“What is it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m asking why we’re going to an increasingly deserted area.”

“Didn’t you say earlier that you wanted to go somewhere without people?”

“Yes, but not this deserted. It’s like a back alley.”

Then Cassian suddenly realized.

Too few people meant they were near the slums. Cassian quickly turned his body.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Why?”

“This is near the slums, isn’t it?”

Veronica looked around the alley in confusion. Cassian pulled her.

There were only two guards left now, as the few who had been separated with Asher had gotten mixed in with the crowd earlier and fallen behind.

Veronica only had one guard with her as well.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

“Hey.”

Three men approached swaggeringly from the opposite end of the street. They were robbers.

“Hand over everything you’ve got. If you don’t want to die.”

“Take off everything you’re wearing too.”

“Look at that! They look like they’re worth a pretty penny!”

The robbers all brandished knives threateningly, as if they had found a delicious prey.

Cassian immediately signaled to the guards with his eyes.

The guards stepped forward to protect the two. Seeing this, the robbers burst out laughing.

“Let’s leave before we attract attention.”

“Where do you think you’re going!”

One of the robbers tried to approach them. The guard at the very front drew his sword and held it to the robber’s neck.

The robber raised both hands and whistled. Then other robbers appeared at both ends of the alley.

“Hand everything over if you don’t want to die.”

“…”

Cassian let out a deep sigh. With an expression of obvious annoyance, he first put his arm around Veronica’s shoulders. Then he drew the sword at his waist.

“Charge in!”

At the signal, the robbers rushed in, and the guards surrounded the two as they fended off the robbers’ attacks.

Cassian also deflected a robber’s knife with his scabbard, then struck his face, and kicked another robber in the stomach.

While doing so, he looked at the path cleared by the fallen robbers and gave a look to the guards.

“We’ll follow behind!”

Hearing the response, Cassian grabbed Veronica and ran. The guards deflected the robbers’ attacks as they covered the two from behind.

They wanted to escape this place, but robbers emerged from the direction they had come from.

As they changed direction, they ended up entering the back alleys. It seemed the robbers had led them there intentionally, but they had no choice.

They sprinted, trying their best to avoid the robbers. At one point, Veronica seemed to stumble, so he supported her forcefully.

But no matter how much they ran, no exit was in sight.

This was the bad thing about being near the slums. The alleys twisted and turned like an ant colony.

When they entered a narrow clearing visible after rounding a corner, one of the guards said he would act as bait to shake off the robbers and moved away.

Fortunately, as intended, footsteps could be heard following in that direction.

Only when the surroundings quieted down did they catch their breath a little.

As he turned his face while brushing back his hair, his eyes met Veronica’s.

“You fight well.”

“Everyone can do that much.”

He checked her condition just in case, but fortunately she seemed fine.

No sooner had they caught their breath than footsteps approached. Cassian gestured to Veronica to be quiet, then looked at his guard.

The guard nodded and moved in the direction of the sound.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go check the situation and come back.”

“Are you going to abandon me?”

“I’m not in the mood for wordplay right now.”

After coldly shaking off her quip, Cassian followed the guard.

Veronica obediently waited for him while Cassian was away briefly. Occasional noises could be heard from afar, but she couldn’t tell what they were.

She stared blankly at the alley where Cassian had disappeared.

Veronica’s guard was watching their surroundings while checking her condition.

At that moment, a thud rang out.

“Ugh!”

The guard fell with a short groan.

Someone holding a bloody stone appeared where the guard had fallen.

Someone with their face hidden by a hooded cape staggered towards Veronica.

“Veronica Hardness. You bitch.”

“Ah. It’s you.”

The other person raised their head at Veronica’s reaction. Though his face was bearded and haggard, he was still recognizable.

It was Bray Cole, who had recently caused a commotion at the wedding.

“I told you I’d kill you.”

“Yes. I thought you might come looking for me at some point.”

Bray dropped the stone and pulled out a dagger from his waist. Seeing it, Veronica chuckled.

“You’re going to kill me with that?”

“It’s all ruined because of you. What an opportunity I had!”

“It’s a shame you wasted that opportunity, but you’d better stop.”

“Why, are you scared of dying too, you bitch?!”

At those words, Veronica laughed silently.

Thinking he was being mocked, Bray rushed at her and grabbed her collar. Then he threatened her by putting the blade to her neck. Veronica didn’t flinch.

Bray, who had been looking down at her expressionless face, suddenly seemed to remember something and examined her body here and there.

Then he grabbed her wrist, pulled back her sleeve, and found a blade hidden there. He laughed.

“I won’t fall for the same trick twice.”

“Not bad.”

He dropped the blade to the ground and kicked it far away. He looked back at Veronica with a sinister smile.

But Veronica’s face still showed no change.

Rather, she calmly faced her threatening opponent and advised:

“You don’t have the personality to stab someone.”

“Shut up! What do you know!”

“I know. People like you can act tough and threatening, but you don’t have the temperament to actually kill someone.”

“You, you really might die.”

“Then stab me.”

Veronica pressed her neck right up against the blade. Bray flinched and pulled the dagger back.

His face looked more tense than the one he was threatening, reflected in those crimson eyes. The corners of those eyes narrowed.

“What, are you scared?”

“Sh-shut up.”

“Weren’t you upset? If killing someone would satisfy you, shouldn’t you try it?”

Veronica took a step towards him, spreading her arms.

It was a defenseless attitude, as if telling him to really stab her. Bray looked around.

He was checking if there was anyone else besides the guard he had stabbed earlier. Seeing Bray like this, Veronica laughed lightly.

“Haha. There’s no one here.”

“Shut up! I told you to shut up−!”

In that moment, Bray raised the dagger. But he hesitated, unable to bring it down. Those crimson eyes curved, noticing his hesitation.

Veronica firmly grasped Bray’s wrist that was holding her collar, then stomped on his foot with her heel.

“Argh!”

As Bray bent over from the impact, Veronica pulled out the blade hidden in her other sleeve and stabbed it into the back of his hand.

The thin blade mercilessly pierced through Bray’s hand. The pain of flesh being penetrated poured out of Bray’s mouth.

“Aaaagh!”

Bray screamed and let go of her collar.

Then, as the blade flew towards his face, Bray raised both hands to block it.

Once again, the sensation of his palm being pierced felt terrible. The dagger in his hand slipped and rolled on the ground.

“Did you think I only prepared one?”

A voice tinged with laughter buzzed in his ears. It was hard to breathe.

His wildly shaking eyes saw the blade that had slipped out between his fingers, trailing blood.

Bray groaned and twisted his body. He didn’t even realize that his instinctively swung arm had struck Veronica’s face.

With a thud, Veronica seemed to fall backwards, but her hand had already grabbed onto Bray’s shoulder.

Unable to escape, his body hit the ground.

Bray screamed again. A sharp pain flared in his shoulder. The blade was now embedded in his shoulder.

Bray reached for the blade stuck in his shoulder with an unbelieving face.

But unable to pull it out, he raised his terrified face.

Veronica had picked up the blade she had dropped earlier and met his eyes.

“I was aiming for your neck but missed. I guess I need more training.”

“Wh-what.”

“Why are you so surprised? You tried to kill me first.”

As Veronica approached, he scooted backwards on his bottom.

“What, what are you?”

“What am I? I’m the person you’re trying to kill.”

“That’s not what I mean! H-how can you do this? Stabbing someone so casually…”

“Ah, did I not mention it?”

The monotonous voice without a hint of panting sounded like an auditory hallusion.

The woman smiling with one cheek reddened from being hit filled Bray’s field of vision.

“I’ve killed before.”

It really seemed like a lie.

“People.”

Veronica was looking down at Bray with a smile that seemed to split her face.

Her reddened cheek looked almost flushed, making Bray’s whole body break out in goosebumps.

It was a face of contempt looking down on someone who had never killed before but was putting on airs, and

“Many of them.”

A face of madness.

“Uh, uh. Uh.”

Shocked by the unexpected revelation, Bray couldn’t even speak properly. Veronica lightly patted his cheek as if to wake him up.

Bray flailed in terror even at the brief contact.

The hand still gripping his shoulder pulled him in forcefully to meet her gaze.

“Don’t worry. You won’t die just from being stabbed like this. How could you kill someone instantly with something like this? Unless you pierce holes all over to make them bleed out, dying instantly is impossible. I wonder if it’s enough to make you faint.”

The kind and gentle tone felt like a dream.

Bray was confused, wondering if he was having a nightmare right now.