“A mere servant of the gods.”
A chill ran through Eugene’s golden eyes. He raised his arm up.
“What are you going to do?”
As the words finished, a dazzling beam of light descended upon Berache with a thunderous roar.
“Gasp!”
Berache let out a painful groan.
Black smoke came out of his body. However, he did not crumble or fall.
Seeing this, Eugene smirked, raising the corners of his mouth.
“Someday, I will tear you apart. I’ll rip your skin and crush your bones, so wait.”
It was a menacing voice that Agnes had never heard before. Eugene waved his hand once again. Her vision gradually turned blurry.
“W, wait!”
Berache shouted urgently.
In an instant, the ground beneath them collapsed, and her body began to plummet.
The terrible sensation of unease in the stomach seemed to last forever. No matter how hard she clenched her teeth, it was useless.
Then, at a certain moment, the surrounding became quiet.
“Gasp, gasp.”
Agnes exhaled the breath she had been holding in all at once.
“Thanks to that bastard Berache, things might be resolved a bit faster.”
She heard his voice next to her. Agnes couldn’t open her eyes as the brightness was too intense.
“W-what… did you say?”
She asked, half sobbing.
“You did a good job earlier, Agnes.”
Eugene gently stroked Agnes’s head.
“Thanks to you, the seal has weakened a bit.”
“The seal?”
Unintentionally, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Yes. With this, we might be able to get a little closer.”
He murmured something incomprehensible. Agnes was only then able to open her eyes as the brightness subsided.
It was a forest filled with nothing but trees. She couldn’t gauge where they were.
Agnes belatedly realized that she was sitting on a grassy field.
Contrary to his gentle touch, Eugene stood with an unfamiliar cold expression on his face.
“Now with just a few more loosening, I’ll be able to get out of that damn pit.”
He whispered softly with a gleam in his eyes.
“What does that even mean?”
Various incomprehensible words had been popping up randomly since earlier.
What does he mean by seal or pit?
Eugene just smiled at her question.
“You’ve done well. I’ll send you back now.”
As the words finished, he casually flicked his finger.
The surroundings gradually darkened.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
”Princess.”
A familiar and dearly missed voice. Agnes struggled to open her eyes at the sound of the voice calling her.
Her mind felt dazed, like a fish swimming up from deep water to the surface.
She felt a hand touching her. Unlike before, it was soft and fluffy.
“Duke?”
The blurry vision gradually became clearer. The first thing she saw was Laslo’s worried face.
“Are you awake?”
“Yes, cough, where am I?”
She had to cough several times because her throat was dry.
Agnes rubbed her eyes and got up from her spot.
“You’re in my chamber.”
“Ah.”
She let out a soft groan. Finally, she started to regain her senses. It was a room that seemed unfamiliar but definitely one she had seen before.
“How’s your body? Do you know how surprised I was to find you collapsed under the pinnacle?”
“I’m okay, cough, I’m fine.”
However, a cough suddenly erupted, causing Laslo’s eyes to fill with suspicion.
“It seems like you’re not completely well. Lie down again.”
He gently held Agnes’s shoulders, pressed her back down, covered her with the blanket, and then got up from the bed.
When Laslo showed signs of leaving, Agnes hurriedly pulled his sleeve.
“What about the Duke?”
“What?”
“Are you hurt?”
“Is that really important right now?”
Laslo asked back as if he was dumbfounded.
“It’s more important to me than anything else.”
Agnes tilted the blanket and jumped up then hurriedly felt every corner of Laslo’s body.
“N-no, I’m fine, Princess.”
When her hand suddenly went into his coat, Laslo felt embarrassed and stepped back.
“Oh, wait. Stay still.”
Finally, her eye level was roughly aligned.
She grabbed him by the waist with one hand to avoid him from running away, and with the other hand she felt his chest and back.
“Princess, I’m fine.”
A sigh-like groan escaped from above her head.
Ignoring his words, Agnes carefully examined Laslo’s body with her hands.
She felt firm muscles beneath the soft shirt. There were no signs of bandages anywhere.
Just in case, Agnes pressed her nose against his chest and sniffed.
“Hmm. It doesn’t smell like blood.”
After she finished checking, she backed away a little.
Somehow, when she looked up Laslo’s face was red.
“Really, the legs are….”
When she tried to reach out his thigh, he freaked out.
“I didn’t get hurt there. Trust me, please!”
Laslo hurriedly clenched Agnes’ arms. His desperate expression left her with no choice but to step back.
Agnes blinked twice.
“I trust you.”
“Thank you.”
He let out a light sigh.
“Alright then, what about you, Princess? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fine.”
Apart from some stiffness in her muscles, her overall condition was not bad.
“Then why did you collapse under the pinnacle?”
“Um……”
Laslo asked. Agnes couldn’t come up with a suitable excuse and ended up evading the question.
“Do you know how worried I was?When I returned to the castle, you were nowhere to be found, and the princess’s maids had no idea where you had gone.”
“……”
“At first, I searched the castle but couldn’t find you, so I thought you had been captured by the beasts.”
It was dizzying to recall that moment.
After returning to the castle, he immediately looked for Agnes. However, the maid who accompanied her just sobbed and shook her head.
– Uh, I don’t know where she is.
Hearing those words made his heart sink. He trembled at the thought that Lequi might have taken her.
“Um, my memory is a bit fuzzy…”
She avoided his gaze with a very awkward expression.
Laslo crossed his arms and stared at Agnes’ face.
“Really? Then what did you do to Lequi?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
At some point, the tables turned. Contrary to before, Laslo brought his face close to Agnes’s.
“At first, I thought I was mistaken.”
While fighting the group of Lequi, an intense light poured out from the pinnacle.
“But it was definitely the princess.”
After the light died down, the beasts suddenly began to fall.
Startled, when he looked up at the top of the pinnacle, Agnes was clearly there.
“Haha. How can a person do such a miracle?”
Agnes smiled unnaturally and waved her hands.
“So why were you collapsed at the pinnacle?”
When Laslo questioned her a few more times, Agnes took a completely different approach.
“Oh, my head hurts.”
Suddenly, she pretended to collapse on the bed and grabbed her head. She closed her eyes and forced herself to make an aching sound
“Duke, Thinking deeply made my head pound.”
Laslo looked at the princess lying on bed silently.
“I think I have a slight fever.”
She took Laslo’s hand and put it on her forehead.
“…I think you have a slight fever.”
He reluctantly agreed.
“Right?”
Although her body temperature seemed normal, Laslo decided to let it go.
It was fine.
With her eyes half-closed, she looked so adorable pretending to be in pain that he couldn’t help but smile.
Even though it was obvious that she was acting to change the subject, it was so endearing that it made his heart flutter.
Laslo laid her well on the bed, put the blanket up to her chest, and then stroked her head.
“You must be tired. Take a rest.”
“You can’t go until I fall asleep.”
Agnes pulled his clothes.
“I’ll stay by your side.”
He promised in a calm tone.
Agnes fell asleep very slowly. Laslo remained by her side until her breathing evened out.
“Princess.”
Knowing she wouldn’t respond, he spoke.
“What significance do you hold for me?”
At first, he had seen her as a young, fragile princess who knew nothing.
He was grateful when she said they would die together in the castle.
It was also amazing when she did something incredible, such as discovering Elemer and making magic stones.
And now…
He gently and affectionately stroked Agnes’s cheek.
Sometimes, for no reason, his heart would ache a bit when he saw her smiling.
Agnes.
He couldn’t bring himself to call out her name and stood up from his seat.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
Of course, Agnes woke up the next day with a perfectly fine face.
“I thought something terrible had happened, madam.”
Ney cried and shed tears at Agnes’ feet.
She thinks that Agnes collapsed because she didn’t serve her well.
“Don’t cry, go and call a wizard.”
Agnes comforted her gently. Ney went out sniffing and returned with Theo.
“Did you call me? Duchess.”
“I called because I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes.”
Theo bowed his head politely.
