Swish—! The golden sword slashed through the last mercenary’s chest. The mercenary died without a scream, his body hitting the ground with a thud.
As soon as Kayden confirmed the mercenary’s death, his legs gave out, and he staggered. He hastily planted his sword into the ground to support himself.
“Gasp, gasp…”
Kayden knelt on one knee, leaning on his sword, and gasped for breath. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat. However, none of the blood on the ground was his.
Elfand murmured in its mind, amazed. <You’ve certainly grown.>
Not that I wanted to find out like this.
Kayden let out a short laugh and looked up. He saw the second concubine surveying the corpses of the mercenaries around with an indescribable expression.
“…I guess there’s no other way.” The second concubine sighed quietly. Despite sending so many elementalists to kill Kayden, he didn’t have a single scratch. Even to her untrained eyes, the difference in skill was overwhelming.
The second concubine shook her head and turned to Carlotta, who was trembling like a leaf in a corner. She knelt in front of her daughter, hugged her, and spoke gently. “It seems this is as far as we go, Lottie.”
“Mo-Mother…”
Carlotta shivered in fear under her mother’s touch. She wanted to escape her mother’s embrace, but like Kayden, her magic was suppressed, leaving her powerless. The only thing she could do was move her lips.
Kayden, sensing danger, forced himself to stand. At that moment, the second concubine pulled out a dagger hidden in her sleeve and aimed it at Carlotta’s back. The sharp blade gleamed in the candlelight.
“If you survive this, you won’t die peacefully. I’ll make sure you can rest in peace myself.”
“What the…!”
Kayden sprang forward in horror, watching as the second concubine’s hand moved slowly toward Carlotta’s back with the dagger. He gritted his teeth, planning to sever the hand holding the dagger, and swung his sword. But at the same time, the second concubine pushed Carlotta away with a loud thud and lunged at Kayden.
“Die!” With a face twisted like a demon, the second concubine swung her dagger.
Kayden’s sword reached her chest a moment before her dagger could strike. Squelch—!
“Keugh.”
Even as her heart was pierced, the second concubine didn’t let go of the dagger. Her body tilted, and the dagger slashed a long cut down Kayden’s arm.
“Ugh…!”
Kayden let out a faint groan and twisted his sword out of her body. The body of the second concubine fell backward. She passed away without even closing her eyes.
Kayden took a step to confirm that the second concubine was completely immobile, then collapsed forward. “Urgh.” He struggled to muster strength in his trembling limbs but felt them stiffening.
Poison? If so, it made sense why the second concubine had desperately tried to stab him.
Kayden tried to summon Ennai, a mid-level light spirit capable of detoxification, but his lips stiffened and refused to move. His magic was also depleted.
Just then, Carlotta, who had been staring blankly at the second concubine’s corpse, crawled over to Kayden. She hesitated, reaching out with trembling hands, and pulled back repeatedly.
“A-Are you okay? Why not call Ennai… No, I-I should get someone…”
Carlotta, who was fidgeting anxiously, found her own answer and stood up. She tried to operate the mechanism to open the exit but found it completely broken, likely damaged during the fight. Standing on a box, she pounded the ceiling and shouted.
“Excuse me! Is anyone out there? There’s someone, sob, there’s someone here!”
Carlotta cried and banged on the ceiling, but only silence answered. She tried summoning a spirit to break the entrance, but her abilities were limited, and with her magic suppressed, it was futile.
Meanwhile, Kayden found it increasingly difficult to breathe as the poison spread. I can’t die like this… Patrasche would likely scold him for being foolish if he explained he couldn’t abandon Carlotta. And most importantly… Diana would be worried.
They had planned to watch the founding festival together. There were still so many things he wanted to do with her.
Fueled by that thought alone, Kayden forced his fingers to move. Just as he managed to lift his upper body slightly,
Boom!
“Kyaa!”
The entrance exploded with a loud noise. Carlotta was thrown off the box and rolled across the ground. Light flooded in from above. Kayden squinted and saw a figure standing in the midst of the light.
…An owl?
A figure wearing an owl mask and a hood slowly approached him. Kayden, wary of the stranger, tried to back away, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. The figure with the owl mask reached out and touched his shoulder. Instantly, Kayden felt a sudden breath of fresh air.
This…
It felt oddly similar to when he touched Diana.
Kayden, intrigued by the refreshing sensation, reached out to remove the owl mask. But before he could move his hand, he lost consciousness.
* * *
“…den! Kayden!”
Kayden snapped back to his senses as someone shook his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, he saw Diana’s face filled with worry.
Diana spoke urgently, her eyebrows knitted in concern. “What are you doing here? The parade is about to start…!”
“…Di, ana?”
Kayden uttered her name in confusion. As he did, a sharp pain throbbed briefly in his head, and memories of the events before he lost consciousness flooded back.
“What is this…”
Kayden began to speak in confusion, then suddenly clutched his neck with one hand.
My hand. He could move his hand. He could speak. Breathing was no longer difficult. Realizing this, he quickly checked the spot where the second concubine’s dagger had cut him. The clothes in that area were torn, but the skin beneath was smooth and unblemished.
Could it be that owl mask…
Kayden looked around, trying to make sense of things. He was sitting with his back against a tree near the bushes where he always hid, in a secluded corner of the third prince’s palace’s garden.
With a frown of confusion, he asked, “What on earth… happened?”
“That’s what I want to ask you. Do you know how worried I was when Sir Remit said you disappeared? So I came looking for you and found you sleeping in a place like this. Were you very tired?”
Diana, realizing she might have spoken too harshly, reached out and lightly stroked his cheek. The pleasant sensation contrasted sharply with the chaos in Kayden’s mind. But there was no time to dwell on it now.
The founding festival of the Valhanas Empire was one of the important celebrations attended by envoys from other kingdoms, and it was the first event where he played the leading role. Missing it wasn’t an option.
There’s still time until the ball after the parade. I can look into the secret room then. Right now, I need to go. Somehow, he felt certain the owl mask figure had managed the situation.
Kayden, though still tired, stood up. “Diana, first I need to…”
“You’re going straight there, right? Run!”
Kayden tried to speak, but Diana, anticipating his thoughts, grabbed his hand. Caught off guard, he followed her, staring blankly at the sight of her long pink hair fluttering.
Ah.
Just seeing Diana made him want to laugh, even though it wasn’t the right situation.
In the end, he followed her with a faint smile on his face.
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I realize that she has to hide her face from Carlotta but I really think she should let Kayden in on her secrets …