The blood of the people she had met in the temple contained mana with the power of regeneration. And knowing this, the temple had kidnapped them to revive something—or someone.
If what that girl said is true, and I'm from the same clan as them, there's no guarantee the temple won't come after me.
I think I finally understand why Louise opposed my marriage to the Grand Duke.
They hadn't wanted to hand someone with regenerative power over to Kallian.
That was why they had tried to send her off as the old viscount's second wife, hoping they could at least recover her corpse.
Then why?
In the end, what she needed to uncover was their true objective.
To do that, she needed to investigate her mother, Marcella.
Just as she steeled herself to gather her strength once more, shock filled Evelyn's eyes.
"H-Huh...?"
The very next moment, without any warning, her body was lifted into the air before being slammed violently onto the ground.
At that same time.
The muddy ground surrounded by towering trees came into view before the group sent to scout the area.
As they stepped toward the pools of water, cold, damp air clung unpleasantly to their skin.
Benjamin ran his fingertips over a tree covered in slime before wiping them on his trousers.
"Your Highness, wouldn't it be better to set up tents at the campsite? No matter what, sleeping on piles of straw is..."
"Better to get a little more sleep than waste time setting up and taking down tents."
"I'm not saying it for our sake alone."
Even if this was the southwest, far from the freezing northern winds, the nights were still long and chilly.
And earlier, through the crack of the carriage door, he had seen the Grand Duchess-to-be's pale complexion. She had looked ready to collapse at any moment.
Benjamin silently cursed his lord for not showing more consideration toward his young fiancée.
Then again, who really knew what was going on inside that man's head?
Considering he kept involving himself in matters he didn't actually have to deal with, it wasn't as though he was completely indifferent.
"We're used to sleeping on the ground, but I'm worried that such a delicate young lady might fall ill—ugh!"
Bent over as he slashed away knee-high grass with his sword, Benjamin suddenly crashed forehead-first into something solid.
"You worry too much."
It was Kallian's chest. He had stopped so suddenly that Benjamin walked right into him.
Rubbing his aching forehead, Benjamin protested as Kallian stared down at him with cold eyes.
"She doesn't even have a maid with her, and she hasn't had so much as a sip of water all day. If I don't worry about her, who will?"
Kallian turned away immediately and brushed aside a thick web stretched between the trees with a faint chuckle.
"Anyone watching would think you're her husband."
"With all due respect, Your Highness... I think I'm someone the young lady can rely on more than you are."
For some reason, Benjamin's words weighed heavily on Kallian's heart.
Ordinarily, those words shouldn't have affected him in the slightest.
Benjamin wasn't a butler, but it was naturally his duty to assist the Grand Duke and his household whenever they traveled.
Yet perhaps because he had just spoken so harshly to Evelyn, even those perfectly reasonable words irritated him.
She's only just become an adult. Those words must have been too cruel for her to bear.
Kallian knew.
To overcome unbearable grief, a person needed time to gather themselves.
Yet despite knowing that, he had deliberately spoken words he didn't mean.
Because whenever he looked at Evelyn's grief-stricken face, it overlapped with the foolish, helpless man he himself had once been.
Long ago.
So long ago that even the memories had begun to fade.
He had lost the woman he loved before his very eyes.
"It hurts... it hurts so much... please save me..."
Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw her melting away as she called his name.
She had begged him to kill her.
She had cried that it was too hot.
Unable even to end her own life, she had writhed in agony.
The memory was burned into his closed eyes like a brand, making his heart ache unbearably.
That was why he suffered from severe insomnia.
If he never slept, he wouldn't have to endure those hallucinations that devoured his emotions and scorched away his reason.
The regrets of the living.
He had scolded Evelyn, telling her not to cling to death.
But in truth, those words had been directed at himself.
Every time he looked at Evelyn, he was consumed by guilt over failing to protect that woman.
Whenever he saw Evelyn's clear face, the memories he had desperately sealed away resurfaced.
Perhaps that was why he always felt as though he were lost in a fog, unable to breathe.
Remembering the promise he had once made to that woman, Kallian let out a quiet sigh.
"...This is an ill omen."
Setting aside his personal feelings, Kallian hoped Evelyn would never be consumed by guilt for failing to protect her mother.
But his own heart had become so broken that he couldn't even offer her a single comforting word.
With a cold sneer, he muttered,
"I wonder if Johansen has any use for a weak woman who can't even protect herself."
As he roughly pushed aside the vines hanging before him and took a deep breath—
"Urgh! Aaaagh!"
A desperate scream echoed through the swamp.
A tentacle shot out from the marsh, snatching up the scout walking ahead and hurling him into the air.
The laziness vanished from Kallian's eyes in an instant.
He leaped toward the falling scout.
Whoosh!
At the same time, another tentacle shot toward his back like a striking snake.
"Ugh."
Catching the falling scout with practiced ease, Kallian rolled once before throwing him safely aside.
Then he kicked off the ground and launched himself into the air.
"It's a mutated Rafflesia!"
The moment another tentacle followed the sound of his voice, he swung his sword with swift, flawless precision.
Screeech!
Turning toward the sound, he saw a gigantic Rafflesia growing beside a rocky hill, wildly thrashing its two severed tentacles while letting out an eerie shriek.
Its body was dark crimson.
Its roots moved like legs.
And at the center of its blackened petals were countless growths resembling human ears.
The swamp was home to bizarre plants and creatures beyond imagination.
A mutated Rafflesia was nothing difficult—something they could kill with their eyes closed.
The real problem was that this was inside the Empire.
The appearance of a creature unlike the monsters that had appeared in the Kairos Desert instantly put everyone on edge.
"Split it vertically and destroy the roots! It can't see, but it's highly sensitive to movement, so stay alert!"
"Yes, sir!"
Tap!
Kallian immediately soared into the air and landed atop the tallest tree, scanning the sky.
If a Gate had opened, signal beacons should already have been lit.
Yet none burned.
Not even a single messenger bird had arrived.
"Hm."
As he watched the knights fighting below from atop the tree, his expression sharpened.
Despite its terrifying appearance, the monster was astonishingly stupid.
Unless someone approached it, it barely showed any aggression.
It was like a giant puppet.
Throb.
"...What's this?"
The Guardian's mark engraved upon his chest suddenly emitted a faint blue glow, as though reacting to something.
As though someone precious to him had fallen into danger.
"Don't tell me... these things are just bait?"
Feeling a faint burning sensation, he glanced down at the goosebumps rising across his arm like scales.
"They're trying to keep me here."
In an instant, an inexplicable rage erupted inside him like a volcano, flooding his mind red.
"They won't get her that easily."
Drawing out his power, Kallian released an overwhelming aura that seemed capable of sweeping away the entire forest.
As though he had no time to waste on such insignificant creatures.
Watching the monsters crumble into black dust, even the knights shuddered at the murderous intent they couldn't understand.
Kallian jumped down from the tree.
His crimson-tinged eyes were fixed on the direction of the campsite.
"I'm returning first. The rest of you stay here, examine the monsters' corpses, then follow afterward!"
"Yes, sir!"
Dark storm clouds gathered above him as he sprinted across the sky toward the shadowed forest.
"Ugh... it hurts..."
Around the time Kallian entered the swamp, Evelyn lay collapsed on the ground, groaning in pain.
"My goodness! Why is there so much blood? Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
A man with stiff hair like a lion's mane hurried over and lifted Evelyn into his arms.
"W-Wait... what are you...!"
"Stay still! I need to check whether you've broken any bones! What kind of Blackwood knight is this weak?!"
A knight?
Although nausea overwhelmed her, Evelyn forced herself to open her eyes.
She had to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Why are you so light? I can't believe someone this frail is one of my subordinates!"
The brown-eyed man with a thick brown beard kept lifting and shaking her as though inspecting livestock.
She already had a fever and was dizzy.
Being vigorously shaken by a giant of a man built like a wild bear nearly made her lose consciousness.
"Urgh... I'm so dizzy..."
At this rate, he's not checking for broken bones—he's going to break them himself!
If it's this man, he'd absolutely do it!
Dwayne Richter.
The vice-captain of the Blackwood Knights.
Having served Kallian longer than anyone else, he had openly despised Evelyn in her previous life and led the group that hated her.
As the son of Mrs. Richter, the head maid, he was also someone Evelyn needed to win over first.
But if this keeps up, I'll be crushed to death before we even become acquainted.
Gathering the last of her strength, she cried out at the top of her lungs,
"S-Sir Dwayne! Please put me down!"
