It was a moment when I was wondering how to escape from this situation.

Marianne approached me like an angry bull. At the same time, she raised her hand high. Idrish lightly grabbed her wrist and restrained her.

“Don’t you let go of this? You two are in cahoots!”

As Marianne protested, her bodyguards quickly rushed over.

“Step back.”

Idrish commanded with a low, powerful voice.

That was the moment.

Rumble.

Thunder roared from the sky that had been clear just moments ago.

“What, what’s happening? Come and deal with these things quickly!”

Marianne shouted frantically.

At her shout, a few knights hesitated but approached. Then Idrish’s eyes narrowed vertically.

The once clear and fresh air suddenly became heavy. It was difficult to move. It seemed that the expressions of others were the same, not just me.

Vigor, oppression, and weight.

It was a feeling that couldn’t be expressed in one word, and it was a sense of powerlessness that I had never felt before.

Idrish finally let go of Marianne’s wrist. She sat on the ground without moving.

Idrish turned away without saying anything and walked back.

The sensation that had been pressing us down just a moment ago suddenly faded away. Everyone, including me, took a deep breath.

Idrish slowly approached me. His face still had traces of anger from a moment ago, and even I avoided his gaze.

That was when it happened.

“Darn it!”

Marianne suddenly stood up and muttered curses. Then, like a madwoman, she rushed towards me and grabbed me by the collar. It happened in an instant.

My old servant’s dress wrinkled unattractively, and she pushed me forcefully backward. My body staggered back, and my heel caught the edge of the ship. I waved my arms in the air, but nothing could be caught.

My foot left the ground. In her anger, Marianne’s face receded in slow motion.

No, this can’t be.

Next, I saw Idrish’s surprised face. I reached out towards him, and he also reached out towards me.

It’s almost within reach. Idrish’s hand is right in front.

Oh. It’s getting farther. Gradually drifting away.

Before I could close my eyes, water swallowed me in one gulp.

Splash!

The icy water seemed to engulf me in one gulp as if my heart would shrink. My body sank heavily due to the shock. The lake was still quite deep, and the bottom was far below. In front of my eyes, an enormous bubble of air rose. The sunlight sparkled on the air bubbles.

This is insane. How can someone push a person into the lake like this? Whether I’m a servant or a maid, is it okay to push me into the lake to die?
I cursed Marianne as I swallowed the water rushing into my nose and mouth, unable to resist.

My body sank downward.

Endless darkness engulfed me.

As if all the confusing thoughts were swept away by the darkness, only one thought remained in my mind.

Terrified.

I couldn’t breathe. Terrified.

It was the terror of death.

As if someone were pulling my ankle, my body descended further and further.

I saw the last bubble of air leave my mouth.

In the calm of the underwater storm, there was perfect darkness and silence. Strange. Up there, the sunlight was shining so brightly. Why was the place I was in so dark? Why can’t the air bubbles rising above reach here?

Why am I always left without salvation?

I slowly closed my stiff eyes and repeated the process of opening them. I didn’t want to move away from the light.

I don’t want to die. I want to live.

Please.

I struggled. But even the underwater storm didn’t happen. The heavy water pressed me down.

At that moment, amid the suffocating silence of the water, a loud noise echoed. Above my head, a new bubble of air burst violently. The air bubble that had descended deep seemed to reach me as well. I reached out my hand upward.

Why is that? Even if I die, I wanted to touch that light before I die.

A little closer, just a little more.

At that moment, instead of an air bubble, a hand grabbed me. The face that appeared amidst the underwater storm seemed like a god to me for a moment. A god who had come to save me from the darkness.

Idrish looked serious even as he swam.

With that serious face and Idrish pulled me up. He held my face and our lips met.

Air seeped into my mouth, which had been filled with water. Instinctively, I drank it and drank it again to stay alive.

With my arms around Idrish’s neck, the bright light drew closer. When I came out of the water, I couldn’t open my eyes. Instead, I closed my eyes tightly and, like vomiting the black water of the lake, spat it out.

“Oh, what happened?”

Mogus ran over with a blanket. He wrapped the blanket around my trembling body. As I climbed onto the carriage, my body, which had been shivering from the cold, finally stopped.

“You really had a hard time today. But we didn’t find out much.”

I squeezed the water out of my hair and recalled what happened earlier.

“We can speculate that they might have given the fangs to another family as a gift in an alliance, but there’s no clear evidence.”