’

Benedict, who had been keeping a sharp eye on the situation outside, let out a sigh of relief.

“It seems we’ve managed to shake him off, for now.”

What?

I blinked in disbelief.

How could we have escaped from Dante so easily?

Feeling uneasy, I shivered as a strange, cold sensation crawled down my spine.

I glanced at Marguerite, who had a faint smile playing on her lips.

…Like she was enjoying some kind of twisted game.

“Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Marguerite turned toward me, her smile disappearing as if it had never been there.

“N-no reason.”

I quickly shook my head.

Marguerite then looked down at Lucian with concern-filled eyes.

“Benedict, Lucian needs urgent medical attention.”

“I know. Just hold on a little longer.”

Benedict replied, his voice clipped with tension.

I felt an overwhelming sense of unease.

‘Why are Lucian and Benedict so indifferent toward Marguerite?’

In the original story, Marguerite was the object of the male protagonists’ romantic affections and obsessive love. But the men in front of me were simply calm around her.

No, to be precise…

‘Friends.’

There wasn’t the slightest hint of romantic interest.

What was causing this difference?

Was it simply because the original plot had been twisted?

…I had no idea.

But all I knew was…

‘I feel uneasy.’

A strange sense of dread crept over me, and I bit my lip.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside, Dante appeared as composed as ever.

At least outwardly, he had returned to his usual role as the cold, calculated boss.

He handled his duties flawlessly, so no one else seemed to notice, but…

‘…What is going on?’

Liam sighed and glanced at Dante out of the corner of his eye.

‘How long does he plan to stay distracted like this?’

Every so often, Dante’s red eyes would drift absentmindedly over the documents in front of him, or he’d bite his lip lightly, his finger tapping nervously on the armrest of his chair.

All signs that his mind was elsewhere.

‘I need to finish up quickly and get him back to the mansion.’

Liam made up his mind.

So after they had wrapped up their business, and on their way back to the mansion, Dante, unable to sit still, spoke up.

“Can’t we go any faster?”

He fidgeted as he asked.

“She’s alone.”

“If we go any faster, the carriage might flip,” Liam replied, his face turning pale.

He felt like he was going to be sick from the motion.

Now that he thought about it, there was something familiar about this situation.

There was another time when Dante had been frantic, urging the carriage to go faster…

‘Ah, right.’

Liam finally recalled a long-forgotten memory.

Back when Elze had been working as a caretaker at the boarding school.

She had single-handedly captured Viktor.

‘It was Lady Elze back then, and it’s Lady Elze now.’

The only difference was that, back then, Dante had been composed, while now he was extremely anxious.

Liam clicked his tongue internally.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed.

‘What’s that?!’

Startled, Liam instinctively leaned out of the window.

And then he saw it.

Smoke billowing from the direction of the mansion.

“L-Lord Liam!”

One of the operatives on horseback, who had been escorting the carriage, galloped toward them with a pale face.

“There’s an intruder!”

“What?”

Liam’s face went white as all the blood drained from it.

Dante’s expression became unreadable as he asked in an icy voice.

“Where is she?”

In that moment, despite the urgency of the situation, Liam realized just how much Dante had changed.

In the past, Dante would’ve first asked about the extent of the damage or the identity of the intruder.

But now…

‘He only cares about Lady Elze.’

The operative squeezed his eyes shut and stammered.

“W-we haven’t been able to confirm Lady Elze’s location yet.”

“Oh, really?”

Click.

Dante pulled his gun from its holster.

He leveled the gun directly at the operative’s forehead.

“M-Marquis?!”

The terrified operative trembled, staring at Dante in shock.

Dante tapped the gun against the man’s forehead with cold precision.

“Go back to the mansion immediately and figure out the situation.”

Dante’s voice was eerily gentle as he continued.

“If you don’t return within ten minutes, I’ll personally put a hole in your head. Got it?”

“I-I understand!”

The operative scurried away in fear.

Dante’s fierce gaze turned toward Liam.

“We’d better hurry, don’t you think?”

Liam, of course, agreed.

The carriage sped up, racing toward the mansion.

When they arrived, the scene was absolute chaos.

The operatives guarding the mansion lay scattered on the ground, bloodied and beaten.

It looked as though a giant had stomped on them, crushing them underfoot.

“…Hah.”

Dante let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

A carriage was just pulling away from the front of the mansion.

Without hesitation, Dante raised his gun.

He leaned out of the window and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Screech!

The carriage swerved violently but quickly regained balance and continued to speed off.

“Damn it.”

Dante clicked his tongue and fired again.

Bang! Bang!

The sharp sound of gunshots echoed.

Then, suddenly—

Someone leaned out of the fleeing carriage.

‘Wait.’

Dante’s eyes widened.

In the wind, strands of red hair whipped into his view.

‘…Her?’

It was Elze.