Chapter 6 – Part 3

Having trained as knights, Olivia and Marsden moved through the forest without hesitation. The fog was still thick and the ground wet, but there were no strange occurrences like yesterday.

Still, the situation being what it was, Marsden was on high alert, constantly surveying their surroundings.

“If you remember anything about the assailant’s appearance, let me know. Even something small.”

“I wish I had seen something. The fog was too thick to make out any details, not even their height.”

It was deeply frustrating. She prided herself on her swordsmanship and instincts, but she had been caught off guard so easily. Worse, she couldn’t identify her attacker at all.

“Well, their voice sounded distorted, like it was mixed with static.”

“Static?”

Marsden, who had been scanning all directions, suddenly lifted his head. Olivia, unfazed, continued.

“How do I explain it… like a broken violin mixed with a human voice. You couldn’t tell the gender.”

“And what did they say?”

Even without looking at his face, she could sense his tension. Olivia smiled as if it was nothing.

“They said I’ve been a hindrance from the start, useless, and shouldn’t have been born.”

Marsden stopped dead in his tracks. Olivia turned to look at him, seeing his face twisted with concern.

“It was someone trying to kill me. Of course, they’d say things like that.”

She had faced many forms of malice in her life. Some people would push her into pain or humiliation just for spite. Compared to that, comments about her existence being unnecessary were mild.

“I’m sorry, Buddy.”

Huh? This response was unexpected. She thought he’d be more focused on capturing the attacker.

“I should’ve recognized how hard, dangerous, and painful your situation was. Instead of getting angry.”

“……”

Although the fight was over, it seemed to still weigh on his mind. Olivia shook her head and poked Marsden’s cheek. His wide-eyed reaction was cute.

“Are you trying to score points with me by apologizing now?”

“That’s not it…”

“You can let go of what happened yesterday. I’m giving you permission.”

For the first time in this forest, it seemed like there was a bird singing. The bird’s intermittent flute-like calls seemed to serve as a signal, and Marsden’s eyes shimmered slightly with tears.

“Alright.”

Every time he acted so sincerely during serious moments, Olivia felt a pang in her stomach. If only he added some embellishments or acted more light-heartedly, she might have dismissed it more easily.

“Let’s keep moving before Gael Abyss catches up.”

Feeling awkward, she turned to walk away, but Marsden grabbed her hand.

“One more promise, Buddy.”

“How many promises are you planning to make?”

When Olivia laughed, Marsden’s eyes sparkled like a river meeting the sunlight.

“I promise I’ll never, ever speak to you like that again. Never. And… thank you for forgiving me, Buddy.”

Her heart kept fluttering. Olivia, wanting to hide it, leaned her forehead against his chest.

“Alright then.”

Maybe he understood her feelings. Marsden held her and laughed softly.

***

Gael was in a foul mood. The clueless head servant was babbling about how fortunate it was that the pregnant Ronae was safe, but Gael didn’t hear a word.

He felt ambivalent emotions towards Ronae. He wanted to remove her from his life, yet he also wanted to keep her bound so she couldn’t leave.

‘How dare she act on her own?’

When Ronae disappeared, he was furious to the point of madness. If it hadn’t been for the knights who witnessed her slow movements, things could have gone very badly.

Ronae’s role was just to endure until he could lift this damn curse. Once the curse was lifted, he could truly love Olivia again…

‘What then?’

Gael rubbed his forehead. His hatred for Ronae had driven him to find a way to break the curse, with the hope of reclaiming his true feelings, even if Olivia was no longer alive.

‘But now…’

He felt strangely aimless, especially after his recent conversation with Ronae.

“If you’re still not in the mood to talk to me, I’ll rest too.”

“When did you stop clinging and start pretending? Did you and Liv talk about something?”

“What do you mean?”

Ronae looked at him with her typical “innocent” eyes.

“What do you mean, Gael?”

Gael didn’t answer. Ronae repeated her question.

“Who are you worried about? Me? Or Marchioness Charbert? Who are you afraid will turn against you?”

It was a question not worth answering. Obviously…

“D*mn it!”

Gael grabbed a statuette from his desk and threw it. But no matter what he threw, his anger wouldn’t subside.

“This can’t go on.”

Gael ran his hand roughly through his silver hair and muttered.

“This can’t go on.”

‘I must… kill…’

***

Kettlelin Forest had many eerie elements. The fog often grew thick suddenly, but more unsettling was the absence of any life forms besides the trees.

Finding evidence was difficult with no signs of humans or even insects.

“Is this the stone?”

“Yeah, it has a faint red hue.”

They found a stone that could be used for magic, but it wasn’t enough to implicate anyone, not even Gael.

The problem was that Gael’s arrival in the forest was imminent, so Olivia had to stop and think deeply.

‘If there are trees, there must be some life forms.’

Reaching a conclusion, Olivia grabbed Marsden’s wrist. Marsden blushed.

“Bold move, Buddy.”

“Stop joking, Your Grace. The presence of plants means the ecosystem is still functioning. All creatures adapt to their environment.”

“So?”

“Even if the forest’s air or soil conditions are unusual, there must be some creatures adapted to it. Just like us.”

As she spoke, Olivia’s thoughts began to clear up. The most illogical thing was this.

“Even if the leaves are decaying unnaturally, the trees are alive. If people walk around, there could be animals or insects hiding and watching.”

“Hmm… Even so, those hypotheses don’t directly link to catching the magic user.”

Marsden’s eyes darkened as he talked about magic. Olivia nudged him with her elbow.

“What kind of magic hunter talks so weakly? Show some strength.”

“Alright.”

Whenever Olivia teased him, Marsden would helplessly laugh. After looking at Olivia affectionately for a moment, Marsden sharply surveyed the surroundings.

“Your hypothesis might be correct, despite the dangers. The question is why there are no large animals or even small insects around. There are three possible explanations.”

Marsden glanced at the sword at his waist.

“Someone trapped them, they’re hiding from something, or…”

“Or what?”

Olivia asked, and Marsden grinned.

“Yesterday, I couldn’t think straight while searching for you, but there are some interesting types of magic, buddy.”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to use that. Remember our promise from yesterday.”

Olivia glared at him, and Marsden burst out laughing.

“I know, I didn’t say I’d use it. But I didn’t promise not to feel it.”

‘Strange words… No, what did you say?’

“If it weren’t for the hostile ones misusing spells and corrupting their essence, we might have lived calling spells ‘magic,’ just like the fantasy in novels.”

Marsden took a step back and assumed a stance as if ready to run.

“You can’t hide it cowardly.”

Marsden raised the stone in his hand.

“Thanks to you, we almost got lost entirely.”

With those words, the stone flew like an arrow somewhere.

As Olivia looked on in horror, the stone hit an invisible barrier, producing a friction sound. At the same time, the transparent barrier disappeared smoothly from top to bottom, like ice melting.

“Wow.”

Olivia’s jaw dropped. As the barrier vanished, a different part of the forest was revealed.

It was a dry forest, but with a faint trace of vitality remaining. Most notably, there were living creatures moving.

“Buddy, look over there. It’s a rabbit that looks like you.”

Marsden walked over and knelt on one knee near the rabbit. The rabbit, shivering as if seeking warmth, burrowed into Marsden’s arms.

“It’s not strange that there are many surviving animals since the barriers caused confusion in the paths.”

“What is this…”

“It’s a spell that hides a certain space. It used to be called ‘concealment magic.’ It seems like the forest was turned into a maze by setting up barriers. Some spaces are hidden so well that no one can discover them.”

Olivia was speechless. On closer inspection, the rabbit was very small and emaciated.

“In my opinion…”

Marsden took out a small water bottle from his waist and quickly opened the lid with one hand.

“It looks like they ‘cultivated’ stones for the spell.”

Despite the chilling voice, his eyes were warm as he watched the rabbit drink.

“Cultivated? It’s not a plant, what do you mean, cultivated…”

“It’s not an ordinary stone, buddy. It’s almost like a carnivorous plant.”

Marsden murmured, scratching the rabbit’s head with his index finger.

“It devours people.”

Marsden stood up and handed the rabbit to Olivia. The rabbit snuggled into Olivia’s arms without resistance.

“I don’t know how an ordinary stone becomes a cursed stone. But there’s a way to do it, and there are several fields cultivating cursed stones in this forest. To manage all these fields without being detected by many…”

A chilling smile appeared on Marsden’s lips.

“Would you feel safe living far away?”

While he was watching intently as if pressing a button, there was a sign of people approaching from behind. Marsden stood protectively in front of Olivia.

“Well, we can ask the person in charge.”

Marsden calmly spoke to the person standing opposite him.

“Count Abyss, it’s a good thing I didn’t kill you.”

***