“Sinclair!”

Elaina’s voice frantically calling my name sounded distant, as if in a dream.

Also, Elly’s scream that had tormented him for a lifetime.

It was strange. Elaina’s figure falling from the high balcony slowly filled Sinclair’s golden eyes as if a spell had been cast.

Sinclair dropped the sword he was holding.

Then he started running frantically like a madman.

…There had been the same moment countless times.

After losing Elly forever in that valley, Sinclair had the same dream over and over again.

But even in his dreams, Sinclair couldn’t save poor Elly. No matter how hard he reached out and grabbed her, only her desperate scream lingered in his ears.

How painful it was even after waking up from the dream. How much he cried, looking miserable like a bug trampled to death.

And how much he regretted. Endlessly beating his chest, Sinclair couldn’t even cry.

He didn’t want to experience that anymore. No, he mustn’t experience it. For Elaina whom he had loved every single day. And likewise, for himself who couldn’t forget that day even for a single day…

“……”

Sinclair, who had thrown himself without hesitation, barely clung to the end of the balcony and looked down.

Unlike that distant past. And unlike the terrible nightmare that kept repeating, he looked down at his hand firmly holding her hand.

“…Elly.”

“Sin, Sinclair…”

“I’ll save you. This time for sure… I’ll definitely…”

This time, for sure.

“You have to… hold tight, Elly.”

Transparent tears dripped down Elaina’s face as she looked up at Sinclair with swollen eyes.

Elaina was crying too. Because she knew the meaning held in this hand desperately holding onto her, risking his life.

The Sinclair reflected in her eyes like that… was not Sinclair, the rogue prince of Edenbell.

He was Ren, a precious friend she thought she would never see again, and the one she couldn’t coldly forget in the end despite thinking he had abandoned her.

“Yes, Ren.”

So Elaina quietly nodded.

“I’ll hold on tight.”

Then she answered in a choked voice.

“So you won’t let me go.”

As soon as she uttered the answer, she felt her body slowly being lifted up. Even Sinclair gritting his teeth with all his might.

But the relief was only for a moment.

Hister, who had been flung away and ran frantically towards Sinclair, was approaching him with a dagger in hand.

“No, Sinclair! It’s dangerous!”

But even at Elaina’s words close to a scream, Sinclair didn’t budge at all. He only put strength into the hand holding Elaina to save her.

The moment Sinclair, who had squeezed out all his strength, pulled Elaina onto the balcony, Hister took the opportunity and thrust the dagger into his side.

“Sin, Sinclair…!”

As if not even thinking about her own state, Elaina turned pale and hurriedly examined Sinclair’s wound.

Sinclair staggered for a moment but didn’t collapse. He hid Elaina behind his back and slowly caught his breath.

‘This much… is fine. I can still fight.’

But Sinclair’s sword had been thrown far away.

“It’s so pitifully tearful.”

Seeing that Sinclair and Elaina were clearly at a disadvantage, Hister smirked and parted his lips as if in a very good mood.

“But I’m done going easy on you now.”

Hister, holding the dagger, charged at Sinclair as he was, and Liam also started approaching while bleeding.

“Die, Sinclair!”

No. Elaina struggled slightly to block Hister’s sword, but Sinclair’s grip holding her was too strong to move.

“Here…”

And Sinclair, holding the sharp blade of the dagger with his bare hand and glaring at Hister with sharp eyes, said,

“There was no one asking for forgiveness from the beginning.”

Even when both arms were intact, the difference in strength between Sinclair and Hister was incomparable.

Moreover, with one arm, he couldn’t properly face him. It was the same even if blood was pouring from Sinclair’s pierced side.

“Liam! What are you doing! Hurry and catch this bastard!”

In the end, unable to overpower Sinclair’s strength, Hister shouted Liam’s name loudly in an urgent voice.

But Sinclair didn’t miss that gap. Pulling Hister towards him, Sinclair very quickly snatched the dagger from Hister’s hand.

And just like that, he pointed it at Hister’s neck.

“Why don’t you try it, Liam.”

Sinclair, who had twisted Hister’s other hand behind his back with the hand that had been holding Elaina, stared at Liam who was staggering closer and said,

“I wonder which will be faster. You swinging your sword at me. Or me putting a hole in Hister’s neck. If you’re curious, feel free to charge at me.”

The sound of teeth grinding could be heard from between Liam’s slightly parted lips.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince!”

At the sharp voice filling the bedroom, looking ahead, soldiers who had realized Sinclair’s infiltration and ran frantically were seen.

But they also couldn’t rush at Sinclair.

‘No. At this rate…’

Elaina, who had been standing and protecting Sinclair’s back, looked at everyone with a pale face.

‘Even if he kills Hister here, he can’t defeat all those soldiers. Moreover, Sinclair is even injured…’

How on earth can they escape from here? Just as Elaina was about to despair at the hopelessly difficult situation.

“Attack, we’re under attack!”

“…What?”

For a moment, Liam, who had been standing in front of Sinclair, turned his head.

At the same time, the dagger in Sinclair’s hand flew like an arrow into Hister’s side. It was the same spot where he had been attacked.

Hister let out a short groan and staggered greatly, and Sinclair threw him aside with all his might.

Then, he kicked the hand of Liam, who had foolishly taken his eyes off him, with all his might.

Liam, who had already been injured and bleeding, staggered greatly and dropped his sword.

What happened next occurred in a very short instant. As Sinclair quickly swung the retrieved sword, an unpleasant sound filled the bedroom.

It was the sound of Liam’s head falling to the floor, cut off in an instant without even a thought of blocking Sinclair’s attack.

“It’s alright.”

Sinclair firmly held Elaina’s hand and pulled her towards him, saying,

“I’ll protect you.”

“……”

“I can do it now. I really can.”

Sinclair’s determined voice, his touch that held her hand tightly as if it were a lifeline, his broad back that looked so pitifully miserable – it was all so heartbreaking. Tears kept welling up like that, but Elaina decided to do what she could.

To believe in Sinclair.

…And that was all Sinclair desperately wanted from Elaina.

“Sinclair! Sinclair is over here!”

“Isn’t General Liam dead! His Highness the Crown Prince is also injured…!”

“We’ve been attacked! Soldiers infiltrating through the underground waterway keep coming!”

It was no exaggeration to say that the inside of the castle had literally become a mess. For Sinclair, it was a golden opportunity.

He continued to swing his sword while protecting Elaina, and the soldiers, unable to do anything in confusion, instantly became corpses at the end of Sinclair’s sword or were rolling on the floor with severed limbs.

“Catch him! If we can just capture Sinclair, there’s still a chance!”

What the soldier said wasn’t wrong. If they could take Sinclair hostage or kill him right here, there would still be hope for them.

The problem was, unfortunately, Sinclair wasn’t an easy opponent they could just recklessly swarm and capture.

“Aaargh!”

Even during that, Sinclair’s sword didn’t rest for a moment. He was still holding Elaina’s hand tightly, ensuring her safety and fending off the soldiers.

‘Just a little more… If we can hold on just a little more…!’

“Sinclair!”

Along with Elaina’s scream, a soldier’s sword that had been rushing in like a swarm of bees headed for Sinclair’s shoulder.

“Urgh…”

Enduring the pain, he succeeded in finally cutting down the soldier’s neck, but Sinclair, who couldn’t dodge his attack in time, let out a short groan.

Sinclair, who had been pierced in the side by a sharp dagger and received a deep cut on his shoulder, looked to be at his limit no matter who saw him.

“Sincl… Sinclair…”

How useless of a person was she to not be able to give him any help even in a moment like this?

Elaina felt helplessness and guilt, but she couldn’t show it to Sinclair who was still holding on with all his might.

So instead of despairing, she only held Sinclair’s hand tightly.

As if to let him know that she was still by his side and believed in him.

And not long after, along with the screams of the soldiers, resounding voices were heard.

“The castle gate has been opened! The line of soldiers waiting near the gate has also completely dispersed!”

“Kill every single one of them!”

“His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Highness the Crown Princess are over there! Kill all the soldiers and protect the two of them!”

With the sound of urgent footsteps thudding, the soldiers blocking Sinclair’s path could be seen falling one by one.

“Your Highness!”

Schuler and Rex in a disheveled state. And Duke Heswin ran over here.