Chapter 8

“… I, I am Yuri.”

“Yes. I thought it was you.”

His expression changed subtly. The red hair hanging over the old shirt was impressive. Yuri focused all her attention on capturing even the smallest clues about him.

“I’m glad you’re not a stupid woman.”

He must have thought that she would shudder.

Yuri widened her eyes. Normal aristocrats would start screaming when someone came in in the middle of the night. Then, it was normal to make a fuss about calling the guards outside the door.

‘No. keep thinking. Don’t stop thinking.’

Yuri remembered when she was bitten by a dog. The moment she turned her back on the beast and ran away, her life was taken away. Yuri decided to confront the man with a confident attitude.

‘It’s silly. If he was the assassin who came in from the window, she would have been dead already.’

There was nothing good about provoking someone who has malice against her.

“I praise you for your courage.”

But that said, there was no reason to look easy.

“….”

“Your face has a lot of questions.”

“No. I’m not curious about anything.”

His blue eyes were subtly curved. There was a battle that she could not even breathe.

“It’s a wise decision. Did your father teach you that?”

“No….”

“Is it your judgment?”

“I, I…… All because I can’t defeat you.”

“Okay. Yes.”

The man laughed. Indeed, as she said, there was no way that Yuri could defeat the unknown man. If the assailant tried to subdue her, she could not even resist.

“But….”

“But?”

Instead, she listened to his request and started talking to drag the time.

“That doesn’t mean you can kill me.”

Yuri bit her lip.

“Yes. That’s a wise judgment.”

He heard the sound of Yuri swallowing her saliva. She had to be as bold as possible. But even now, she couldn’t hide her shaking hands.

“But there’s something you’re misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstand?”

“Do you think I can’t kill you?”

The man stretched out his hand. A hand approached in front of her in an instant and immediately touched Yuri’s neck lightly. Whether the assailant’s hand was large or Yuri’s small size, it seemed that everything from Yuri’s chin to her neck could fit in one hand.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“What do you think?”

“Hey, you’ve already made up your mind.”

“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt too much.”

Yuri couldn’t run away. There was only one way.

‘Lord, he wants to kill me….’

Yuri grabbed his arm as he approached him. Now was the opportunity for Yuri when the man let his guard down.

Yuri looked behind her back.

“No, I have one last thing to say … ”

His hands were closer to animals or beasts than humans. It was a bizarre sight.

The man relaxed his strength in both hands as if to let Yuri say her last words. His other hand became more and more hairy, and his nails began to grow longer and longer. It was the moment his sharp claws touched her neck.

“You, you b*stard!”

Yuri kicked him and cursed him with the harshest word she knew. The kick made him lose the strength of his hand holding her neck.

‘It’s now…… !’

Then, taking advantage of the man’s brief pause, Yuri leaned back. Her body started to fall out of the window. The moment she felt the air outside the window was cold, her body began to plummet into empty air.

The moment her hit touched the hard floor, she felt an excruciating pain in her back with a loud noise.

“…”

With a smile, Yuri looked at the man who stood at the window and looked down at her.

‘Smile?’

The man began to mumble, moving his lips. It seemed that he had something to say to Yuri.

‘what… What do you mean?’

She tried to scream at him, but nothing came out of her open mouth. The man said something and then disappeared into the darkness.

She felt her back getting wet. Her arm was hot, perhaps because of the fall and torn her arm. It was painful, but she didn’t die. Consciousness started to fade.

“Ah, someone fell!”

“It’s the lady’s room!”

Soon, a crowd running was heard. As soon as Yuri heard that sound, her heart was relieved. Her eyes were slowly closing.

‘I survived, I survived.’

Yuri couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. As the tension was released, a strong drowsiness came over her along with a hot sensation.

‘I lived…’

Yuri decided to surrender herself to that sleepiness.

***

*Larkshid’s pov in Yuri’s room.*

***

Larkshid, standing in the cold room, thought. Yuri was a woman of great courage. It was also great to show wit at the moment. In the first place, it was a mistake to underestimate a woman who couldn’t even open even a window properly.

‘It would have been more comfortable for her to die here.’

Larkshid could not promise her any happiness or love. Even at this moment, he hated that woman.

If she was forced to marry a man who was openly hostile to the imperial family, she would surely be unhappy. If it was a woman who was going to be unhappy anyway, it would be much better to just be comfortable now.

“Hahaha!”

She was a much bolder woman than he thought. It’s easy to think of a way. But it’s difficult to implement it. He thought it would be the same for her. So he was careless.

‘I lost. ‘

Larkshid looked at the woman he couldn’t kill. The woman fell down with a smile on her face as if she had won. ‘

‘Okay. If you are such a woman, I can look forward to it at least once.’

“Bring the family doctor right away!” (Duke)

“Yes!”

“Call Lucaren.” (Duke)

“… the Knight Commander?”

“Bring everyone and find the culprit. This kid couldn’t have fallen on her own.”

“Yes, I will take action immediately!”

“What were this child’s servants doing?”

It was quite a strange sight. Seeing that Duke of Slevard restless and holding his child.

‘He’s trembling.’ (Larkshid)

The Duke’s hands, holding Yuri’s hand with her eyes closed, were trembling more than the woman who was holding her emotions in front of the fear of death earlier.

‘I thought he would just use her and throw her away….’ (Larkshid)

The room and Yuri’s clothes tell more information about her than he thought.

Out of fashion clothes. Unmaintained fireplace and not warm room even in cold winter. The smallest room in this mansion. He didn’t think she was favored by the Duke.

He thought she was just an assortment match in order not to damage the honor of the Duke.

‘Your face is worth seeing.’ (Larkshid)

The Duke’s face changed nervously. He thought the Duke wasn’t very interested in this woman who was going to marry him. But looking at the Duke’s anxious face, it didn’t seem like that was the case. This seemed to be quite useful. Larkshid smiled softly and hid himself in the dark.

***

“Why doesn’t she wake up?”

“There is nothing wrong with the girl’s body. but… .”

Loud sound. A man was shouting out of proportion to his voice. Maybe it was because of the noise, Yuri’s head was ringing.

“However, her usual health is…”

“Isn’t it your job to heal such a person?”

“Ha, but…!”

“I don’t leave useless people by my side.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

Yuri slowly opened her eyes to the man’s anger. She felt like her head was going to break. No, maybe it was really broken. But seeing that she thought about this, it seemed that she was still healthy.

‘I’m thirsty..… .’

After Yuri came to her senses a little, her throat was dry. She wanted to ask for water, but no sound came from her throat.

“Yes, I’ll treat her somehow!”

“Prove your worth.”

“Yes, thank you!”

Then there was the sound of the door closing. thump thump. The sound of footsteps in low shoes was heard.

‘Who’s coming?’

Yuri could soon see someone approaching her. She didn’t know why but she closed her eyes tightly.

‘My, why did I close my eyes?’

“…When are you going to open your eyes?”

‘It’s the Duke.’

It was only then that she could distinguish the voices as he got closer. It was a familiar voice. It was the voice of the Duke, Aslan Slevard. He immediately grabbed Yuri’s hand affectionately.

He gently stroked Yuri’s hand. His voice was so sweet that she felt like crying.

“You should know that this kind of behavior is not filial to your father.”

Yuri couldn’t pretend to sleep anymore. She slowly opened her eyes. Sitting in front of her was Aslan with strangely blurry eyes.

“You had your eyes open. Naughty kid.”

Even though he said it was bad, there was a secret joy in his voice.

“…… Your Excellency.”

Yuri asked what she had kept in her heart for a very long time. If it wasn’t now, when she was dazed by pain and medicine, it seemed that she would never be able to ask again.

“Ha, did you really think of me as your daughter?”

“… Then what are you if you are not my child?”

His words were clearer and more honest than expected. Yuri was strangely happy to see him, no different from other fathers in the world.

Aslan stroked Yuri’s hair. Her heart fluttered at the ticklish feeling she felt for the first time in her life. When you’re happy, you cry, and Yuri thought it was true.

‘I also had a family.’

But Yuri didn’t want to cry. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and put tears inside her. If she cried on a day like this, she thought she would regret it for the rest of her life.

There were families who would make a wish by floating their lanterns into the river together. Now she had her wish.

‘So I don’t care about what he said.’

Yuri remembered the man of that day.

“Don’t trust your father too much.“

An unknown man. A man who disappeared after unsuccessfully trying to kill her. The words that the man had told Yuri before she lost consciousness were to be buried for the rest of her life.

“Never again, never again… … … … Don’t do that.”

“Yes…”

Yuri answered Aslan with a hazy face.

‘This is my father who is stroking my hair now. Everything about this person is real. I won’t doubt it.’

This love was real. No matter what others say, Aslan loved her. She wanted to think so. It was enough to forget the words of such a suspicious person.

‘Let’s forget it. Forget everything.’

Still, on one side of her heart, a terrible disbelief lingered.

****

“Okay. There’s no way Count Erentail can stay still.”

“Yes. Perhaps he used his power.”

Cardian de Espelt, the emperor of the Espelt Empire, laughed for a long time as he saw the report. It was obvious that Count Erentail had come down using his power to meet his bride.

“The woman…is she dead?”

“No. They say she’s alive.”

It must have been to kill the woman. A man who cared so badly for his ex-wife could not have wanted a new wife. Isn’t that also the arrangement of the emperor who killed his wife?

“That’s too bad.”

“You mean the woman is alive is bad?”

“Yes. If only he had succeeded in killing her…… That would have been fun.”

The emperor jokingly laughed at that. His attendant saw the emperor smiling brightly. The emperor was laughing out loud, unlike him.

The present-day imperial family, eastern, western, southern, and northern, these five families were descendants of those who helped the goddesses of the past to drive out demons. They all received power from the goddess to defeat the devil, but at the same time they were cursed too.

“It’s so strange, isn’t it?”

“….”

“The Duke’s spirit is shaking so much these days.”

“…”

“I should call the Duke.”

“Yes.”

“The deadline is……”

“….”

“Okay. A week should be enough.”

The emperor wanted to gain the power of all the families. No one knew why.

“There are only two left…… .”

There were the goddess and demons in this world. The goddess and the demons fought for a long time, and in the end, the war ended with the victory of the goddess. At this time, the five heroes who helped the goddess received the goddess’s protection and blessing together. At the same time, they also bear the evil curse left behind by the fall of the devil. Their blessings and curses were passed down through bloodlines.

The emperor slowly began to steal the goddess’ blessings and curses together. Among them, the first thing he stole was the power to control the fires of the South.

And he headed west, which was said to have the power of wind. Having other powers makes it easier to take them away. He took power from the South and the West in turn.

“Only the most annoying things remain.”

And now, only Erentail in the north and Slevard in the east were left.

“What would you do if you were me?”

“…what are you talking about?”

“I have two troubles. How are you going to handle this?”

The emperor smiled softly. His golden eyes gleamed red. He questioned his attendant, like a child who deliberately asked a question knowing the answer.

“If it were me, I would handle both at the same time.”

“At the same time?”

“I will attack one using the other.”

“Haha!”

The emperor immediately burst out laughing and patted the servant’s shoulder.

“Yeah. That’s really clever.”

The servant bowed his head and looked into his eyes. The emperor was looking behind him, but he seemed to be looking into the distance, not just that. Even though he had been serving him for the past 20 years, he was still clueless about the emperor.

“Yeah. It must have been transferred to his daughter. It was a lot of work, but it’s a pity.”

Not long before the Duke’s power was taken away, he noticed that the power was draining from the duke. It was clear that there was probably a bloodline that was hidden from his knowledge.

‘Anentes. That d*mn b*ch.’ (Anentes is Yuri’s mother)

The emperor quenched his burning anger. If it hadn’t been for that d*mn woman, this would have been over a long time ago.

Power runs through bloodlines. Perhaps it was clear that the woman Anentes passed her power to the bloodline she had hidden. The duke’s children were all ordinary. All children, including his illegitimate child, were normal.

“The power disappears naturally. There is nothing more absurd than that.”

“… maybe It’s hidden somewhere else.”

“Yes.”

“But I will find it soon.”

“Yes. Those hardships will soon find their place.”

The emperor said so and looked out the window to the north. The investigation of the North will soon be over. After that, it was clear that he would be one step closer to usurping the power that resided in Erentail.

Dark smoke rose from behind him.