“Stop it.”
Fortunately, Hills blocked the old man. Thanks to him, the persistent gaze was lifted.
Whether it was Hills’ momentum that was terrifying, the old man obediently backed off.
Only then did Hills’ hardened expression relax.
“We’re busy going our way, so let’s go.”
However,
The sound of several desperate footsteps was heard. The sound got closer and closer, and a group of people revealed themselves.
People were shouting excitedly.
“Stop right there!!”
“The Empress is here!!”
Arundel looked at the noisy place.
People were gathering.
At the forefront…
“That coachman…!”
The coachman who had brought them to the tower.
Somehow, he recognized it through the journey. He noticed that she was the empress and aimed for the bounty.
But he seemed to have judged that it was hard alone, and he seemed to have gone to gather people who could be caught nearby.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. You’ll have to come with us quietly.”
The coachman grinned as he thought of the enormous bounty.
Seeing that, Hills spoke as if annoyed.
“If I materialize, you won’t even be a mouthful.”
Materialize…? What is this guy talking about?
This is his true form.
Arundel frowned at Hills’ incomprehensible words and looked at him, but her gaze soon turned to the approaching people.
The distance between them and the people was getting closer.
‘Damn, we need to get out of here.’
Blaming herself for being helpless, she looked at the people who had come close to her.
Then Hills muttered quietly.
Then the lower bodies of the people who had flocked made a cracking sound and froze.
The surprised people shouted to each other.
“There’s a magician among the Empress’s party!!”
“Be careful!!”
Hills looked at Arundel and said.
“You go first. I’ll handle this.”
“…Thank you!”
Arundel nodded without refusing.
After all, he’s a very strong guy, so it wouldn’t be hard to deal with these people.
While Hills was dealing with the people, it was much more efficient for Bianca and her to go to the hut first.
Arundel, who seemed flustered and didn’t know what to do, approached Bianca and grabbed her arm.
“Bianca, we need to go first.”
“Huh?! Is it okay for him to be alone…?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
At Arundel’s firm expression, Bianca reluctantly nodded.
Arundel and Bianca ran to the western forest that the old man had mentioned, leaving Hills in confrontation.
People who found Arundel running away shouted loudly.
“The Empress is running away!”
Fortunately, they were tightly bound by Hills and couldn’t follow.
Arundel and Bianca ran for a while as if their hearts were going to burst.
How long had they run,
Arundel suddenly stopped.
Arundel, who had stopped, sat down heavily and clutched her chest.
“Heuk, heuk.”
“Are you okay, Your Majesty?”
“Aaaaaah!!!”
Arundel, who had been resisting the pain with her lips tightly bitten, finally screamed. Arundel, whose eyes were trembling with pain, looked to be quite in pain just by looking at her.
Surprised, Bianca hurriedly approached.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!! Please come to your senses!!”
Arundel, whose face had been distorted without mercy by the terrible pain, finally came to her senses and raised her head.
“Ha… ha…”
“Are you okay?!”
“…I don’t think I have much time left.”
Arundel had a sense of crisis instinctively. The pain is lasting longer.
It felt like she was about to be eaten by bugs soon.
“I can see the hut over there! We just need to go a little bit!”
“Yes, let’s go quickly.”
At the somewhat hopeful news, Arundel squeezed out her strength.
But that was only for a moment,
An unwelcome voice was heard.
“You were here, Your Majesty.”
It was the old man he had seen at the tower earlier.
Perhaps Hills, who had been dealing with many people, had missed it.
He had found Arundel easily because he knew that the goal of Arundel and his party was the old man’s hut.
Arundel bit her lip.
She didn’t have the combat power to deal with him now. Bianca stepped forward in front of Arundel, who was looking for a physical tool to oppose nearby.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Bianca…?”
Arundel looked at Bianca’s back with worried eyes.
It was only a few months ago that Bianca had tested her magical power.
She was probably just a novice magician, and it was uncertain whether she could beat the experienced magician in front of her, who looked old.
Bianca also seemed a little nervous, adjusting her posture several times.
The old man laughed at Bianca.
“Are you trying to attack me? You better not.”
But Bianca didn’t back down.
“Well, you have to see to know if it’s long or short!”
“If you really want to, I’ll face you.”
“Fire!”
Bianca launched a preemptive strike.
A fairly large fireball flew with a threatening momentum. However, the old man leisurely created a shield.
Now it was the old man’s turn.
As the old man muttered softly, a flame several times larger than the fireball Bianca had created fell on Bianca.
Fortunately, Bianca quickly threw her body and avoided it.
‘Still far behind.’
Bianca, who had grown tremendously in a short time, was great, but she seemed far from enough to face the old man in front of her.
The old man seemed to be a great magician, not wasting his age.
‘What should I do?’
Arundel, who was gradually being pushed back, looked at Bianca and pondered.
She had to come up with something quickly.
Bruises were increasing on Bianca’s body, and she was gradually being cornered.
The old man opened his mouth to strike the last blow.
“Fire…!”
“Stop!”
At Arundel’s desperate voice, the old man, who was casting a spell, stopped and looked at Arundel.
“…!!”
Arundel held a fairly thick and sharp piece of wood to her throat.
“Back off from Bianca right now.”
“Your… Your Majesty!!”
Bianca looked at Arundel with a bewildered expression.
The surprised person was not only Bianca. The old man also looked very flustered.
“This…calm down first…”
“Don’t move. If you move, I’ll kill myself right away. Then, besides the bounty, you might be arrested for the crime of killing the empress.”
The piece of wood that Arundel held was threateningly pressing her throat. If she put a little force, it seemed like blood would flow.
“We have something to do in the hut. We’ll just do that and go back to the palace. Then you can take us.”
Arundel tried to negotiate.
However, the old man seemed to distrust Arundel and Bianca. His figure, propping his chin and pondering, did not seem to believe her easily.
Arundel winked at Bianca behind the old man.
Bianca also seemed to understand the meaning, and nodded slightly.
And she quietly approached the old man who had his back to her…
“Ah!”
…She hit his head with a branch.
‘I thought she would use magic…’
Well, whatever.
Fortunately, the old man seemed to have lost consciousness. Bianca approached and grabbed Arundel’s hand.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
They ran frantically. When they were about to run out of breath, they reached the hut.
Finally…!
Arundel and Bianca, standing in front of the door, exchanged glances.
And,
“One, two…three!”
Bang-!
When Arundel and Bianca kicked the door at the same time, the dust fluttered and the door collapsed.
“Cough, cough-!”
The hut, which seemed to have been completely unmanaged, had dust all over the house as soon as the door fell.
Arundel and Bianca wrapped their faces with the sleeves of their robes and protected themselves from the dust.
In addition,
“Uh…smell.”
There was a terrible stench in the house.
As the dust settled, the inside of the hut came into view.
A dirty desk piled with dust,
And lying…
“…!!”
The ‘corpse’ of the old man, Herald, was visible.
The air surrounding Arundel and Bianca became heavy.
‘…A vicious human.’
Arundel closed his eyes.
Of course, the old man, who had now become a cold corpse, was of the same kind, but Duke Hellen was terrible.
He didn’t care how many people were sacrificed in the process, as long as he could satisfy his own greed.
“…He’s dead.”
Bianca muttered with a soulless face.
“It’s all over…”
“There will be another solution.”
Arundel’s throat was choked up in a desperate situation, but she had to comfort Bianca, who was out of her mind.
Of course, she knew it too. There’s no time to find another way. It seemed that there were only about two days left until the heartworm completely occupied the heart.
But seeing Bianca in front of her, she couldn’t speak pessimistically.
Bianca’s pupils were completely empty.
“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I should have stopped my father then. No, this is terrible…!!!”
Bianca’s emotions were not just angry, they were evil.
Blood flowed from Bianca’s tightly clenched fists. She had put so much force into it that her nails dug into her palms.
Unable to watch any longer, Arundel shook Bianca’s shoulder.
“Bianca, get a hold of yourself!”
“I don’t even deserve to look at you.”
Bianca’s pupils were still empty.
She seemed to have fallen into a great sense of guilt.
Arundel took a deep breath and raised her hand high.
And,
Slap-!
He slapped Bianca’s cheek. Only then did Bianca look at Arundel with surprised eyes.
“Your Majesty…”
Feeling sorry to Bianca, but there was no other way to bring her back to her senses. Whether it was effective or not, the focus returned to her red pupils.
“I won’t say much.”
“…”
“It’s not Bianca’s fault. All the mistakes were made by ‘Duke Hellen’.”
“…”
“I’m going to live somehow. So, don’t say anything bad anymore.”
She would have to look for a way now. She didn’t bother to add this.
Arundel stroked Bianca’s reddened cheek.
“If you understand, nod your head now.”
At Arundel’s command, Bianca nodded as if she was bewitched.
“Good.”
Arundel smiled brightly.
In fact, Arundel wasn’t in the mood to smile either, but she did her best to keep Bianca from falling apart.
‘I’m too weak for humans…especially women.’
Arundel muttered to herself.
She had done the same to ‘that woman’ then, and to Bianca now…
Come to think of it,
‘What happened to Hills…?’
She had run away without looking back earlier, but she was starting to worry about Hills, who hadn’t come back yet.
But the worry was only for a moment.
As the saying goes, speak of the dragon and he will come, Hills’ voice came from the door.
“Arundel…! What is this!”
The messy hut, the corpse of the old man, the two women sitting down.
At a glance, the situation was not good.
Hills asked Arundel with a worried expression.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah…no, yes.”
For a moment, she lost his mind and spoke informally to Hills. But Bianca didn’t seem to care much.
Hills helped the two women up one after the other. As soon as Bianca stood up, she glared at Hills.
“…Who are you, to be so kind to us?”
Arundel held her head.
It was enough to find Hills’ existence strange.
Bianca saw Hills as a person who had suddenly joined and whose identity was unknown, and Hills had seen the wanted list, so she was wary of him being after money.
“I am…”
Hills seemed to be looking for words to say.
Then, he opened his mouth with a smile.
“I fell in love at first sight.”
“…?!”
Arundel looked at Hills with wide eyes at his seemingly reckless answer.
‘He’s gone too far… Who would believe such a ridiculous reason…’
“…I see.”
…?
Bianca obediently agreed.
“If it’s the charm of Your Majesty…it’s entirely possible.”
Bianca muttered with a somewhat serious face.
‘Does Bianca really believe that?’
Hills was laughing. Although it was a self-made statement, he seemed to like the appropriate excuse. He put his hand on his chest and spoke playfully.
“I just found out that you are the Empress, but my feelings haven’t changed.”
However, Bianca once again wore a doubtful expression.
“…You’re not approaching us for the bounty, are you?”
“If I had been tempted by the bounty, I would have taken the Empress to the palace long ago.”
At Hills’ smiling explanation, Bianca slowly nodded her head.
She had already confirmed his strength, so if he wanted to, he could easily overpower them and take them to the palace.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
As they left the hut, Hills asked Arundel.
“For now, we need to go to a nearby village.”
They needed to calmly sort out the situation, and Bianca must have been very tired both physically and mentally.
Although time was pressing, they needed to rest for a while now.
As Arundel looked back and forth at Bianca and Hills, Hills answered.
“As you wish.”
Fortunately, there was a small village not far from the hut. Arundel and his party sat in a tavern where there were hardly any people.
Still, in case someone recognized him, Arundel once again closed her hood.
Before the food came out, Arundel looked around once. About two tables were filled.
One table was particularly noisy.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Right. Even if the Empress is gone.”
“The Emperor is crazy.”
The topic of the table seemed to be the runaway Empress, that is, Arundel.
Arundel glanced at them with an uncomfortable face at their talk.
Bianca, noticing that Arundel was curious about their conversation, approached the noisy table.
“Hello. We are travelers, but the village is noisy. What happened?”
Bianca started the conversation quite cheekily.
“Didn’t you see the edict from the palace?”
“…Are you talking about the Empress’s bounty?”
“That was a few days ago, a new edict came out today…”
The rest of the sentence didn’t reach where Arundel was, so she couldn’t hear the rest.
However, Bianca’s expression hardened as she listened to Bianca’s story.
‘What on earth did they say…’
Arundel was curious.
What kind of edict did they issue that made Bianca’s expression so hard?
Bianca, who had heard the story, returned to the table. Bianca’s pupils were trembling slightly as she returned.
And then, she opened her mouth with a serious face.
“Your Majesty, we have to return to the palace tomorrow.”
