IBWCD 04

Chapter 04

That means that if she disappears, she’ll have to repay their forgiven debt or provide a replacement.

The strong, sneering old man chose her, and not just because she was a good-looking woman.

‘I may be illegitimate, but I have the blood of House Lawrence in my veins.’

If he wants a child, he will not be satisfied with a maid or other woman who does not share his blood.

‘In the end, my place will have to be filled by Erze’

Evelyn, who had so casually recounted her misfortune, ended up laughing bitterly.

“That’s too bad.”

Evelyn’s laughter was misinterpreted by Erze, who paced around her with her arms crossed and sneered.

“You must be crazy to be so scared, but don’t feel too bad. What kind of toy is he, that he should kill you on your first night?”

Evelyn turned her head to stare out the window, her ears tuned to the mutterings beside her.

“Yes, I suppose I shouldn’t have to. She’s the only daughter of a count.”

She simply forced a smile to her face and repeated Erze’s words to herself.

* * *

As Evelyn was leaving the library and heading toward the outbuildings, she heard an unexpected shout behind her.

“I’ll just be a moment!”

The distant footsteps suddenly drew closer.

Evelyn hastily stepped aside and watched with a mixture of curiosity and fear as the Count’s men rushed past her at a brisk pace.

Their grave faces were so busy that the candelabra on the wall rose steeply.

Her shoulders tensed in the precarious air.

“My Lady!”

Rhea, the Count’s physician’s assistant, came scurrying over from near a statue of a paladin.

She was the youngest daughter of a family that had been a member of the Council for generations, from a royal family in a small country subject to the Empire.

The herb warehouse caught on fire and she saved her.

In her past life, Reah had died in the accident, only to be saved by Evelyn, who remembered it, two days earlier.

Remembering Reah’s death was intentional. She figured she would need help in the future, and it wouldn’t hurt to make a connection.

‘As expected, she’s been hounding me ever since…’

Evelyn looked around. When she realized no one was there, her brow furrowed in annoyance.

“I thought I told you not to call me “Lady”, what if it gets within earshot of the Countess?”

“What? Don’t you think it’s strange to call you by your first name when you have the blood of a count in your veins?”

“Hush, hush.”

Now that she saved something that was destined to die, her heart flutters at every little thing. With everything so uncertain, she needs to take care of herself first.

“Okay, okay.”

Reah chuckles amusedly as she watches Evelyn fidget with her index finger on her lips.

“Just be careful with the title, okay? Not that it matters anyway. I’m on my way to escort a dangerous visitor, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to…”

“What, a dangerous guest?”

Evelyn asked, stopping in her tracks, and Reah, lighting the oil lamp she was carrying, shook her shoulders and pushed her back.

“I don’t know the details, but we’d better hurry, because I’ve been instructed not to step out of my bedroom tonight.”

Evelyn’s green eyes sank into an abyss of darkness.

The shadows projected on the stone walls grew and shrank like giants, amplifying her anxiety.

“What kind of dangerous guest is it?”

She asked like a frightened child, and Reah, her playfulness kicking in, held the lamp up to her face in an attempt to intimidate.

“From the rumors I’ve heard, they’ve got a humanoid demon they captured in the desert imprisoned in the West Spire, and I hear it’s so vicious that the Count had a hard time dragging it all the way here.”

It was a statement that would have made Evelyn shudder if she hadn’t known there was a prison in the basement of the west spire.

There was no way she would have kept a lowly fiend in the glittering West Spire.

Evelyn’s eyes widened in surprise, lest Reah’s efforts to get her safely to the outbuilding somehow be in vain.

“Really?”

Reah nodded as she fixed the lamp and opened the side door to the outbuilding.

“So if you’re thinking of going to the spire, even out of curiosity, you’d better stop.”

“Uh, okay…”

Evelyn sighed heavily and threw her head back. A trace of rain began to fall, as if to symbolize her frustration.

* * *

It was bright as day in the bedroom at the top of the west spire.

The Count’s invited guest was Grand Duke Orpheus.

The Grand Duke’s aide barked out instructions in a stern voice to his bodyguards.

“No one is to be admitted, except for the councilors, until the count has brought his priest.”

“Yes!”

Torches, seemingly dozens of them, flickered along the walls, and several guardsmen lined up at the massive doors, spears at the ready.

Beyond the thick iron gates, in the darkness that filtered through the large windows, lurked a creature they both feared.

“Krrrr…”

Black smoke rose from the man’s massive body as he let out an animalistic groan. Every inch of his body was covered in wounds.

“Hah.”

Each harsh exhalation sent a rush of heat through him, as if his insides were on fire. His eyes were feral, his instincts subdued, and he had long since lost himself.

In the absence of a healer, Grand Duke Orpheus, who had not yet awakened, would often absorb large amounts of poor quality magicka, or be overtaken by the power of a demon, and go on a rampage.

Even with his restraints in place, his mind seemed to melt away, and he clutched the sheets as hard as he could.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The vibration of the thunder was transmitted to the walls of the spire.

The sound of torrential downpour accompanied the flashing lightning that illuminated the bed, and a long, slit red pupil flashed in the darkness.

His eyes were naturally golden, like the sun, but when he went on a rampage, they would turn red.

Blurry-eyed and overwhelmed by the sensation of his consciousness, Kalian glared at the black scales tearing at his right arm.

“This fucking curse.”

Red gore dripped from the cracked forearm along the grain of the muscle. He clenched his molars and pressed and pressed, trying to get it to erupt like a volcano.

“Aahh!”

Tendons popped in his temples. Steam rose from his overheated head, his stomach churning with a thick, pent-up hunger that made his throat swell hot.

“Hah.”

Kalian let out a suppressed groan.

It was a sensation that resembled a murderous desire to rip someone to shreds, and even after all these years, it always made him feel sick.

He was slowly reaching the end of his patience.

* * *

Brushing the rain off her body, Evelyn entered the outbuilding and looked around, puzzled by the unusual air currents.

“Why is it so quiet?”

The outbuilding was the maids’ quarters. It was eerily quiet in a space that would normally be bustling with bedtime preparations.

“They must be short-handed, and if I hadn’t gone to see you, I’d have been locked up too.”

As Evelyn circled the jagged stone pillars listening to Reah, she overheard the maids talking.

“Have you seen the guest staying in the spire? Isn’t he gorgeous, all tall and broad-shouldered…”

She stopped in her tracks as the topic of her curiosity came up.

“Shh!”

Ducking behind a pillar, Evelyn put her index finger to her lips, causing a sharp intake of breath from the ever-aware Leah.

A murmur of conversation drifted into her ears through the rain.

“What, the monster that returned with the Count, you don’t mean?”

“Dude, a monster! If there was such a thing, I’d gladly let it bite my throat off.”

“My God. You say that after seeing those eyes so full of life? I’m shaking with fear.”

‘Demon? Living?’

She could feel her pulse racing in the nape of her neck. Evelyn pricked up her ears and soothed her strangely pounding chest as their conversation continued.

“Dangerous men are always more attractive,” she said, ”but he’s the only one who can bring peace to the Empire.”

“Hmph!”

Evelyn swallowed hard at the scream that rose to her throat. Her hands clamped over her mouth, damp sweat dripping from them.

Their conversation had revealed the identity of their dangerous guest,

“Kalian.”

Her husband, the man she refused to forget, even at death’s door.

Kalian is a sweet man, but his rugged Northern appearance and outward aura can make him seem a bit fierce to Southern women.

When he says he’s scared enough to send shivers down her spine, she knows he’s not in a good mood, or maybe he’s only slightly injured.

‘He was definitely fine when I first met him in my past life…’

And it was still before the full moon. Evelyn couldn’t help but panic at the time of year that was slowly approaching.

Maybe he, too, had visited the Count in his previous life, injured, and she hadn’t realized it, and had mistaken the time of his visit.

‘I must somehow get into the spire and see if it is him.’

Evelyn’s mind raced, and before she could think of a response, she grabbed Reah’s arm.

“Reah, I need your help.”

That means that if she disappears, she’ll have to repay their forgiven debt or provide a replacement.

The strong, sneering old man chose her, and not just because she was a good-looking woman.

‘I may be illegitimate, but I have the blood of House Lawrence in my veins.’

If he wants a child, he will not be satisfied with a maid or other woman who does not share his blood.

‘In the end, my place will have to be filled by Erze’

Evelyn, who had so casually recounted her misfortune, ended up laughing bitterly

“That’s too bad.”

Evelyn’s laughter was misinterpreted by Erze, who paced around her with her arms crossed and sneered.

“You must be crazy to be so scared, but don’t feel too bad. What kind of toy is he, that he should kill you on your first night?”

Evelyn turned her head to stare out the window, her ears tuned to the mutterings beside her.

“Yes, I suppose I shouldn’t have to. She’s the only daughter of a count.”

She simply forced a smile to her face and repeated Erze’s words to herself.

As Evelyn was leaving the library and heading toward the outbuildings, she heard an unexpected shout behind her.

“I’ll just be a moment!”

The distant footsteps suddenly drew closer.

Evelyn hastily stepped aside and watched with a mixture of curiosity and fear as the Count’s men rushed past her at a brisk pace.

Their grave faces were so busy that the candelabra on the wall rose steeply.

Her shoulders tensed in the precarious air.

“My Lady!”

Rhea, the Count’s physician’s assistant, came scurrying over from near a statue of a paladin.

She was the youngest daughter of a family that had been a member of the Council for generations, from a royal family in a small country subject to the Empire.

The herb warehouse caught on fire and she saved her.

In her past life, Reah had died in the accident, only to be saved by Evelyn, who remembered it, two days earlier.

Remembering Reah’s death was intentional. She figured she would need help in the future, and it wouldn’t hurt to make a connection.

‘As expected, she’s been hounding me ever since…’

Evelyn looked around. When she realized no one was there, her brow furrowed in annoyance.

“I thought I told you not to call me “Lady”, what if it gets within earshot of the Countess?”

“What? Don’t you think it’s strange to call you by your first name when you have the blood of a count in your veins?”

“Hush, hush.”

Now that she saved something that was destined to die, her heart flutters at every little thing. With everything so uncertain, she needs to take care of herself first.

“Okay, okay.”

Reah chuckles amusedly as she watches Evelyn fidget with her index finger on her lips.

“Just be careful with the title, okay? Not that it matters anyway. I’m on my way to escort a dangerous visitor, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to…”

“What, a dangerous guest?”

Evelyn asked, stopping in her tracks, and Reah, lighting the oil lamp she was carrying, shook her shoulders and pushed her back.

“I don’t know the details, but we’d better hurry, because I’ve been instructed not to step out of my bedroom tonight.”

Evelyn’s green eyes sank into an abyss of darkness.

The shadows projected on the stone walls grew and shrank like giants, amplifying her anxiety.

“What kind of dangerous guest is it?”

She asked like a frightened child, and Reah, her playfulness kicking in, held the lamp up to her face in an attempt to intimidate.

“From the rumors I’ve heard, they’ve got a humanoid demon they captured in the desert imprisoned in the West Spire, and I hear it’s so vicious that the Count had a hard time dragging it all the way here.”

It was a statement that would have made Evelyn shudder if she hadn’t known there was a prison in the basement of the west spire.

There was no way she would have kept a lowly fiend in the glittering West Spire.

Evelyn’s eyes widened in surprise, lest Reah’s efforts to get her safely to the outbuilding somehow be in vain.

“Really?”

Reah nodded as she fixed the lamp and opened the side door to the outbuilding.

“So if you’re thinking of going to the spire, even out of curiosity, you’d better stop.”

“Uh, okay…”

Evelyn sighed heavily and threw her head back. A trace of rain began to fall, as if to symbolize her frustration.

It was bright as day in the bedroom at the top of the west spire.

The Count’s invited guest was Grand Duke Orpheus.

The Grand Duke’s aide barked out instructions in a stern voice to his bodyguards.

“No one is to be admitted, except for the councilors, until the count has brought his priest.”

“Yes!”

Torches, seemingly dozens of them, flickered along the walls, and several guardsmen lined up at the massive doors, spears at the ready.

Beyond the thick iron gates, in the darkness that filtered through the large windows, lurked a creature they both feared.

“Krrrr…”

Black smoke rose from the man’s massive body as he let out an animalistic groan. Every inch of his body was covered in wounds.

“Hah.”

Each harsh exhalation sent a rush of heat through him, as if his insides were on fire. His eyes were feral, his instincts subdued, and he had long since lost himself.

In the absence of a healer, Grand Duke Orpheus, who had not yet awakened, would often absorb large amounts of poor quality magicka, or be overtaken by the power of a demon, and go on a rampage.

Even with his restraints in place, his mind seemed to melt away, and he clutched the sheets as hard as he could.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The vibration of the thunder was transmitted to the walls of the spire.

The sound of torrential downpour accompanied the flashing lightning that illuminated the bed, and a long, slit red pupil flashed in the darkness.

His eyes were naturally golden, like the sun, but when he went on a rampage, they would turn red.

Blurrt-eyed and overwhelmed by the sensation of his consciousness, Kalian glared at the black scales tearing at his right arm.

“This fucking curse.”

Red gore dripped from the cracked forearm along the grain of the muscle. He clenched his molars and pressed and pressed, trying to get it to erupt like a volcano.

“Aahh!”

Tendons popped in his temples. Steam rose from his overheated head, his stomach churning with a thick, pent-up hunger that made his throat swell hot.

“Hah.”

Kalian let out a suppressed groan.

It was a sensation that resembled a murderous desire to rip someone to shreds, and even after all these years, it always made him feel sick.

He was slowly reaching the end of his patience.

Brushing the rain off her body, Evelyn entered the outbuilding and looked around, puzzled by the unusual air currents.

“Why is it so quiet?”

The outbuilding was the maids’ quarters. It was eerily quiet in a space that would normally be bustling with bedtime preparations.

“They must be short-handed, and if I hadn’t gone to see you, I’d have been locked up too.”

As Evelyn circled the jagged stone pillars listening to Reah, she overheard the maids talking.

“Have you seen the guest staying in the spire? Isn’t he gorgeous, all tall and broad-shouldered…”

She stopped in her tracks as the topic of her curiosity came up.

“Shh!”

Ducking behind a pillar, Evelyn put her index finger to her lips, causing a sharp intake of breath from the ever-aware Leah.

A murmur of conversation drifted into her ears through the rain.

“What, the monster that returned with the Count, you don’t mean?”

“Dude, a monster! If there was such a thing, I’d gladly let it bite my throat off.”

“My God. You say that after seeing those eyes so full of life? I’m shaking with fear.”

‘Demon? Living?’

She could feel her pulse racing in the nape of her neck. Evelyn pricked up her ears and soothed her strangely pounding chest as their conversation continued.

“Dangerous men are always more attractive,” she said, ”but he’s the only one who can bring peace to the Empire.”

“Hmph!”

Evelyn swallowed hard at the scream that rose to her throat. Her hands clamped over her mouth, damp sweat dripping from them.

Their conversation had revealed the identity of their dangerous guest,

“Kalian.”

Her husband, the man she refused to forget, even at death’s door.

Kalian is a sweet man, but his rugged Northern appearance and outward aura can make him seem a bit fierce to Southern women.

When he says he’s scared enough to send shivers down her spine, she knows he’s not in a good mood, or maybe he’s only slightly injured.

‘He was definitely fine when I first met him in my past life…’

And it was still before the full moon. Evelyn couldn’t help but panic at the time of year that was slowly approaching.

Maybe he, too, had visited the Count in his previous life, injured, and she hadn’t realized it, and had mistaken the time of his visit.

‘I must somehow get into the spire and see if it is him.’

Evelyn’s mind raced, and before she could think of a response, she grabbed Reah’s arm.

“Reah, I need your help.”