Chapter 64

Elysia seemed to lose strength in her legs, so she leaned on Cassian.

Lucio was a small village where most of the people made a living by collecting herbs in the forest. As such, she expected that there would be a limit to outsiders, although she thought it was a bit harsh.

When she entered the village, each house closed the windows and even drew the curtains, and no one was walking around.

The problem was that some of the people she ran into seemed intimidated.

A middle-aged woman was seen walking into her house, hiding her child in the width of her skirt.

“Something happened?”

“I think so.”

As Cassian gestured toward the back, two knights hiding behind him came out. He gave brief instructions to the knights about what had happened and started walking again. It was because he was going to visit the village chief because there was no inn, but he was unwilling for some reason.

Elysia grabbed his arm, and she whispered quietly.

“Cassian, shall we just find it quickly and move on to the next town?”

“Isn’t it hard?”

Cassian stretched the corners of his lips loosely and scanned Elysia’s body. Her face turned red, as if she knew what those eyes were talking about.

“You seem to think it’s going to be difficult.”

“I was about to stop. My wife begged me.”

“You made it that way.”

Cassian grinned and kissed Elysia’s forehead. Then, wrapping her slender waist, she pressed her body close to her, and whispered in her ear.

“You liked it, right? If it’s too hard, you can hug me and go.”

“No, thanks.”

“Tell me if it’s hard.”

“Yes—I will. Anyway, there’s still some time before the sun goes down. Let’s go straight to the forest.”

Saying so, Elysia laughed as she pushed Cassian, who was still trying to hug her.

Even though the atmosphere in the village was not good, she enjoyed all the time with him. So, all she had to do was quickly find Peloit’s lair and uncover his crime.

As she entered the forest, called him.

“Cassian.”

“Hug me?”

“Really, how many times has it been? I can’t help it because you want to hug me like that.”

Elysia pulled his hand around her waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Cassian, I have something I want to say after it’s all over. So, prepare your heart.”

“Um, I’m a little scared.”

At that, Cassian gazed at her with an anxious face. Even though she said that she would be by his side now, perhaps he was still anxious.

“It’s no use regretting that after hearing it, because I’ll never let you go.”

“If that’s the case, feel free to do it.”

“I love you.”

Elysia kissed his side under his chin.

Cassian bowed his head as if in response to that, and deeply intertwined his tongue.

In the quiet forest where there was no chirping of birds, only the sound of Cassian’s footsteps could be heard. For some reason, it felt peaceful, so she rubbed her face in his arms with a happy face.

…If she had known in advance how much she would miss this embrace after that day, she would have stayed with him a little longer.

She would have said a little more that she loves him, and kissed him so hard that his lips swelled up.

She would have done something more…

But, she didn’t know at the time.

***
There was a tower in the deep forest where no foot could reach.

On the outer walls of the building, strange red-shaped magic circles were drawn, and the corpses of monsters were piled up around them.

Footprints that seemed like a man’s on the dirt floor written in dark red blood led to the door leading to the tower. Those footprints left a red mark on the stairs as they entered the tower.

Peloit took a deep breath with a slightly recalled face.

How long has he been waiting for?

He climbed up, stepping on his own, step by step, without using any magic. When he finally reached the top floor, he saw the figure of Lumiere.

“I filled in all the restraints.”

He then passed Lumiere, opened the door, and entered the room. Magic circles similar to those engraved on the outer wall of the building were carved throughout the room. There, a large bed was placed in the middle of a large room.

Peloit glanced over the bed, and closed the door.

“It will take some time for the family to be restored. I will speak to Marquis Blanche separately, so you can return to the family.”

“One more thing. You made a promise.”

“Ah, of course. I’m happy to give it to you if you want. I don’t need to explain how to use it.”

Lumiere nodded her head and accepted what he pulled from his arms.

Then, hesitating as though she had one more question, she opened her mouth.

“Then, when is the Imperial Palace…”

“From there, it’s none of your business. And, if you’re going to use it, you’d better forget about it here.”

“Though I’ve already started working on black magic…”

“Unless you want me to touch Lady’s head directly, you’d better not think of coming here until I call first.”

Lumiere took a step backward at the threat of using mind-based magic.

Peloit leaned against the wall and pushed Lumiere, bowing his head in her ear. He then bit her earlobe hard.

“Give up even aiming for Elysia. Otherwise, you will die.”

Saying so, he ruffled his white-blonde hair, wiping the blood from his lips. He smiled softly and added one more word.

“Ah, Lady, think carefully about what went into making it, and use it carefully.”

He looked at Lumiere’s back and said to himself.

‘I guess she didn’t understand.’

***
Elysia was awakened by the softness that penetrated her mouth.

Her head was pounding, and her wrists were tied tightly to something.

When she remembered what had happened in the carriage, she naturally wanted to raise the corners of her lips, but it wasn’t the type she knew.

Her lips fell apart, and Elysia opened her eyes with difficulty.

“…Ha, damn it. What else is this?”

As soon as she saw a face looking down at her above her body, swear words came out.

It didn’t take long for her to remember how this happened.

Elysia turned her head and looked around. The ceiling, walls, and magic circles were painted on, and her wrists were tied to something like a constraint orb. It seemed as if something similar had been stuffed in her neck.

She glanced back at the man above her and saw Der, who was asleep as if dead.

“Der…?”

“It seems that the guardian name is Der. It’s also cute.”

Peloit grabbed her hair and kissed her lips.

“Explain.”

She no longer felt the need to have courtesy for the Prince. Even Peloit didn’t seem to care much about her tone of voice.

“What do you mean? Where is this? Or, are you asking about that cat’s life or death?”

“Everything.”

“This is where the Lady will be staying for a while, and that cat is alive. And, you’re mine now?”

“Crazy, you.”

Elysia tightened her wrists and pulled the chains taut at the head of her bed. She was going to cut it off, but her body was not strong enough to hold it.

“Elysia. I heard that your strength is not normal, so I prepared it specially. I hope you like it.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

“I’m going to love you a lot.”

Peloit stroked her cheek with his finger, and slowly lowered his hand under hers. His fingers, moving past her chin and toward the nape of her neck, stopped where a red trail remained.

His fingers pressed firmly over the red marks.

“Ugh…”

Peloit raised his hand and licked the blood from the tips of his fingers.

Elysia’s mind was busy recalling the memories of what was going on. A bizarre hand rose from the ground and grabbed her, enough to call them the hands of a corpse. Her vision changed as soon as she saw Cassian wielding the sword.

The last time she saw Lumiere smiling with a grotesque expression, she lost her consciousness.

Why couldn’t she have thought that Lumiere had put her hands on black magic…?

She was the female lead of the original story, so she could have gone that way with the plot twisted.

Meanwhile, Peloit’s hand was stroking her waist as it went down.

“If you touch me, I will kill you.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do it if you refuse.”

“Get those dirty hands away. There’s no way I’d ever want it.”

“You’ll end up wanting it.”

Peloit descended from her body and sat down in the chair next to her bed. Then, he looked at her with an elated face.

Elysia stared at him and opened her mouth blankly. No matter how much she looked at it, he seemed sincere.

“The woman you liked is dead.”

The Elysia that Peloit had in his heart was gone, so she wasn’t wrong, and she was a completely different character than she was back then.

He seemed to understand what she meant.

“I like you better now. Even the divine power doesn’t work… Just thinking about it makes me thrilled.”

At that, he leaned over and placed Elysia’s hand on his neck. Even though she knew that her restraints were full, she strangled him as hard as she could. Although if it’s useless, she was so mad that she really wanted to do something.

Though her fingers dug into the nape of his neck, he didn’t let go of her hand.

“Grab it harder. Can you kill me with that?”

At those words, Elysia’s hands were full of strength.

Seeing that, Peloit’s eyes were wide open.

“It’s so good that I’m going crazy. I want to chew on it.”

Elysia judged that he wouldn’t mind if she did any of that.

She couldn’t figure out why he had such a heart, but if she reacted in any way, the Prince would act more insane.

She was horrified to see him burying his face in her hands.

“I want to be with you more, but it’s time to go.”

He said he would come back to Elysia, and she said nothing until he disappeared from her room.

It was only after she was left alone that she bit her lip, exhaling the breath she had been holding back. She had to figure out a way out. If this were one of the places she had thought, Cassian or Ramote would definitely come looking for her.

However, it was too dangerous for her to wait until then.

It was difficult even to show the disappearance of the traces on her body, because as time went on, she became hungry. So, it was necessary to prevent the situation from revealing her identity.

Elysia couldn’t believe she had said something like that to Cassian when it was going to be like this. If she was just kidnapped when she was attacked in the carriage, this was what he would have done.

“…I’m sorry.”

She once again made an apology that she couldn’t pull and looked at her wrist again. It was a restraint that controlled magic and power, but she didn’t know how much power it could withstand.

Elysia once again tightened her wrist and pulled as hard as she could.

Closing her eyes tightly, without resting with all her strength. It was so much that her dress was soaked with sweat, and her wrists were swept away by the restraints and blood splattered.

‘Maybe, I can.’

If she bled, it meant that the restraint was barely controlling her power since if it had been a restraint device that could handle her power enough, it wouldn’t take this much strength.

With that thought, Elysia stopped what she was doing and laid back comfortably, pulling the strength into her body.

In her current state, her wounds would grow more extensive, and Peloit could have noticed.

So, how does she get stronger than she is now…?

She didn’t even have to think long, losing one’s sanity.

Thinking about it, she let out a sad laugh.