🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 07
The arrow trap flew toward the emperor’s messenger. For a brief moment, my mouth dropped open in shock—
Ting—
Something flashed around Zenol, and the arrow aimed at him was deflected away. Zenol stared at the arrow that had fallen to the ground, startled, and I was equally shocked.
What was that just now?
“Ah, were these traps installed because of the intruders?”
Zenol, who had nearly been struck by the arrow, quickly regained his composure and asked me. I only blinked in surprise before nodding.
“That’s right. Are you okay, Zenol?”
“You seem startled, but please do not worry, Countess! The imperial artifact protects me!”
Zenol proudly lifted his chin.
An artifact?
“I have been granted an imperial artifact that ensures I cannot die from any weapon while delivering His Majesty’s letters and receiving replies!”
Zenol explained boastfully, and I looked down at the arrow on the floor. It was bent as if it had slammed into an enormous invisible wall.
Seeing the warped arrow reminded me of the bizarre artifacts the emperor’s side had used near the end of the original story. The revolutionary army had suffered greatly because of them. I nodded slowly.
“I see…”
“So please do not worry at all! I shall escort Officer Thomas to His Majesty and properly explain your circumstances, Countess!”
“…Ah, in that case, could you also pass along a message to His Majesty for me?”
“What would you like me to convey?”
“Please tell him, ‘Your Majesty, because of my current situation, if it is at all possible, I would be grateful if Your Majesty could visit personally.’”
“I will make sure to deliver your words!”
Answering energetically, Zenol loaded the pitiful Officer Thomas into the carriage he had arrived in and departed.
The patrol officers who had come with Thomas looked at us in confusion, and Davin spoke coldly to them.
“What are you standing around for? His Majesty will surely want to know these people’s identities, so take them away and keep them under guard.”
“Ah, y-yes, understood! H-Hey! Bring the transport wagon!”
While the police scrambled about trying to move the assassins tied up with ropes, I turned to Davin.
“Let’s head inside now. Davin, want something cold to drink?”
“Y-Yes. Sir Knight, I’ll make shaved ice for you!”
Lana, encouraged after receiving praise from me, spoke brightly. Davin nodded.
“Then I’ll gladly accept.”
Even Davin, who usually disliked sweets, did not refuse the shaved ice. Well, after beating up that many people under the blazing sun, he must have been roasting.
We headed to my office, the coolest room in the mansion. Lana brought us shaved ice, and Davin sat at the table by the window to cool off. I sprawled across the long sofa and read a book.
A gentle breeze drifted through the window. I slowly drifted off until the strength left my hand and the book slipped from my grasp. I jolted awake.
Lana, who had been gathering Davin’s empty bowls onto a tray, smiled at me.
“My lady, would you like a blanket? Would you like to sleep a little?”
“No, I shouldn’t. I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
I forced myself upright from the sofa.
“Then I’ll bring you some cold water.”
Lana left the room smiling, and I stood up to stretch.
Haa, I’m so sleepy.
I blinked hazily into the air. Was it because I had gone out today?
Still, maybe being this sleepy meant I finally felt at ease. Right after possessing this body, I had been so anxious that I couldn’t sleep properly at night. But my anxiety gradually faded as I came to trust that Davin would protect me safely, just like today.
Apparently fully recovered already, Davin stood up.
“I should reload the trap mechanisms with arrows. We also need to relocate the exposed installations.”
“Want help?”
“It’s dangerous. I’ll handle it.”
Even as he answered, Davin was already moving, and I trotted after him.
Thunk, thunk.
Davin lifted one of the trap mechanisms. As the enormous device emerged above the garden, I was once again intimidated. No matter how many times I saw it, the trap was absurdly huge. A machine so large that several strong men together would struggle to move it—yet Davin carried it alone and shifted it around with ease.
“You may get hurt, so please stay back.”
Davin pointed toward a tree, and I obediently went and sat beneath it. Lana approached carrying a glass of water with a silver rod immersed inside.
“My lady, I brought cold water.”
“Thanks.”
While drinking the cool water, I watched Davin dragging around the massive trap with that lean body of his.
After repositioning the mechanisms, Davin returned from the storage room carrying stacks of quivers. Lana hurried over to help him, and I tried lifting one nearby myself.
“Ugh, heavy.”
The protagonists immediately stiffened at the sight of me staggering with the quiver.
“Please sit under the tree.”
“Go rest over there, my lady. It’s dangerous.”
Tch.
Unable to argue, I returned beneath the tree and watched the protagonists work.
In the vast flower field glowing under the setting sun, the sight of the silver-haired handsome young man and the blonde beauty working side by side looked like a painting.
Though instead of tending flowers in that picturesque scenery, they were stuffing arrows into deadly traps.
As I quietly admired their beauty, guilt suddenly welled up inside me.
Davin guarded me twenty-four hours a day, and Lana handled everything from cooking and cleaning to attending to me personally. Both of them were overworked because there were so few people employed at the estate.
But hiring anyone new under these circumstances was impossible. Until we emigrated to another country, we had no choice but to endure things as they were.
Still, I had managed to hold on this long because Davin and Lana stayed by my side through these difficult times.
Watching the two protagonists, I made another silent vow.
I’ll make them happy no matter what…
I would never let things end up like the original story.
* * *
“Oh my.”
By the time the sunset staining the world red had begun to fade and half the sky had turned a dark violet, Lana suddenly burst into laughter.
Davin raised his head and followed her gaze.
Anise had fallen asleep with her head resting against the base of the tree.
Smiling, Lana turned to Davin.
“Sir Knight, how about stopping here for today?”
“Very well.”
Davin nodded. The two set down the quivers they were holding and approached Anise. When Lana tried to wake her, Davin stopped her.
“I’ll carry her to her room.”
A chilly breeze blew, and Anise trembled in her sleep. Davin removed his uniform jacket and draped it over her shoulders before carefully lifting her into his arms.
Even as he carried her, Anise remained deeply asleep.
Lana chuckled at the sight.
“She’s completely out cold. I’ll go ahead and prepare her nightclothes. Take your time coming in.”
“Yes.”
Lana hurried back into the mansion while Davin slowly walked toward it, carrying Anise in his arms.
More than half of August had already passed, so although the daytime heat still felt like midsummer, the evening breeze had become cooler.
Feeling the cold wind in her sleep, Anise shivered and burrowed deeper into Davin’s embrace.
When she rubbed her cheek against his chest, Davin unconsciously stopped walking.
Silently, he looked down at her sleeping face.
Soft breathing.
Anise slept peacefully.
Davin’s eyelids trembled slightly as he watched her.
He remembered how she had laughed brightly earlier that day while falling from the top of a five-story building in his arms.
How long had it been since he had last seen that smile?
Without realizing it, Davin pulled Anise even closer.
Feeling the warmth of her body in his arms made him tremble faintly.
If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.
I wish this moment could last forever.
And then, the desire he had been desperately suppressing slowly raised its head again.
That longing whispered to him.
“Maybe now… she’ll choose me instead of the emperor.”
The Anise who had lost her memories no longer loved the emperor. She trusted Davin and never wanted to leave his side even for a moment.
So perhaps now, instead of the emperor, she might choose him…
But the moment Davin’s eyes wavered, Anise’s cold words suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
“Was everything a lie? Have you been deceiving me all this time?”
It felt as though cold water had been poured over his head. Davin blinked and regained his senses.
The greed that had surged up so suddenly seemed absurd even to himself, and he let out a bitter laugh.
Right. Rather than coveting Anise’s heart, he should be begging her to forgive him and allow him to remain by her side.
Davin’s current goal was simply to protect Anise safely while she had no memories, so that even after her memories returned, he could still stay beside her.
Wasn’t that already the limit of what he could selfishly hope for?
For a moment, darkness crossed Davin’s expression, but he quickly gathered his emotions and regained his composure.
Then, without hesitation, Davin walked swiftly into the mansion.
