“Coughed.”

The smoke thickened with each passing moment, and Elliope’s clarity of thought began to dissipate like the smoke. “Hah.” She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again, trying to hold onto her consciousness.

‘I need to calm down.’

She wasn’t sure what was happening, but she couldn’t just die like this.

‘I need to get out of here…’ 

She rushed to one of the windows in the annex and opened it.

Piiit!

Before the window could fully open, another dagger flew through the crack. Elliope ducked quickly and slammed the window shut. The same thing happened as she ran to another window and then another. It felt like she was surrounded. They would not let her escape.

‘Do they want me to burn to death in here? She let out a hollow laugh, almost unconsciously. She didn’t quite understand their intentions.’

‘Maybe.’

Perhaps Theodor or his associates had discovered Kallian’s true identity. She remembered what Dylan had told her about how the former Duke and his wife had relentlessly tried to track down and eliminate the Duke Elsen bloodline. 

If someone had found out Kallian’s identity and informed Theodor, and if they were planning to eliminate Kallian and her in order to wipe out the Elsen bloodline, sweat began to form in her palm. 

Despite her blurred vision, she couldn’t help but feel a growing fear of what might be happening to Kallian out there. Of course, Kallian wasn’t the type to fall easily… 

‘I must stay alert.”’

Elliope turned quickly. The window was no longer an option. If she was surrounded by skilled assassins, the chances of escape were almost non-existent. 

‘I need another exit

A basement or a hidden passageway… Just as she touched the wall, it hit her. 

‘One of the secret passages in the Duke’s residence, just in case.’ 

“There’s at least one in every building the Duke uses.”

The words suddenly flashed through her mind. After spending time in Theodor’s study with Kallian, he had used a secret passage to get her out, and he had mentioned that phrase. 

‘It should be here too.’ 

Suddenly her mind cleared. After all, this was an extension of the Duke’s residence. There had to be a hidden passage somewhere, just in case.

Fortunately, the house she had entered was a small, one-storey building. There was no need to search the whole huge building.

‘It was definitely near the study last time. In that case, there should be something similar near a room with a similar function here.’

“Hah.”

As soon as Elliope rushed towards what appeared to be the study, she focused her eyes and began to feel along the wall. Fortunately, the smoke hadn’t reached this far yet, so the wall was still clear, but the whole building was getting hotter and hotter.

‘It should be easy to find.’

“If you look closely at the wall, there will be a red dot.”

As her strength slowly faded, Elliope’s energy returned each time she remembered Kallian’s voice. It felt as if Kallian was right next to her, showing her the way and guiding her.

“…Y-ki.”

Elliope forced herself to swallow and made out the small dot. It was a red dot, about the size of a fingertip. The fact that Theodor hadn’t memorised the location of the passage proved to be a great help to her.

With trembling hands, she pressed the red dot with all her strength and the marked wall clicked and slid open. Soon the bookcase in the study opened, revealing the passage.

When the cave-like passage opened, Elliope immediately jumped inside. As she did so, she heard the sound of the door closing behind her.

“Hah, ugh…”

Thud!

The edge of her skirt caught in the gap of the closing door. With all her strength, she twisted her body forward. The skirt ripped and her body staggered forward. Thanks to her hands being on the floor, she barely managed to avoid a major fall.

The whole area was shrouded in darkness.

In the darkness, where she could not see an inch ahead, her heartbeat suddenly quickened. It was as if the men chasing her would soon realise she had jumped in here, chase after her and plunge a sword into her heart.

She moved forward unsteadily, stumbling several times. In the dark passage, she couldn’t even tell if she was going in the right direction, and she began to lose confidence in where she was going.

‘I still have to keep walking.’

She walked aimlessly, stumbling, getting up, stumbling again, and all the time she couldn’t stop thinking about Kallian. Her sense of time began to fade.

She couldn’t tell if she was going in the right direction. There was no light anywhere.

“Kallian.”

Whenever she felt like collapsing, she repeated Kallian’s name. She couldn’t understand when his name had started to give her so much strength.

“Kallian.”

Although he had been dethroned, exiled, and stripped of his name, he, her avenger, had managed to reclaim Elsen and was now waiting for the right moment. Reflecting on his accomplishments, she realized there was nothing he couldn’t achieve.

The chill of the cold stone walls quickly drained the heat from her body, but she pressed on, hands and feet scraped and bruised. 

Thud.

The next moment, her outstretched fingers brushed against a solid wall. Elliope froze for a moment before feeling urgently along the wall. 

“…” 

There was no light, no way out. 

She wondered if she had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but this path was narrow and straight. The entrance she had entered didn’t feel like those solid stone walls; it had the texture of wooden bookshelves.

“Haha.”

So it was an endless passage. All her strength drained from her body. She leaned against the wall and only then did her body begin to tremble.

She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes. The thought that she needed to get up and find the exit briefly crossed her mind, but the overwhelming exhaustion quickly took over. 

Just a little longer and she would stay like this. The whispering voice slowly faded away.

***

“Did we do it?”

The men who had been pacing outside the annex exchanged uneasy glances. One of the masked men spoke in a hesitant voice.

“Shouldn’t we have killed her?”

“Who would survive this fire?”

Another man replied quickly, looking back at the window of the house.

“Shall we go in now…?”

“Are you suggesting that we should make sure she’s dead? The Viscount’s noble wife? I won’t do it. If you’re going to do it, do it.”

“….”

“I took the money, but… this job is already too risky. Any more risk and…”

The man didn’t finish his sentence.

Thud!

A sharp, heavy object pierced the man’s heart in an instant. His body crumpled and fell to the ground with a thud. The other man who had been talking to him gasped in shock, his eyes wide in disbelief. 

“What…!” 

Ka-kang! 

“Ahh!” 

Before he could react, another blow pierced the remaining man’s arm. His hand, holding the reins, fell uselessly to the ground. The horse, startled, reared up, whinnying loudly. 

Hee-ee-eeing!

As the horse shook its body, the man, now without a grip on the reins, fell to the ground. The force of the impact rippled through his body. Leaving the man behind, the horse began to charge furiously into the forest.

“No…!”

At that moment, as the man watched the horse gallop away, he reached out a trembling arm.

“Krk, hah!”

A powerful blow struck the man’s skull. The last thing he saw was a pair of icy blue eyes.

“Lord!”

A few knights, desperately trailing behind Kallian, called out to him. Without hesitation, Kallian threw the man he had just knocked out towards the knights. Although the man was an adult of considerable weight, he looked like a lifeless doll when Kallian threw him. 

“My lord, what shall we do with him…?” 

“Take him and interrogate him.” 

As the knights scrambled to catch the man, Kallian’s gaze shifted to the annex, now fully engulfed in flames. Before the knights could stop him, Kallian leapt into the fire. 

“My lord!”

The knights, their faces pale, gathered anxiously, unsure of what to do next.

Bang! Bang!

Thick, choking smoke enveloped the area. The glass windows, unable to withstand the heat, exploded in several places. Confusion and panic filled the faces of the knights as they looked around.

“How… how did this happen…?”

“This isn’t the time for this! We need to get in there and get the lord out…”

“Hey! What are you all doing here?”

As they argued, several other knights rushed towards them with serious expressions on their faces.

“All the guests and the Duke are gathered in the main hall, so join them!”

“B-but the Lord…!”

“The Lord? You mean Sir Kallian?”

“He’s inside the house right now!”

At that moment, a group of knights gathered, their faces full of shock.

Crash!

“Ugh!”

Amidst the flames, Kallian walked with a disturbing calm, as if the flames surrounding him had no effect. Even as sparks flew through the air, his black hair fluttered in the wind and his piercing blue eyes glowed brighter than the flames themselves. The orange and yellow sparks from the fire briefly touched his dark robes, crackling for a moment before fading into nothingness.

“…”

The knights stood in stunned silence, at a loss for words, overwhelmed by his intense and ferocious presence. 

Despite the massive fire that had engulfed the entire building, he appeared almost unharmed, though his hands were blistered and the his had peeled away.

The burnt leather gloves were almost melted and stuck to his skin. It was as if he had tried to remove something hot, but couldn’t.

Although the wounds were visibly painful, he showed no signs of discomfort. His battered hands still held a charred piece of a woman’s dress.

“Lord!”

“Sir Kallian!”

Despite the cries of others, Kallian remained silent, seemingly deep in thought as he muttered to himself.

“The end of the passage.”

“Sir!”

Murmuring words no one could understand, Kallian grabbed a nearby horse, mounted it and charged towards the main building.