IBWCD 08

Chapter 08

“You ungrateful bitch!”

Pak-!

A noise that matched the desolate space echoed piercingly.

Evelyn’s defenseless head snapped to the left.

Louise, who had pulled Evelyn to her feet, glared at her with sharp eyes.

“You’re going to bring disrepute to the Lawrence family name, and I don’t want you to make fun of me, even if it’s within earshot of the Viscount!”

Clenching and unclenching her fists as if her palms were aching, Louise lifted Evelyn’s chin with her fingertips.

Louise’s gaze slid over the glittering green eyes, the slender bridge of her nose, the glassy lips, and stopped at the nape of her neck.

“Ha!”

The corners of Louise’s mouth twisted in an odd way as she scratched at the erythematous redness with the tip of a fingernail she’d removed from her chin.

“They say blood doesn’t deceive… and you’ve taken after your mother, right down to your cluelessness. You use a man, and then you think to fix it.”

Louise sighed and tilted her head a little more, as if to stifle her anger.

“You’d better not have any delusions that the Grand Duke will be at your mercy, though. Noblemen are, by nature, men…”

“That’s odd.”

Evelyn spoke before Louise could finish her sentence. Evelyn watched Louise’s brow furrow and continued.

“Didn’t you always tell me to be of use to you after all you’ve done for me? The family name is what keeps my mother alive.”

Louise stared in disbelief at Evelyn, who, as usual, was not crying or begging, but maintaining eye contact with her sternly. Evelyn raised the corner of her mouth.

“So I’ve served my usefulness, and it’s better for the family to be favored by the Grand Duke than to be sold to a viscount with a reputation for murder.”

“What the…!”

Louise, ready to grab her by the hair, stopped and felt a shiver run down her spine.

The Evelyn she remembered was unnecessarily selfless, frail in body and mind.

But the girl who met her eyes now was a far cry from the one she knew.

This was no longer the fidgety little girl who worried about whether her dead mother’s medical bills would be paid on time.

“…….”

Evelyn stared at Louise for a moment, her eyes darting around the room.

Her suspicions were heightened by her uncharacteristic panic. Now was the time to ask the question she’d been dying to ask.

“What are you so afraid of? Is there any reason why I shouldn’t be with you?”

It was a question that had haunted her since her last life.

Far from rejoicing at the prospect of marrying the grand duke, Louise had spoken ill of the viscount.

She demanded a ridiculous dowry and the money she had been promised, and she was determined to sabotage the relationship.

On top of that, she demanded that she be sent back to the family. This was not a normal reaction, so Kalian ignored her.

“There must be something in my blood.”

Evelyn stared at Louise’s flushed face.

“What? Why?”

Then, with a gasp of disbelief, Louise wiped her forehead and erupted in anger.

“What an impertinent woman you are! You’re going to break your promise to Viscount Fairfield, even if it means breaking a promise between families. Once that stubborn old man finds out, it’ll only be a matter of time before your ransom falls…”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

The quietly spoken words brought a thunderous silence.

“What?”

“It means that I will give way to Erze, and if it’s a promise to such a valuable family, it’s not me, the bastard, but Erze, the eldest daughter of the family…”

Pak-!

Louise’s hand touched Evelyn’s cheek, which was long and raw from being scratched by her nails, once more.

Her palm was as hot as a devil’s inferno as it brushed across her cheek.

And Evelyn could feel it, as she had countless times before.

Evelyn realized that the face with the narrowed eyes and sharp head was Louise’s real anger.

Drawing a flowing holy symbol, Louise opened a glass vial with a strange marking and poured it over Evelyn’s head.

“But it’s okay, if you repent, your sins will be washed away.”

* * *

Same time. Twilight Forest, Ferum.

The space was dusky with red moonlight, lush and beautiful like a scene from a gory fairy tale.

It had been twenty hours since the knights had been stationed there, their scars from battles with demons, large and small, adorning their bodies like medals.

The order had come before the fatigue of the battle in the Kairos Desert had worn off.

Even for the knights of Blackwood, waiting in one place for so long without knowing why was a bit of a drag.

“I’d rather spend days and days fighting fiends, and I can live with not eating and not drinking water, I don’t want this.”

Grumbles erupted from all around as one of the higher-ranking knights clutched his hungry stomach.

Even Max, the deputy captain, who would have been the one to chastise them on any other day, was silent, for he agreed with them.

Then Dwayne, who had been munching on some herbs he’d plucked from somewhere, asked casually.

“Hey, Max, have you heard the rumors?”

“What rumors?”

Dwayne spat out the herb, glanced around, and when he was sure no one was listening, he lowered his voice.

“A rumor that a councilor entered the lord’s quarters last night.”

“So?”

“So what… went in, but didn’t come out?”

“He must have been sent on a secret mission or something.”

“It’s a woman, not a man, you know, and our lord is very…”

At that moment, a scouting party lurking in the darkness gave a warning signal with a whistle.

At the same time, the air currents in the forest, which had been quiet the whole time, changed strangely. The beautiful space began to twist and turn like a crumpled piece of paper.

“Shhh!”

Doo-doo-doo-doo!

The sound of the ground vibrating got closer and closer, and the sand and pebbles on the ground swirled and floated into the air.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is it shaking like this? The weather has suddenly turned rough.”

The Templar banner fluttered in the gusting wind, and the cries of startled horses resonated through the forest. An unusual tension hung in the air.

“Wind elemental!”

Max, who had been watching the situation from the sidelines, shouted in an uncharacteristically gruff voice.

“Take up defensive positions, now!”

There was a moment of eerie silence as the sobered knights reorganized their formation.

“Huh? It’s calmed down?”

“All the whirlpools have subsided…”

It was then.

“Aaaah!”

The knights, solid as centuries-old trees, began to flutter away as if being sucked into some intangible force.

“Deputy! Over there! Over the lake!”

Above the great lake in the heart of the tranquil forest, a giant whirlpool resembling an abyss arose.

“It’s the gate! Hold on to a rock or tree!”

A wind so strong it was almost unbearable swept through the space.

The flying knights clung tightly to the deeply embedded wooden beams, hoping to defeat the merciless force of gravity.

The Knights of Blackwood were the best in the continent when it came to brute force.

The vortex’s momentum showed no sign of abating, even as the swiftly poised deputy leader and the group of high-ranking knights under him unleashed their fierce sword energy.

“Send a signal to His Highness immediately!”

Without the power of darkness, it was impossible for them to annihilate the gate.

Their mission was to stop the demonic energy pouring out of the gate and head for the civilian houses with all their might.

It was at this moment that they stared at the whirlpool, their swords gripped tightly in their hands to hold on for dear life.

Shaaaahhh!

The black aura that poured down from the sky like a curtain transformed into the form of a giant snake and prowled near the vortex.

Just in time, the lake began to gush like a backwater waterfall as the flying demons that had burst out of the gate were devoured by the open-mouthed serpent and disappeared.

The sound of galloping hooves coincided with someone leaping from a galloping horse.

“Your Highness!”

Drawing his magic sword, Kalian slammed it down hard on the ground. A black aura of tremendous power exploded out from the sword.

Kwoosh!

A round, circular aura swept across the area in an instant. With a loud boom, it lit up the dark sky, leaving behind a thick cloud of dust.

In the stifling silence that followed, eyes accustomed to the darkness watched.

The gates and the blackness of the lake were gone in the blink of an eye.

“……!”

The knights bowed their heads in acknowledgment to the approaching lord, their black cloaks fluttering.

It wasn’t a new sight, but it was always new and wondrous to them. Overwhelmed by the suffocating darkness, they forgot to cheer.

“Your Majesty!”

Max dropped to one knee in front of the approaching Kalian.

His eyes shone with respect as he turned to his lord, but the face of the man who had brought order to the chaos was bored.

“The damage.”

“No one has been taken out of the woods.”

“Injuries.”

“A few minor injuries, but everyone is fine. Given the magnitude of the winds, I thought we’d take a defensive position until we had a proper formation.”

“Wise, well done.”

“No, thanks to Your Highness’ incredible insight in predicting our next location!”

A thunderous cheer rumbled through the land, accompanied by an exclamation of joy.

Kalian’s face showed no emotion as he walked past them, as if he had done what needed to be done.

His mind, on the other hand, was racing.

If they hadn’t found the gate sooner, the damage to the civilian houses would have been devastating.

Flying demons are highly mobile and tend to travel in packs.

“By the time you realize I’m telling the truth, I’ll be long gone.”

‘What does she want?’

Thick raindrops fell on his shoulders as he mounted his horse and rode back the way he had come.

His golden eyes began to glow as he looked in the direction of the Lawrence estate.

* * *