Chapter 95

His voice was like that of a man reunited with a lost lover. Even as he parried Laila’s relentless attacks without a moment’s breath, he leaned as if to reach me—and lost his rhythm.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Damn you, don’t get in my way! Florence…”

Linus tore his gaze from Laila, only to lock it back on me with a sickening gentleness.

“Just wait a moment. I’ll save you soon, my love.”

“If anyone heard, they’d think I was the one who kidnapped her!”

But Laila was not someone you could fight while distracted. Like brushing away an annoying insect, Linus swung his sword, but Laila skillfully deflected the force at an angle, ducked low, and darted into his range. At close quarters, a dagger was deadlier than a longsword. She gripped a black-bladed dagger—who knew when she’d drawn it—reversed in her hand, and slashed in a spinning arc.

Linus wasn’t caught off guard. He planted his foot hard, regaining balance, and blocked the dagger’s path with his sword. But the dagger hadn’t been her true aim. Without rising from her crouch, Laila braced her hand on the floor and kicked at his ankle.

No matter how strong or tall an opponent, eyes and ankles were always weak points, she’d once told me. Linus didn’t fall, but he stumbled, off-balance. She didn’t waste the chance—spitting straight into his face.

“Ugh!”

“Don’t worry, Commander. My spit’s not poisonous!”

Laila chirped cheerfully. But for Linus, being stabbed might have been less insulting. His roar of fury was deafening.

“Laila Green! Do you have a death wish?”

“Probably. If I wanted to live, I wouldn’t have picked a fight with you.”

She retreated just far enough to reset her stance.

“You didn’t finish me off before, and that’s why I’m still alive. Should’ve killed me earlier.”

“If Florence hadn’t collapsed, I would’ve cut off your head first.”

“Regret’s always too late. People only realize after the chance is gone.”

Just then, a knight lying on the ground lunged for her head, but without even looking, Laila flung her dagger into his shoulder. She grumbled,

“Can’t you cover me properly?”

“Ah, sorry.” Keith’s casual apology loosened the tension in me for a moment.

Keith was no powerhouse in attack magic, but in healing, buffs, and debuffs, he was a genius. For sheer damage, Enoch was stronger. Keith layered buffs on our side and debuffs on the enemy. Dozens of spells cast simultaneously—not on one or two but many—it was dizzying just to watch. And he still had the leisure to chat. He must’ve had five brains at least.

The “Blue Dawn” knights were a royal order—technically army, but in truth the royal family’s private force. They protected the kingdom’s most precious blood, so even a common knight was more than most mercenaries could handle. Yet our mercenaries didn’t falter. Keith’s layered buffs opened gaps, and Enoch’s wind spirits struck with lethal precision.

Even while dueling Laila, Linus assessed the situation.

“Tch, these vermin are insufferable!”

“Oh, did that wound your pride?”

“I only want to take my woman home. Don’t stand in my way!”

“She’s not your woman. Overbearing men aren’t popular, you know!”

Linus ignored her jibe. Instead of swinging his sword, he suddenly kicked, boot slamming into her stomach. Her forward momentum doubled the impact, hurling her back. She crashed into the stone wall, leaving a crack behind her. But I had no time to worry.

Linus had decided Keith needed to die first. He shot toward us in an instant, his sword glowing with blue light as he brought it down on our shield. It felt like the sky itself was splitting. Enoch pulled me close, his arm heavy on my shoulder.

“Support us, Florence.”

I reinforced the shield and backed Keith the way Enoch had. The knights slowed by debuffs moved clumsily—easy to time.

“Keep your filthy hands off Florence!”

“Don’t look at him. He feeds off your attention.”

His huge hand covered nearly half my shoulder. The touch was deliberate—a taunt. And Linus, predictably, took the bait. Veins bulged on his hand as he roared, striking. Three layers of shields shattered like glass.

Up close, Enoch grinned savagely, while Linus, teeth bared, brought his sword down again and again. I kept layering shields inside.

Something strange. I wasn’t afraid.

I had always feared Linus. Even when I mistook my feelings for love, his gaze made me feel naked and thrown into the street. I craved his affection, but dreaded his eyes.

Yet now, watching him thrash and rage, I wasn’t scared at all. He was laughable.

Throwing himself like a grieving man chasing a dead loved one, for a woman who wasn’t even her. He hadn’t even realized I wasn’t her until I told him.

A man swayed most by appearances, convinced I was the “real thing.”

Linus was never frightening.

Just a spoiled young lord born lucky in a great house, blessed with talent in swordsmanship.

Jang Hyunji wasn’t even dead, yet Linus had done nothing.

He hadn’t caught me. He hadn’t found Laila.

If he were truly as brilliant and capable as he seemed, all of this would never have succeeded. Even if Enoch had prepared for five years under his father while searching for me—if Linus had leveraged his background, his connections, his power—the outcome could’ve been different.

But in the end, he failed to protect anything. Not Jang Hyunji, whom he’d sworn to protect and love forever. Not even himself.

I wanted him to know that.

“Florence, my love…”

“Love? Coming from a rapist?”

His face—looking at me as though he loved me—was revolting. Would Jang Hyunji see his wounded expression now, stung by my words?

One last shield remained. I smiled faintly. We were barely a hand’s breadth apart, separated by a single thin barrier. I spoke sweetly.

“Why so hurt, Linus? You know I’m not Jang Hyunji.”

“Even if you aren’t, you’d still be mine, I—ugh!”

Laila’s dagger sliced his side. Even a graze split flesh, blood welling thick. Linus clapped his hand to the wound, then smashed the hilt into Laila’s head. She crashed down like a frog, but bounced up, rolling away. Each time he stomped at her, the floor caved in.

“Laila!”

“Just let me play a little longer!”

But it was clear—even she was in danger.

Linus was under Laila’s curse, weakened to 70 percent of his usual strength. And still, they were nearly equal. No—she seemed slightly outmatched.

She had explained before: her skills lay in ambush and assassination, not brute-force combat. And Linus, born with monstrous physical gifts even among Sword Masters, was the kind you could hardly find a weakness against in a straight fight.

Keith and Enoch’s side was nearly finished.

A young knight with close-cropped hair, even as he fell, drove his blade into a mercenary’s arm. But the mercenary’s blade pierced his belly in return. He coughed blood.

“Hey! I said don’t kill them!”

“He came at me! It’s not like I could win otherwise!”

“If one of them dies, we’ll get chewed out later—”

Keith grumbled, stepping outside the shield. The fallen knight’s eyes, unfocused, fluttered.

“Commander… forgive me…”

“He doesn’t care if you live or die. Can’t you see?”

“…Commander…”

Keith healed the boy—barely more than a teenager, if looks meant anything. Then, as if nothing, he buffed Laila again and tried to cast another debuff on Linus.

Even with every knight but him down, Linus showed no sign of concern.

“Your men are finished. What now?”

“They were only here to hold the perimeter. Easier to move if the fire spreads.”

He meant to burn the place again. If Enoch and I hadn’t blocked it beforehand, the street would already be like Marie’s house.

I won’t allow it again. Never.

“They’ve served their purpose.”

“Served… their purpose?”

It was Laila who reacted. Slowly, she rose to her feet, her expression like the day we first met.

“So to you, our lives were nothing more than that?”

We. I. No—Alex.

To you.

I thought Laila had only sprung forward like an arrow. But then came a thunderous crash—
and the building collapsed.