She slowly backed away. It seemed that the attempt to persuade the seemingly naive kidnappers to release her had failed.

If only these wrists could be freed, I might be able to do something.

Cordelia frantically shook her arms while the two men were talking. But the ropes were tied so tightly that they didn’t budge at all.

“Should we kill her?”

“Yeah. If we kill her and bury her in this forest, who would know?”

“Sh-should we?”

Tom’s ears perked up as if he had received an enticing proposal. Their gazes turned to Cordelia, who was slowly distancing herself. The moment their eyes met, Cordelia immediately turned around and ran.

“Ah!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

As expected, her escape was quickly thwarted. Roku firmly grabbed Cordelia’s arm and dragged her in front of the carriage. She resisted with all her might, but it was difficult to overcome the strength of an adult male. Tom grabbed Cordelia’s other arm, pinning her down, and said:

“I have a hammer in the carriage, should I bring it?”

“There might be blood stains which could raise suspicion, so let’s just strangle her to death.”

“Ah, right.”

As the murder plan unfolded so casually, Cordelia felt chills running down her spine.

Die here? In such an absurd way?

“W-wait! Wait a moment! How much money do you need? If you release me, I’ll give you as much gold as my weight. There’s only 500 linkits in that pouch.”

“You must not know, being a pampered noble lady, but 500 linkits is enough to live on for over half a year.”

“Just half a year? I’ll make sure you never have to worry about food for the rest of your lives. Think about it carefully. Not just 500 linkits, but…!”

Despite Cordelia’s pleas and persuasion, the man didn’t budge. He simply continued with what he had to do silently. Unfortunately for her, that happened to be murder.

“Roku, Roku! Look at this. This woman has a bracelet too.”

Tom, who had been lingering behind, raised his voice as he discovered her bracelet visible between the tightly bound ropes.

“I tried to take it off earlier, but it wouldn’t come off.”

“How can a bracelet not come off? Were you trying to keep it for yourself?”

“Why don’t you try taking it off then?”

“Ugh!”

Tom, with greed glinting in his eyes, ruthlessly pulled at the bracelet on Cordelia’s left wrist. Of course, it was futile, and only resulted in scraping her flesh and bone painfully. Cordelia grimaced and screamed.

“Stop! It’s a magic bracelet anyway, ah!”

Cordelia suddenly remembered what the bracelet was. Beluce’s words also flashed through her mind.

“What was the activation word again? Ah. Master’s name. Leonard! Leonard!”

“What’s she suddenly saying? Hey. Speak in Bedos.”

“Oh? It really won’t come off.”

Tom continued to struggle to remove the bracelet, but Cordelia’s screams only grew louder. Her wrist bones were clashing, causing intense pain.

“Ah! It hurts, it hurts!”

“Forget it, stop. We can just cut off the wrist after we kill her.”

“Hmm. I guess we’ll have to.”

The man clicked his tongue in disappointment as he removed his hand from Cordelia’s wrist. Roto nodded to Tom.

“Hold her tight. She keeps struggling.”

“Let go of me!”

Roto grabbed Cordelia’s neck with both hands and started to strangle her with all his might. Cordelia immediately used a barrier spell. Although Roto wasn’t thrown back like before, his hands kept slipping from Cordelia’s neck due to the magic’s effect.

“Leonard! Leonard!”

Taking advantage of this moment, Cordelia desperately called out her master’s name once again. Perhaps there had never been a time in her life when she needed her master so desperately.

Why isn’t it working? Is it broken?

The treasure of Ebrad seemed to have suddenly stopped functioning, as Cordelia’s location remained unchanged no matter how many times she closed and opened her eyes.

“Why do my hands keep slipping?”

“It must be magic. Wow, that’s amazing.”

“Tch, stop saying stupid things. This won’t work. There’s a stream nearby, let’s drown her.”

“Alright.”

Realizing that physical force couldn’t harm Cordelia, Roto pointed to the opposite direction with his chin. Tom simply nodded without thinking.

I survived in Diloana’s territory crawling with monsters, I can’t die at the hands of such clumsy kidnappers. It’s too unfair to die like this.

Cordelia calmed her mind and vividly recalled Leonard’s face. His shining platinum blonde hair and mysterious purple eyes, his sharp jawline and beautifully set nose bridge were vivid in her mind.

Although he would tease her during lessons, asking if her head was made of stone, he was the kind master who would rush to comfort her faster than anyone else when something happened to her. She etched his image in her mind as if to engrave it.

“Leonard.”

Suddenly, her insides became intensely hot. The blood flowing through her veins seemed to explode and writhe.

At the same time, the ground supporting her feet disappeared in an instant, and she fell endlessly towards somewhere. She wanted to scream, but only air came out of her mouth.

“Huh.”

She gasped for air urgently. Even without opening her eyelids, she knew the magic had succeeded. Her swaying internal organs found their place. Then someone hugged her tightly.

“Cordelia!”

The embrace and scent were so familiar that Cordelia felt a bit choked up.

“Master…”

“Cordelia, Cordelia.”

Leonard was a bit surprised by Cordelia suddenly falling from thin air, but he soon hugged her tightly enough to crush her.

He kept muttering her name while stroking Cordelia’s back. He looked as parched as someone who hadn’t drunk water for a long time.

“Ugh, M-Master. My, my arms. Please untie my arms.”

“Arms?”

He belatedly realized that her arms were tied behind her back and cut the knot very simply, with just one finger. It was frustrating how much she had struggled to untie it earlier.

Finally, as her arms were freed, a tingling sensation rushed through her stiffened upper body. Cordelia pounded her shoulders and arms while catching her breath.

“Haa. I really thought I was going to die.”

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“My arms are just a bit stiff, but I’m fine otherwise. How long have I been gone? Oh right, what about the Baron?”

Leonard was too busy examining every inch of her body to answer her questions. Seeing the blue bruise on her left wrist where the treasure of Ebrad had been, he immediately used healing magic.

That wasn’t all. The hand that was stroking Cordelia’s face brushed her arms and back. The touch was so intimate that Cordelia was a bit flustered. She pushed his shoulders away.

“M-Master.”

“What? Does it hurt somewhere?”

“It’s not that, you’re too close.”

They were so close that his hair, which was bowed down, was touching her cheeks.

Leonard raised his head. Their eyes met with his clear purple eyes. The worry and concern overflowing in them made Cordelia feel a bit embarrassed. She hurriedly averted her gaze.

“Thanks to the bracelet you gave me, I escaped quickly. I’m not hurt anywhere.”

“Thank goodness, thank goodness.”

Only after confirming that she was safe did he breathe a sigh of relief. Leonard mumbled “thank goodness” over and over again as he hugged Cordelia once more.

“How many days have I been gone?”

“No. It was just this afternoon.”

If so, the period she was kidnapped wouldn’t have been even a full day, but he was acting as if she had disappeared for months. Cordelia was about to laugh it off, wondering why he was overreacting so much, but she closed her mouth at Leonard’s next words.

“When I heard you had disappeared, I thought my heart would stop. Not knowing if something had happened to you, if you were even alive… I was so scared.”

“Master.”

At first, she didn’t notice, but his voice was trembling slightly. The fear he must have felt became palpable.

Of course, she had thought that even if she was kidnapped, her master would remain composed. She thought he would rather snort and click his tongue, saying how stupid she was to get kidnapped.

But such a vulnerable side?

Faced with this unexpected reaction, it was Cordelia who couldn’t find words and just moved her lips silently.

“Cordelia.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know how to treat you.”

“…”

“You have no idea how much I have to restrain myself every time I want to just hide you away in the laboratory, or in the deepest part of the Atilei mansion.”

By this point, Cordelia vaguely sensed that his feelings for her were different. It was too intense of an emotional torrent to simply be about a disciple who had been kidnapped and returned.

As if he saw her as a woman…

His fingertips touched her cheek. Usually, she would have brushed it off without thinking, but given the atmosphere and tone, she was startled by Leonard’s touch and stepped back.

“Um, I… I…”

“Speak.”

Leonard’s voice became lower than ever before.

She had only stepped back one step, but Leonard came two steps closer. In other words, there was no gap between the two of them.

She bowed her head deeply. She didn’t have the courage to face him at all. She didn’t know what else to say either. Her heart was just beating frighteningly fast.

Then, like a ray of light descending from the sky, there was a knock. Cordelia quickly escaped from Leonard’s embrace and answered.

“Come in.”

“Lady Cordelia?”

Recognizing her voice, Baron hurriedly entered. His forehead was drenched in sweat, instantly revealing how busily he had been running around.

“My goodness! How, safe, you’re safe. Thank goodness. Thank goodness indeed.”

The old man, with reddened eyes, bowed his head deeply in front of Cordelia.

“It’s my fault. If only I hadn’t left Lady Cordelia like that. I’m truly sorry.”