The entire carriage shook violently like a sailboat on rough waves.

It was due to the impact that started from the coachman’s compartment where Adrian was.

“Ugh…! Your Highness, block the carriage door immediately!”

Adrian’s urgent cry.

The sound of a long sword being swung repeatedly followed, along with the murmur of a large crowd.

It was clear that something unusual was happening.

‘It seems Adrian is facing multiple opponents alone. I’d better go out and check.’

Just then, as if hearing my inner thoughts, Adrian shouted loudly.

“If Your Highness comes out now, I’ll be in danger too! Quickly, use anything to block the carriage door, hurry!”

“But…!”

I desperately wanted to go out and help Adrian right away.

However, in urgent situations, it was necessary to judge more rationally.

‘Adrian is right. If I go out with no martial arts skills, I’ll just get in the way.’

Recalling Adrian’s advice to block the door, I hurriedly looked around.

‘It would be good if there was something like a wooden beam.’

But there was no chance of such a thing being in a noble family’s carriage.

“Ha, then there’s no choice… I’ll have to break something to get it!”

I lifted my skirt and started kicking the chair hard.

But a high-quality carriage chair made by a master craftsman wouldn’t break so easily.

“Ugh…! Please break, will you?”

Meanwhile, the carriage shook violently due to the battle in the coachman’s compartment.

It caused my body to sway greatly each time.

I gritted my teeth and tried to maintain balance while continuously kicking down the chair.

Thud! Thud—!

How many more times did I kick it down?

Finally, I saw a wooden beam dangling beneath the chair’s cushion.

“Got it!”

With one foot braced against the wall, I pulled hard, and fortunately, the beam came off easily.

‘Now I just need to block the door!’

I immediately ran towards the door.

And just as I was about to place the beam under the doorknob, it happened.

Click—.

The locked doorknob slowly turned.

‘No, it can’t be…’

A chill ran down my spine.

As I raised my head, terrified, I saw a strange man through the window.

The man, dressed shabbily like a slave, was extremely thin.

He kept his head bowed low, slowly pulling at the locked doorknob repeatedly.

Above his bony nape, his spine protruded prominently, and his severely emaciated body swayed lifelessly like a sheet of paper with each rebound from the unyielding doorknob.

Click—. Click—.

The slow movement felt eerily unnatural.

Frozen in fear for a while at the sight, I shook my head, trying to regain my senses.

‘This… this is not the time. I need to block the door quickly.’

My hands trembled violently.

I took a short breath and brought the beam to the doorknob.

At that very moment.

Whoosh!

The man suddenly raised his head.

Facing him with only a glass pane between us, I couldn’t help but freeze.

‘It… it can’t be…’

On the man’s face, or rather, where I thought his face should be…

There was nothing.

No eyes, no nose, no mouth. Nothing at all.

As I stood there, paralyzed with fear, facing the empty face like a mannequin.

Screech—.

With an unpleasant sound, where the lips should have been on the man’s face, it split open lengthwise.

From that split, an unpleasant sound like scraping metal soon followed.

“Found it! Found it!”

The man quickly repeated the same words while pulling at the door.

Unlike his lifeless state moments ago, his actions now exuded strong force.

Click—!

The lock, unable to withstand the force, visibly began to loosen.

As it did, the man’s actions began to speed up.

Click, click, click—!

* * *

At the same time, Cedric, walking alone on the forest path, checked his wristwatch.

‘It should be about time they arrived.’

However, the forest path before his eyes was still quiet.

Cedric’s brow gradually furrowed as he looked at the forest path with his hands behind his back.

Rebecca and Adrian.

The scene of those two laughing intimately suddenly came to mind.

Cedric shook his head as if trying to shake off the unpleasant feeling.

He couldn’t understand why he felt such needless displeasure.

Was it a light jealousy towards someone close to Rebecca, his new friend?

Or was it a petty jealousy towards his ex-wife trying to start a new love?

Just as he was taking another step forward while self-deprecating, it happened.

Sizzle—.

The tip of his shoe was singed as if burned by fire.

Feeling something strange, Cedric took another step, and once again, a small wisp of smoke rose.

“This is…?”

It was a camouflage barrier.

A barrier that leads others to the original place, but leads only specific people designated by the barrier’s designer to a different place.

It was usually used when committing cruel crimes or needing a hideout, and was an advanced barrier requiring considerable skill.

However, no matter how advanced the barrier, when an overwhelmingly strong force approaches, it inevitably shows a weakness, unable to withstand.

Thanks to this, Cedric, with his strong magical power, always noticed camouflage barriers at a glance.

‘Whoever it is, they’re quite bold. To dare set up such a barrier near my castle.’

The faint sneer lasted only for a moment.

Cedric’s face gradually hardened at the sudden chilling premonition.

‘Rebecca is in danger.’

His entire body began to send unpleasant signals.

* * *

I gritted my teeth and held onto the doorknob.

However, as the man kept pulling at the doorknob, my body swayed helplessly.

“Found it! Found it!”

At the man’s continued cries, shadowy figures in similar attire slowly gathered around him.

They too, like the man, had mannequin-like faces without features.

‘No matter how I look at it… they don’t seem to be half-breed demons.’

I tried my best with my foot braced against the chair, but it was futile against the strength of multiple opponents.

The door’s joints were gradually breaking, and I finally cried out urgently.

“Adrian—!”

“Ugh…! Your Highness!”

“There are a bunch of faceless monsters in front of the door!”

“It’s the same in the coachman’s compartment! I’ll get there as fast as I can, so please hold on a little longer!”

The carriage was already surrounded on all sides by a huge crowd of monsters that had appeared out of nowhere.

‘Can I hold out until Adrian breaks through that crowd…?’

The arm holding the doorknob was already losing strength.

Just as I was biting my lip in anxiety, it happened.

Crack!

With a strong rebound, the door’s joints finally broke with a sound.

‘Damn it!’

I quickly let go of the doorknob and stepped back.

Then, picking up the wooden beam again, I shouted.

“Come if you dare! I won’t just sit here and take it!”

The man tore off the door without hesitation and began walking towards me.

Gulp.

I swallowed hard involuntarily, and that moment of his approach felt like an eternity.

‘Get a grip. They say even in a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.’

I glared at the man while readjusting my grip on the wooden beam.

And the moment the man finally came within range.

Whack—!

I mercilessly struck the man’s head with the beam.

“Ugh…?”

A sound escaped from the man’s mouth.

Without expressions, I couldn’t be sure, but he seemed inwardly surprised.

Not missing the opportunity, I struck the man’s head once more.

Whack—!

“Ugh…?”

The man let out a single sound and collapsed like a doll.

Then, the other monsters trampled over the fallen man and surged in like a tide.

‘Ah, this is maddening!’

With a sense of urgency, I began striking their heads indiscriminately.

“You bastards! I! Told you! I won’t! Go down! Easily!”

Each word at the end of my strikes naturally carried an accent.

Fortunately, thanks to the monsters being pushed back as they were hit, the rest of the monsters outside the door couldn’t enter the carriage.

‘It’s fortunate they don’t have eyes, nose, or mouth. It feels less guilty, like I’m hitting dolls.’

Such a pointless thought crossed my mind in this surreal situation.

Then, just as I swung the beam with all my might again.

Thwack—!

With a dull sound, the beam’s movement stopped.

One of the monsters that had been getting beaten all along had grabbed my beam.

“Hey, are you not letting go of this?!”

I pulled at the beam while cursing, but the creature stood firm without budging.

Meanwhile, the remaining monsters outside the carriage began pouring in relentlessly.

‘Damn, if it weren’t for this one, I could have held out a bit longer!’

In a do-or-die spirit, I let go of the beam.

“Hey! You think I can’t hit you without the beam?”

And I mercilessly slapped both cheeks of the one who dared to interfere with me.

Slap! Slap—!

The creature staggered back and eventually let go of the beam.

Now’s my chance!

Just as I hurriedly picked up the beam.

I finally saw Adrian approaching, breaking through the crowd outside the door.

We barely managed to continue our conversation, raising our voices with the crowd of monsters between us.

“Your Highness!”

“Huh? Adrian, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but Your delicate Highness…!”

I swung the beam at a monster that suddenly approached.

Whack—!

“What? I couldn’t hear you!”

As I shouted loudly due to the surrounding noise, Adrian also shook his head and answered in a loud voice.

“I’m so glad you couldn’t hear!”

Just as I felt a bit relieved at Adrian’s appearance, it happened.

In that moment of carelessness, I felt a strong pressure on the back of my neck.

“Ugh…!”

One of the monsters that had snuck behind me started choking me.

“Your Highness!”

Adrian shouted with a voice that seemed about to tear.

A purple energy began to surge roughly over his long sword.

Adrian, his eyes suddenly becoming fiercer, swung his sword without hesitation.

Simultaneously, the monsters crowded around him fell helplessly like reeds facing a strong typhoon.

However, between him and me, there were still numerous monsters left.

‘Is this a war or what? Why are there so many of them?!’

I felt irritated at the situation that seemed to never end.

And with that sentiment fully loaded, I elbowed the stomach of the one choking me from behind.

But the creature didn’t budge at all.

To make matters worse, even the ones in front started rushing to choke me.

“Kheuk…!”

“Your Highness—!”

Adrian’s urgent cry was heard.

But after that sound, my ears gradually became muffled, and a hazy fog began to form before my eyes.

‘Ha, it hasn’t even been an hour since I was dreaming of becoming rich… Am I going to die so miserably in the end…?’

As my eyes began to close due to lack of breath.

Thud—!

With a sudden sound, my breath rapidly returned.

“Haaah…!”

As I opened my eyes, exhaling heavily, I saw the creature that had been choking me from the front, standing limp.

Above its head, something sharp was stuck.

A flash.

A blue flash, resembling Cedric’s eyes.