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Chapter 21
A few minutes before everything happened.
Rizeana and the girl had hidden beneath a crumbling wall to avoid the men.
Instinctively taking cover, Rizeana raised a finger to her lips. The girl looked up at her in confusion, but fortunately, she quieted down and followed Rizeana’s lead.
“Found you, Riet!”
“Did you really bring it?”
“I told you I did.”
“Then this time it must succeed. No, it has to. I want to see just how valuable that thing really is.”
Soon, the voices of two men could be heard. Rizeana focused her hearing. Perhaps she could finally identify the source of the ominous feeling she had sensed at the stall.
She carefully moved closer, positioning herself near the dead-end alley beside a shop.
‘They were talking as if they had obtained something from the store earlier.’
Recalling fragments of conversation, she cautiously turned her head to confirm their identities.
As expected, it was the man with the ponytail and the long-haired man. The ponytailed man looked pleased as he received something.
Her gaze naturally fell to his hands.
What he held was a transparent bottle. Inside it were strange-looking herbs.
Rizeana immediately realized what that unsettling feeling had been.
Those were not ordinary plants.
“…That herb… don’t tell me…”
Unlike normal plants, this one had three sharp, divided leaves—there was no mistaking it.
It was Glaucus Herb.
“This is Glaucus Herb. Since you already paid at the restaurant earlier, there’s no need for further payment.”
“Thank you! Truly!”
The man called Riet eagerly took the bottle, opened the lid, and inhaled deeply through his nose.
After inhaling the scent for a while, his eyes lost focus. Veins turned red in an instant.
Then he frantically pulled the herbs out of the bottle and shoved them into his mouth.
“W-wait a moment…!”
Rizeana knew what Glaucus Herb was and how it was made through her family’s teachings. But she had never seen someone directly inhale it before.
It was a shocking sight.
“Ugh—”
The man who had been chewing violently suddenly grabbed his throat and collapsed in pain.
The long-haired man—whom Rizeana remembered as “Ford”—quickly slipped away the moment Riet collapsed, as if he had been waiting for it.
She clearly saw him disappear into a shop marked “Selse,” but there was nothing she could do immediately.
There was no time to process what was happening.
Rizeana quickly moved to the edge of the wall and reached out to the girl hiding across from her.
They needed to escape before the man regained consciousness.
“Little girl, come here. Hurry.”
She kept her voice low, careful not to provoke the collapsed man, but it was loud enough for the girl to hear.
She had to protect her before things escalated.
Anyone who inhaled enough Glaucus Herb would lose their sanity and begin destroying everything in sight with inhuman strength—whether people or objects.
“Take the teddy bear if you want. I won’t blame you for stealing it. Just come here quickly.”
But the girl did not move.
She only blinked, clearly unable to understand the situation.
The man’s painful groans continued without stopping.
He writhed, coughing violently as though he could not breathe.
“…!”
“Quickly!”
As Rizeana raised her voice slightly, the groaning suddenly stopped.
At the same time, the man slowly stood up.
His head, which had been limp, snapped toward the girl’s position.
His ponytail was disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and wide.
‘This is bad. His eyes have already lost focus.’
Rizeana bit her dry lip in anxiety. Of all places, he was looking directly at the girl.
Though his gaze was unfocused, his body was clearly oriented toward her.
She no longer hesitated.
“Run!”
The frightened girl finally moved, sprinting out of the alley with all her strength.
“Urrgh!”
Just as the man began to rise fully and chase after her, Rizeana threw a stone to divert his attention.
The man turned toward her instead.
“Good. Over here!”
She ran immediately. The man charged after her.
He smashed and hurled anything in his path as he chased her. His appearance was no longer human—it was closer to a beast.
Then, he turned his attention toward the people in the street.
“What is that thing?!”
“It’s a monster!”
“Run for your lives!”
The crowd panicked and scattered.
“No…! At this rate, the people in the market—!”
In the middle of the chaos, Rizeana frantically scanned her surroundings.
Then she saw it—a wildflower swaying at the edge of the street.
Even in the chaos, the world seemed to slow as her eyes locked onto it.
“Why is that… here?”
Her gaze fell on the ground between the alley and a nearby restaurant.
There, a familiar purple flower swayed gently.
Among the surrounding weeds, it stood tall and distinct.
Its lance-shaped leaves, oval petals, and jagged sepals were unmistakable.
She recognized it.
It was the same plant she had seen on the documents on Duke Philorencia’s desk.
“…Purple in color, surrounded by young plants… rounded petals… I think the name was Raizina.”
Her memory was sharp. It had to be that plant.
And the similarity in its name to hers made it impossible to forget.
“This is definitely it.”
She murmured in certainty. Why had the Duke been investigating this flower?
She searched her memories from before her regression. Even then, there had been no herb stronger than Glaucus Herb.
Because it was made by mixing hallucinogenic plants together, it made sense.
At first glance, the flower looked like an ordinary wild plant.
Rizeana frowned and leaned closer.
‘Wait…!’
A sudden thought struck her, and she began plucking the flowers urgently.
The thorns pricked her fingers, but she didn’t have time to care.
“Screams!”
The news that a humanoid beast had appeared spread quickly through the market.
As she exited the winding alley, people were fleeing in all directions, shouting for help.
“Where is the girl? Where did she go?”
In her previous life, Rizeana might not have cared whether the child lived or died.
She had been raised to focus only on those within her interests and benefits.
Duke Philorencia always said everything was for her and Rayfin’s sake.
He always emphasized only the Empire’s advantage.
But perhaps because of the earlier dart game… or a fleeting sense of justice… she found herself increasingly anxious.
“Where is she…?”
Soon, she found the girl.
She hadn’t gone far—her short legs had slowed her down. Surrounded by tall adults, she was being jostled everywhere.
Rizeana quickly grabbed her hand.
“Let’s go, little girl.”
The girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded and followed her.
They pushed through the crowd together, but suddenly the girl slipped from her hand and fell.
“Little girl!”
Behind her, the beast was closing in.
Rizeana moved before she even thought.
She pushed through the crowd and scooped the girl into her arms.
Screams grew louder.
She knew instinctively—there was nowhere left to run.
“Damn it…!”
She clenched the bundle of petals in her pocket.
She wasn’t even certain what this flower was, but she had no other option.
Everything happened in an instant.
The beast charged.
‘Just trust my judgment!’
As it approached, she hurled the petals directly at its face.
The beast screamed in agony as the petals struck it and collapsed, clutching its face.
“GRAAAH!”
Rizeana stared down at the writhing creature.
“…It worked…?”
She stared blankly at her hands.
But then she tensed again—the beast was already recovering.
There was no time left.
It growled and lunged again.
Rizeana closed her eyes tightly.
‘So this is how I die!’
But—
Nothing happened.
No pain. No roar.
Instead—
“AAARGH!”
A scream echoed.
Silence followed.
She opened her eyes.
The beast lay impaled by an ice pillar.
Behind it stood a man with striking beauty.
Ian.
The moment he saw her, he rushed over in panic.
“You—have you lost your mind?!”
“….”
Only then did she realize she was alive.
His hands gripping her shoulders felt real.
“Are you hurt? Are you okay? What were you thinking, standing in front of a beast like that?! Do you think you could have survived?! You almost died!”
“Ian…?”
At her voice, he finally steadied his breathing.
“What happened? And who is this child?”
Startled, Rizeana quickly placed the girl down.
“Are you okay, little girl?”
Ian sighed in disbelief at how she checked on the child first.
The girl exhaled deeply, finally relaxing.
“…Did you save me?”
Rizeana felt something strange.
She had only ever hurt people before.
Never saved anyone.
The feeling was unfamiliar.
Her strength gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground.
Letting out a breathless laugh, she muttered:
“…You’re alive.”
Ian, watching her, also let out a relieved sigh.
For some reason, seeing her safe made him feel… relieved as well.
