“Irene, not all monsters are bad. Have you heard that Her Highness the Princess has awakened as the Wing of Darkness? The power of darkness controls monsters. There are no monsters in this city that would disobey Her Highness’s commands. So, you don’t need to worry.”
“Really?”
“Yes. That monster is probably under Her Highness’s control too. It must be searching for the fake wings at Her Highness’s command.”
“I see. That’s a relief.”
Irene let out a sigh of relief. As Dietrian comforted Irene, he thought about the monster’s cry he had just heard.
‘Perhaps it really is a monster controlled by the Princess.’
He had said it to calm the child, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed true. This was the heart of the capital, the Princess’s land. There would be no monster daring enough to defy the newly awakened Wing of Darkness here.
‘Things might go better than I expected.’
If the Princess was nearby, she would be a great help in fighting the Wings of Rehir. Although he wielded aura, he was still an ordinary human. He anticipated that the fight against the transcendent Wings would not be easy. Thus, the monster’s cry was even more welcome.
“Irene, hold on tight. I’ll speed up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
Dietrian started running with Irene in his arms. Trees shrouded in darkness whizzed by. Irene’s eyes widened. She looked so adorable that it almost made him laugh despite the situation.
‘This must be why Yulken couldn’t resist his daughter’s charms.’
He felt a bit bitter. Though he desperately wanted a child with Leticia, he couldn’t afford to be greedy. There were many things to resolve before welcoming a child.
In a way, the struggles that he and Leticia were enduring might be for the sake of their future child. They needed to expel the villains, correct their twisted fates, and break the curse before they could welcome a child.
Screeech—! Just then, the monster’s cry was heard again, much closer than before. Dietrian’s nerves were on edge.
‘I need to check the situation.’
Something about the atmosphere felt off. Dietrian decided to place Irene in a safe place and check the identity of the monster himself. Nearby, there was an old prayer house. After setting Irene down, Dietrian grabbed the doorknob of the prayer house.
“Irene, stay here for a moment…!”
At that moment, he heard movement inside. Dietrian immediately opened the door. In a flash, he drew his sword and rushed inside. He pointed his sword at a young man crouching in the corner.
“Who are you?”
“I’m sorry, I made a mistake!”
The man began to plead in terror. His appearance was quite shabby, wearing broken glasses and a dirt-stained coat.
“Please spare me! I have a young daughter. I won’t tell anyone what I saw. I swear.”
The man begged, tears and snot streaming down his face. Dietrian’s gaze remained sharp. There was a child behind him. He couldn’t let his guard down.
“I have nothing to do with the Queen Consort. In fact, I despise her! Long live Lady Josephina! Long live!”
“What do you do?”
“Please, spare me.”
“What’s this blood? Who did you attack? Who is it?”
Dietrian grabbed the man’s collar. Upon closer inspection, the stains on his coat were not dirt but blood. It wasn’t the man’s own blood.
“Tell me the truth!”
“Dad? Why are you here?”
Dietrian hesitated and turned around in surprise. Irene tilted her head in confusion. The man, who was about to faint, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“Irene?”
Dietrian quickly released the man and helped him up. The man, coughing and gasping, lifted his head. As soon as he saw Irene, he cried out.
“Irene!”
The man’s face twisted as if he were about to cry. Irene ran to him and hugged him. The man knelt down and began to cry profusely.
“Oh, to meet you alive again. Goddess, thank you so much. I will never forget this grace until the day I die!”
“Dad, why are you here? What about your patients?”
“Irene, Irene!”
The man wept uncontrollably. Irene, momentarily taken aback, quickly regained her composure. She knew that her father often had emotional swings, so she took it in stride. She wiped her father’s tears with her small hands and spoke.
“Your Highness, this is my father. Dad, His Highness the Prince helped me. A bad person tried to break into our room, but he caught me when I jumped from the second floor.”
Dietrian sincerely apologized.
“Doctor, I truly apologize for my rudeness earlier. I am deeply sorry for my discourtesy.”
“Your Highness? Did you just say His Highness the Prince?”
“Yes!”
The doctor gasped and looked at Dietrian in shock. Dietrian continued to apologize earnestly.
“I am truly sorry. I have no excuse for my behavior. The situation was urgent, and I misinterpreted the sounds. As Irene mentioned, someone is pursuing her. It’s likely one of Rehir’s subordinates. Speaking of which, please stay here with Irene for a moment. There seems to be a monster nearby, and I need to check the situation…”
“Your Highness! Please help!”
The doctor grabbed Dietrian’s pant leg. His bloodstained hand was pale.
“Knight Julia is dying!”
* * *
“I still can’t understand you all. Risking your life for the human who betrayed you. Why do you do such a thing?”
Seidel tilted his head, tapping the tip of her blood-stained sword on the ground.
“You even got seriously injured because of that doctor. Yet here you are, still standing in my way. What’s your reason for doing all this?”
Julia, instead of answering, pressed her hand against the wound in her abdomen and breathed slowly. When wounded, conserve your strength.
Only then can you seize the opportunity to strike back. This was a rule she, as the captain, always emphasized to her knights. Seidel watched Julia closely, then shrugged.
“Well, I don’t really need to understand. After all, you’re about to die.”
“Not… if I can help it.”
“I have some good news for you. You no longer need to protect that doctor. He’s no longer of interest to me. So, just die without any regrets.”
Seidel dismissed his curiosity about Julia. She could ask Rehir about it later. After all, the world was full of incomprehensible things to Seidel.
Julia’s actions just now were also incomprehensible. Seidel had ended up fighting Julia because of the doctor. Following Rehir’s orders, she had been chasing Julia when she discovered the doctor.
Seidel immediately decided to kill the doctor. She needed a corpse to fight Julia, as she wielded the power of death. Normally, she used bodies buried in the ground, but the situation wasn’t ideal.
There were many spirits searching for her nearby. If she used her power recklessly, she might be discovered before summoning the corpse. So, she planned to kill the doctor and use his body against Julia, but then the doctor spoke.
“Where did the knight go?”
Coincidentally, the doctor knew Julia. At that moment, a better plan came to Seidel. She decided to take the doctor hostage.
“Spare me! Please spare my life! I’ll do anything! I have a young daughter. If I die, she’ll become an orphan!”
The weak doctor made an excellent hostage. Seidel threatened the doctor with Irene.
“If you want to live, lure the Principality knight you’re looking for to me. If you don’t follow my orders, I’ll kill your daughter right in front of you.”
The doctor was desperate but had no way out. Eventually, he followed Seidel’s orders and lured Julia to the temple.
Julia, who responded to the doctor’s call without suspicion, was attacked by Seidel. She stood in front of the doctor and said,
“Doctor! Get away… ugh! Take Irene and seek help from the Wings!”
Julia undoubtedly realized that the doctor had betrayed her. Nevertheless, she used all her strength to protect him, even taking a sword to the abdomen. Seidel couldn’t understand such actions.
“Seidel, was it? You said you can’t understand me? Well, I can’t understand you either. Surely there’s someone you must protect at all costs.”
“What?”
“Family, lover, friend. Even your master or subordinates. Isn’t there someone you’d want to protect, even at the cost of everything you have? If so, you should be able to understand my feelings.”
“Sacrifice? Why would I do that?”
Seidel tilted his head.
If my sister was in danger? I would abandon her without a second thought. She would answer the same way. The knight order? They’re just parts to be used. Rehir? If not for the pain of the covenant, I would have left him long ago.
“Whether you sacrificed yourself or not, you’re going to die here anyway. Brace yourself. Lord Rehir ordered me to kill you very slowly. Let’s start by severing your wrist.”
Seidel ignored Julia’s words and stepped forward. Julia, who had been trying to buy time, looked dismayed. The sinister sound of Seidel’s sword dragging on the ground as it was stained with Julia’s blood was chilling. Julia gritted her teeth and raised her sword.
Clang! The fight resumed. Julia did not give up until the very last moment. However, no matter how hard she tried, she was a mere human. The difference in power between her and the Wing was insurmountable.
“Huff, huff.”
In the end, the outcome was decided. Julia lay on the dirt floor, struggling to breathe. Though she hadn’t dropped her sword, she was dying. Seidel looked down at the hand clutching the sword with indifference. She raised his sword high and brought it down to cut off her wrist.
Just before the sharp blade could sever Julia’s wrist, clang!
Something flashed and struck Seidel’s sword away. It then came down on Seidel’s head. Seidel narrowly deflected the blade that aimed to split her skull.
