Water tendrils quickly wrapped around Tenua’s neck, dragging him several steps backward with a groan.
“This damned witch!”
Tenua struggled, but the water tendrils tenaciously bound him. Despite this, Leticia couldn’t feel relieved. She felt the tendrils weakening due to her physical state.
‘I need to find more water.’
Her vision was still blurry. She blinked several times, trying to focus, when suddenly, the elixir glowed brightly. A warm light spread from her wrist throughout her body.
“……!”
Finally, her blurry vision cleared. Although she hadn’t yet acquired the wing of healing to completely cure her wounds, she had enough strength to use the power of water again. A water pipe was visible not far from her. Leticia breathed heavily.
“Everyone, move.”
Boom! The water pipe exploded, sending water skyward. The clear water, carrying Leticia’s will, surged towards Tenua.
“Leticia!”
Tenua’s face contorted like a monster’s. Black energy spewed from his mouth.
“You lower than scum! Release me now!”
Soon, Tenua found himself trapped within a gigantic water barrier. Dark shadows flickered within the swirling vortex of water.
“The moment I get out of here, I’ll kill you! No, I’ll make you beg me to kill you! I’ll tear your body to shreds while you’re still alive!”
Tenua punched the water barrier. As Leticia bit her lip, managing the pain, Anna asked with a trembling voice.
“Is it all over now?”
“No. It’s just a temporary measure.”
At that moment, Mano broke free from the merchants and ran over.
“Baby!”
Leticia quickly checked Mano for any injuries.
“Madam Mano, are you hurt anywhere?”
“Baby, you’re hurt. There’s blood. What do we do? How do we, sob.”
Mano burst into tears, making it impossible for her to check on her. Leticia tried to smile through her tears.
“I’m okay, Madam Mano.”
“You’re not okay. It’s not okay! You can’t get hurt! You can’t die!”
Mano cried as if she had lost a child, ripping Leticia’s heart apart.
“Look at me, Madam Mano.”
“Baby, baby!”
“I’m not Julios.”
“Sob, baby. You can’t die.”
“So you shouldn’t be sad even if I get hurt.”
“No!”
Mano embraced Leticia.
“Leticia, you can’t be hurt. No…!”
Leticia’s eyes widened. Mano knew her name. How?
Bang!
Leticia’s thoughts were interrupted. She quickly looked around. The water wall was starting to collapse.
‘There’s no time.’
Leticia wrapped the elixir. There was something crucial she had to do in case things went wrong here. If she failed, there would be no way to return Julios’s remains.
“Madam Mano, do you remember Julios’s promise? He said he would definitely return, right?”
Soon, the remains contained within the elixir were revealed. Leticia handed over a black wooden box, her voice trembling.
“These are Julios’s remains.”
Julios’s promise wasn’t meant to be fulfilled in such a way.
“I’m truly sorry.”
Tears streamed down Leticia’s cheeks as well. Mano was too overwhelmed with grief to take care of the remains. Leticia quickly passed them to Anna.
“These are Julios’s remains. You must take good care of them.”
“Julios’s remains?”
Anna looked at Leticia incredulously. Leticia urged her urgently.
“Please take Madam Mano and hurry. Tenua will escape soon.”
“But what about Your Highness…!”
Leticia, who had hesitated for a moment, smiled faintly.
“…Thank you for calling me that.”
It was not the time to be happy about being recognized as a noble. The barrier of water was crumbling more and more. Tenua’s expression was visible.
“Hurry up, please!”
“We must go together!”
“I’m the only one who can stop that person. If we hesitate here, we’ll all die!”
“I won’t go! I’ll stay by the child’s side!”
“Please! Quickly, there’s no time!”
“Madam Mano, sob sob.”
Unable to watch any longer, another merchant ran over and carried Mano on his back. Anna hugged the remains and wept.
“I’ll call for people as quickly as I can.”
“Madam Mano, please take care.”
“Child! Child!”
Mano’s cries faded into the distance. Leticia’s vision blurred as the power of the elixir weakened. Leticia squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again. She tried to stand up but eventually collapsed due to weakness in her legs.
‘It… can’t be the end, can it?’
She grasped onto her weakening heart with all her might. Naturally, she thought of a person. Her most beloved, Dietrian, where might he be?
Screech!
In the sky, flying beasts flew about. A beast struck by a fire arrow plummeted to the ground. Leticia exhaled with a trembling breath.
‘He must be holding off the beasts. Perhaps, that’s better.’
Despite everything being a mess, she was somewhat relieved. After all, the beasts were preferable to Tenua.
‘I have to deal with Tenua before Dietrian arrives.’
Anna had said she would call for people. If Dietrian heard of the current situation, he would abandon everything and rush to her.
‘That can’t happen.’
She bit her lip hard.
‘Please, give me strength. You’ve given me a prophecy. That I could protect everyone. That I could be happy with my loved one for life.’
Leticia staggered to her feet and glared fiercely at Tenua.
A weak heart must be discarded. No, it must be done.
She had decided not to give up.
She would deal with Tenua and return to the arms of her loved ones.
The elixir shone white with her resolve. And at that moment, Tenua finally broke through the barrier of water. Emitting black energy from all over his body, he strode towards her.
* * *
Fortunately for Leticia, Dietrian did not know where she was. Having checked that Mano was asleep, he had immediately gone out for a patrol of the fortress, and thus had not discovered her note.
Of course, for everyone but Leticia, this was not fortunate at all. Julia, who was in charge of guarding the lodging, sighed repeatedly with a troubled expression.
“Ha.”
Julia had not imagined that Mano would use Gilead’s powers to take Leticia out. Banessa, knowing why she was distressed, teased her.
“See? Didn’t I tell you? Her Highness is incredibly adorable, isn’t she?”
Julia looked back at him with a bitter smile.
“Well.”
“What? Well?”
Banessa frowned.
“Sister, you still don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe.”
Julia slightly frowned.
“It’s that I don’t want to believe. If I believe, I can’t face her, can I?”
“Because you feel guilty?”
“That too, but.”
Julia clenched her fist tightly.
“It’s because I keep feeling so angry. So angry that I might go mad.”
Julia was dumbfounded when she first heard Banessa’s words. It felt like listening to a novel, so it didn’t feel real. After seeing Leticia in person, she was so shocked that she couldn’t think straight.
The thought that her lord could care so tenderly for a woman and that the daughter of a saint could be so lovely was beyond her imagination.
As time passed and the shock wore off, she finally felt the weight of the truth. That Banessa’s words were true meant that Leticia’s miserable past was also true.
At one point, Julia thought she would be grateful if Leticia was not a murderer as the rumors suggested. But when faced with reality, it wasn’t so. It felt like something heavy was lodged in her chest that wouldn’t go down no matter how much water she drank.
Julia kept hitting her chest in vain. Banessa, as if understanding her feelings, patted Julia’s shoulder.
“At first, everyone feels like that. But it gets better with time.”
“Better? Really?”
Julia asked incredulously. Banessa was silent for a moment before smiling bitterly.
“No, actually, it doesn’t.”
“I’m really going to lose my mind.”
Julia said, irritably brushing her hair back. Her father was the worst kind of drunkard. Enoch thought their parents had died in an accident, but that wasn’t the case. Julia had run away with Enoch to escape their father, who would beat them when he was drunk.
Julia couldn’t help but be furious when she heard that Leticia had been abused by her mother all her life. Moreover, Leticia was the benefactor who had saved Julia’s brother, Enoch. Julia glared at Banessa.
“What were you doing there?”
“What?”
“Knowing all this, you just stayed quiet?”
Banessa blinked, not understanding. Julia shouted angrily.
“At least three priests should have been buried in the desert by now!”
“What, I thought you said not to cause trouble?”
“It depends on the situation!”
Banessa burst out laughing at Julia’s stubbornness.
“But you’ve gotten a lot better since the first time I saw you. Your expression is much brighter, and you’ve become healthier.”
“Healthier? That’s a joke. If that’s being healthy, then my body is a monster.”
“It’s better compared to the beginning. And it will get even better from here.”
Banessa said soothingly.
“From now on, only good things will happen in the Principality. Right?”
“…Of course, they must.”
So they had resolved, neither of them could have imagined what Leticia would look like when they saw her again.
“Over there, hurry!”
Anna urgently led the two of them.
The marketplace was a mess.
Buildings had collapsed, and the ground was torn apart in places.
Loud explosions followed one after another.
Seeing the merchants unable to run away and just staring at something, Banessa’s heart sank.
“Madam Mano!”
Seeing merchants massaging the limbs of Mano, who had cried herself into unconsciousness, Julia ran over in shock. Banessa frantically looked for Leticia. But Leticia was nowhere to be found. He quickly grabbed a weeping merchant.
“Where is Her Highness? Where is she?”
Banessa turned his head swiftly, a chill running down his spine. He pushed through the crowd like a madman to get inside.
And what he saw before his eyes was Leticia, covered in blood, unconscious.
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