Delphine hid her trembling hands behind her back to conceal her nervousness.

The knight looked her up and down with greedy eyes and then−.

“Hmm. Alright. You pass.”

Finally, permission was granted.

When Delphine glanced up, making eye contact, the man grinned.

It was a strangely unpleasant smile.

“Yes. Then……”

Imitating a maid’s manner of speech by trailing off, Delphine hurriedly passed through the city gates.

As soon as she entered inside the barrier, the foul stench that had permeated the streets disappeared completely.

But in that brief moment, it felt as if the smell had seeped into her own body.

The throbbing headache did not subside.

Moreover, the sudden flood of information directed at her made her mind dizzy.

Possum and black crystal.

The barrier.

And, Ioan……

A surge.

The nausea that had been building up while smelling the stench finally reached its limit.

Delphine covered her mouth and rushed into an alley, bending over a drain.

A groan involuntarily escaped her lips from the twisting pain in her stomach.

How long had she been painfully emptying her stomach like this?

Delphine, who had barely managed to straighten up, leaned her back against the wall and caught her breath for a moment.

She could feel cold sweat trickling down her back.

‘How much time has passed?’

She needed to return before Anna noticed in the evening.

Ioan, that man, had calmed from his frenzy and become busy again without a moment’s rest, so there was no need to worry, but……

What could he be doing so busily?

Once again, with a surge of twisting pain in her stomach, Delphine bent her head down, but this time only clear gastric juice came out.

“Hey, miss maid. Are you alright? Need some help?”

It was just then that a condescending voice was heard from beyond the alley.

Even in the midst of her stomach pain, Delphine hurriedly raised her hand to feel above her head.

The handkerchief that had been covering her face had fallen to the ground far away.

Delphine gritted her teeth and raised her head.

“Are you okay? Hm? Let me pat your back a bit.”

The man approached, putting on an act of cunning concern.

It was the knight who had checked her identification at the city gate.

“I don’t need help.”

“Oh, is that so?”

When she answered sharply, the man wiped away the smile that had been lingering on his lips.

“…But, I think I might need some help from you now?”

Then he stuck out his dirty tongue and licked his upper lip.

Delphine barely held back the rising disgust and muttered through gritted teeth.

“…I’m a maid of a noble house. If you mess with me carelessly, it won’t be easy for you to get away unscathed.”

“Yeah, yeah. Then go and tell your noble master.”

The man slowly approached her, chuckling unpleasantly.

“Of course, that’s if you can properly wag that pretty tongue of yours after today.”

“……”

Instead of making pointless resistance or screaming to provoke the man, Delphine rolled her eyes to survey her surroundings.

Being a dirty back alley, there were sharp-looking rocks and broken bottles scattered about.

The man, misunderstanding the meaning of her silence, breathed heavily with bulging eyes.

“That’s right. Good girl. Just stay still like that……”

Just as the man’s rough hand grabbed and gripped her wrist.

Delphine quickly rolled her foot, using the momentum to swiftly turn her body behind his back.

“Aagh!”

The man whose arm was suddenly twisted behind him let out a pain-filled scream.

Delphine followed up with a quick motion, grabbing a piece of broken bottle from the ground and stabbing it into the man’s thigh.

The man screamed in pain again and rolled on the ground.

Huff, huff……

Delphine breathed heavily, not letting go of the broken bottle’s neck.

Then she muttered in a dazed voice.

“I, I did it……”

For some reason, her mother had taught her swordsmanship and self-defense from a young age.

Those memories seemed to have remained ingrained in her body, like horseback riding which once learned is never forgotten.

Of course, this was the first time she had attempted it in a real situation.

Perhaps all that education had been for a day like today.

‘Mother. I did it!’

It was when Delphine was feeling proud all by herself with a flushed face.

“Hey, Harley. What was that sound just now?”

“You were told to keep watch. Why did you… Harley!”

From beyond the dark alley, three more men in full armor appeared.

The brief moment of joy was over.

Delphine bit her lip, tightly gripping the neck of the bottle she had not yet let go of.

“Harley! Damn it all, what’s happened to you!”

“Did you do this, wench?”

All three men were huge, befitting knights.

And they all had sword sheaths at their waists.

She might have succeeded in a surprise attack once while they were off guard, but would such luck work three more times?

Delphine barely opened her mouth, feeling her body tremble involuntarily.

“…Yes. I aimed for the center but missed. If it’s not treated quickly, he might have to limp for the rest of his life?”

Perhaps their sense of camaraderie was strong enough that they would quickly take the injured man to a doctor?

Leaving behind a mere maid in the alley.

She harbored a brief hope, but it was a vain delusion.

“How dare a mere maid give orders to a knight!”

“Huh. Too bad for Harley, but… My, what a beauty.”

All three men were already out of their minds.

They began to approach Delphine with entranced steps.

Unlike before, with three large men approaching at once in the narrow alley, there was no proper way to escape.

‘A little more. Let’s wait for when they come a little closer……’

Delphine, anxiously looking for an opportunity, quickly tried to slip through the gap between their arms.

“Ugh…!”

But this time she was easily blocked.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

One of the men roughly pushed her against the wall.

Delphine, her back hitting the rough brick wall hard, slid down to the floor.

“Argh…!”

She barely swallowed a groan at the dizzying pain striking her spine.

“Hey, don’t damage that face.”

“I know. Just trying to subdue her a bit.”

One of the men grabbed her hair as she lay fallen, with a vile sneer on his lips.

“You know, they say redheaded women are stubborn.”

A spark flashed in Delphine’s eyes.

“How dare you…!”

“Aagh!”

At that moment.

The man who had been gripping her hair suddenly let out a scream of pain, then collapsed to his knees.

“What…?”

I didn’t do anything?

Delphine looked at the fallen man with a surprised and bewildered expression.

A small dagger was stuck precisely in the middle of his calf.

Who on earth…?

She raised her head with a puzzled look.

In the distance, someone was approaching, filling the dark alleyway with an overwhelming presence.

A man with a huge frame, dressed in a white uniform.

It was Ioan.

The moment she saw him, her tensed shoulders dropped and the tension in her whole body instantly relaxed.

I’m saved.

That thought of relief lasted only for a moment.

Delphine soon found herself confused again.

Since when had this man’s appearance, his presence, become a source of reassurance for her?

When she still didn’t fully know his true identity.

“You have guts.”

He muttered in a chillingly dry and elegant voice as he approached in just a few strides.

“Or perhaps you’re simply ignorant of the news.”

The men who had been so arrogant were already scared out of their wits.

“L-L-Lord Pryde…?”

“W-why are you at the city gate… Ugh!”

The stammering man couldn’t finish his sentence.

A blue longsword was already at his throat.

None of them had seen the moment Ioan drew his sword.

“My lord… Urk. W-what is this about… I-if it’s about leaving our post, w-we’ll accept punishment.”

The man with the sword at his neck stuttered, trembling.

Ioan, holding a longsword as tall as an average person in one hand, replied in an impossibly gentle tone.

“Red hair and emerald eyes.”

“…P-pardon?”

The man asked, shaking, at this unexpected response.

“Have you not heard the news that Lady Pembrook has become the wife of Marquis Pryde?”

“Gasp. Then that woman is…”

“W-we didn’t know at all! Truly! We wouldn’t dare unless we were mad…”

“That’s right! H-her attire was like that…!”

At those words, Ioan’s gaze, which had been glaring at the man, finally turned to Delphine, who was sitting in the dark shadows of the alley.

He looked at her face once.

Then, as his gaze slowly swept downward for a moment.

For the first time, a great disturbance crossed Ioan’s face, which had been eerily calm until now.

He spoke as if groaning.

“Delphine. What on earth is that…”

Following his gaze, Delphine finally discovered the state of her appearance.

Her black dress had ridden up to her thighs as she fell, and her white stockings were torn.

Because of that, pale, translucent skin that had never seen sunlight was visible through the unraveled holes.

Delphine quickly pulled down her black dress to cover her legs.

However, when she raised her head again, reason had already disappeared from the man’s eyes.

Delphine’s whole body shuddered at the sight of that ferocious face.

If even she felt that way, the men facing him were already completely frozen in terror.

‘Will he kill them?’

Delphine thought for a moment.

She still remembered how that longsword had severed her father’s neck in one stroke.

It wasn’t long ago that she had finally escaped from the nightmares and hallucinations that had plagued her.

However, contrary to expectations, Ioan didn’t immediately swing his longsword.

Like a fierce wolf, he gritted his teeth and glared at the men, then glanced at Delphine sitting down.

Then he spoke as if spitting out the words.

“…Go to the quarters in front of the barrier gate and await your sentence. I’ve memorized your faces, so don’t think of any foolish tricks.”

The men didn’t even have time to salute before they hurriedly carried their unconscious comrade and fled the alley.

Ioan didn’t even look at them as they left.

His gaze was fixed only on Delphine, who was sitting there.