Chapter 18

“Aargh! Save me! Save me!”

Viscount Montene cried out with bloodshot eyes. The flames engulfed him like a storm. Once you get caught in it, you can’t get out. The flames violently burnt his skin.

“Please, please save me!”

As he couldn’t avoid it, he kept screaming at the soaring flames. Viscount Montene sat down with intense pain that it took his breath. His legs suddenly lost their original shape and became ugly.

“I-I was wrong… please.”

He groaned and cried, but there was no answer. He could see the figure of Cersinia over the large flames that blocked his view. She was his only hope to get out of this hell. Viscount Montene reached out his pathetic hand towards Cersinia.

“Please, let me out of this pain. I will admit all my mistakes and reflect on myself, so please save me…”

But Cersinia kept her mouth shut and didn’t move a finger. Viscount Montene’s hand sank to the floor helplessly. In unbearable pain, he began to lose his consciousness little by little.

“Gasp…”

A harsh choking sound came out of his mouth, it was hard to even breathe now which made Viscount Montene grab his burning chest.

“S-Save…”

The constant pain made him didn’t allow him to finish his words. Even in a desperate situation, Cersinia didn’t respond. In his eyes, who couldn’t do anything, Cersinia stood still in the middle of flames. Viscount Montene closed his eyes at the end of a bizarre and mysterious figure standing peacefully in the midst of flames.

Thud.

With a dull sound, Viscount’s Montene body fell forward helplessly. Cersinia’s eyes were relaxed as she watched the situation. Her red hair scattered violently along with the fluttering flames. The cabin was turned into a pit of fire that was large enough to devour her fragile body in one bite. But her surroundings were quiet. The flames, which grow in size using trees as nutrients, extinguished in front of her, like a mouse in front of a cat.

A cruel line was drawn around Cersinia’s mouth, looking at the fallen people in front of her with an oblique gaze. Cersinia, who had been expressionless since she used her power, laughed. It was a terrifying scene, a woman with her red hair scattered in the cabin, where the black smoke had piled up.

“Huu…”

Cersinia took a deep breath at the suffocating smoke. Her limit was slowly coming. She can control the flames but can’t control the smoke that has been pressing her lungs. Cersinia turned around without any regrets.

“Ah.”

An uncontrollable fire touched the back of her hand at the moment. Then her gaze returned as usual. The eyes that were redder than flames disappeared and became warm crimson like the sunset.

“Cough cough!”

As she coughed, she saw thick black smoke and roaring flames in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Ah, crap…”

Anguish was smeared on her face as she groaned lowly. She realized that she couldn’t surpass her instincts. As she lost her reason, her mind darkened like a black canvas. And when she regained her consciousness and opened her eyes, there was a horrifying sight.

This was not her own will. It was the instinct that remained in Cersinia’s body. Her mind and body got swayed by the instincts, even though she has control of Cersinia’s body.

The ruthless and violent witch. A villainess without guilt for committing murder without mercy and without reason. That was Cersinia.

She endured the instinctive desire to kill. She tried her best to suppress it… but lost her reason because of the viscount’s words. Everything had already happened. Cersinia looked around her, wiping her face dryly. Her eyes were full of nervousness. Her body stiffened when she saw two people lying dead in the flames that reached the ceiling.

“Did they die…?”

Her heart was beating fast. Her heartbeat was loud enough to ring in her ears. She swore that she would never kill people. Then, the image of an iron arrow piercing her neck flashed across her eyes. At the dizzying situation, chills ran through her back. Her body was slightly trembling.

“Not yet. We don’t know yet.”

It was a faint hope, but she couldn’t let it go. She tightly closed her mouth with a strong resolution. Cersinia quickly reached out her hand towards the flames. Then, like the Red Sea, the flames split. She grabbed Viscount Montene, who had been burned black, with one hand. Then she also grabbed the assassin who was lying there and walked toward the door.

*BANG*

Cersinia kicked the door with her feet. The burnt door fell straight to the floor.

“Gasp! M-Monster!”

When the first and second subordinates saw the appearance of Cersinia, who broke the door, they were terrified as if they had seen a ghost. It was as if they had seen a devil come back from hell. They didn’t know what she would do if they stayed there. Unable to hide their face stained with fears, first and second subordinates ran away.

Unlike them, Lewis froze when he saw Cersinia walking out of the flames. It had been a long time since the fire broke out. He definitely thought that she fainted or died. However, even in the midst of the blazing fire, she appeared without any scars or scorch. Even she is walking on her two feet, dragging Viscount Montene and the assassin.

Lewis opened his mouth in surprise. He felt his whole body suffocate as he watched Cersinia walking through the smoke that was powerful enough to take away a person’s breath. Her sparkling red eyes made him realize where he was. Not only she was powerful, but Cersinia also gives her opponent a sense of helplessness.  Lewis put his hands together as if praying. His eyes were filled with awe.

Cersinia walked quite far from the cabin, and only then did she put the backs of those who had been dragged. The assassin rolled around the ground, coughing as if he had come to his senses. However, Viscount Montene lay on the ground as if dead.

‘Please, please.’

Cersinia stretched out her fingers. Her mouth dried up with nervousness. Her trembling fingers headed under the viscount’s nose lying on the floor. Then she felt a faint but warm breath between her fingers.

“Haa…”

Cersinia, who confirmed that Viscount Montene was alive, slumped down in relief. She wasn’t worried whether Viscount Montene was dead or not. Rather she was worried that she had killed someone. Of course, it was questionable whether he would live as a human being even if he woke up with burns all over his body.

‘You’ll reap what you sow.’

Cersinia looked away from him without regrets. There is no reason for her to worry about his life. It was him who came all the way here to intimidate her and tried to kill her.

“Go the shores of the Sedry River.”

Cersinia turned her head around. The currency exchange staff stood in a hurry.

“What?”

“If you go to the shores of the Sedry River, you will find him.”

Sedry River is the only river in this village, and it was a waterway for ships to and from the capital. Cersinia looked at Lewis with suspicious eyes. It was suspicious, but at the same time, he did not appear to be lying. If he lied to her after watching the whole situation, he was literally shouting for death.

Cersinia’s gaze turned toward the cabin. The cabin was swallowed by the flames and looked like a huge active volcano with lava flowing out of it. Lewis rummaged through the inside of Viscount Montene’s jacket. Almost all of his clothes burned by fire, but he took out the folded piece of paper with the words there.

“Take it with you. It’s the slave documents.”

It was brownish and burnt slightly at the tip. Cersinia looked at the paper in her hand. This thin piece of paper had shackled Ben. Thinking of the pain and humiliation that Ben must have endured because of this piece of paper made Cersinia’s heartbreak.

“And this…”

Lewis picked up a bag of money that fell on the ground and handed it to Cersinia.

“What are you doing right now?”

Cersinia’s eyebrows frowned.

‘What is his intention to suddenly come out like this? He was the one who was digging for my information because the viscount ordered it.’

Cersinia’s eyes stare was bitter.

“There’s really no particular reason. This money is yours, isn’t it?”

‘Yes, that’s my money.’

She was disappointed with herself when she exchanged Ben for money. Still, she decided to return the money and bring back Ben to leave anything that made her feel unpleasant behind. She wants to give him full freedom.

“I’ll take care of the viscount. So, take this.”

Cersinia already had documents that shackled Ben, then she grabbed the bag of money as if determined. Ben is really free now.

Lewis bowed his head without saying a word to show courtesy. He had no other intentions. It was only awe that came from the depths of his heart.

“May God bless you.”

Cersinia ran down the hill, leaving behind the cabin that was being burned to ashes.