Pardon the Abduction, Holy Knight - It's an Emergency - Chapter 1.10

Among them were Serena’s friends.

“Ma-Marquis Berto.”

The corners of Serena’s mouth trembled in surprise.

“My Serena. What were you doing here alone?”

“I was just, just…”

“My goodness. So the rumors were true.”

As Serena was about to answer, the other nobles who had come along started to speak up one by one.

“Since when have you been in such a relationship?”

“You two really suit each other well.”

As Serena awkwardly looked up at Marquis Berto, he smiled gently.

Serena’s cheeks were about to flush at that sculptured handsome face when suddenly.

“More importantly, Serena.”

Marquis Berto placed his hand on Serena’s shoulder and spoke affectionately.

“How long do you intend to make me feel neglected?”

“…Marquis?”

Serena sensed an ominous feeling from Berto’s curved eye corners for some reason.

“Are you ashamed of our token of love?”

“What… No, don’t!”

But it was before Serena could even react.

Berto had already brushed aside the hair covering Serena’s back.

“Gasp…!”

“Oh, my goodness.”

Serena hurriedly tried to cover her back with her hands.

But it was after everyone had already seen the name ‘Lucian Berto’ engraved on Serena’s back.

“Just now, on Lady Winter’s back…”

“I can’t believe it. Something only low-class slaves would do…”

Even her friends began to shoot contemptuous glances, and Serena stumbled backward, unable to breathe.

Her mother, who had been watching Serena from afar, fainted while clutching her forehead, and her father was glaring at her with a face about to explode.

“Ah. Isn’t it lovely?”

Only Marquis Berto seemed moved, his eyes reddening.

“My Serena.”

***

“What do I do now? What am I supposed to do?!”

Late at night.

Serena burst into the consulting office, having evaded surveillance to make this clandestine visit. Her voice erupted in a near-scream as she entered.

Rosemary, seemingly unsurprised by the sudden intrusion, responded with calm composure as if she had anticipated this very scenario.

“So what seems to be the problem, customer?”

“What’s the problem? You call that a question! I can’t even set foot in the capital now. My father is threatening to disown me from the family, so forget about the capital…”

Serena bit her nails to the point of bleeding.

“I shouldn’t have listened to your advice. Because of you… because of you, everything’s ruined!!”

“Why is that my fault?”

“Everything… What did you say?”

Serena, who had been gnawing on her nails, raised her head.

Her eyes, which had been staring intently at the face hidden by the guild proprietor’s robe, grew wider.

Although other parts weren’t visible, she could see the smoothly upturned lips.

“Did my advice not work on the Marquis?”

“What…?”

“That can’t be. I clearly remember you being happy, saying your relationship with the Marquis had progressed.”

Serena, blinking with a dumbfounded expression, muttered.

“Is that important right now?”

“Is there anything more important than that?”

“You… didn’t you hear what I said? Because of you, I…!”

“Customer.”

Rosemary moved closer to Serena than usual and looked her straight in the eyes.

Behind the silver mask, sky-blue eyes as clear as the heavens.

It felt like someone’s face might appear in Serena’s mind.

“I gave you what you wanted, the Marquis’s love. Why are you blaming me for everything else?”

Rosemary stepped back again with a smirk.

Serena gaped.

“Wait. You… who are you?”

She had a sense of déjà vu.

Although the atmosphere was the opposite of someone she knew, those eyes were certainly…

“You should throw tantrums where they might work.”

“You… what?”

“You’re doing this because you don’t want to pay the remaining balance, right? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Whee-

As Rosemary whistled, a black dog emerged from the pitch-dark kitchen, baring its terrifying teeth and drooling.

“Grrrr….”

“Eek!”

Serena let out a shrill scream in fear.

“St-stay away! Go away!!”

“We always consider our customers’ convenience, so payment is possible with other means even if you don’t have cash.”

Rosemary’s gaze slowly swept over the earrings and necklace Serena was wearing.

“Fortunately, that should be enough.”

***

Bang, bang, bang-!

Adriel sat on the bed, focusing on the sound coming from outside the door.

“Is this enough, Master?”

“Well done, Wit.”

Rosemary Ferial was praising the demon who had fixed the door so it couldn’t be opened from inside the room.

Adriel glared at the door with calmly settled eyes.

How long would he have to be trapped here?

The temple must already be in chaos with his disappearance.

He might even have been expelled from the knighthood, misunderstood as having run away.

“…Damn it.”

This shouldn’t have happened.

Wasn’t it the place he had entered to catch and kill the demon who murdered his beloved family?

That was Adriel’s lifelong task and mission, something he had to accomplish whether alive or dead.

Yet here he was, wasting time trapped in a place like this.

He felt irritation rising towards himself.

‘That wicked woman.’

Adriel’s fine brows furrowed deeply as his thoughts turned to Rosemary Ferial.

She was a woman he had disliked from the very beginning.

Everything about her repelled him: from her obsessive gaze that clung to him persistently, to her contrived appearances before him, feigning coincidence while begging for love.

He had always suspected her tenacious nature would cause trouble someday, but he never imagined she would go to such extreme lengths.

“Now, shall we start preparing the meal?”

Rosemary’s humming voice could be heard from outside the door.

Adriel looked at the window in the room.

Although he couldn’t see outside due to the nailed wooden boards, the faint light coming through allowed him to distinguish whether it was day or night.

Adriel’s expression turned serious.

He needed to find a way to escape without signing that contract.

The demon contracted with Rosemary Ferial could be found and killed anytime, if not immediately.

As Adriel was considering his options, he suddenly thought about pretending.

Pretending to love that villainess, acting docile to put her at ease, and then secretly escaping.

“……”

Adriel closed his eyes tightly.

The thought of professing love to Rosemary made him feel sick.

Even if it was a lie, having to pretend to love that villainess.

It was disgustingly unpleasant.

‘But I still have to do it.’

It was the only way to escape this place.