Instead of Escape, I Prepare Your Downfall

The moment she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, it happened.

Her vision was flooded with light.

Stepping back to get a better view, she saw the beast standing completely still, its entire body bathed in gold.

It was a familiar sight.

‘The second hideout…’

She had seen something like this before.

Thieves had stiffened solid under the golden light before, and Benate had saved her without hesitation.

Ailie frowned and shook her head.

‘This is strange.’

She truly didn’t understand.

Why Benate kept saving her like this—again and again.

And why that scene refused to leave her mind.

“Are you all right?”

Ailie gave a small nod, barely visible.

There was no reason not to be all right.

After all, he had saved her—over and over again.

“Go further inside the cave. I’ll finish it in one strike.”

“Yes. I will.”

“Be careful.”

“You too, Your Majesty. Don’t let your guard down.”

If the magical beast were to be left alive, it could attack the nearby residents and their companions, who were scattered throughout the forest. Before the golden magic faded, its throat had to be cut swiftly and decisively.

With an uneasy expression, Ailie turned and stepped back into the cave.

Just as she was about to move, she was struck by an inexplicable, unsettling sensation that sent a chill racing down her spine.

Something was wrong.

A powerful, insistent feeling warned her not to venture any further into the cave. A sense of imminent danger rooted her feet to the spot.

In the end, Ailie turned her gaze back towards the entrance.

And at that moment—

“Ah…”

A frightened sound escaped her lips.

Within the golden light that surrounded the beast, a black hole began to form.

The creature, which had been frozen in place, twitched and, in an instant, parts of its black fur transformed into sharp spikes.

The moment those spikes were about to launch towards Benate—

“Your Majesty!”

Without thinking, Ailie picked up a stone from the cave floor and threw it at the beast.

Was it just luck, or instinct, in the heat of the moment?

The stone hit its target.

The spikes that had been poised to fire clattered uselessly to the ground. As luck would have it, the jagged edge of the stone appeared to have hit a vulnerable spot. Dark-violet blood began to drip steadily from the creature’s body.

But this was not enough to bring it down.

The beast remained standing, radiating a sinister, oppressive presence.

Her hands shook violently.

Had she done the right thing, or had she only made everything worse?

Then, in the very next instant—

—thunk!

Benate’s sword drove straight through the beast’s throat. As he pulled the blade out, grotesque, dark-violet blood sprayed in all directions.

The beast let out a strangled, agonized cry.

—and then—

—Thud.

It collapsed backwards.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Ailie let out a long breath, leaned against the cave wall, and slid down to the ground.

“We survived. Thank goodness.”

She wiped the cold sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

“Your Majesty—are you all right?”

When no one responded to her question, Ailie spoke up.

Benate stood there in silence, his head bowed low. The dark-violet blood coating his body dripped steadily onto the ground.

In the silence, she could hear his ragged breathing.

“Your Majesty?”

Something was wrong.

In a trembling voice, Ailie called out to him again.

Still, there was no response.

She approached him cautiously.

Maybe the shock had overwhelmed him. Even armed, facing a magical beast of that size would have been overwhelming.

“This is bad.”

The words came from Benate at last, murmured in a low, strained voice.

Now that she was close, she could see that he was gripping his left hand tightly. His white glove, soaked with the beast’s blood, was stained a deep red.

Surely that red couldn’t be—

“Your Majesty, don’t tell me…”

“It was a poisoned spike. I knew something felt off.”

Benate answered, suppressing a groan.

He then tugged the glove off with his teeth. A dark purple bruise was already spreading around the bleeding wound and his pale hand was shaking violently.

Ailie’s rose-colored eyes wavered as she took in the sight.

“I removed the spike, but I’m not sure about the poison. It looks like it’s already spreading.”

Benate let out a small, almost joking laugh. The corner of his mouth, forced upwards, trembled spasmodically.

Ailie frowned and shook her head.

It was her fault. One of the poisoned spikes had been aimed at Benate.

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that really something you need to apologize for? If you hadn’t thrown that stone, the beast would have fired all of those poisoned spikes at me.”

“……”

“If that had happened, I’d already be down.”

Ailie shook her head again.

He was right. By throwing the stone, they had gained precious time. If Benate had taken all of those poisoned spikes head-on, he probably wouldn’t be conscious now.

The time she’d been given back then had been no more than an instant. She hadn’t had a weapon.

‘I know. There was no time. That was the best I could do.’

And yet—

An inexplicable guilt writhed inside her chest, making it feel tight, as though her heart were being squeezed.

Ailie turned her gaze away, almost fleeing. It was hard to face the eyes that might be looking at her.

“Stay here. I’ll go. I’ll find a physician—or at least learn where the villa is.”

The words slipped out in a strained voice.

She couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

If she didn’t act, she felt she would suffocate under the pressure. Ailie took a step towards the cave entrance.

—Tap.

But at that moment, Benate swiftly took her hand.

Despite it being his uninjured right hand, it felt cold.

“It’s dark outside.”

“But there’s no time, Your Majesty. We can’t just wait for morning to come.”

“True. Which is why we’ll go together.”

“…The beast is already dealt with. It’s safer for you to stay inside the cave.”

“Ailie.”

Benate called her name stubbornly.

The blue eyes fixed on her were calm. Steady.

And then—

“Didn’t I ask you before? To stay somewhere I could see you—no matter where that was.”

A line she had thought a momentary impulse—

“I asked you to keep me alive.”

Spilled from his lips once more.

His voice sounded so desperate, as though her absence were more unbearable than death itself.

If it were a lie, she wished he’d make it obvious.

‘The problem is… it doesn’t sound like one.’

Even knowing it couldn’t be true, her heart wavered helplessly.

In the end, Ailie raised her hands in surrender to Benate’s stubbornness.

“…All right. Let’s go look—whether it’s the carriage or the villa.”

“Good.”

“You don’t need support?”

“For now, I’m fine.”

“It’s dark, and the ground’s slippery. Be careful.”

“I will.”

He accepted her list of concerns without complaint.

Soon, they stepped over the beast’s corpse, left the cave behind, and disappeared into the darkness. They relied not on light, but on each other’s hands.

***

It was a dark forest, heavy with the scent of rain-soaked earth.

Although her eyes had adjusted enough for her to make out her surroundings a little, finding a path was still difficult.

What time could it be now?

Ailie looked up at the sky, where dawn stubbornly refused to break, and let out a quiet sigh.

Without light to guide them, it was hard to locate the villa or the carriage. She couldn’t make out Benate’s complexion clearly, let alone discern the extent of the purple bruising on his left hand.

“Are you all right?”

All she could do was ask.

Each time she asked, Benate answered readily.

“Still am.”

She felt as though she had heard the same response two hours ago.

But what truly mattered was that the poison wasn’t spreading quickly. It wasn’t the kind that could decide life or death within minutes.

If he had swallowed all of those poisoned spikes…

Ailie shook her head hard.

‘There was a time when I thought—if I could take your life, I would.’

There had been a time when she believed that being burned at the stake in the middle of the street would be preferable to living on after her regression — provided she could kill him first.

And yet, somehow, Ailie was startled by her own fickleness. How could she have thought such things and yet be so shaken when Benate was in danger?

She had no intention of forgiving him. Not in the slightest. The memories from before her regression were still vivid: Seeing Donata in her bedroom with him.

Those pale blue eyes looking down at her as though she were an insect.

She could still hear every cruel, meaningless word he had said to her in that dry, chilling tone.

And yet—there were things she still couldn’t make sense of.

‘The trip to the festival in the Kingdom of Picus. The bouquet I received back then.’

If he were to die now, with all those questions unanswered—

‘I’ll never understand.’

Why their memories didn’t align.
Why Benate had saved her again and again without hesitation.
What he had meant when he said he was jealous of Sirion and Ricciardo.
Whether he truly didn’t know Donata Seidler at all.

Every one of those unanswered questions would remain with Ailie forever.

She would spend her life trying to piece them together—only to find herself unable to truly hate him, or truly miss him.

‘No.’

That would be worse than meeting the same ending as before her regression.

“Wait… Ailie.”

“Yes?”

That was when Benate stopped in place and bowed his head.

“Support me… for a moment. I tried to hold out until the end, but it’s not easy.”

His voice was so weak that it sounded as though it might break at any moment. Shallow, labored breathing accompanied it, barely concealing pain.

There was no time to think.

Ailie hurriedly slipped Benate’s arm over her shoulder.

Once more, she moved forward in search of the carriage or the villa.