CH 21

Whether she knew my feelings or not, Bella gently brushed my hair.

“Thank you for saying that. I won’t overdo it, so don’t feel pressured. Oh, make sure to keep an escort by your side when you go to the waterside.”

“Sure.”

“And… I hope you won’t have to use this, but just in case…”

I stared at what she handed me.

It was an object with a small wick protruding from the cylindrical body.

“What is this?”

“It’s a signal flare for when an emergency occurs. If you shoot it into the sky, the waiting knights will run to you.”

“Ah, this is…”

When I saw this signal flare, I remembered.

In the original story, Theodore immediately set off a flare when he was attacked.

However, the signal flare failed, presumably the raiding family had already tampered with it, and Theodore had to deal with the assassins alone, enduring the wounds of the surprise attack.

I gladly accepted the signal flare given by Bella.

I was wearing the ring Suradel gave me, but the more means I had to deal with an attack, the better.

“Then I’ll go now, I’ll be back.”

How long did I walk with Hanu?

Iprus, who I did not know where she appeared from, joined naturally. There was something in her hand.

“Iprus, did you bring it all?”

“Yes. I brought everything you said. But what the hell are you trying to do…”

“It all has a deep purpose.”

I threw some evasive words and along with Iprus, went to a secluded place where there were no people. And I began to put on everything she had brought.

Layers of thin clothes were worn, and a thick, large hooded cloak was pulled over on the outside.

Just like that, my slender body shape was completely covered.

In addition to the mask that hid the entire face, there were even long gloves that cover the wrists.

I didn’t stop at that. I proceeded to cover the sleeves of the cloak with cloth and tied it up so that my bare skin would never be exposed, even by mistake.

“Iprus, how long does the potions last?”

“About 15 minutes for both.”

“That’s enough.”

The potions I asked Iprus to purchase could temporarily change one’s voice and eye color.

Iprus’ research found that the imprinting of a wolf required skin-to-skin contact. So I was going to never let Theodore touch my bare skin.

To be frank, three things were enough to keep bare skin from touching: a hooded robe, a mask, and gloves.

However, the reason why I wanted to change my voice and even the color of my eyes was to prepare for an unexpected incident.

—To make sure Theodore never finds me later.

Even if I luckily avoid being imprinted on when I save him, what if he finds me later saying he would repay the favor?

And what if he imprints on me in the process?

Such developments would be simply awful.

‘Isn’t there a cliché in novels where one forgot something that could become a spark and cause an irreversible event?’

I was going to block that possibility out.

‘I’ve done all this, but would he still somehow imprint on me?’

Considering how he expressed great displeasure with me, when I asked if he was a person who would fall in love with quickly…

If he really imprinted on me just because I saved his life, it meant that he would have fallen in love with anyone even if it’s not the heroine, Anemone…

I doubted whether such a thing could be called love.

Wouldn’t it be instead a curse wrapped in the word ‘imprint’?

Theodore didn’t imprint on Anemone because he loved her, rather, he couldn’t help but love her because of his imprint.

‘Well, he won’t imprint on me.’

“My lady, please…”

Iprus belatedly blurted out, perhaps recalling the connection between what I asked about the imprinting of the wolf demibeast and the fact that I was wrapped up tightly.

Then, Hanu asked as if he was also curious.

“Lady Lia, why are you hiding your face?”

“To commit a crime.”

“Aha, that’s right… what?”

Hanu’s face turned white in an instant.

“Lady, Lady Lia. I’m Lia’s escort, but I don’t want to be a part of evil. Please… please reconsider!”

“It’s a joke, so calm down.”

…Wasn’t that a joke to anyone?

Did he really think I was bad enough to commit a crime?

Around the time I was seriously contemplating my broken image, Hanu, whose face had returned to his original expression, asked again.

“Are you not going to tell me why you’re hiding your face?”

I thought about whether I should answer it for a while, but I decided to just tell him because I knew that he would not believe me even if I told him the truth anyway.

“I’m afraid someone will fall in love at first sight when they see me.”

“What?”

“As expected, it’s that.”

Unlike Hanu, who responded with bewilderment, Iprus nodded in admiration.

“Certainly, the lady’s appearance is enough to make men’s hearts flutter.”

I never thought there would be a crazy person who really believes in this nonsense.

While I was dumbfoundedly staring at Iprus, Hanu started laughing, as if he had taken my words as a joke.

“Lady Lia seems to have very high self-esteem.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“No. I’m saying it because it’s nice to see. I have low self-esteem.”

Iprus smiled and spoke in a tone that would raise the listener’s anger.

“It deserves to be low. You’re such a useless piece of trash.”

“Of course, no matter how trash I am, I’m better than my sister.”

The sharp gazes of the two clash fiercely in the air.

Stepping in between them, I said,

“Stop fighting. I have something important to tell you.”

Then, the two instantly relaxed their eyes and waited for my next words.

“Today, even if there’s something questionable, I want both of you to just follow my orders.”

“Suddenly, what… Would something happen?”

In response to Hanu’s question, Iprus hit the top of his head.

“At times like this, you should just say ‘yes’ without complaining.”

However, Hanu steadfastly brought out his opinion as if Iprus’ words were not considered at all.

“But since I’m Lady Lia’s escort, I can’t guarantee that I will always follow orders if it’s something that threatens safety.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, you don’t have to worry about it.”

I raised my head and said proudly.

“I’m the most important person in the world.”

“That…”

Hanu looked like he didn’t know what to say, but in the end it seemed that he decided to interpret it in a positive way.

“For me who was entrusted with the mission of escorting, it sounds like a pretty reliable statement.”

“Right?”

I grinned at Hanu and brushed off my hands.

“Now that we’ve finished all the preparations, let’s get going.”

Then Hanu tilted his head.

“To where?”

“Somewhere, deep in the mountains where the hunting competition is in full swing.”

0.5 seconds.

It took that much for his expression to contort.

“What– what?!”

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

As I climbed the mountain, I belatedly noticed that there was a variable I hadn’t thought of before.

It’s just… stones.

It was difficult to see round and pretty stones that suited my taste, and because of the stones scattered here and there, my gaze kept wandering elsewhere.

Iprus asked with a big smile on her face, as if she had seen through my heart.

“Shall I pick it up?”

“Yes. Oh no. I’m not here today to fulfill my self-interest, so I’ll put up with it.”

“My lady…! You have grown into a wonderful penguin.”

“Yes. Besides, all the stones here are not that pretty. It’s bearable.”

“How can you even have an eye for choosing stones!”

I listened to Iprus’ silliness, estimating the time Theodore might be attacked.

‘If I go now, it might be a bit early. Ah, I have no idea.’

Slowing my pace, I spoke to Hanu.

“Hey, Sir Hanu, how strong are you?”

“At least strong enough that Lady Lia won’t be ashamed. I have been working pretty hard.”

“Really? That’s a relief. I can be less sorry.”

“Yes? What did you just say…”

It was then.

A figure too large to be a normal wild boar jumped out of the forest.

“Kwaeeek!”

“Sorry. Actually, I saw a baby wild boar a few minutes ago, and I touched it without realizing it.”

As I climbed the mountain, I judged that Hanu would get in the way of saving Theodore.

It was because he was very sensitive to safety issues.

So I deliberately did this to evade Hanu…

When I faced a mountain beast the size of a house, I pressed down onto the survival button.

Urgently, I exclaimed.

“Sir Hanu, please take care of this! I’m running away!”

“As your escort, I will not leave you. Absolutely not!”

Hanu blocked Lia’s way and shouted confidently, but there was no reply.

Sensing that something was wrong, he hurriedly turned around.

But what’s this?

Lia, who had been by his side until just now, was gone, and he could see the familiar hooded figure running vigorously in the distance.

“Uh…?”

While the bewildered Hanu stared at the disappearing back of Lia, Iprus stuck out her tongue and told him the truth.

“You fool. It’s not ‘you’, but ‘me’.”

She waved her hand and said goodbye.

“I can’t leave her alone, so I’ll go first. Thanks, good luck.”

Hanu gnashed his teeth at the fast-running Iprus, then sighed and looked at the ferocious wild boar.

It was true that he was angry at his immature younger sister.

However, if Iprus would be next to Lia, then he could safely clean up this place.