CH 35

Whoo.

Serdel shut her mouth tightly as her breathing became rough. She was only outside for a few hours, but it felt like years had passed. She wanted to go back to her house and rest. Srrk, she was about to close her eyes.

“—Thank you, Lady. I’ve received great grace that I can’t even pay back with my life.”

He bowed his head deeply.

“Thank you very much. If it wasn’t for Lady, I probably wouldn’t have found my sister. And what would happen to my sister—”

‘I couldn’t promise either.’

Laura too, Blenn too.

As of this moment, she was finally able to deviate from the life of the original novel. After abuse and neglect, Laura, who was buried in an unmarked grave, was never found. After searching for traces of his younger sister, Blenn lost hope and finally went to Elbash Forest, where he joined as a mercenary trying to throw away his life. But now there will be no throwing one’s life away.

The same may be said about the beast child, who fell asleep soundly in her arms, possibly tired. She has no idea what type of life the child experienced because he never appeared in the original. He must have suffered much if he had been locked in such a place.

The lives of numerous people who escaped the slave market have also changed. This alone is quite a twist in the original work.

All that’s left in front of her right now is to get the power she wants with the help of Blenn.

There is still a long way to go after that, but if she keeps walking like this, she will get closer to the end someday.

“By the way.”

Stealthily reading the air, Blenn carefully asked.

“—You looked quite close to the man earlier— do you know him?”

She couldn’t help but raise her head and look at him.

‘Ha—’

How could she have completely forgotten about him? It’s no one but Count Maient. It was ridiculous and she laughed.

“—Who is it that you laugh just by thinking about?”

“He’s my former fiancee.”

“Former fiancee—Then now—”

“I’ve been broken up, but there’s nothing now. We just met by chance. But why in such a place, tsk.”

Thanks to this, she received help in the flames, but she was only grateful for an instant.

There were too many things that she had endured in the past to continue to have any feelings for him. Why on earth was he there?

‘Did he like something like that?’

No way. Although he has a vicious side, he was a fairly noble person. He was never the type of person who invested time in such a place. He was someone who considered even bullying a waste of time.

It was highly likely that he approached the place with some ulterior purpose like her, not just to enjoy it.

‘What could that be?’

If it was to find someone among the slaves, he would have found them when there was a riot.

“Not doing so means that the slave market itself, or the aristocrats who enjoy visiting there, was his purpose.”

Who would he be interested in at this time—.

‘Count Solette?’

Her eyes shone sharply.  At that time, the carriage stopped and the door opened quickly as if it had sprung open the moment they arrived.

“Lady, please excuse me.”

Terra, who stretched out his hand, grabbed Serdel’s waist and lowered her before Blenn could even step out.

“Excuse me, Lady.”

When Blenn, who was holding Laura, got off next, Terra, who was hesitant, got back to the coachman’s seat.

“I’ll finish hiding the traces of the carriage quickly— because it’s urgent. You can go in and treat Lady first.”

He spoke firmly with an inappropriately harsh face, but as she looked at him to see if his actions were presumptuous, a smile came out.

“Don’t worry, Terra. And you did a good job.”

It was a compliment for treating Laura first.

Don’t feel guilty because your judgment and decision are not wrong.

His closed lips were distorted.

“Go and come back.”

As Serdel nodded, he looked at Blenn for the last time and moved away with the carriage. Silence fell between them. The cool early morning air penetrated through the skin and hit the bones. Whoosh, she got goosebumps around her neck.

The two walked slowly, holding Blenn’s sleeping younger sister and the beast child respectively.

‘It’s cold.’

As she moved her body, her condition got worse and worse. The fever seemed to rise, and she felt so stiff.

‘It’s so cold. I’m dizzy.’

The aftermath of breathing a lot of bitter smoke was severe nausea.

“—Are you okay?”

“It’s okay, so please tie your sister’s coat collar properly. Don’t try to put it on me clumsily.”

Serdel eased his hesitation.

“—I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so careless. I should have been helpful, but I didn’t—.”

It was only natural because this child he had barely met, even though he had received favor from her, was more precious. Besides, didn’t he save her from such a place?

“You were helpful enough. Stop being sorry.”

Despite the sudden order, he did not panic and followed her words well.

‘I actually did the wrong thing.’

Although she was concerned that there might be an ambush while she was rescuing Laura, she did not pursue a variety in the items she had thought about preparing.

If she had a larger amount of higher-level potions. Or if only she didn’t focus on being aggressive and purchased various lower-level scrolls. There would have been no difficulty saving the child, no injury to herself, and no being trapped in flames and helped by Count Maient.

‘Today’s me was the worst in many ways.’

The excuse that it was unavoidable in the face of unexpected circumstances does not work. Even more so in front of what she did even though she knew that the moment she twisted even one foot, a huge blade would come down on her neck. Unless her ability of foresight simply shows the future like today.

In order not to repeat the same mistake again and be ready for the numerous cross-sections of foresight that might unfold in her mind, she had to be more thorough with preparation.

“Lady, wait…I don’t think I can…”

“Hmm?”

After walking in thought for a while, Blenn grabbed her and put the coat he had removed from Laura around her shoulders.

“I shouldn’t have been selfish even though I received a lot of grace, I’m sorry for the hesitation. My sister was treated with a potion and is in my arms, so her body temperature won’t drop any further.”

He added before she could even say it was okay.

“You don’t look so good. I’m worried that you’ll faint soon—”

Hiiing!

“Young Lady!”

For a moment, she thought a thunderbolt had struck next to her. Astonished, she looked ahead to see Count Maient, hastily jumping off a horse.

Huck, huck. Running with ragged breathing that would not calm down, he suddenly grabbed Serdel by both shoulders. He used great force.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere!”

His hastily asked questions were ridiculous. His blackened face and clothes were obviously dirty, and the tip of the hair was burnt, so the smell of burning and sweat was mixed and the odor wafted from him. In addition to that, his complexion was so tired and pale even his bright eyes couldn’t make up for it.

“—Are you worried about me?”

It was the first time seeing Count Maient so messy.

“Young Lady was kidnapped by a mysterious man in front of me! How can I not worry about this?— Maybe I’m wrong— I think I should let the count know about this—.”

There was no lie in the trembling voice.

However, through his eyes that slowly began to sink when he saw her uninjured body, she could intuit that he had finished his own calculations while ‘racing’ to this place.

His intention is to inform Count Cartal that she has been kidnapped, help her father, and then gain the authority to enter the Elbash Forest again. Unfortunately, she could see everything.

So even more. He would be disappointed that she was unharmed. His eyes, rolling around, glancing sneakily, seemed to show his busy mind that was trying to revise his plan. She almost burst into laughter.

‘Yeah. He was this kind of guy.’

A bad guy who turns another person’s crisis into his own opportunity. The questions he asked were all out of concern for himself.

‘This bastard.’

“Get out of her way.”

She was going to say, “I’m okay, so get out of here,” but Blenn, who read her unpleasant expression, intervened. Only then did Count Maient’s gaze move slowly as if he had only just noticed Blenn was there.

“Take those hands away.”

Blenn glared at Count Maient, and would have drawn his sword at any moment if he had not been holding his sister.