The person who emerged from the darkness was undoubtedly Terran.

Lea quickly assessed his condition. Hazy pupils, a dazed expression, and an exhausted body – he was in tatters.

It was clear how fiercely he had fought without even seeing it.

“It’s me, Grace.”

“Have you come to kill me?”

He did not recognize his fiancée at all. She shouted at the organization member.

“You need to extinguish the poisonous smoke!”

If her guess was correct, Terran and the soldiers had been poisoned by the smoke. But things didn’t go as planned.

“It won’t go out. How strange! Even if we pour water or throw dirt on it, the smoke keeps coming!”

So that’s why Terran was helplessly affected.

“I killed all the thieves.”

Terran kept muttering to himself, as if he couldn’t hear Grace’s words well. Still, it was fortunate that he was awake, unlike the other soldiers who had lost consciousness.

Lea was shocked to see that Terran’s clothes, face, and even his hands and sword were covered in blood.

“Terran, snap out of it! Don’t you remember me?”

Lea cried out to Terran in a desperate voice. However, all she received in return was pain.

“Ah!”

The tip of his sword dug into Lea’s neck.

Terran stared impassively at the sight of red droplets of blood trickling down her white neck.

‘I need to say something that will make him remember.’

In this precarious moment, her only thought was to keep him talking, to help him break free from the hallucination and remember.

“I am Grace Bizac. I’m your fiancée, and we’re supposed to get married in May.”

“Who sent you? Who ordered you to kill me?”

“You like me very much. And I like you too.”

“Oh ho! You’ve brought more of them with you!”

Terran mumbled, seeing the torch-bearing group approaching.

‘Rapha is coming with people.’

Lea felt relieved.

“Terran, you promised to come back to me after eliminating the thieves. You said you’d be back in a week…”

“I’ll kill them all!”

“That’s why I came to save you.”

The two were having completely different conversations. Lea finally cried out, unable to contain her surging emotions.

“Please! Snap out of it! Don’t let some smoke like that defeat you!”

As Lea shouted, Terran’s eyes wavered for a moment. But it was only for an instant, and he barked at Lea even more fiercely.

“My lady! Get out of the way. The Duke has been inhaling the smoke for days, so it won’t be easy for him to come to his senses!”

As Rapha shouted towards Lea, she yelled back even louder.

“Grandfather! Try to put out that poisonous smoke!”

The biggest problem now was that the poisonous smoke enveloping the village of huts wouldn’t dissipate. Soon, Rapha and Sarubi broke off tree branches.

“This won’t go out on its own. It’s a gypsy method, so there must have been a gypsy among the thieves.”

“Indeed.”

The two covered the smoking pile of poisonous herbs with tree branches. Amazingly, the smoke gradually began to subside.

That wasn’t all. Gradually, the unconscious soldiers began to wake up one by one.

“Terran, do you see? You and the soldiers were affected by that smoke.”

As Lea tried to move closer to Terran, he stabbed her neck with his sword again.

“Ugh…!”

Red blood flowed more profusely than before. Lea stopped in her tracks and thought.

‘I have to get close to Terran somehow.’

Even if she were stabbed by his sword, it wasn’t something that could be postponed. It would have been better if he had lost consciousness, but having inhaled the potent smoke while still conscious, he was bound to be out of his mind.

“My lady! It’s dangerous! We’ll handle this, so please step back!”

Rapha tried to stop Lea, stomping his feet anxiously. Soon, the organization members gathered around Lea and Terran, wielding weapons.

“If you want to die, come at me!”

Terran, perceiving them as thieves, couldn’t contain his excitement and swung his sword wildly.

* * *

Chainer searched all the huts for Luke. But he was nowhere to be seen.

“Really, is he dangling from a tree?”

Remembering what Lea had said, Chainer looked at the tall trees.

Then, she saw something hanging from a large tree behind the village of huts.

She ran towards the tree without hesitation.

“Oh no! I’ll die if he dies! I haven’t even had a baby yet.”

Chainer ran while crying, then turned back, grabbed Rapha’s hand, and went together to where the tree was.

“He looks dead.”

“No, no! He’s not dead!”

Chainer cried and hit Rapha. Suddenly, she heard a faint sound.

“Chai…ner.”

At first, she thought she had misheard. No, she thought it wasn’t a real sound. But she kept hearing her name being called.

“Brother Luke, you’re not dead?”

Chainer tilted her head back as far as she could and shouted towards him.

“Your voice woke me up.”

Chainer firmly grasped the nape of the fading soul. It wasn’t time to die yet.

“But why were you hanging there?”

“Can you untie me first?”

“Okay. Grandpa! Quickly untie my brother!”

“Oh my! What a mess! One is stabbed with a sword, and the other is hanging from a tree. Hey, you guys! Come over here!”

At Rapha’s call, three or four men came running and untied Luke from the tree.

With a thud, Luke fell from the tree, and his condition was just as bad. His whole body was covered in blood and wounds.

“My brother!”

Chainer hugged his neck and cried loudly.

Although her feelings were clumsy and immature, her emotions towards Luke had never changed.

She knew all too well that he didn’t like a lacking woman like her, but what could she do about loving Luke so much?

“Since you’re alive, I’ll forgive you. And I won’t bother you about getting married anymore.”

“Chainer…”

“I prayed desperately for you to come back quickly. So it’s okay now.”

A hot fireball surged in Luke’s chest, and soon he felt fuzzy.

He thought he was dead, but seeing Chainer standing in front of him was such a surprise. And he was incredibly happy.

“I’m glad you came, Chainer.”

Luke gently embraced Chainer with one arm. Chainer hugged him tightly in return, her shoulders shaking as she cried bitterly.

“I liked you from the moment I first saw you.”

Chainer expressed the feelings she had kept deep in her heart.

‘From the moment you first saw me?’

Luke was quite surprised. He thought it was just something the simple-minded girl said to anyone she liked.

Of course, he didn’t think that way anymore.

He had learned through his experiences with Chainer. That there was no one as resolute in their preferences as her.

He was also surprised that she never approached people she didn’t have a good feeling about, as her senses were more developed than others.

“Why did you like me?”

Suddenly, he was curious about the reason.

“You’re a person with a single heart. You don’t change suddenly.”

She recognized his stubborn personality from the start? Is that even a good trait to like someone for at first sight?

“And…”

Chainer blushed and hesitated to speak. But how could her shy face be so lovable?

Why hadn’t he noticed it before?

“And what?”

“You were shining.”

“Huh? That’s a bit…”

He couldn’t believe it. It might make sense for Terran, but to say that he himself had a halo was an unbelievable statement.

“It’s true.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

He didn’t believe it, but he wanted to. Could there be another woman in the world who would like him as much as Chainer?

He was certain there wouldn’t be in his lifetime.

“Thank you, Chainer.”

He felt like he would regret it for the rest of his life if he didn’t say these words to her.

Luke raised his hand and stroked Chainer’s head. Chainer lowered her head and couldn’t look at Luke’s face properly.

“Chainer, what happened to the Duke?”

“He’s not dead, but his condition isn’t good.”

He already knew the condition wasn’t good. How could he be in his right mind after inhaling the poisonous smoke?

Even he, who hadn’t inhaled much of the smoke, had such a headache.

“But brother! The mister seems to have gone crazy.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t recognize his sister. He’s completely forgotten her.”

“What?”

Luke was startled and tried to stand up, but he collapsed back down.

“Your leg is broken.”

Rapha had somehow examined Luke’s leg. Then he asked why Luke had been hanging from the tree.

“I injured my leg at the beginning of the battle, and the Duke deliberately hung me up. He told me to pretend to be dead.”

“Huh, I see.”

“Is it true that the Duke doesn’t recognize the young lady?”

“Not recognizing her would be fortunate. He’s swinging his sword at her.”

Rapha shook his head.

He said that one of the gypsies they brought who was skilled in medicine was examining him, but the results were not yet known.

* * *

Allen abruptly sat up in bed while reading the newspaper. He stared at the newspaper in disbelief.

“What’s wrong, Allen? Is there some bad news?”

Emily, who had been touching his body, also sat up.

“It says Duke Terran Courtois went missing while out to eliminate a gang of thieves.”

“Oh my! Does that mean he’s dead?”

“Given that they haven’t found him for days, it’s highly likely.”

“Oh dear! What about his fiancée?”

Emily spoke as if she felt sorry for her. But Allen’s lips quivered.

‘What do you mean what about her? Grace will become my woman.’

If the thorn in his side, Terran, was also dead, it couldn’t get any better than this. Meanwhile, Emily felt relieved inside.

‘If the Duke dies, the matter of me sending the love letter will also be buried.’

That part had always bothered her, but this was rather fortunate. She should stick close to the wealthy and handsome Allen.

Allen fervently hoped that Terran’s obituary would appear in tomorrow’s newspaper.

‘If that bastard just dies, I’ll rush to Rubeck right away.’

Indeed, God was on his side. Everything was going smoothly, just as he wanted.