Chapter 119
Murder
Despite everything happening, Eleanor still found it amusing. She smiled faintly and then suddenly, in a thin voice, she begged.
“Please… please save me, Father. Save me…”
Her father, the Duke of Astria, couldn’t understand why she was begging for her life after injuring herself so terribly.
Unexpectedly, someone else intervened in the situation.
Crunch. The sound of leaves crunching made the Duke turn his head.
“Please, don’t kill me…!”
Behind her desperate cries, with a loud crash, a tree nearby suddenly broke.
Just when it felt like it was only her and the Duke, someone else appeared through the gap in the trees.
Eleanor could hardly speak anymore, her breaths shallow as dizziness took over. Her vision swam, and though it was blurry, she could make out who it was.
Dark, black hair, and glowing red eyes. A perfect face that she would never forget from today, and the familiar attire.
It was Karsian.
“Murder!”
Someone following Karsian screamed, shaking her already dizzy head even more.
From the unfamiliar voice, it seemed like Ernst had done his job and brought the Emperor’s knights.
Now that the word “murder” was out, Eleanor didn’t need to struggle to speak any longer. She looked at Karsian.
The sight of him standing still, staring at her angrily, troubled her.
She had promised herself not to hurt him, but she didn’t want to show him this. She hadn’t expected Karsian to follow Ernst after participating in the hunt.
She wanted to signal him to apologize for the shock, but her voice wouldn’t come, and her vision was going dark.
The knife hadn’t cut her too deeply, but it seemed the real problem was the beating she received from her father before.
When was that?
As Karsian’s face grew closer, Eleanor drifted into thoughts.
‘Thinking back, it probably started from the moment we first met.’
The day Karsian began to like her. When was it?
She had ignored this question as she focused on her revenge.
Now that she had done all she could, she thought it was finally time to wonder about it.
Maybe it was the dramatic situation, but seeing his angry face reminded her of another face buried in her memories.
Suddenly, the ringing in her ears grew louder, and her already darkening vision turned pitch black.
She didn’t want him to hate her this much.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the strong wind, and her consciousness began to fade completely.
***
Meanwhile
Eleanor’s presence seemed to vanish.
The knights, who had been walking through the blood-stained leaves in Adray Forest, were confused by the sudden disappearance of her trail.
They tried pushing the detection dog, but the two-year-old pup was more interested in sniffing around playfully, ignoring its task. Ernst, looking as if he were about to collapse, searched the area but found nothing.
While everyone else panicked, Karsian suddenly started walking in one direction.
“Did you find something?”
Ernst asked eagerly, but Karsian didn’t answer, continuing to move quickly.
Unlike the knights’ expectations, he didn’t find anything, but it was as though he knew exactly where to go. He kept moving, undeterred.
Every part of him was telling him that she was ahead. Eleanor was waiting for him!
The scent of blood grew stronger, and Karsian’s expression turned grim.
Soon, from beyond the thick trees, Eleanor’s voice reached his ears.
“Please, don’t kill me…! Ugh…”
Her painful groans made Karsian’s hand reach out. With a crack, a thin tree snapped and gave way.
In that final moment, he prayed for her safety once again, but as always, fate didn’t answer him.
Through the crack in the tree, he saw her lying in front of him, her body broken and drenched in blood. The sight of her, with the knife embedded in her abdomen, her face covered in pain, and her dress soaked with blood, made Karsian’s heart sink.
“Murder!”
A voice screamed in shock as Karsian briefly lost his senses.
In a daze, he suddenly found himself holding Eleanor’s body. From the way the Duke of Astria was lying on the ground, it seemed like Karsian had kicked him away.
That was no longer his concern.
Karsian looked down at Eleanor, her body soaked in blood, her eyes closed as if she were dead. His heart raced as he reached out to check her condition.
She was breathing. She wasn’t dead. But she looked like she could die any moment.
Her forehead was cut from the blow, her face marked by bruises. She had lost a lot of blood. With this much blood loss, she could die from hemorrhage if she wasn’t treated soon.
Karsian clenched his teeth and quickly inspected the wound from the knife. It wasn’t too deep, but there was something strange about it.
The dress had been torn, and underneath it, he noticed something odd—something that looked like a pouch fixed to her waist.
It was a pouch the same color as skin.
The amount of blood seemed excessive for the wounds. The pouch was soaked with blood.
She filled the pouch with blood and attached it to her stomach, then stabbed it.
She had likely done this to make the situation appear more dramatic, to make the knights believe that the Duke of Astria had tried to kill her.
The Duke had tried to kill his own daughter. Even if she wasn’t his real daughter, this was an unforgivable crime and a clear violation of the contract.
Eleanor had intentionally worn the flowing dress instead of her riding clothes, knowing it would conceal the blood-filled pouch. In her riding outfit, she wouldn’t have been able to hide it.
Karsian understood the truth with just two pieces of information.
Eleanor had planned all of this—using her own body as a tool for revenge.
Karsian gritted his teeth again, feeling both helpless and angry.
He had thought he should restrain himself for Eleanor’s sake, suppressing his desires and obsessions. He had told himself that he had no right to interfere with what she wanted.
But if all that restraint had led to this, then…
Karsian gently lifted her blood-soaked body, his eyes filled with a determined fury.
He wouldn’t hold back any longer.
No more suppressing his desires, no more holding onto his obsessions. He wouldn’t stop, even if Eleanor hated him for it, even if she slapped him or cursed him for getting too close.
As long as she wasn’t hurt anymore, he would endure anything.
With his eyes glowing like a beast, Karsian slowly stood up. The way he held Eleanor, being careful not to worsen her wounds, was gentle, but there was an unsettling, chilling aura surrounding him.
“Those bastards!”
He shouted at the Duke and the knights.
“Do you think you can pin a murder charge on the Astria Duke?”
“Duke Astria, you are a criminal! We all heard the Princess begging for her life! Surrender now!”
The knights were still confronting the Duke.
The Duke wasn’t weak, and they knew better than to rush at him without caution, especially since the name “Astria” carried great weight.
Karsian quietly handed Eleanor to Ernst, signaling the urgent situation. Ernst, with a devastated expression, hurriedly took Eleanor into his arms.
With his hands free, Karsian walked straight toward the Duke and the knights.
In the blink of an eye, the Duke was lifted into the air.
Thud!
“Ugh! Cough…”
The Duke struggled as Karsian held him by the neck with one hand and slammed him violently against a thick tree. His legs dangled in the air.
“Astria Duke.”
Karsian’s lips curled into a cold smile as he spoke in a low, chilling voice.
“No matter who you are, her father or not, I won’t spare anyone who harms her.”
“Ugh, I… no, please…!”
The Duke squirmed in panic, trying to pry Karsian’s hand off his throat, but it wouldn’t budge. The impact of his head hitting the tree made him dizzy, and his throat was being crushed.
Even the Emperor’s knights couldn’t help but feel uneasy at the intensity of the scene.
Karsian, unaffected by their stares, tightened his grip.
“Until your breath stops, you will be responsible for what you’ve done.”
His words were chilling, but the aura around him was even more dangerous. The pressure he exuded was pure killing intent.
Thud!
After his warning, Karsian threw the Duke’s body to the ground. The sickening crack of broken bones echoed.
“Ugh! Argh!!”
Ignoring the Duke’s screams, Karsian turned to the knights.
“Tie up the criminal immediately. The punishment will be decided by His Majesty the Emperor.”
