CH 31

After we had traveled for a while, past the outer city and out of the capital, I felt a strange sensation.

‘The outskirts of the capital are residential.’

My dream was right.

It’s the same energy I felt in the abandoned palace.

An aura that made me feel uneasy from head to toe.

As I mounted my horse and rode away, I grew more and more convinced.

Something had definitely happened here.

Hardin drove his horse to the place I had told him.

As we rode at a fast pace, a small village with a narrow river flowing beside it appeared.

“Hardin, this is it. Stop!”

Hardin tugged on the reins, and the horse lifted its hind legs slightly and came to a stop.

“Are you sure this is the place?”

“Yes, it is.”

This is the same place I saw in my dream.

Especially here. Where the man was running.

I dismounted and looked around.

From the outside, it was just a quiet, secluded village.

‘No one else can feel it.’

And yet here it was, permeated with such a foul odor.

I stood, frowning, at the spot where the man had run in my dream.

“This must be the right place.”

I must wait a little longer.

If only I could read the Grand Duke’s future.

The black lion was obscuring it, so I couldn’t see it.

There was nothing I could do. I can only wait.

I wonder how long I’ve been waiting there with Hardin.

“…… found it.”

Just like in the dream, there was someone running through the grass in the distance.

“I’ll stop him.”

Hardin, who had followed my gaze and spotted the dark shadow, stepped in front of me.

The man, running at a fast pace, spotted us and stopped dead in his tracks.

“W, what?”

The vial in his hand is the same as in my dream.

I wonder if he’s…….

“Varan?”

I say his name, and the man’s shoulders shake.

It’s true, this is Varan.

Then the vial in his hand must be poison.

“You must be… the mistress of Noctis.”

He was dressed in black robes despite the heat.

His gap-toothed smile showed through an unusually twisted mouth.

“Where is the Grand Duke?”

At my question, the man chuckled and let out an unpleasant laugh.

“I sense a strange aura about you.”

This man is definitely different from the priest we brought to the manor.

Even the energy emanating from him is different.

Not only do I feel it, but the bell in my hand is trembling slightly.

“Speak properly, and I will spare your life.”

I didn’t expect to face the enemy so soon after the old lady left.

I swallowed dryly, nervous that this was my first time on my own.

He smiled, his face shadowed beneath his black robes.

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

Okay, so he wasn’t going to tell me.

Slowly, thinking of the old lady.

I closed my eyes to feel the energy coursing through my body.

If I want to overcome the snake’s energy that’s weighing me down, I need to exude more power.

‘Just a little more. Then I can see.’

Just as I feel a chill run down my spine, the world around me turns gray.

The ashen color seeps into the landscape, and quickly makes its way to Varan.

“What, what, what is this……!”

“Ah, finally.”

I can feel it now.

The energy in his eyes.

The moment when my dull gray eyes glowed with silver.

The ashen color washed over Varan, and he writhed in agony.

‘Give me the poison. I will spare your life.’

‘No, Grand Duke Noctis……!’

‘You’d better give it up, for your own good and mine.’

My powers quickly read Varan.

The Grand Duke indeed met with this man.

Then the man had begun to run away.

He’s not far from here.

“What the…….”

‘You think I’m going to give it up to you?’

‘Not a chance. I’ll just have to kill you and take it.’

The Grand Duke draws his sword, and the lid of the vial pops open.

N, no.

A dangerous glow emanates from the vial.

Red, black, and violet.

Sensing danger, the Grand Duke swings his sword, and Baran sprays him with the vial.

‘Kuek…!’

The liquor flies through the air and hits the Grand Duke right in the face.

The poison burns away, leaving a black mark.

The Grand Duke collapsed and Baran fled.

I tried to read more, but another white mist blocked my view.

Red eyes flashed through it.

“……What did you do to the Grand Duke, and what was that poison?”

“Kuk… I see… the aura I sensed in the abandoned palace… it was yours.”

Varan laughed at me, even as he struggled under my power.

“Tell me, I’m asking if you killed him!”

“Kerhuk……!”

Varan struggled, clawing at his throat.

“Give me a way to purify the poison… now.”

I paced slowly toward Varan.

The Grand Duke must not die like this.

What about the crown prince he left behind? I must save him from Omen and the Queen.

I must survive under his protection.

I pushed the old lady’s abilities to the limit.

I no longer concealed the bell I had hidden in my bosom.

“Speak up or I’ll kill you.”

“Ugh……!”

“Speak.”

I stepped in front of Varan and roughly peeled back the robe that covered his face.

His fiery yellow eyes were losing focus.

The whites of his eyes are stained red from his inability to breathe properly.

“You think I’m going to tell, cough……, tell you that?”

“I’d kill you. I’ve got plenty of time.”

“Kill me. I’ll survive under Eden’s protection!”

The whole scene continued in slow motion.

“Master!”

Hardin, holding his sword to Varan’s throat, lunged to push me away, and Varan, shivering in agony, unscrewed the lid of the vial and sprayed me with poison.

Everything was slow as if time had stopped.

“No!”

I squeezed my eyes shut, raising my hands to shield my face.

It was hot.

I can feel the unbearable heat from my hands and arms, soaked with some unidentifiable poison.

I can feel the energy from the poison stirring.

“Agh…………”

My stomach rumbles as if it’s been turned inside out.

The bell in my hand shook violently and began to make a sound.

Clink, clink, clink.

Its pace got faster and faster until one of the dangling bell turned black.

“……You, what are you really?”

And with that, the energy that had been scrambling to penetrate my body faded away.

Varan mumbles, as if he’s at a loss, as if he’s lost everything.

“……No way.”

The energy the poison had exuded had vanished as perfectly as it had appeared.

The blackened bell returned to its original state.

A clear, sparkling, beautiful crystal.

“……What?”

Even I couldn’t figure out why.

Surely, the bell had purified the poison?

The poison was gone, and Varan dropped the empty vial to the ground.

It rolled across the grass and landed on my toes.

“Master, are you all right?”

Hardin asked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw me unharmed.

“I’m fine.”

Varan, too, looked desolate.

“Hardin, keep him alive until I return.”

“Yes, Master.”

Varan must be high up in the council.

So it would be better to keep the Grand Duke alive first and return with him to deal with him.

I wouldn’t mind grinding up the guy who tried to kill me right now, but I have a job to do first.

“Then please do me a favor.”

I ran back the way Varan had come.

“Tell me who you are, and you tell me how that bitch purified Eden’s poison!”

I ran, ignoring Varan’s cursing behind my back.

***

“Heok, heok…….”

This should be it.

The place where Varan and the Grand Duke were having their confrontation.

Surely this is the right place.

The hem of my skirt dampened with every step I took through the damp grass.

It wasn’t going to be easy to find the fallen man in the open field.

‘I hope he’s not already dead.’

I couldn’t get the uneasy thought out of my head.

What if I’m too late and the Grand Duke is dead…….

I struggled to get rid of the ominous thoughts that kept running through my head.

“Please, quickly…….”

I searched the field.

Not more than a few steps away, I spotted a large shadow.

“Grand Duke, Your Highness!”

The moment I spotted him, I grabbed the hem of my skirt and ran.

I didn’t care that my hair was a tangled mess.

As I drew closer, half of the Grand Duke’s face was engulfed in black markings.

“No…….”

He told me to rest, that he would do the physical work.

What am I supposed to do if you show up like this?

If you’re going to protect me, I’m going to protect you too.

I stayed where I was, and with a trembling hand, I traced the marks on the Grand Duke’s face.

I could feel the serpentine energy writhing to enter his body.

The black lion I’d seen hadn’t allowed it to penetrate easily.

It was a blessing in disguise.

“Please, be purified, please.”

I breathed hard, placing the bell on the black mark.

“I’m about to cry like a baby, so get it together.”

Why? Why?

The bell, which just a moment ago was bobbing wildly as it purified the poison, was silent.

What, I can’t purify the poison anymore?

Am I too late?

“Move, please. Move!”

I forcefully shake the bell.

Clack, clack, clack.

No energy flows from the bell as it shakes helplessly.

“Why…, why won’t it work?”

The old lady is gone, so is the Grand Duke.

I’m on my own now, completely.

“…Wake up, this isn’t funny anymore!”

Finally, the tears I couldn’t hold back fell to the floor.

The moment,

Clink, clink, clink.

The bell moved with a jingle.

“Why are you crying, wife?”

And like a lie, the Grand Duke opened his eyes.