“Rain.”

Liam looked up at the sky.

It had been cloudy since leaving the village, and now raindrops began to fall one by one.

The article about the Glysian princess going to the Empire was enough for the priest to take action. Pursuers would soon be on their tail, so they couldn’t rest.

‘It’s getting difficult.’

Liam looked straight ahead.

Clank, the carriage in front shook on the rough road.

‘If it rains, it’ll become muddy and hard to move.’

The carriage was becoming a burden.

Hal, running at the front, seemed to have the same thought as he looked back at Liam.

Liam shook his head.

At least Princess Ormia was enduring well. He couldn’t ask someone who said they were fine to ride a horse when they looked so pale.

Liam circulated energy through his body to dispel the clinging moisture.

Elemental abilities grow stronger in the presence of their element.

Duke Balman of earth couldn’t manipulate soil in places made of stone, and Duke Windsor who controlled light was weak at night.

“Water is Duke Bersi’s domain.”

Before leaving the gates, a massive water curtain like a castle wall had blocked their path.

A messenger bird arrived saying the pursuers following Marx and Benjamin had disappeared.

“Am I the hint?”

The dukes also saw him taking care of Ormia.

It was dangerous, but he couldn’t entrust Ormia to anyone else.

Though he hadn’t detected the enemy’s presence yet, anxiety crept in. His battle-honed instincts warned of danger.

He felt the enemy closing in like hunters cornering prey, yet couldn’t sense anything.

He rode with nerves on edge. A chill ran down his spine.

Not from the drizzling rain seeping into his clothes. He sensed it instinctively.

“Hal!”

The knights and Hal quickly moved into the pre-arranged formation to prepare for an attack.

Liam drew close to the carriage side.

All was quiet. They held their breath, alert to all directions.

Raindrops struck leaves and cloaks grew heavy with moisture.

The knights tensed their bodies, slowly scanning the surroundings. Hal looked at Liam, unsure if he sensed anything.

“Sir Liam.”

“There’s no sound.”

“Ah.”

Though it was raining, it was daytime. There were no sounds of daytime creatures at all. As Hal exclaimed, black-masked figures burst out from the undergrowth all around.

Twenty masked figures rushed in at once.

But they made no sound as they ran on the wet ground. Even on the wet path.

They also attacked from the front, blocking the carriage’s path.

“There’s a water ability user!”

There was no need to warn about watching for surprise attacks from other directions since the sound was gone.

The Black Lizard Knights were those who had long fought alongside Liam. They were the elite among knights. Their skills were fundamentally different from knights raised by the Glysian ducal family.

They deflected incoming attacks and swung their swords to strike down the masked figures while protecting the carriage.

The masked figures’ target was clear. They were aiming for the carriage Ormia rode in.

“Go!”

Liam took the lead, striking down masked figures to clear the path. The carriage gradually picked up speed and began to run.

‘What is this?’

Liam swung his sword at the masked figures pursuing as he guarded the carriage. Sensing something strange, he glanced around.

‘They’re hiding something.’

In his peripheral vision, he saw figures rising from the forest.

Though the rain muffled sound, he sensed the killing intent of masked figures lying in ambush.

It was hard to count their numbers.

‘This will be disadvantageous if it drags on.’

Liam wasn’t the only one who felt it. Hal shouted as he assessed the situation.

“We need to evacuate the carriage!”

Though there was a skill difference, they’d be at a disadvantage if overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Moreover, the water ability user still hadn’t appeared.

At Liam’s signal, the knights cut down the masked figures swarming the carriage to create distance.

The carriage jolted over the rough path as it ran.

Liam guarded the carriage while fending off the swords of masked figures who kept coming like ants crawling over each other to devour prey.

The knights’ numbers dwindled one by one as they shook off the masked figures. He wasn’t worried about separating. There was only one place for them to return to – the Wilboyer Grand Duchy.

A multitude of swords surged behind them like insects.

They only pursued.

The tactics were strange.

Though they attacked the carriage aiming for Ormia, they weren’t desperate. There was only one road, if not a highway. The carriage could only flee in one direction, yet there were no ambushers ahead.

‘Are they herding us?’

In the sound-muffled forest, only the sharp clang of clashing swords and ragged breathing could be heard.

A rather protruding rock lay on the road ahead. The carriage could overturn if it hit it.

“Danger ahead!”

Though they couldn’t have missed seeing it while running, the carriage didn’t avoid it and passed right over.

Yet despite passing over a fairly large rock, the carriage didn’t bounce.

It should have jolted greatly from the rough shaking carriage.

Without hesitation, Liam swung his sword at the carriage.

“Sir Liam!”

The sword sliced through the top of the carriage as it passed.

The carriage top slid off like cut paper, then spilled onto the ground. Literally spilled, that is.

The remaining carriage turned to rainwater and vanished from sight with a splash. Without a trace it had ever been there.

There weren’t even wheel tracks in the wet dirt.

Liam clenched his jaw.

“We’ve been tricked. It’s water ability.”

“An illusion? Illusory magic?”

As the performance ended, the masked figures scattered in all directions.

Only the corpses of fallen masked figures lay bleeding on the path they had come.

Though winding, the road had some open visibility. A few knights looked bewildered as the masked figures suddenly stopped attacking and disappeared.

“They switched the carriage with a water illusion and smuggled it away.”

“F-from where?”

“They used human wave tactics to divert our attention so we wouldn’t notice. Hal!”

“Yes!”

Liam turned his horse around. They went back the way they came.

The raindrops that touched his body turned to steam and vanished.

In this urgent moment, Ormia’s voice came to mind. Her face looking up at him sorrowfully as she spoke of her wish.

“I want to leave Glysia.”

“Certainly.”

Liam spurred his horse faster.

* * *

Beasts cannot hide the stench that emanates from their bodies.

Scent reveals one’s existence.

The stronger and fiercer, the more top predators spread their scent to claim territory.

Before opening my eyes, as consciousness returned, I knew who had kidnapped me just from the smell wafting from all directions.

Amidst the attack, a sudden sweet scent filled the carriage. My body grew heavy as my mind clouded.

Sleep fragrance.

I hadn’t expected them to attack this way.

“Have you awakened, Princess Ormia?”

I lifted my heavy eyelids to confirm my kidnapper at the voice calling me.

“Duke Bersi.”

That snake-like man was looking at me with narrowed eyes and an expression of utmost joy.

Though my arms lacked strength, I forced myself to sit up on the bed.

A gloomy gaze swept over me.

He was that kind of man.

Behind a kindly, gentle face, he hid his desires and waited for his chance behind the throne.

He was one who enjoyed toying with captured prey, not knowing when they might die in his grasp. He delighted in others’ suffering, pushing them further into despair.

Duke Bersi approached and knelt by the bed. He opened a box and put shoes on my feet.

“Those ignorant fools didn’t even give you proper shoes, Your Highness.”

No, Liam gave me slippers out of concern for my body.

Duke Bersi took my hand respectfully and kissed the back of it.

His lukewarm body temperature made my skin crawl.

I tried to pull my hand away, but he gripped my fingertips. His narrowed eyes looked up at me persistently and greedily.

“I, Duke Bersi, have come to rescue Your Highness from those unruly elements in the Empire. You may rest easy now.”

A voice that turned gentle only when there was something to take from the other.

Duke Bersi was kind even to enemies, but the atmosphere was different now. He made no effort to hide his excitement and joy.

Duke Bersi gently rubbed my captured fingertips. His gaze never left me for a moment.

“From now on, I will protect Princess Ormia.”

“I was on my way to the Empire by His Majesty’s orders. Please send me to the imperial delegation.”

Duke Bersi never released prey he had caught once. He would do anything for his goals.

He distorted reality with a gentle voice.

“Your Highness has been deceived. Those imperial men are wicked. They are evil ones who deceive Your Highness with sweet words, use you, and then discard you.”

“The decision to send me to the Empire was one you agreed to as well, Duke Bersi.”

“That’s right. It was a decision everyone agreed to. His Majesty regretted having to be cruel to Your Highness, though it pained his heart.

But it was all due to pressure from the Empire. If Glysia had strength, such a decision would never have been made.”

He looked as if he sincerely regretted the situation.

If I hadn’t known Duke Bersi’s dark intentions, might I too have been deceived?

But I am no longer the naive self of my first life.

“It was an extremely unjust decision, one that the small nation of Glysia had no choice but to make.”

Duke Bersi gazed up at me intently, eyes glistening with tears.

He wore the mask of one seeking blessings, worshipping the king.

“I thought I must at least save Your Highness. I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Duke, you are now committing treason by disobeying the royal command.”

“I am a loyal servant who serves the king of Glysia. How could I disobey His Majesty’s orders? I have obtained the royal family’s consent.”

The royal family’s consent, not the king’s.

“Ah.”

Yes, I had forgotten. Who Duke Bersi was allied with.

I felt momentarily dizzy at the sense of deja vu, as if events from my third life were repeating. Unable to even blink, I watched the person who entered the room.

A slender body wrapped in a robe.

“Ormia.”

The voice I had once wished would call my name tenderly.

That voice no longer stirred my heart.

A thin, white hand pushed back the deeply worn robe, revealing the face I had so longed to see looking at me.

“Oh my, my daughter.”

Without warning, the small figure’s warm embrace enveloped me.

It was the Queen of Glysia, my mother.