Chapter 7. Captured by a Big Snake
Without a doubt, that thing was a **** snake.
A chill ran down my spine, and goosebumps covered my skin. At the same time, a burning desire to fight ignited within me.
Steeling my resolve, I followed Cherto into the office.
Inside, the Grand Duke was present, along with a man who appeared to be his aide and the Marquis of Chavez. As soon as I entered, the Grand Duke stopped speaking.
“The little one had something urgent to say… so I brought her here,” Cherto explained.
The Grand Duke immediately shot him a sharp glare. His eyes seemed to question how a mere child could have something urgent to say—and even more, how Cherto had dared to believe her and let her in.
I saw Cherto bowing his head as if he had committed a crime, but I paid no mind to it. I walked straight up to the Grand Duke’s desk.
The Grand Duke’s expression grew even more displeased at my actions, but I ignored it and spoke.
“Your Grace. Marquis of Baque and Sir Gachion… I have seen someone with a split tongue in their mouth.”
The Grand Duke furrowed his brow in a peculiar way. A split tongue was a telltale trait of a snake taking human form.
The more incomplete the transformation, the more prominent this trait became, making it easier to identify them as snakes. I knew this because I had read about it in books.
“You saw that yourself?”
“Yes, I did. His name is Garte.”
I answered firmly. The Grand Duke seemed unsure whether to believe me. But his expression was as serious as ever.
Believing a mere five-year-old was difficult, but dismissing my words as nonsense was equally hard, given the gravity of the matter.
After a brief but weighty pause, he finally spoke.
“Very well. You may leave now.”
His heavy tone told me he wasn’t taking my words lightly.
“Cherto, escort the child back to her quarters.”
Cherto bowed deeply before guiding me away. I figured the Grand Duke would handle the rest from here.
But just as we had made it about halfway down the hall—
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed as a massive wooden door shattered. At the same time, something huge, like a giant serpent, coiled around my body.
Before I could fully register what was happening, it had already burst through a window, lifting me into the air.
By the time I regained my senses, I was already on the ground, with a snake’s tongue flicking near my face. The wretched thing had wrapped its coils around me.
I had spoken in a hushed voice, thinking no one else would hear me. So how had it? This was no ordinary creature.
“Kid, how did you know who I was? There’s no way you could’ve seen my tongue…”
Even in its snake form, it spoke human language.
It was even larger than the anacondas I had seen in movies, making it all the more grotesque.
More than anything, I could feel the crushing force of its coils…if it tightened even slightly, my body would burst.
Ha! After all that searching, I finally found this **** snake like this?
Well, well. What a lucky break.
Sure, it was big and ugly, but I wasn’t scared.
“I saw it, dumb***. I saw it, so I know, you **** snake ******.”1Her mouth is sure a foul one…
“That’s impossible… But hey, kid, you smell kinda familiar. Just stay still, and I’ll let you live.”
Stay still, and I’d live?
Did it think I was going to beg for my life?
Ha! This snake ***** had no idea who it was dealing with.
Did it think a Republic of Korea Special Forces soldier would just sit and take this?
“The hell are you yappin’ about, you snake-**** *****? I’ll rip that filthy mouth of yours right open.”
If there was one thing I had learned from my time in the military, it was grit, guts, and cursing.
“W-what did you just call me?”
The snake recoiled in shock.
Never in my life did I think I’d see a snake looking flustered.
Even as I found the situation absurd, my body tightened under its grip. My heart felt like it would burst.
Just as I was about to curse it out again, a powerful voice rang out, reverberating through the air.
“Let the child go!”
It was Grand Duke Arcades.
At some point, he had leaped in front of us, surrounded by a swirling aura of blue energy.
So that’s the aura I’d only heard about in stories.
The luminous, golden-tinged blue light shimmered like fine dust, bright and strikingly vivid. It was breathtaking.
The way the aura blazed and expanded like roaring flames was a magnificent sight.
Even in this horrifying moment, a shiver ran down my spine.
How could I not feel awe when standing before a true war hero?
“If you attack recklessly, this child will get hurt too. Order your knights to lower their weapons.”
As I was caught in admiration, the snake ***** sneered and spoke cunningly.
Ha! It had no idea.
It didn’t realize that I was nothing in this household yet.
It was true that the Grand Duke was protecting me, but to him, I was nothing.
If I died, would he mourn me for a day?
Or would he think it was for the best?
He could likely strike this snake with perfect accuracy. His only dilemma would be whether to kill it or keep it alive.
After all, spies were meant to be captured alive and interrogated.
I had only one option.
Only those with the right qualifications could claim power.
“Your Grace, I give you permission. Kill the ***** snake.”
“Hey! Kid, shut your mouth! Stay quiet, and I’ll let you live.”
“You shut up, you snake ******. I’ll rip that filthy mouth right off!”
“W-what kind of kid talks like that…?”
Even a snake stammered when caught off guard, it seemed. What a sight to behold.
The snake flicked its tongue in front of my face, clearly flustered, before suddenly soaring into the sky.
At the same time, a deafening thunderclap echoed, and a flash of lightning split the air.
In the next moment, blood and shattered pieces of the snake rained down around me.
It looked like the attack had struck the middle of its body.
All I had seen was a flash of light, yet the battle was already over.
My body, drenched in crimson blood, plummeted toward the ground.
Was this really the end?
If I had known, I would have just kept my mouth shut and stayed still…
In that brief instant, my instinct to survive flared.
Just as I thought I was about to hit the ground, my falling body suddenly stopped and gently landed.
Before I could fully grasp what had happened, my eyes met Rikael’s gaze from afar.
That was the last thing I remembered.
***
I was originally Captain Jung Yoon-seo of the Republic of Korea Army Special Forces.
During a high-altitude jump training exercise, my parachute malfunctioned, and I plummeted to the ground.
I died just ten minutes after arriving at the hospital.
Having lost my father at a young age, I grew up alone with my mother.
To escape poverty, I studied hard and earned a place at the Army Academy I had dreamed of attending.
My mother passed away just one year after I was commissioned as a captain.
I hadn’t even done anything for her, and I hadn’t been there for her final moments.
Her last words, as relayed to me by the elderly woman from the first floor, were:
‘Live slowly, live long, and live happily.’
Yet, only a year after she passed, I died too.
I thought that in death, I would see my mother again…
Wait.
If I’m thinking, doesn’t that mean I’m alive?
Suddenly, my head felt heavy.
It almost felt like pain.
I could hear something around me, but my eyelids refused to open.
“It has already been a day. Why has the child not woken yet?”
“She must have been greatly shocked, Your Grace. There are no physical injuries, so she should awaken soon.”
Through the haze of my consciousness, I recognized the voices of the Grand Duke and an old man who seemed to be the doctor.
So, I had fainted.
The concern in their voices… It wasn’t bad.
I wanted to open my eyes, but my body wouldn’t move.
“Keep a close watch, just in case.”
“Understood, Your Grace.”
As the sound of footsteps faded, so did my consciousness.
I drifted in a daze, uncertain if I was sleeping or dreaming.
‘P-please… I didn’t do it!’
‘No, Roella. It was you. You killed the Crown Prince.’
‘No! I only poured the tea… His Highness gave it to me, saying it would help with sleep!’
The world around me was pitch black, yet voices echoed through the darkness.
What… was this?
I needed to wake up, but my body felt impossibly heavy, as if crushed under a boulder.
The voices of a man and a woman continued in the void.
‘No. You gave the Crown Prince the poisoned tea. He drank it and died.’
‘No, I swear, I didn’t—ahhh!’
‘Poison is better than the guillotine. Drink it. At least this way, it’ll be painless.’
Was this… the final moments of Roella?
Her terror and despair seeped into me.
“Ahhh!”
I gasped, snapping my eyes open.
Sweat drenched my back, leaving my clothes damp.
This chapter and the next 4 are sponsored by Iva! Thank you for the Ko-fi ♥️
I had to cover a lot of words this chapter, so sorry if it irks you somewhat (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)
