“We were, you know… throwing away some trash.”

The knight who had volunteered to come from the Lire family with Pierre replied. His name was Sloane, wasn’t it?

“Trash?”

As I asked, Pierre pretended to clear his throat and lightly touched Sloane’s arm. While Sloane closed his mouth with a start, Pierre spoke this time.

“It seems like my friend misspoke. It’s not trash…”

Trash? It seemed like I saw something red.

“What did you throw away? It looked red.”

Pierre coughed awkwardly.

“It wasn’t red…”

“Were you trying to take water from the Red Spring?”

“Of course not. What would we use it for?”

“The container had wine in it. It was heavy, so they secretly disposed of it.”

Gale casually interjected. Then Pierre happily joined in.

“Gale is right. We actually threw away wine. It was the last bottle.”

“If it’s heavy, you could’ve left it to others. You threw away a bottle of wine you bothered to bring?”

As I approached them with suspicious eyes, both threw their containers into the Red Spring simultaneously. The transparent containers floated momentarily, then disappeared.

“Ah, it’s heavy, so we can throw it away. Why are you making a big deal? We brought it separately from our household…”

“Pierre, just apologize.”

Sloane wrapped his arm around Pierre’s shoulder with a seemingly kind smile.

They were sparing words while exchanging glances, hiding something…

What did I miss?

“I’m sorry for throwing away the wine. Are you satisfied?”

“We apologize, Lady Rosebelia. Our load was too heavy because we were going to carry Gale’s.”

I alternately glanced at the two people who readily apologized.

If they really threw away wine, why in the Red Spring?

Did they need to throw away the containers too?

I couldn’t make sense of the situation, but since there was no remaining evidence, I couldn’t delve further.

“Gale, should we carry this luggage down?”

Sloane, who had been watching me all along, picked up Gale’s luggage.

“The two of you will find it a bit much. Leave one behind.”

“Fine, let’s do this ourselves. Pierre, come on.”

As Sloane and Pierre went down holding Gale’s luggage, I approached Gale. I planned to ask once more if they really threw away wine as we descended the hill.

“Let’s go down.”

“Okay… Ah!”

I quickly surveyed the ground; only around Gale was there mud.

It was regular ground just moments ago, wasn’t it?

“Could it be Mudman?”

At that moment, Gale’s legs were sucked into the mud below.

“He… help me!”

Pierre and Sloane, who had been going down the hill, momentarily hesitated. They glanced briefly in our direction and then fled.

“To think they’d run away when we’re all supposed to help each other.”

“Lord Pierre! Lord Sloane!”

Gale, who had been loudly calling their names, seemed bewildered too.

“They won’t be of any help. Don’t move.”

Mudman was a magical beast that camouflaged itself as mud and unexpectedly attacked people, pulling them into the mud to suffocate them.

It wasn’t a tough beast to kill but locating its weakness was tricky.

Do I find where it first infiltrated? Could it be there?

“Look! I think Mudman’s weakness is there!”

It seems Gale found it too. I plunged my sword deep into the slightly lighter-colored spot.

“Try to move.”

“It feels less gripping than before.”

“Now, get out!”
I stabbed the sword into the ground and reached out to Gael. He grabbed me with all his strength, pulling me out of the mud bit by bit. Catching his breath, Gael spoke after barely escaping the Mudman.

“Almost lost my life there.”

The Mudman was a magical beast that needed to be dealt with quickly. It would slowly drag you in up to your legs and waist, then suddenly engulf your head.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I saw it hesitate when it heard my voice, but it went on anyway.”

Gael shot an angry glance down the hill.

“Those two wouldn’t have been much help anyway. They can’t find the Mudman’s weakness like a magical beast researcher.”

“I thought they were escorting me… Were they actually trying to protect the spring water?”

“What?”

The spring water probably referred to the ‘Red Spring.’

Why would the knights of the Lailley family guard the spring water that the magical beast researchers took for their studies?

“You’re Lady Rosebelia, right?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

Wiping off the sticky mud, Gael approached me and whispered.

“Be cautious of the Lailley family.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s all I can say.”

‘Be cautious of the Lailley family.’

My head was already cluttered; what did he mean by that?

I took a deep breath and lay back, tossing and turning until I dozed off.

‘When will you face me directly?’

‘I’m just following royal orders.’

It was Ian and Rosebelia’s voices.

But why so blurry?

No matter how hard I tried to focus, nothing changed. The view wasn’t pitch-black; it was just that nothing was coming into view clearly.

This dream was different from the others; it felt as if an opaque veil was obscuring my vision.

‘I’ll wipe out your family.’

‘If you’re referring to the Winters family, I have no association. I’ve left them long ago.’

Wipe out the Winters family?

A chill ran down my spine. So this dream was showing Rosebelia, who had become a knight commander in the Kingdom of Lenor after fleeing, fighting Ian, the Emperor of the Fornes Empire on the battlefield.

‘Really?’

‘Yes. Do as you wish.’

‘You don’t care, even if it involves those you cherish…’

The sporadic voices cut off.

‘You wish for death?’

A moment later, Rosebelia’s voice, colder than before, came through. Soon after, the clanging of swords echoed loudly.

Waking up to that sound, I took a deep breath.

Even after waking up, my mind felt foggy. I couldn’t see Ian and Rosebelia, and only fragments of their conversation came through.

The only thing that felt vivid was the sound of their swords clashing.

Why did I have this dream? Was Fortuna trying to tell me something?

Does it mean if I keep my distance from Ian, this will keep repeating?

“I didn’t distance myself because I wanted to.”

I’ve been hiding ever since the curse manifested, and even now, he hasn’t appeared in front of the hunting party or me. How could I…

Wait?

A fleeting thought crossed my mind. I peeked outside the tent to check on the night watch.

It looked like one patrol had ended; they were all gathered around a campfire. I quietly slipped out of the tent and hid behind a rock.

I snuck out of the camp and unlike yesterday, moved around, seemingly exploring the surroundings. I had only one thing in mind.

To encounter a magical beast.

I knew that Ian wouldn’t intervene in a situation like yesterday’s. Ian had been the one dealing with the magical beasts so far, so he should appear if a magical beast was around.
“One could be around here somewhere.”

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble. A fleeting glimpse of a hefty figure appeared.

Then, ominous red eyes emerged from the darkness. It was a werebear.

“So you’re still not coming out?”

A low murmur dispersed into the wind.

Although I couldn’t fully witness what transpired in the original work, I was certain of one thing.

Rosebelia and Ian from the original are different from us.

Even if the curse has manifested, you won’t be that Ian from the original work.

If you had no concern for the hunting party, you wouldn’t have followed and killed the beast.

My mental preparation was complete. Though I couldn’t fathom why Ian was hiding, I believed the Ian I knew was still out there somewhere.

It was that belief that kept me from drawing my sword from its sheath.

If you’re nearby, you’re surely watching me from somewhere.

If this is the only way to confront you…

I stood still, directly facing those glaring red eyes in the darkness.

It was the moment the werebear, exposing its sharp fangs, approached me with large strides.

“What are you doing!”

Suddenly, as if dropped from the sky, Ian stood before me, blocking my path. Under the bright moonlight, a familiar figure was revealed, causing me to involuntarily swallow.

“Step back, senior.”

It was Ian.