We all headed at full speed toward the northwest border.
I watched the Grand Duke’s back as he led at the front. His black hair shimmering in the wind was dazzling.
‘Mother, grant me strength to protect him again.’
I prayed to the sword hidden in my uniform, given by my mother.
Less than an hour after the beacon was lit atop the white mountaintop, we reached the highlands overlooking the northwest walls.
Grrrrrrrrr
Rrrrrrrrrrrr
Kiiiiiiiaaaa
Kyaaaaaaaaak
Countless monsters filled the entire land in front of the wall, appearing like black dots.
Even the most spirited knights lost their voices at this sight. Everyone swallowed dryly.
There seemed to be tens of thousands of monsters.
Our combined force was about three hundred. Even with the Northern Army at the wall, we were less than a thousand.
“Lieutenant Colonel, why have so many monsters suddenly attacked?”
I asked the leader of my battalion.
A dignified middle-aged knight replied.
“I’ve been a knight for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen such a sight. Unless they’ve been driven here…”
His words faded, drowned out by the monsters’ screams.
There were huge ravines on either side of the land where the creatures stood.
The massive gray wall known as the northwest barrier spanned the entire ravine, standing tall.
Bang bang
The sound of monsters attacking the wall.
Then, a sacred yellow aurora spread across the entire front of the northwest barrier.
Monsters touched by the aurora, though too far to see clearly, screamed in agony and fled.
“It’s Adrian!” shouted the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke, leading at the front, raced through the knights. He swiftly passed by my side.
“If the barrier falls, it’s all over! We’ll cross the gorge and stand in front of the wall!”
Uwaaaaaaah! Let’s go!!!
Encouraged, everyone started galloping their horses.
We split into two groups on either side of the highlands, racing towards the gorge.
As the wall neared, the terrifyingly huge figures of the monsters began to come into view.
At that moment.
The Northern Grand Duke’s Castle was submerged in tense silence.
The only one unaware of the situation was the imprisoned Julia Nugent.
Since her confinement, she had barely touched the food brought in like rations.
Only when she couldn’t bear the hunger anymore would she eat a little bread and water.
A full stomach clouded her thoughts, preventing any coherent thinking.
To rid herself of overwhelming thoughts, she kept pacing around her room.
‘Drake, you’re the Red Caterpillar? Lied to me? Why?’
We were friends, weren’t we?
I thought I had finally found someone I could communicate with.
When you came to me, I thought I had found a friend.
You recognized my loneliness, which I never shared with anyone.
You comforted me, sincerely.
At first, I had no intention of listening to a messenger from the South.
[You’re still here?] [I came back because I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Lady. Even amidst others, you always seemed alone.] [What? Acting as if you know about me? How presumptuous.] [I lost my parents too, to the hands of an enemy.]That’s when it began. Drake constantly caught my eye.
And then.
‘You showed me that much. I trusted you sincerely… Did you really deceive me?’
Julia couldn’t believe it.
She couldn’t accept it. That she, of the great Nugent lineage, was foolish.
As she circled the room, suddenly dizzy, she sat down near the door.
But unusually, it was too quiet outside. Normally, she would at least hear the sound of knights practicing swordsmanship.
She spoke for the first time in days.
“Guard. Are you there?”
“Yes, Lady!”
“Why is it so quiet outside?”
“Well… the monsters from the northwest attacked, so everyone went there.”
‘Monsters.’
A regular event each spring.
“Everyone went?”
“Yes, except for a few of us.”
“…”
‘Belphegor must have taken the entire knights for monster extermination. A fitting opportunity to display his power.’
Then, an idea struck her.
‘Just for a moment, let me see Drake. Just to ask if what the Southern woman said is true.’
She wanted to know the truth. Why he deceived her, if he really did. Otherwise, she felt she might go mad.
Julia Nugent screamed.
“Ahh! My stomach… It hurts so much. Call a doctor!”
“What? Lady, are you alright?”
“I’m not… Call a doctor… Ahh, I feel like dying! Ahhh!”
The naive apprentice knight, fearing he might be responsible for the sole Lady Nugent’s death, opened the door.
It was to check on her condition.
Indeed, she was writhing on the floor, her face pale.
“I’ll fetch a doctor!!!”
The startled apprentice knight left his post.
Seizing the opportunity, Julia waited until the knight was far enough not to hear her screams, then swiftly exited and headed to the underground dungeon through a secret passage.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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