Chapter: 10
The pursuit team might continue chasing them, but the horse had become exhausted.
As soon as they decided to take a break, Mane immediately approached Aine’s hand and hurried to treat it.
It would be a serious problem if the wound became infected or the flesh began to rot.
“It’s strange. I haven’t done anything to it, but the wound is already healing.”
Aine had found it strange as well.
It had definitely been a severe burn, yet she wasn’t feeling much pain from it.
“This should be impossible.”
“Yes. Unless God has saved you, it should be impossible.”
At the mention of God, Aine frowned.
How many times had she ever heard the word salvation in her life?
Being possessed as the villainess had been a terrible curse in itself.
And now she was supposed to have been saved by God? She almost cursed inwardly, but there was no other way to explain what was happening.
Then, as if to prove her point, something appeared before Aine’s eyes.
[SYSTEM: Data Modification Complete]
[Female Protagonist Modification Complete. Lacy Orion → Aine Kleine]
[Before Change: Lacy Orion]
[After Change: Aine Kleine]
[Quest Status: Update Complete]
Words she had never seen before appeared.
‘I’m the female protagonist?’
With trembling eyes, Aine examined the message over and over.
But no matter how many times she looked at it, the words did not change.
It was calling her the female protagonist. Why? How had this happened?
She couldn’t understand it. Why had the god who had hated her all this time given her Lacy’s position entirely?
‘What on earth are you thinking?’
From beginning to end, everything was done entirely according to its own will.
She cast a resentful gaze toward the sky, but nothing came in response.
Aine sighed. Giving up on the meaningless act, she turned her gaze and stared at Wilhelm.
He remained unconscious, showing no sign of waking.
He could barely drink water, let alone eat. Since he was still a child, she was especially worried about how long he would be able to endure.
“He’s still all right for now. So don’t worry too much.”
He was still all right. At Mane’s words, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“If we go to the Empire, will he be able to wake up?”
“The Empire has already perfected an antidote. They even succeeded in systematizing a method of treatment, so His Highness the Prince should probably recover quickly.”
The only place they could trust was the Verona Empire.
“P-please… stop.”
Aine had no way to help him. Wilhelm’s faintly audible voice was filled with desperation.
It was enough to make her wonder what kind of nightmare the young child was having to suffer so much.
“Commander. What are you going to do once we reach the Empire?”
Mane was apparently just as anxious, because she asked as well.
She wanted to know what Aine’s plans were for the future.
Aine thought for a moment before opening her mouth.
“Do you remember who is guarding Brantfort Fortress?”
“Yes. As far as I remember, it’s the Imperial Prince.”
The Imperial Prince. Cled Hartz.
He was a formidable enemy who had driven the kingdom into crisis countless times. Aine herself had nearly died after falling into his traps more times than she could count.
“I heard that in the Empire, one has to earn the Emperor’s favor to become the successor.”
“No way.”
Unlike the Kingdom of Orion, where the eldest son inherited the throne, the Empire operated under a winner-takes-all system in which the most capable person took everything.
If he desired the Imperial throne, Aine intended to offer him a condition.
“I’ll ask him to become His Highness the Prince’s guardian in exchange for placing my life in his hands.”
“You can’t do that! Who knows what they’ll do to you, Commander!”
“They might lock me up for life. Or they might execute me in front of all the citizens of the Empire.”
Aine had expected as much. She knew that she might die or perhaps suffer something even worse than death.
But that was all Aine could offer.
After getting enough rest, Aine intended to carry Wilhelm on her back again and mount the horse.
“Do you really have to save His Highness the Prince? I don’t understand.”
“Everything depends on this child.”
“Commander, please.”
Mane looked at Aine as though she couldn’t understand her at all.
The child was someone she had never even met before.
If Aine hadn’t gone directly to the royal palace, she probably wouldn’t even have known that he existed. Yet Aine was willing to risk her own life to protect him.
Knowing exactly what Mane meant, Aine gave a bitter smile.
“This child is Her Majesty the Queen’s son. He absolutely has to be protected.”
If she failed the quest, she was going to die anyway. But what caught Aine’s attention even more than that was the quest reward.
A clue regarding Lacy’s death.
‘How did you die, exactly?’
She had discovered that everything Binet had told her was a complete lie.
There was another hidden truth.
Aine wanted to know. She wanted to know how her best friend had met her end.
To uncover this truth, she needed to head to the royal palace, but right now, they were fugitives being pursued.
‘Unless they’re idiots, they’re probably blocking me from rejoining the main army.’
In this situation, where she couldn’t even remain in the kingdom, the only clue she could obtain was to successfully complete this quest.
‘And I’ll get revenge. On everything that caused your death.’
To do that, she first had to cross into the Empire and save Wilhelm.
“Isn’t this really strange?”
“That again?”
“But isn’t it strange? The kingdom bastards aren’t attacking this place right away. They’re just waiting.”
The Imperial soldiers stationed at Brantfort Fortress were bewildered.
They had been certain that the Orion Kingdom’s army would invade the moment they finished reorganizing their ranks. Once Brantfort was captured, the road to the capital of the Verona Empire would be completely open.
From the beginning, if Brantfort fell, they had no future.
Even after gathering every soldier they could, including remnants of defeated troops and the private armies of nobles, they had only about ten thousand men.
“They must be plotting something! Your Highness, how about launching a surprise attack at night?”
“Have you finally gone mad after losing so many battles?”
“They’re masters of night raids. If we stir up that hornet’s nest for no reason, it’s obvious that only our side will suffer heavy casualties.”
“Especially since our opponent is the Goddess of Orion, Aine. You know better than anyone what happened to every army that has fought her until now.”
Cled, sitting in the highest seat, smiled bitterly.
With rare pale-golden hair, blue eyes, and an ice-cold face whose emotions were impossible to read, he was the Imperial Prince.
‘Everyone has become cautious.’
At first glance, these men might look like incompetent commanders, but before the war with the Kingdom of Orion, every one of them had been a renowned general.
And the woman who had made all of them avoid fighting was Aine Kleine.
The Goddess of Orion, a genius of strategy, an unparalleled hero.
These were titles bestowed upon a single person, and they had even been given to her by her enemies.
Cled himself had driven Aine into danger countless times, but he had failed to kill her.
“Then are you planning to just sit here and do nothing? We have to do something to change the course of the war!”
Gent stubbornly continued insisting that they should leave the fortress and settle things in a decisive battle.
In truth, he was right. To turn the tide of the war, they needed a decisive victory rather than simply continuing to hold out inside the fortress.
“We will not leave the fortress.”
“Your Highness!”
“Our opponent is Aine Kleine. She must have prepared for the moment we leave the fortress.”
But Cled shook his head. He looked at the scar engraved across the back of his hand. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still vividly remember the moment an arrow shot by Aine grazed him during their first battle.
After that, his tiresome battles with Aine had continued, and Cled had come to understand her better than anyone.
‘Unless Aine Kleine suddenly becomes bedridden, we will not leave the fortress.’
Cled Hartz, the Empire’s last hero, intended to wait for an opportunity rather than make a reckless choice.
‘What on earth is she plotting?’
Even so, there was something that puzzled him.
Why were they hesitating when Brantfort Fortress, the final obstacle, stood directly before them?
‘Has something happened in the kingdom?’
While he was thinking, Gent once again pressed Cled.
“Your Highness. This isn’t a suggestion.”
He insisted that rather than remaining like this, they should seize the initiative and launch an offensive against them.
But Cled continued to refuse to listen to him.
“I told you that with the state of our army right now, we cannot defeat the Orion Kingdom’s forces.”
They were certainly at a numerical disadvantage, but the biggest problem was the difference in quality.
The Imperial army was nothing more than a disorganized collection of troops gathered from all over.
There were still elite soldiers personally led by Cled, but Aine’s army consisted entirely of highly experienced and seasoned elite soldiers.
No matter how favorable the circumstances were, considering the difference in quality, defeat was certain.
Right now, the Empire’s most urgent priority was not destroying the enemy but defending Brantfort Fortress.
If they followed Gent’s suggestion and fought outside the fortress, a defeat would make it impossible even to defend the fortress.
“Right now, we have to be more cautious than ever. The moment we recklessly lead our army into battle and suffer a defeat, it’s all over for us.”
Unless the Goddess of Victory came to their side, Cled knew better than anyone that they had only one opportunity left.
That was why he intended to move even more cautiously.
“Your Highness! Aine Kleine is moving!”
When his adjutant came to inform Cled, he finally thought that Aine was about to attack this place and immediately prepared to enter battle.
“But something seemed strange.”
“Strange? What do you mean?”
However, the answer that followed left not only Cled but even Gent beside him bewildered.
“Aine Kleine is coming toward us alone!”
“Alone?”
