Chapter 34
. Resembling Cedric’s Eyes
2023.11.03
The whole carriage shook violently, like a small sailboat caught in raging waves.
It was because of a shock that started from the coachman’s seat where Adrian was.
“Ugh…! Your Highness Bi, block the carriage door immediately!”
Adrian’s urgent cry.
Right after, the sound of a longsword being swung and the clamor of many people’s voices could be heard.
It was clear that something unusual was happening.
It sounds like Adrian is fighting several people on his own. I’d better go out and see for myself.
Just then, as if Adrian had read my mind, he shouted again.
“If Your Highness comes outside now, it will put me in even greater danger! Block the door with something, quickly!”
“But…!”
I was dying to rush out and help Adrian.
But the more dire the situation, the more rational my judgment needed to be.
Adrian is right. I have no martial skills. If I go out there, I’ll just get in the way.
Remembering Adrian’s advice to block the door, I hastily looked around.
If only there were some kind of wooden beam…
But there was no chance of finding such a thing in a noble family’s carriage.
“Hah, then there’s no choice… I’ll just have to break something and use it!”
I lifted my skirts and began kicking the chair as hard as I could.
But the chairs in this finely crafted carriage were not something that could be broken so easily.
“Ughh…! Please, just break already, will you?”
Meanwhile, the carriage rocked violently again and again because of the battle taking place at the driver’s seat.
Each time, my body lurched to one side.
Grinding my teeth, I struggled to keep my balance while kicking the chair repeatedly.
Thud! Bam—!
After several more kicks, at last, I saw a wooden beam beneath the cushion snap loose.
“Yes!”
Bracing one foot against the wall, I yanked it hard, and thankfully, the wooden piece came away with ease.
Now all I have to do is block the door!
I ran straight to the door.
Just as I was about to wedge the beam under the handle—
Clack—.
The locked handle slowly began to turn.
N-no way…
A chill ran down my spine.
Terrified, I lifted my gaze, and through the window, I saw a strange man.
He was in ragged clothes, like a slave, and was terribly emaciated.
His head hung low as he sluggishly tugged at the locked handle over and over again.
His jutting spine protruded from his thin neck, and his frail body swayed limply with the recoil of the unyielding handle.
Clack—. Clack—.
The movements were so unnaturally slow, they felt eerie.
Frozen with fear, I struggled to shake myself back to my senses.
Th-this isn’t the time to freeze. I have to block the door quickly.
My hands trembled violently.
I took a quick breath and brought the wooden beam up under the door handle.
At that very moment—
Whoosh!
The man suddenly snapped his head up.
With only the windowpane between us, I met his face—and froze.
Th-this can’t be…
On his face—or what should have been his face—
There was nothing.
No eyes, no nose, no mouth.
Like a mannequin, his face was utterly blank.
I was paralyzed in horror as I stared at him.
Then—
Screeech—.
With a sickening sound, the place where his lips should have been tore open sideways.
From that slit, came a voice like metal scraping against metal.
“I found you! I found you!”
The man repeated the words quickly, yanking the handle with renewed vigor.
Unlike before, when he’d been listless, now his actions brimmed with strength.
Clang—!
The lock began to loosen under his force.
The more it gave way, the faster and more violently he pulled.
Clang, clang, clang—!
At the same time, Cedric, walking alone along the forest path, checked his wristwatch.
It should be about time by now.
But the road ahead through the forest remained still and quiet.
Rebecca and Adrian.
…
Across his longsword, a violet aura flared and writhed violently.
Adrian’s eyes had grown sharper, fiercer. Without hesitation, he swung his sword.
Immediately, the monsters surrounding him collapsed, like reeds flattened by a raging storm.
But between him and me, countless more still remained.
What is this, a war? Why are there so many of them?!
Annoyance boiled up inside me at the endlessness of it all.
I vented that frustration by slamming my elbow hard into the stomach of the one choking me from behind.
But it didn’t budge.
Worse, more of them lunged forward to seize my throat.
“Khuk…!”
“Your Highness Bi—!”
Adrian’s urgent cry rang out.
But after that, my ears grew muffled, and a white haze blurred my vision.
Ha… Just an hour ago, I was daydreaming about becoming rich. And now… is this really how I die, so pathetically…?
As my breaths grew weaker and my eyes began to close—
Thud—!
Suddenly, with a sharp sound, air rushed back into my lungs.
“—Haaah!”
Gasping, I opened my eyes to see the monster that had been choking me slump lifelessly in place.
And from above its head, something sharp was driven straight down into it.
A flash.
A brilliant, sky-blue flash—
Like Cedric’s eyes.
