TESWKM 5

chapter 5

But of course, as luck would have it…

It was one of those “wrong-day” kind of situations.

The carriage, which had been traveling fine, got stuck in a strange forest puddle and couldn’t move forward.

The wheels were so deeply stuck that there was nothing I could do; the coachman had no choice but to go to the village and fetch a new carriage.

If I had known this would happen, I would have bothered to bring Becky along.

Like the original Ellinea, I hadn’t formed the habit of bringing an attendant with me, so I hadn’t brought Becky today.

“Coachman, you’ll have to go get a new carriage.”

The coachman nodded.

“I’ll ride my horse and go fetch it.”

Since the horse had no saddle, I couldn’t ride it to the baron’s residence. He meant he would ride it there and bring back a new carriage as quickly as possible.

I nodded and said I’d wait.

After the coachman disappeared on horseback, I stared at the wheel stuck in the puddle.

“Was this made so perfectly on purpose?”

It really looked as if someone had deliberately dug a puddle exactly where our carriage would pass.

Of course, it was probably just my imagination.

After all, the only person who hated me enough to kill me in the original story was Perre unnie.

But now, Perre unnie was friendly toward me.

If time passed like this, it would be perfectly natural for me to become her right hand.

So unless I betrayed her, there was no way she would try to kill me.

Thinking this, I kicked the uselessly expensive wheel with my foot. Suddenly, a disturbing sss sound came from somewhere.

Instinctively, I turned my head—and a spider the size of my carriage was staring at me.

“What the…?”

One of my eyebrows twitched in irritation.

‘Ah, this is a monster too.’

I was certain.

This was a monster.

When I first saw the black flower, I had been uncertain and had said “maybe,” but this giant spider in front of me looked very similar to the monsters from my original world.

In my original world, monsters were common.

They hid in forests and ruins, preying on humans.

As a dark mage, I was very accustomed to dealing with them.

‘But this one looks even uglier and creepier than the monsters from my old world.’

I clicked my tongue, quickly drawing the dark magic I had kept deep inside me.

In an instant, the spider shot several webs at me.

“……!”

Before I could dodge, my entire body was wrapped in the sticky threads.

Even as a dark mage, my magic was strong, but my body was weak—a fact I had often been reminded of by my acquaintances who told me to train physically. This body was no different.

If only I had trained my body immediately after being possessed…

Fortunately, I could bring my dark magic into this body.

I coated the webs binding me with black smoke using my dark magic.

The black smoke engulfed the white webs and instantly turned them into powder.

“Kkikikik!”

The spider screeched as its webs disappeared, and it shot more at me.

“Tch.”

I exhaled more black smoke from my body, burning the webs, then bit my thumb to draw blood and traced a magic seal in the air.

The blood seal shone brightly, forming a black shadow that flew toward the spider.

The black shadow enveloped the spider, forming a sphere around it.

I reached out, clenching my fist.

The shadow instantly crushed the spider, and with a thunk, the spider exploded inside the black orb.

“This technique is a bit gruesome, so I usually avoid it. But it’s the easiest spell for emergencies.”

I muttered to myself, looking at the spider’s remains scattered on the ground.

Then,

“Kkikikik…”
“Kkiiiikikik…”
“Kkikikik!”

Eerie, chilling noises erupted from all around.

I turned my head and saw more than ten spider monsters approaching, their grotesque legs moving toward me.

“Damn it.”

I sighed involuntarily, biting my thumb harder to draw more blood.

Wait… are spiders social insects? Why are there so many?

Realizing it would be dangerous to fight lazily, I drew another magic seal with my blood.

Then—

Whoosh! Shashash!

Suddenly, dozens of black, sharp, boomerang-shaped projectiles flew through the air, slicing the spiders’ necks and waists.

Over ten spiders fell to the ground as the boomerangs passed by.

I turned to see the caster of the black boomerangs.

A man with black hair and red eyes, standing in front of a carriage a short distance away.

The Empire’s only dark-attribute user.

Teor Etherzan.

In the original story Caroline’s Lover, he was the devoted secondary male lead who gave everything to Caroline.

Why was he here…?

For now, I put aside my confusion and bowed quickly.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Why are you here alone in such a dangerous place without guards?”

“The carriage wheel got stuck in a puddle, so the coachman went to fetch a new carriage.”

“You waited alone on a monster-infested path?”

“I… didn’t know.”

I truly didn’t. The coachman didn’t know either, so he left me behind.

“I received a report of monster sightings nearby and was patrolling. I was told there are many of them, so a few more might still be around.”

“Ah…”

“If we stay here, the monsters attracted by the scent of blood will swarm us. We should move.”

“Ah…”

“Where were you headed? I’ll escort you.”

I opened my mouth to say I was going to Caroline’s house, then quickly shut it.

I didn’t want to facilitate a meeting with Caroline that didn’t exist in the original story.

After all, Caroline would eventually end up with Lloyd in the original story, despite Teor and the prime minister Graim’s interference. My slight tweaks wouldn’t change the lovers’ ending.

Better let her find someone else. Her beautiful face is too precious to waste.

I stared at Teor’s godlike appearance, then shook my head and said,

“No, the coachman will be back soon.”

“As I mentioned, there are monster sightings nearby. They hunt in groups, so even the forest entrance isn’t safe.”

“Spiders hunt in groups?!”

“All monsters hunt in packs. Haven’t you studied monsterology… oh.”

Teor trailed off mid-sentence, realizing something.

Since commoners don’t have elemental powers, they never learn monsterology.

I am now the daughter of a viscount, but originally a commoner. Lacking an elemental ability, Teor noticed his premature assumption and stopped.

Instead of explaining, I healed my thumb with dark magic.

Instinctively, I wanted to show off a bit—‘I’ve got power too!’—but that backfired.

“This…!”

Seeing the black smoke caterpillars healing my hand, Teor froze, his face pale.

I quickly dispersed the caterpillars’ healing, but Teor had already seen it.

“Just now…”

Teor strode up and asked me.

I instinctively stepped back.

“S-Stay back! Why are you—so scary?”

“That ability.”

“Ability? What ability?”

“The one you used to heal the bleeding area just now.”

“Bleeding? Where?”

Realizing I’d been caught, I decided to play dumb.

Since Teor is the Empire’s only dark-attribute user, anyone would suspect my ability was similar.

“Miss Ellinea—”

“Ah, my head!”

I pretended to faint. Teor immediately rushed over to support me.

Handsome and gentle.

I rested my face against his chest, dizzy, thinking how to handle this situation.