TRIML (SSS-45)

After the royal guards completely subdued the executioners, Enoch stepped onto the execution platform.

Without a moment of hesitation, he walked straight toward me. Not a single step wavered.

When he reached me, he called out in a calm voice.

“My lady. It’s all over now.”

As if putting a final period to everything, he extended his hand to me like a savior.

“You can rest easy now.”

“…What on earth—”

I started to speak but stopped. My throat was completely dry from everything I had gone through.

I cleared my throat and asked again.

“What happened?”

“We’ll talk after we return. I’ll explain everything once we’re somewhere safe.”

Right. It’s better to talk in a safe place anyway.

I nodded and was about to take his hand—

The ground beneath me collapsed.

“Aah!!”

As I fell, I saw Enoch’s shocked face. It seemed he didn’t even know there was a passage connected to the sewer beneath the platform.

So this trap wasn’t set by Enoch.

Ah… of course.

Life really works in the worst possible timing.

The chair broke apart, and along with the shattered wood, I fell down into the sewer passage.

Small wooden splinters stabbed into my legs. It hurt so much that tears welled up in my eyes. My hair brushed past Enoch’s outstretched fingers.

This time… I really wanted to be caught by him.

But I had already fallen.

Ugh.

As I slid down the narrow passage, a terrible stench hit me all at once.

I bumped into walls as I fell—

Thud.

Finally, I landed in the sewer water.

Splash.

The water reached up to my ankles. I struggled to stand up in complete darkness where I couldn’t see anything.

“Ugh… it hurts.”

I should treat my wounds first.

I shook my keyring and opened the camping trailer.

Even if the guards take it away, the magic keyring always returns to me after some time. I was really grateful for that.

I took out disinfectant, ointment, sterile gauze, tweezers, and saline solution.

“…I need to pull these out first.”

Thin wooden splinters were embedded in my wet legs.

It was inconvenient with handcuffs on my wrists, but not impossible.

I took a deep breath and carefully started removing the smallest pieces first with the tweezers.

‘Who did this? Who made a passage under the gallows?’

The purpose was obviously to help me escape. Getting injured along the way probably didn’t matter.

Escape was the priority.

Fortunately—or unfortunately.

I seemed to use that phrase a lot these days.

After removing all the splinters, disinfecting the wounds, placing gauze over them, and wrapping them tightly with bandages, I finished treatment.

‘Done. I’ll live.’

I wanted to change clothes too, but the handcuffs made it impossible.

I looked up at the passage I had fallen from.

I thought Enoch or the royal guards would follow me down, but there was no sign of anyone.

I waited there for about three or four hours.

Still nothing.

‘My fever might be rising…’

My condition wasn’t great, so I had to decide.

I didn’t know why Enoch hadn’t come after me, but there must be a reason. I could ask him later when we meet again.

In the end, I decided to escape the sewer on my own.

I took a deep breath and opened the system window.

“System, tell me the escape route. Should I just go straight?”

[Analyzing request…]
[Analysis complete]

[Current location: Langrid Empire Imperial Palace Underground, B-1 Sewer]

[Recommended direction: Straight ahead]

[Estimated distance to exit: Approximately 173 meters]

173 meters. That’s not far.

I covered my nose with a handkerchief, held a flashlight in one hand, and started walking.

After walking for a while and turning a corner, I saw a faint light in the distance.

As I got closer, I saw a forest.

It was the Ecohallo Forest near the Langrid Palace.

The problem was—

The entrance was blocked by iron bars.

Would breaking it with an axe even work? It was solid metal.

And with my wrists cuffed, moving freely was difficult.

Damn it. Stuck here of all places.

What should I do?

While I stood there thinking, I suddenly heard the sound of a horse neighing.

Soon after, a man appeared from the bushes.

He was covered in blood.

Five hours earlier

Right after Margaret disappeared beneath the gallows

Enoch’s mind went blank.

She had been right in front of him. She had even reached out to take his hand.

And then—

She was gone.

Fallen beneath the gallows.

From the moment he realized it, he couldn’t even breathe properly.

No words came to mind.

His lips went dry, his breath came late.

For the first time, he understood what it meant for one’s heart to drop.

Instead, chaos broke out among the royal guards.

After finally calming himself and taking a breath, Enoch asked Diego,

“Where does it lead?”

“I’ll check.”

“No. I’ll check it myself.”

He tried to jump down immediately, but the knights stopped him.

“Please calm down! Leave it to us, Your Highness!”

After being restrained, Enoch anxiously waited for news.

When he heard that the path was blocked, his expression slowly twisted.

“Search for Margaret Rose Plone. Tear apart the entire land if you must.”

His voice trembled slightly.

Two hours later

He looked at the blood on his hand and suddenly laughed.

At himself.

He had eliminated the Peony faction.

Found proof of her innocence.

Come all the way to the execution site himself.

Reached out his hand to her as she stood trembling alone.

And only then did he realize—

It wasn’t duty.

Not hatred.

Not even just a desire to protect.

He had fallen for Margaret.

The Margaret possessed by the infamous witch.

That’s why it felt uncomfortable.

That the two were the same person.

So he kept his distance.

Or… had he?

Thinking back, hadn’t he always followed her around?

He had always expressed his feelings openly—while convincing himself it was hatred.

“The gallows appear to be connected to a sewer passage. We’ll investigate further.”

At Diego’s report, Enoch decided to move himself.

“Don’t try to stop me.”

He personally went to find Margaret.

Three hours later, he found a clue.

They located the engineer who designed the sewer.

With the map in hand, Enoch moved immediately.

Then he encountered Asdal.

He looked like he had rushed over from Hestia.

“I’ve only just returned, so I don’t know everything yet… but—”

Asdal knelt before him.

“A death row prisoner disappeared beneath the gallows. Of course the empire is in chaos. I did it.”

He calmly confessed.

“I saved her. I’ll take responsibility. Arrest me.”

Normally, Enoch would have been furious.

He would have shouted, “Who are you to interfere?”

But now—

He wasn’t angry.

His vision blurred.

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

Just one.

But it meant everything.

It was the first tear he had shed since becoming an adult.

“I should be the one crying… I didn’t know His Highness cared for me this much.”

Ignoring Asdal’s confused voice, Enoch took a deep breath.

When he lifted his head again, his face was calm.

“Then she’s alive…”

He didn’t even know who he was speaking to.

“That’s enough. That’s all that matters.”

Relief…

He bit his lip to hold back unfamiliar emotions.

“It seems you haven’t received my letter yet. The Peony faction in Langrid has been eliminated, and the execution was stopped.”

Asdal looked at him in shock.

Enoch smiled faintly.

“Now we just need to find Margaret. I was on my way to her.”

Not “my lady.”

Now he called her Margaret.

The moment he feared losing her—

He finally acknowledged his feelings.

The emotion he couldn’t call love had finally found its name.

His love was no longer hidden.

[Target: Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid]

[Affection toward user: ▲100%]

[Emotion breakdown:

Obsession 14%