“Cough!”
“…!”
Thomas sank to the floor.
Yelena’s eyes widened.
“Madam! Thomas! Dammit.”
Colin swore as he dashed forward, wielding his sword.
Kiek!
The beast that had been hit with Colin’s sword let out a horrifying scream and collapsed. Colin swung his sword one more time and beheaded the beast.
It was then that Yelena scanned the beast thoroughly. She froze up. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
A demon.
That was a demon.
“Ahhh!”
Mielle, who had followed Yelena out of the shop, screamed. The sound brought Yelena back to her senses.
She urgently turned to Colin and asked, “What happened?”
“We don’t know either. We were waiting for you in front of the shop and suddenly, this mysterious monster appeared.”
Colin bit his lip.
“There are so many of them. We have to run away for now.”
Run away? Where to?
As Yelena scanned her surroundings, a demon that looked like a stray dog darted towards her and Mielle. Colin sliced the demon’s stomach. At that moment, Max hurried over and shouted, “The carriage is over there!”
“Let’s go. For now, I think we should ride the carriage and flee from here.”
Yelena nodded. Colin hoisted the injured Thomas on his back.
“Y-Y-Yelena…”
“Let’s go.”
Yelena dragged a panic-stricken Mielle by the arm and walked with busy steps.
“Kyaaak!”
“Ahhh!”
She could hear screams coming from every direction as she walked. She also heard a crash and the sound of glass shattering.
“Don’t look back!”
Occasionally, a demon would dart towards Yelena and company. Max got rid of them. Then, everyone, including an unconscious Thomas, got on the carriage. Max sat at the carriage driver’s seat and took the whip.
“Giddyup!”
The carriage departed. Perhaps the horses were frightened by the demons; they ran at an alarming speed. The ear-splitting screams and demon cries grew fainter.
“Yelena… What, what is going on? Hm? What is this?” Mielle asked as she held onto the hem of Yelena’s clothes, trembling. The grip of her pale hands was tight enough to cut off Yelena’s circulation.
Yelena stayed silent. She wouldn’t be able to explain the situation clearly. Actually, she was more confused than anyone else.
‘Just why?’
She still couldn’t believe what she had seen.
‘Why were there demons?’
The things that had appeared in the capital were, without a doubt, demons. Ultimately, Yelena couldn’t say that her eyes had been fooling her. Among the demons she had witnessed as she made her way to the carriage, there had been one that looked exactly like the one that had pierced Yelena’s heart with its claws.
“…!”
“Madam.”
Yelena lowered her head and kept her mouth shut. It was the only way to keep herself from screaming.
“Madam, are you all right?”
“…I’m okay.” Yelena just barely managed to answer Colin. At that moment, she was reminded of her family.
‘Father.’
…Liliana, Edward.
She was flooded with a sense of horror.
Had the demons only appeared here? What if they hadn’t? What if they had also appeared where her family was?
Yelena was choked with fear. Then, her sense of reason returned. She remembered that Sidrion was at the countdom.
‘Ahh.’
Yelena clutched her chest.
Thank goodness. That was truly, truly a relief.
Her family would be okay if they were with Sidrion. Yelena believed that he would be able to protect her family. She felt so relieved that she was about to cry.
Then.
“Cough!”
“Thomas.”
Thomas, who had been lying unconscious on the carriage seat, convulsed and vomited blood.
“Cough, cough.”
Yelena thought he might have woken up, but all he did was cough continuously. Blood came out with every cough. An unsettling feeling crept over Yelena’s back.
Then, she realized.
‘The smell of blood…’
The smell of blood inside the carriage was too thick.
“Cough, cough!”
“Thomas! Dammit…”
“What’s wrong? Is he in bad condition? Is it really bad?” Yelena asked hurriedly.
Colin clicked his tongue with a dark expression.
“He’s losing a lot of blood… I think he may have injured his lungs.”
“His lungs? He injured his lungs? Then, isn’t he in danger?”
Yelena studied Thomas. Even without looking at him thoroughly, she could feel that he was having trouble breathing.
“I wish we could bring him to a doctor right at this moment, but…”
“The carriage. Where is this carriage headed towards?” Yelena asked urgently.
Max answered from the carriage driver’s seat.
“We are going to the royal castle.”
“The royal castle?”
“It’s the safest place in the capital.”
“The royal castle… Yes, there will be doctors at the royal castle. Lots of them. Court physicians are especially skilled…” Yelena mumbled, as if trying to shake off her anxiety.
“The royal castle isn’t far from here, so—”
At that moment, the carriage took a sharp turn.
“Kyaaak!”
Mielle’s body staggered and she bumped into the carriage wall. Max shouted from the driver’s seat.
“My apologies! Is everyone okay?”
“What happened? Why did you suddenly…”
“…Well, I don’t think we’ll be able to make it to the royal castle.”
“What? Why not?”
“Monsters are in the way…”
Yelena promptly opened the carriage window and looked outside. Her face hardened.
The road was blocked. The road that the carriage was originally supposed to enter was filled with dark demons. Going through them to get to the royal castle would be impossible.
“If we can’t go to the royal castle, then where can we go?”
“For now, I think we should flee from the capital. I don’t have a destination in mind yet…”
“The Penelle Countdom.”
From one side of the carriage, Mielle opened her mouth, trembling with fear.
“Go to the Penelle Countdom. It’s close to the capital… The castle is a fortress, so it will be safe.”
Yelena looked at Mielle.
Yelena knew of the Penelle Countdom. Count Penelle was Marquis Linden’s dear friend. He would definitely welcome them even if they showed up without notice.
But…
“It’ll take a day to get to the Penelle Countdom.”
“Which means it’s closeby!”
Mielle was right. A place that took a day to get to from the capital meant that it was closeby. Under normal circumstances, Yelena would have agreed.
Yelena looked at Thomas, who looked as if he was about to stop breathing.
“There has to be another fief. A closer one…”
“Still, it’ll take several hours. Get a grip, Yelena! Going to the Penelle Countdom at once is our best option.”
Mielle was in the right for once. But Yelena couldn’t agree with her opinion. Her mind and her heart, reason and emotion were playing two different games.
“Then, before we go to the countdom, let’s roam the outskirts of the capital and look for a doc…”
“Cough!”
“Sir Thomas?”
Thomas convulsed and vomited blood. That was the last of it. After that, he stopped convulsing. He didn’t even cough.
The carriage fell silent.
“…Sir Thomas.”
“…”
“Sir Thomas?”
Mielle covered her eyes and turned away. Colin blocked Yelena’s view with his body.
“Please don’t look, Madam.”
“Move.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to look.”
“I said, move.”
“Madam…”
“Move!”
Yelena pushed Colin forcefully. In the end, Colin yielded.
“…”
Yelena looked at a pale Thomas, lying down on the seat with his eyes closed, unmoving. Yelena’s hands shook.
No, this was a lie. This was impossible.
“It’s not true.”
“…”
“It’s not true… right? It’s not true.”
“Madam.”
“No…”
This wasn’t it. It couldn’t be.
The carriage shook.
Yelena stared blankly at Thomas as he grew cold.
“Madam, dodge!”
She remembered how he had held her in front of the dessert shop. He had been pierced by the demon’s claws.
It was because of her.
He was protecting her. He was saving her. He was…
“…This can’t be.”
Yelena bit her lip.
“Please, no.”
Yelena mumbled in a low, husky voice. Tears fell from her wide pink eyes.
And then at that moment, a bright light shone from Yelena’s hands.
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