INDC 20

INDC

Posted by Arsiii_here, Released on April 7, 2026

~Chapter 20~

I Only Need the Duke’s Child Episode 20. What I Saw in the Future

It seemed that Heredin and the knights who were watching the front had not noticed it yet.
“Heri—”
But before she could call him, a gigantic hand appeared and attacked the two of them.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, trees shattered, and the snow piled on top of them scattered like a blizzard, obscuring their vision.
“Blair!”
When Blair regained her senses, the first thing she saw was Heredin examining her face with a twisted expression.

Just before the attack struck, Heredin had sensed the presence and rolled across the ground while pulling Blair into his arms at the last moment.

Their horse was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having fled.
“Your Grace!

My lady!”
Through the swirling snowstorm drifting in the air, the distant voices of the knights could be heard.

Blair, barely regaining her composure, first checked the sable she had been holding in her arms.

Because she had instinctively wrapped both hands around it as if protecting a child, the sable was unharmed.
“Can you stand?”
Heredin asked.

Instead of answering, Blair tried to gather strength in her body.

Heredin lifted her up as she staggered with weakened legs.

Meanwhile, the snow settled and their blurred vision slowly became clear.

Beyond it, a one-eyed giant appeared.

It was a Cyclops, a humanoid demonic beast.

When Blair’s eyes met the giant eye, she froze in place.

The Cyclops, having discovered the two of them, stretched out its hand to attack.

Noticing this, Heredin wrapped his body in aura to strengthen himself and lifted Blair into his arms.

Then he leapt swiftly to avoid the attack.

His agility far surpassed that of an ordinary human.

At that moment, the knights who had found the two began attacking the Cyclops with the bows they carried.

The sound of arrows cutting through the air rang out one after another.

However, they could only distract the Cyclops briefly and did not inflict serious damage.

Taking advantage of that moment, Heredin joined the knights.

The captain of the knights rushed toward Heredin and Blair.
“Your Grace!

My lady!

Are you alright?”
“Fortunately.

Kyle, take the lady with Team One and leave the forest. Team Two will stay with me and stop the beast.”
“Yes, sir.”
The captain hurried away to relay his lord’s orders to the subordinates.

Heredin removed the cloak he was wearing and draped it over Blair.
“Please hold onto this for a moment.”
Blair stared at him blankly.

There was not a trace of fear on his face.

Considering that he spent his time on the front lines during wars and in the north where demonic beasts ran rampant, perhaps that reaction was only natural.

But Blair was different.
‘If things follow the same course as in the past, Heredin shouldn’t be in danger…’
The monster before her terrified her, and the possibility that he might get hurt frightened her as well.

Even though she knew the future where he remained unharmed, a lingering fear still consumed her.

Blair suddenly grabbed Heredin’s arm as he was about to approach the Cyclops.

She felt like she had to say something, but no words came to mind.

She could only look at him.

Heredin glanced between the hand gripping him and Blair’s frightened face, then laughed softly.
“Do you think I’ll die?”
Heredin entrusted Blair to the knight captain who had just approached and moved toward the Cyclops.

Blue aura wrapped around his body and sword.
“My lady, you must go.”
The captain urged Blair, who was staring blankly at Heredin’s retreating back.

She knew.

Staying here would not help at all—she would only become a burden.

But her feet, her eyes, could not pull away.

Heredin ran along the arm of the Cyclops that was about to attack and leapt high into the air.

Then he immediately circulated mana and attempted a chained spell.

At that moment, he realized something was wrong with his body.

The sword energy he launched at the Cyclops’s neck was blocked by the Cyclops’s hand.

Normally, the attack would have severed the hand and continued on to cut the neck.
‘My mana…’
The amount of mana he could control was significantly less than usual.

Even so, it was still far greater than most people possessed, but because his expectation had been wrong, it created a gap in his tactics.
“Grrraaa!”
The Cyclops, enraged by the deep wound in its hand, swung its arm toward Heredin.

Heredin was briefly startled by the unexpected situation, but quickly dodged.

He immediately regained his composure and moved according to his next plan.

He swiftly darted beneath the rampaging Cyclops and cut off one of its legs.

It was to prevent the Cyclops from escaping and causing further damage elsewhere.
‘Next, the arm.’
He had already deeply cut the right arm earlier when he had aimed for the neck, so this time he targeted the left arm.

But the moment he severed the Cyclops’s left arm, the wounded right arm grabbed him.

An enormous pressure crushed his body.
“Heredin…!”
Blair, who had been about to mount the horse and leave with the knight captain, saw this and cried out.

At that moment, a red magic circle suddenly flashed between Blair’s neck and collarbone.

At the same time, a fleeting memory flashed through Heredin’s mind.

It was Blair, heavily pregnant, looking at him with tearful eyes.
‘What is… this?’
Just as Heredin questioned the sudden memory that had appeared in his mind—

He felt the mana that had been lacking earlier suddenly replenish.

Heredin did not miss that moment.

He immediately circulated his mana and cast a spell.

The mana that burst from within him tore apart the Cyclops’s hand.

At the same time he wrapped his sword in aura, a massive magic circle manifested.

Then swords of light glowing with blue energy appeared in the air and rained down upon the Cyclops like a torrential downpour.
“Graaagh!”
Heredin severed the neck of the Cyclops as it writhed in agony.

Soon the struggling Cyclops collapsed lifelessly.

Heredin roughly wiped away the hot blood splattered across his face with the back of his hand.

Only then did he feel the pain in his abdomen, and his brow automatically furrowed.

It seemed that one of his ribs had been broken when the Cyclops grabbed him.
‘Why couldn’t I control my mana properly earlier?’
For nearly two months while preparing for the wedding, he had only focused on physical training.

He had not practiced using mana.

But while neglecting training might reduce control, it could never affect the absolute amount of mana.

Unless some of the mana stored within him had suddenly disappeared.

However, since he had soon been able to use his mana normally again, it did not seem that his mana had actually vanished.

Mana could not simply disappear and reappear in such a brief moment.

It was strange.
“Heredin.”
Heredin, who had been lost in thought, returned to his senses at Blair’s voice.

When he saw her looking at him with worried eyes, the image that had flashed through his mind earlier overlapped with her.

The image of her heavily pregnant.

Just what had that memory been?

* * *

Because of the sudden appearance of the demonic beast, the event was halted.

Ivan summoned the caretaker of the imperial hunting grounds and reprimanded him, then ordered the imperial knights to investigate the incident.

The dinner banquet scheduled at the imperial palace was also canceled.

As a result, the festive mood among the nobles celebrating the new year became unsettled.

However, the first prayer of the new year to give thanks to the gods and ancestors could not simply be omitted, so the ceremony was held a few hours later than planned.

After arriving at the temple, Heredin and Blair headed to the annex first.

It was to treat his broken rib.

However, no priest who could perform healing magic was resting there.

The cleric who greeted them looked troubled.
“Oh dear, what should we do?

It just so happens that all the priests who can perform healing magic are away…”
Among the temple clergy, only those chosen by the gods could use divine magic and become priests capable of healing.

Because of that, they were fewer in number than ordinary clerics and were always busy.
“There should be at least one priest conducting lessons for novices.

I’ll bring them right away.”
Just as the cleric finished guiding them and was about to leave the lounge, he seemed to remember something and turned back to Heredin.
“Ah, Your Grace, as you know, internal injuries require careful treatment, so it would be best if you removed your clothing.”
After the cleric left, the two were alone.

Heredin began taking off his upper garments one by one.

Blair tried to take the clothes from him, but Heredin hung them on a nearby chair.

If he handed them to the already small woman, she would probably be buried under the pile of clothes.

As he unbuttoned his shirt, Heredin asked Blair,
“Can you really see the future?”
Blair looked at him for a moment before speaking.
“…You said you couldn’t believe it.”
Her voice was calm, but there was resentment in her tone.
“It might be hard to believe at first, but if something like today happens again, even if I don’t want to believe it, I’ll have to.”
Heredin quickly finished removing his shirt completely.

Blair, faced with his solid half-naked body, quietly turned her head away to avoid his gaze.

Heredin gently held her cheek and turned her face back to meet his eyes.
“Tell me.

What else did you see in the future?”
Blair looked up at him silently.

His eyes were still cold, but they no longer carried the mocking look they had the previous night.

But there was nothing she could tell him.

Would he believe her if she said that she had died and returned to the past, and that he himself might even be behind her death?

In the first place, the future he wanted to know about was not this, but something related to the Empress Palace fire incident.

But even she did not know that truth.

So she decided to simply claim that she had only had an ominous dream.

Just then—
“Your Grace, Duchess.

We will come in.”
The door opened with the voice of the cleric who had gone to fetch the priest, and two people entered.

Blair glanced toward them casually and froze when she saw the priest following behind the cleric.
“Hello, Your Grace.