Episode 24
Cassium’s voice and expression when he said he wasn’t meeting Lady Marju lingered in my mind strangely.
At that moment…
“Lize!”
Cassium’s voice called out.
Cassium, at this hour?
I turned around at the sound of his voice, only to see a massive wave rushing toward me.
“…?!”
What was this? A wave in the middle of training?
For a brief moment, my body froze as if paralyzed.
‘Wait, am I dreaming right now?’
The moment I thought that, the enormous current engulfed me in an instant.
I couldn’t breathe.
My mind grew faint.
All I could hear were the gurgling sounds of water and bubbles brushing past my ears until everything went silent.
Even though it was a dream, it felt so vivid…
My breath was completely cut off, and my vision gradually darkened.
I was sinking.
Then, I saw something approaching me from a distance.
‘Golden Bunny?’
I didn’t know why I thought that, but the figure extending a hand toward me in the deep water was Cassium.
His hand reached me.
He pulled me with one hand and embraced me with the other.
I surrendered myself to his arms without resistance. The surface of the water drew closer.
He dragged me to shore and pressed against my chest.
Since knights receive basic rescue training, he was quite skilled at CPR.
My half-fading consciousness flickered, and my vision blurred before clearing repeatedly.
In any case, Cassium was in my field of vision. And his expression…
“Lize!”
Why did he look like he was about to cry?
He held me and lightly slapped my cheeks, trying to wake me up.
‘This gesture… it feels familiar. The way he’s slapping my cheeks like that…’
I raised my hand, grabbed his, and stopped him.
Then, with a weak voice, I muttered,
“I’m alive…”
Cassium pulled me into a tight embrace.
There was a desperate feeling in the way his arms wrapped around me.
‘Even though he said he’d rather die than get married…’
Did the guy who hated me so much not want me to die after all?
“Cassium.”
His gaze turned to me.
“If you’re just going to get upset because someone like me got hurt, you should’ve just passed by. Why did you get involved… Move around a bit. Are you okay? Any injuries?”
His trembling voice was filled with anger.
His eyes moved frantically as he checked for any injuries on me.
“Cassium.”
I called out to him, bringing his attention back to me.
This conversation wasn’t the most important thing right now.
‘You have no intention of getting married, right!’
“I feel the same way.”
“What?”
“I don’t want it either. I don’t want to marry you like that.”
“…”
“No one would be happy in a marriage they don’t want.”
Of course, this idea was the opposite of what many romance novels suggested.
But I didn’t feel like correcting it. That was fiction, after all, and Cassium not wanting this marriage was a fact.
‘I hope he marry the person you hate the most.’
The words spoken by Cassium’s father also lingered in my mind.
I had no desire to force a marriage that wouldn’t benefit him in any way.
For his sake, I didn’t want it either.
“Are you serious, Lize?”
“Yes.”
“Is that really what you want?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, there was a popping sound, and everything around us felt empty.
Immediately after, I lost consciousness again.
***
The sound of a whistle woke me up.
The whistle blew eight times.
Which meant…
‘It’s been 40 minutes now.’
Suddenly, a sense of reality washed over me.
My eyes shot open.
I was lying on the shore with my body half-submerged in the river, but there was no one around.
Except…
“Beep!”
The Golden Bunny was there.
It was sitting close to me, peering down at me.
As soon as I opened my eyes, it pressed its forehead against my shoulder and let out a sigh of relief.
I blinked slowly.
Was that just a dream earlier?
Was it the Golden Bunny who saved me instead of Cassium?
‘Can a rabbit even save someone?’
As I briefly pondered that, I noticed the Golden Rabbit’s muscular physique.
Yeah, with a rabbit like this, I guess it’s possible.
“Beep.”
When I tried to get up, the Golden Bunny held me down with its front paws.
“Thanks, Golden Bunny. But I have to go. There’s no time.”
There were only about 20 minutes left until the match ended.
The fact that I was close to the enemy camp was fortunate, but fainting had left me pressed for time.
‘I can climb up from there.’
Since I had fallen down, I needed to climb back up. Fortunately, a grassy slope soon came into view.
Grabbing onto tree trunks, I began climbing the slope, with the Golden Bunny following close behind.
“Golden Bunny, come to think of it, how did you even get here? I thought you’d be resting at the Knights’ base.”
“Beep.”
“If you hadn’t come, the match and everything else would’ve been over. Thanks.”
“Beep, beep.”
The Golden Bunny seemed to ask, “Is the match really that important?”
It made sense to ask, considering I was doing this right after nearly dying…
“It is.”
My hand grasped the tree trunk at the top of the slope.
After using momentum to pull my body completely upward, I brushed off some of the dirt clinging to me.
“I’m the only squad leader from Erne participating in this match. If I mess it up with such talented recruits, what will the other squad leaders say?”
Perhaps that was why I hallucinated Cassium when I fell into the water—because he would have immediately grabbed me by the collar and pulled me out, scolding me for wasting time.
“Let’s go!”
After signaling to Hedel with my exclusive transmitter, I began running with all my strength.
He must have been extremely confused when I lost contact after falling off the cliff.
I reached the base. Three members of the defense team were clinging to Hedel.
He managed to hold off three people alone. Pretty impressive for a Black Panther.
However, to destroy the treasure, I needed to enter Visel’s base, which was inside the tent.
The knights from Visel were desperately trying to bind Hedel’s movements.
Judging by their increasingly sluggish actions, they seemed to be running out of energy. But it would still take time for Hedel to break through alone and reach the tent.
I quietly moved my feet.
While Hedel handled the defense team, I planned to destroy the treasure and end the match.
Just then, the bell rang again.
Ten minutes remained.
It was enough time, but I had to destroy the treasure as quickly as possible.
If the opponent destroyed ours first, the match would immediately end.
Of course, considering Mars’s ridiculously late start, it’s doubtful he even made it to Erne’s base…
Carefully, I tore a gap in the back of the tent.
I just need to enter through here and destroy the treasure.
However, just as I was about to enter the tent, one of the knights fighting Hedel glanced around and suddenly ran toward the rocks.
He retrieved a sword hidden behind them.
That’s…
A real sword?!
According to regulations, only specially modified dull blades were allowed during matches to prevent serious injuries to participants.
When did they bring a real sword in here?
The knight pointed the sword at Hedel.
Then, as he charged toward Hedel…
I can’t let this happen!
Beep—
I sounded Hedel’s transmitter again.
“What, what’s this?”
“Knight Artiel is nearby!”
The Visel knights’ attention wavered.
During the confusion, Hedel escaped the attacks from the other knights.
At the same time, I swung my sword, knocking the real sword out of the Visel knight’s hand. Then, I struck the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.
“There she is!”
In the midst of the chaos, the two remaining knights spotted me.
“Don’t let her get to the treasure!”
They ran toward the tent.
The whistle signaling five minutes remaining until the match’s end echoed through the air.
I hurried after them into the tent. Hedel, who had been behind me, quickly joined my side.
There was no time to waste, so we charged forward.
The Visel knights did the same.
A large knight named Jude roared and swung his fist at me.
“…Ah!”
I managed to dodge, but his fist grazed my shoulder.
The pain was sharper than I expected—if it had hit me squarely, it would have taken a long time to recover.
How does a bare fist hurt this much?
It didn’t even feel like a human punch.
But I had no time to dwell on the pain in my shoulder.
The knight changed direction and charged at me again.
Thud!
The sound of his heavy footsteps was threatening. As a chilling sensation washed over me, a shadow loomed above my head…
Crash!
Huh?
I turned around to see the knight sprawled on the ground, rolling around.
At his feet, the Golden Rabbit sat calmly, curling up neatly.
“Beep.”
Did he trip over the Golden Bunny…?
But with a body that size, wouldn’t the Golden Rabbit have been the one rolling around if he’d been kicked?
“This thing tripped me! What is this?!”
The Visel knights finally noticed the Golden Bunny.
Though its position might have been a bit odd, it was just sitting there quietly, curled up.
“Is that Erne’s summoned beast?!”
“They’re using a summoned beast…!”
It’s not a summoned beast!
However, the Visel knights concluded that I had summoned it and prepared to attack the innocent Golden Rabbit.
Hedel, who had been about to strike the treasure with his sword, hesitated and turned toward the Golden Rabbit.
With wide eyes, he shouted in alarm,
“No, Captain!”
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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