Chapter 9
He was so strong that the word ’embraced’ didn’t fit—’collided’ was more appropriate. Before I could even be startled by his actions, the sharp sound of an arrow cutting through the wind rang out loudly.
Swaeeak—
Only then did I look toward where the arrow had come from, but Hailers and Siobhan’s gazes were already fixed on its origin.
Siobhan pulled me hard, and the arrow embedded itself in a tree behind me.
If it hadn’t been for Siobhan… the arrow would have pierced my chest, not the tree. At that thought, fear washed over my body and mind.
My whole body began to tremble at the realization that I could have died.
No.
Pull yourself together. If you act like dead weight here, you’re really going to die.
“Damn, they’ve spotted our position!”
A thief hiding among the trees shouted to his companions nearby.
“You must take cover.”
When I came to my senses, I saw Siobhan pushing my back firmly and Hailers pulling my arm.
“I’ll take the Duchess out of the forest. Join us once you’ve dealt with things.”
At his words, Siobhan gave a short nod, and in that instant, knights who had been hiding in various places emerged.
As I was led by Hailers’s hand to mount a horse, a thief hidden in a nearby tree dropped down swiftly and threw a dagger toward the horse’s thigh.
The dagger, with no time to dodge or catch, sank deep into the horse’s thigh.
The horse, feeling the pain, began to thrash wildly. It moved so violently that a faint groan escaped from Hailers, who was holding me tightly to keep me from falling.
Hailers, who had first seated me on the saddle, ultimately failed to mount the horse himself, and the horse, writhing in agony, bolted forward at great speed.
That meant I had to calm this runaway horse alone.
But how was I supposed to calm a horse with a knife lodged in its thigh?
I’d barely ever ridden a horse in my life. During hunting competitions, I just had to shoot arrows from a horse that barely moved, so it was never difficult.
But now was different. I had to get off a horse that was bucking wildly from the pain of the knife wound.
I needed to find the softest possible spot to fall…
As I gripped the reins tightly and scanned my surroundings, I spotted a thief not far away, aiming a bow at me.
But I wasn’t about to die here doing nothing.
Before jumping off, I yanked the horse’s reins hard toward the direction of the thief.
The moment I leaped off, the arrow the thief had aimed flew and struck the horse. In its pain, the horse charged straight toward the thief.
After ramming into the thief, the horse collapsed in that spot, exhausted.
Having jumped from the horse, I ignored the impact and the dirt on my clothes, and ran straight to the collapsed horse.
Feeling sorry for the horse, exhausted and in pain, I gently stroked its muzzle.
“I’m sorry.”
The arrow had fortunately not gone in deep and could be pulled out, but the dagger stuck in its thigh was another matter.
All I could do here was to keep the poor horse from bleeding further.
I took the quiver from the unconscious thief, tore off his shirt, and bound the horse’s thigh tightly.
“You and I—let’s both make it out alive.”
Leaving behind the horse, which only hung its head weakly, I ran into the bushes.
I didn’t know where Hailers was, but I just ran forward. Since it was thick with bushes, my dress kept clinging to me annoyingly with every step, rustling.
“There he is!”
Feeling like I couldn’t run properly in the dress, I didn’t hesitate to pierce it with an arrowhead. Then, without a second thought, I tore it along the hole.
My legs were now exposed, but I didn’t care. Right now, survival was what mattered.
I just met my favorite character—it’d be unfair to part ways so soon.
I hid behind a large tree and caught my breath. No matter how much archery I’d learned, I’d never shot at a person, so my hand wouldn’t easily draw the bow.
Rustle—
Shh-shh—
The sounds of approaching people—two of them. If I had to choose between dying here or killing them, of course it was the latter. I drew the bowstring taut, quickly turned my body, and released it.
Swaeeaek—
The arrow, cutting through the wind, hit the thief squarely in the forehead, and he collapsed on the spot. I turned my head to deal with the remaining one, but Siobhan appeared. He swiftly disposed of the other.
“Duchess!”
“Duck!”
Spotting a thief chasing behind Siobhan, I shouted for him to duck. Then I pulled the bowstring taut once more and released it.
Thanks to Siobhan ducking quickly at my shout, the arrow struck the thief.
“Are you all right, my lady?”
“Sir Akane.”
“Please, call me Siobhan comfortably. Duke Hailers is coming from behind.”
“Alright, Sir Siobhan. Let’s get out of this forest first.”
Getting closer to my favorite character—I’ve got to survive first, right? With Siobhan of the Imperial Knights beside me, there was nothing to fear.
As I tried to move from the spot with Siobhan’s support, a thief who had been hiding somewhere rushed at us. Siobhan, who hadn’t looked to the side in time, was knocked back by the thief’s powerful blow.
Picking up the sword of his fallen comrade, the thief charged at me with murderous intent, the blade aimed at me.
An arrow. I need to grab an arrow…
Before Siobhan could run over, before I could grab an arrow, the tip of the blade was thrust toward my chest.
And then, at that moment—flash—a brilliant light burst forth.
The strong light erupted in yellow, then turned purple and entered my body.
The thief, blinded by the intense light, clutched his eyes and rolled on the ground.
But my eyes were fine.
The source of the light was the communication stone I’d received from Hailers. I had made it into a necklace and worn it under my dress, and it had been split by the thief’s blade.
Thanks to the communication stone, I avoided being pierced by the sword, but the pain spread fully through my chest.
The cracked stone, having lost its faintly glowing mana-stone luster, returned to being a plain pebble.
Whether due to the pain or the light, my head grew hazy, and soon I couldn’t hold onto consciousness. As I was about to collapse, Siobhan rushed over and caught me.
“My lady!”
I saw Hailers, who had arrived sometime, but I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality. I just wanted to close my eyes quickly, overwhelmed by the exhaustion and pain.
It felt like a huge rock was placed on top of my body—I couldn’t move properly. When I opened my eyes, I was in a bedroom with an unfamiliar ceiling.
This is the third time I’ve collapsed already. Am I going to set a record in the Guinness Book for the number of faints?
An overwhelming fatigue that made it impossible to move washed over me. Just as I was wondering what to do, the bedroom door opened and I heard voices.
The speakers were Hailers and Schmitz. Thinking they might be strangers, I widened my eyes, which I’d been keeping shut, and waited for them to come closer.
“As Sir Siobhan said, it’s possible that the mana in the stone entered the young lady’s body.”
“Is that possible?”
“It’s not impossible. Since it’s a small mana stone, it should be fine for now, but if too much mana enters suddenly, it could be dangerous.”
“Then the young la—”
I was going to speak first when they got a little closer, but my eyes met Hailers’s.
What do I do in a situation like this? I’ll just smile!
“Hehe…”
Because Hailers had stopped mid-sentence, Schmitz quickly realized I was awake.
“Young lady! You’re awake.”
“My body is so heavy—could you help me sit up?”
I’d clearly asked Schmitz, but it was Hailers who came to the bedside and helped me.
I hadn’t expected the Duke to oblige such a request.
“Is Sir Siobhan alright?”
“You’re worrying about others the moment you wake up.”
“Well, I’m alive right now. What about Sir Siobhan?”
“Siobhan is in confinement. He failed in his duty.”
Siobhan’s in confinement? Siobhan belongs to the Imperial Knights, so Hailers couldn’t have issued that punishment.
“Wasn’t Sir Siobhan a member of the Imperial Knights?”
He had been wearing the uniform of the Ducal Knights, but I was sure he belonged to the Imperial Knights. That was what the original story said, after all.
At my question, Hailers’s expression hardened for an instant. Not only his expression—his tone turned icy cold. His composed demeanor was exactly as described in the novel.
His eyes seemed devoid of emotion, his face as if it wouldn’t flinch at any words.
“How do you know that?”
“……”
“I asked how you know.”
