Diana was supported by Angela as she staggered.

“Lady! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, but the sisters…”

Diana calmed her startled heart and looked around.

The sisters, whom she had always thought of as adults, were sobbing and trembling like children.

Diana quickly supported them and took them to a nearby break room.

“It’s okay. It’s okay… Everything will be fine.”

Diana knelt down and clasped their bloodied hands.

“Sob… Lady, please save our sisters. They’ve lost so much blood.”

Diana’s heart ached at the pleading voice. She thought the convent would be safe from the war since it sided with the rebels.

She thought they would be evacuated with prior notice. But now the monsters were causing trouble.

As Diana closed her eyes tightly and suppressed her miserable feelings, she heard a sobbing voice from behind.

She turned her head to look and saw children hiding behind a stone pillar, eavesdropping on the conversation.

“Is the head nun in a lot of pain? Is she going to pass away…?”

Usually, the adults would have smiled and said no, but now they only sighed with a tired look, so how could the children not be anxious?

In the end, the break room became a sea of tears. The wailing did not stop until the surgery was over.

Perhaps thanks to the prayers of many, the surgery was successfully completed.

“Fortunately, it missed the major organs, so there’s no harm to her life. But we’ll have to see how she recovers to know if she’ll be able to use her left arm…”

The attending physician who rushed over with Diana at Benjamin’s order performed the surgery that lasted over 4 hours and delivered the good news.

“Thank you. Thank you so much!”

The sisters bowed their heads so low that they almost touched the ground.

“Right now, she needs absolute rest, so it’s best not to make a fuss. I’ll teach you how to disinfect, so come this way.”

While the sisters were away, Diana took care of the children in their place.

Feeding, dressing, and putting them to sleep were already familiar tasks, so she could help without difficulty.

Of course, it would have been impossible even with ten bodies if it weren’t for Angela and Bioche.

“We can finally catch our breath now.”

Angela said, patting her shoulder.

“I know. It’s been a really busy day after a long time.”

Diana’s eyes were also drifting shut. It had been a while since she did physical labor, so fatigue was already setting in.

“Lady, put the kids down now and rest.”

“Yes, I should… Emilia, shall we go down now?”

“No… I don’t want to. I’m scared…”

The little girl occupying Diana’s lap rubbed her fluffy cheek against her chest and made a crying sound.

She stroked the small back and asked.

“Is it because of the monsters? It’s okay, Emilia. The monsters are gone now.”

“No, they’re not. There’s one more monster in the prayer room…”

Diana looked at the hole in the fence with a start.

Fortunately, the repaired wall was completely filled in. Emilia rubbed her damp eyelashes on her apron and said,

“I’m not lying. I was so scared that I ran to the prayer room, and I heard a strange crying sound… It was a loud ‘kwaang!’ sound.”

‘So Ru is still at the convent…’

Diana broke out in a cold sweat as she guessed the source of the sound.

She picked up Emilia and circled the backyard, saying,

“It was probably the sound of the wind. It could have been the sound of leaves brushing.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Sometimes when you’re too scared, you can have that kind of illusion.”

“Strange…”

Emilia, who couldn’t agree and repeated the same thing over and over, finally fell asleep after Diana circled the backyard three times.

She smiled faintly and patted the child’s back.

“Sleep well.”

Diana whispered as she left the backyard.

The empty lot, where only a faint scent like wildflower fragrance remained, was filled with silence.

Thud.

It was right after she left that a stone used to fill the fence fell out.

A small figure that slipped out through the hole meticulously put the stone back in its original place. It wasn’t the work of someone who had only done it once or twice.

“I think we need to prepare weapons for the convent.”

“That’s a good idea. We don’t know when we’ll be attacked again, so we need to be well prepared.”

Diana entered the shopping street where the weapons store was located.

The narrow alley with wooden signboards was where the herbal shop she had once visited holding hands with Raoul was located.

Not long after, she saw traces of someone vomiting on the street.

“Oh my! Don’t look. There are so many taverns here even though it’s a street where kids also pass by.”

Over Angela’s grumbling voice, a low and smooth voice overlapped.

〈There are many taverns around here. You should be careful.〉

It was Raoul’s voice. Just thinking of him changed the scenery of the street.

The hot and clumsy emotions that had filled the narrow alley were still lingering in her heart.

The dry lips that touched whenever the back of their hands brushed, the intertwining fingers, the warmth that soon interlocked and filled… it was all still vivid.

‘I miss you…’

That heat now felt a little painful.

As if thinking of someone who had passed away, it felt numb. Even if she tried to act calm, her heart was in turmoil when Raoul came to mind.

Where are you and what are you doing now? Are you badly hurt? Or are you trapped somewhere?

The anxious imagination grew endlessly. Sometimes she couldn’t even sleep because of these worries. There were many days when she stayed up all night tossing and turning until she saw the morning sun.

She tried to act as usual as indifferently as possible, but a corner of her heart was rotting away.

‘It’s okay if your heart changes… It’s okay if you go to Ayla, just please come back alive like before. Please…’

She was praying inwardly and about to enter the weapons store located in the middle of the alley.

Clang!

The tavern door opened and a huge man staggered out.

The man, who collapsed next to the orc barrel, barely lifted his waist and repeatedly dry heaved.

“…Captain Byhar?”

At the voice recognizing him, his head lifted. Diana met his bloodshot eyes and shuddered.

‘He’s not in his right mind… What are you doing not working even during the day?’

Angela pushed Diana back and rolled up her sleeves. Bioche, who had been quietly following behind, also sharpened her blade as if she would immediately deploy a defensive formation.

Captain Byhar saw this and laughed like a madman.

He pointed at the three of them for a while, then hardened his expression coldly and opened his axe eyes.

Diana was startled and tried to pull Bioche and Angela’s hands, but Angela stood firm like a nail and raised her voice.

“This is why monsters attack the convent! Drinking alcohol during the day and doing things like this…”

At the same time as the orc barrel roughly rolled on the floor, Diana quickly covered Angela’s mouth and pushed the two of them into the weapons store.

Behind her tense back, staggering footsteps faded away.

She barely caught her breath. But Angela was still unable to contain her anger.

“Isn’t he completely crazy? Glaring at us with eyes rolling back? He has no sense of up and down!”

“Angela! Stop! Didn’t you see his eyes roll back earlier? Why do you want to bring trouble by provoking someone who’s out of their mind?”

“I agree with that… He got disciplined during the day and isn’t in his right mind.”

Bioche sighed, pressing her brow.

“He got disciplined?”

“…Yes. There were casualties not only at the convent but also in three households today. Over the years, as his position narrowed, he lived immersed in alcohol. The advisor had been waiting for an opportunity to dismiss him, so how could he stay still when this happened? There’s no evidence that he drank alcohol during work, so he’s only been disciplined for now, but he might be kicked out soon. He’s bound to fall into the gutter anyway, so why dirty the young lady’s hands with filthy blood?”

Bioche spoke coldly, to the point of being chilly.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Bioche dislike someone so much…”

“Dislike is an understatement. He made many contributions during the previous duke’s time, so the advisor had been turning a blind eye until now. Honestly, in terms of skills, it’s embarrassing to call him a fellow knight… Relying only on past glory and hanging out at taverns, isn’t this what happens?”

How could a good person like Bioche give such a harsh evaluation?

Diana turned her body into the weapons store, forgetting about the pitiful wretch who wasn’t even worth pitying.

Such a trashy human, it was a waste of time to even think about him.

But how did this happen?

Benjamin standing in the center of the training ground was seen lifting his monocle.

“This child is a lycan?”

“Haha! Can’t you tell by looking? The gray hair and disgustingly blue eyes! Doesn’t it look just like that guy?”

Benjamin, who bent his waist next to the child, narrowed his eyes and spoke in disbelief to Captain Byhar.

“There are tens of thousands of people in the empire with light hair color and blue eyes. Are you sure you saw the transformation correctly?”

“Tsk! I didn’t want to do this because it’s embarrassing, but does this wound look like it was bitten by a human?”

Byhar raised his voice as he rolled up his blood-soaked tunic sleeve. Round and deep teeth marks, as if bitten by a bird of prey, were visible on his arm.

“Indeed… It’s not a wound made by a human.”

“I will present it directly to the lord! Isn’t it a deed worthy of praise?”

“Sigh…”

Benjamin’s sigh contained many meanings. In the end, Byhar, who obtained an audience, muttered while licking his lips with his long tongue.

“Haha, finally an opportunity has come for me to restore my honor.”

Ru, grabbed by the scruff of his neck, growled as if denying those words.

The man lifted the resisting Ru high and glared at the child with shimmering eyes.

“The cheeky look in your eyes is just like that guy’s. So are your actions.”

He pinched Ru’s soft cheek as if he would tear it off and gave nonsensical advice.

“A dog shouldn’t try to act like a person. How dare you try to take the position of the young lady’s concubine and dominate over people?”

He spoke venomously with eyes full of malice.

“A dog should act like a dog. Engrave that in your heart from now on.”

Seeing Ru struggling painfully, Diana’s heart pounded as if it would explode.

Sadness, anger? No, this was a much more passionate emotion.