Chapter 18
“If you’ve been here the whole time, you must have heard what I said, Milady.”
He took a few steps toward me, pulling away from Vittori. I could see Vittori flinch, reaching out to me, but one of the others grabbed her arm and pulled it back.
“We don’t leave witnesses. Meaning…”
I slowly stepped backward but quickly hit the wall. As I stopped, a sly smile spread across Ivan’s lips.
“Your life ends here, Milady. This is the price for meddling in adult matters.”
“Would Chairman Igard approve of this?”
When I asked, he stopped in his tracks for a moment.
“…What did you say?”
“You want to get rid of Callista, don’t you?”
I said clearly, making sure everyone could hear.
“First, you need me as a shield. Without me, Callista would become the only child of my father.”
The chairman of the council and his followers didn’t want a capable and legitimate duke. The heir they most wanted to avoid was Callista, and the alternative they considered was me, the young second daughter, the one with a maid for a mother.
Later, I’d team up with my uncle who ran another household, but that’s something Ivan Naitra doesn’t know.
“…You really know a lot of dangerous things, Milady.”
Ivan muttered, running his hand along the sword’s blade. His face, trying to look composed, seemed to be calculating something.
“Hey, wait a minute. If we kill her, won’t it cause trouble for us?”
“Yeah, the cleanup could be tricky.”
“How about we just capture her?”
As expected, the men behind Ivan started murmuring their opinions, and a tense buzz filled the room.
The Naitra family, known for their swiftness like the wind and quietness like shadows, seemed to lack decisiveness, though. They couldn’t reach a conclusion.
“Enough!”
The buzzing voices halted at Ivan’s sharp tone. Ivan’s face twisted with frustration as he trembled all over.
“We don’t have time to waste. Since the girl knows too much, there’s no need to consider anything else.”
Before I could move, Ivan’s hand grabbed my neck.
“Milady Harper!”
“Grab that woman too! Kill both of them and be done with it.”
Ivan’s rough voice echoed in my ears. One of the Naitra assassins seemed to be aiming a sword at Vittori’s neck, and at the same time, Ivan raised his dagger high above his head.
“Goodbye, arrogant brat.”
Swish—
The silver blade flashed, cutting through the air as it moved toward me.
Clunk—
With the sound of a door opening, three thin blue streaks of light, like threads, shot toward Ivan from the hallway.
It was a familiar aura. Something that could be created without a sword.
Fzzzz—Puff!
“Ugh!”
Before anyone could react, the light pierced Ivan’s legs and his right shoulder. Like being pricked by a long needle, he dropped his dagger and screamed in pain.
“Who—who did this?”
Ignoring his words, another flash of light pierced the wrist of one of the assassins aiming a sword at Vittori. He too dropped his weapon and collapsed to the floor.
“Grrr!”
Two figures walked into the room from the hallway. The door, which had briefly opened, silently closed behind them.
“Milady Harper, are you alright?”
One of the figures, Theon, called to me urgently, but I was already looking at the other person walking in behind him.
Tap, tap.
The familiar blue dress of Luferen, shimmering silver hair cascading down, and eyes like the winter sea — it was Callista.
The warmth I had felt earlier, when we shared the cake, was now absent from her gaze.
“Naitra trash.”
She stopped in place, extended her hand, and with a flick of her fingers, summoned a blue aura, directing it toward Ivan.
Her gaze glowed ominously in the darkness. With a cold voice and a lethal aura, she filled Riley’s room.
“If you don’t stay away from the girl, next time, the one getting pierced will be your forehead.”
“Eek!”
Ivan, momentarily forgetting the pain, jumped back, his eyes wide in shock. Callista turned toward Vittori and the assassins standing near her.
“You too. Stay away from Vittori.”
The assassins around Vittori exchanged confused glances but didn’t move. Callista didn’t wait and extended her hand toward them. A faint blue glow sparkled above her palm.
Fzzzz—Thud.
The flash shot out, but this time, it was stopped halfway by something in the center of the room.
Callista frowned, and Ivan let out a low laugh.
“Tch… You think we’re that easy to handle, Milady?”
By now, one of his men had grabbed Ivan and was pulling him toward the other side of the room.
Now, on one side of the empty room, there was just me, Theon, and Callista. On the other side, Vittori and the Naitra assassins stood.
Between us was a faint, shimmering barrier, the spot where Callista’s aura had stopped.
“None of the seven people here are incapable of handling barriers or auras. You won’t be able to take us on without weapons.”
Ivan raised his unharmed hand and gestured to his men, who had been arguing just moments ago but now moved in sync, spreading out to form a defensive line.
“You’ll have to fight us without any weapons. We don’t mind killing both heirs of Luferen.”
They all chuckled simultaneously and drew daggers, aiming them at Callista. She didn’t step back. Instead, she took one step forward.
“Well then.”
Callista spoke, her voice icy, her gaze unwavering as she met the assassins’ eyes.
“Go ahead. Do as you please.”
There was no hesitation in her voice, and the killing intent she emitted was palpable. Ivan bared his teeth and responded.
“Your skills and determination are commendable, but this is where it ends.”
With his sneer, eight blades were covered in aura. Callista stood motionless in the center of the room, watching them closely.
I stood beside Theon, feeling a chill run down my spine.
“We don’t know how you found the secret room so quickly, but it’s good that no one else can enter now. We can take our time…”
Boom—!
Before Ivan could finish his sentence, a deafening sound reverberated from one side of the wall.
“What—what is that?”
Ivan and the assassins turned their heads toward the source of the sound, their eyes wide with confusion. I, too, turned to look.
Crack, crack—
The wall of Riley’s room, with its magically sealed entrance, cracked like an earthquake had hit it.
‘Someone… cracked the wall?’
Crash—
The pieces of cracked wall and dust rained down, and amidst the debris, a large figure appeared.
Fiery red hair, black eyes, a face that looked so much like Vittori’s, but with a brutal, ferocious expression.
“You damn bugs…”
Aramis ground his teeth and glared at the Naitra assassins.
His long sword, which had been raised horizontally after a swing, emanated a fiery aura, flickering like flames.
“How dare you point swords at anyone.”
He spoke as though he were about to devour everyone in the room.
Swallow.
Ivan Naitra, with a dry gulp, couldn’t even scream.
Aramis didn’t wait and swung his sword again.
Swish—
Slash—
As Aramis swung his glowing red sword, blood sprayed from all directions. The wildness in his eyes went beyond killing intent; it was pure madness.
Thud—
His sword pierced the neck of the last assassin, who had been trying to flee. In just a minute or two, the room was left with only Vittori standing in the far corner.
“L-Let me go…”
Ivan Naitra, covered in blood, begged.
“Shut up, you bastard. You’re still alive?”
Aramis’s eyes glinted with cold fury. He aimed his sword at Ivan once more.
“Leave one alive, Aramis. We need to interrogate him.”
For the first time since entering, Callista spoke. The expression that had been wild like a lion’s softened for a brief moment.
“You’re such an idiot.”
Callista said calmly, as though the bodies around her didn’t even exist.
“…What?”
“You’ve been told not to use your sword recklessly indoors. Your dress is stained with blood.”
“…I was trying not to stain it with your clothes.”
“It’s not my clothes I’m worried about, it’s Vittori. Don’t you care about your sister?”
Finally, Aramis glanced at Vittori. She was standing alone among the fallen assassins, her once delicate clothes now soaked with red, sticky liquid.
“Doesn’t seem much different before and now…”
“You heartless sibling.”
Callista paused, then turned to face me.
In the brief moment our eyes met, I felt a strange warmth return to her gaze, as if it had never disappeared.
“You…”
Callista took a step closer, about to say something.
Ping—
Suddenly, something from behind the room, where no one had been paying attention, emitted a faint light.
A translucent light, similar to the one the Naitra assassins had used earlier. A chill ran down my spine.
“Move!”
I didn’t have time to think, and before I knew it, I shoved Callista aside. At the same time, a whip-like beam of light shot from the back of the room toward us.
Fzzzz—
“Agh!”
I thought I could avoid it, but my short legs were too slow. My body was thrown back as if struck by something heavy and landed on the floor behind us.
“Milady!”
I heard Theon’s desperate voice and saw the shocked faces of Callista and Aramis. But all three of them were too far to reach me.
“Ugh…”
Thud—
Before I could gather my wits, a thick hand grabbed the back of my neck and yanked me harshly.
“Damn it… why is there an unnecessary hostage here.”
