Chapter 9.2 – Hunting Festival (Part 2)

With the snow piled so high that it swallowed his feet, she probably hadn’t gotten far.

“Ah, this is really annoying.”

Thinking that he should drag her back by her hair and slap her a few times once he caught her, the man licked the blood off the sword. His demeanor was entirely different from when he had been struck by the sword earlier.

“Yeah, let’s see who wins. So go ahead, hide well. Run hard-.”

There was a reason he was the only one, apart from the Northerners, who knew the perilous path along the northern border so well. It was the perfect route for secretly transporting test subjects. As a result, he was very familiar with this place.

Of course, he had caught many who tried to escape through this snowy field.

Meanwhile, Ria continued to run along the rough mountain path without stopping. Though her feet sank deep into the snow, and her vision was obscured by the sharp, piercing snowflakes, and her body grew cold, she kept running, looking only ahead.

‘How, how…….’

The only thought in her mind was that question. 

How did that man use sorcery?

“Ugh-.”

As the thought of the sorcery she had seen earlier resurfaced, nausea rose immediately. Her whole body rejected it, warning her that she mustn’t come into contact with it.

Just then, a tree in front of her seemed to shake, and the man suddenly appeared. Instead of trudging through the difficult, snow-covered ground, he had pursued her from above, demonstrating how accustomed he was to this situation.

Ria, inhaling sharply, halted her steps and began to backtrack, retreating from the path she had been running. The man sneered at her and closed the distance with long strides.

“I’m in a really bad mood right now. I went to the trouble of treating you well because I was told to bring you back nicely, and you think of escaping like this?”

“Eek!”

Then, he immediately reached out and grabbed her hair roughly. The yellow ribbon tying her hair came loose, and the knot slackened.

“This is why you can’t understand when you’re spoken to nicely. You need a good beating to come to your senses, don’t you?”

“Let go of me!”

“Shut up because you’re noisy! I’m barely holding back from wanting to break your leg.”

The grip was so strong it felt like her hair would be torn out. Tears of fear and pain streamed down her cheeks. Her attempted escape had failed miserably. She didn’t know the fate of Sir Mikel, and the only person she could rely on now was the Countess, who had likely gone to the imperial palace.

But even that seemed unlikely to help in this situation. She had no idea how long it would take to reach her. If she were extremely lucky, maybe, but having already failed once, she couldn’t leave everything to chance.

At that moment, she remembered the dagger hidden in her clothing.

She had only ever used a knife for everyday tasks like cooking or cutting, so she thought she wouldn’t be able to stab a person. Even Sir Mikel, who had given her the dagger, had said it was just for self-defense, out of concern. However…

Ria struggled to make it seem like she was trying to break free, slipping one hand into her clothing. She felt something solid in her grip.

‘I have to do it. If I want to survive.’

Her hand trembled as she grasped the dagger’s handle, but she tightened her grip. If she let herself be taken like this, there was no telling what might happen. The man’s emotions were already heightened, so it was clear she would face worse than before.

Glancing at him as he continued to mutter curses, Ria bit her lip, drew the dagger from its sheath, and plunged it deeply into his thigh.

“Aaaagh!”

The man screamed, clutching his thigh with one hand, completely unprepared for this. Ria felt his grip on her hair loosen and used all her remaining strength to break free from him.

“Ugh, damn it!”

Pulling the dagger from his thigh, the man steadied his swaying body, glaring with bloodshot eyes at the retreating figure of black hair. There was a murderous intent in his gaze that hadn’t been there before.

The command to bring her back unharmed was forgotten. Consumed by murderous rage, he moved with only one thought in mind.

Ria, glancing back with tears streaking her face, saw him closing in and felt her already pale face grow even paler.

A deep, suffocating fear clung to her relentlessly. Her legs, threatening to give out, wobbled precariously, and her vision blurred with tears and swirling snowflakes.

In the end, she didn’t see the sloped cliff and fell.

Without time to scream, her body was airborne, plummeting into the snowy ground, rolling further and further down. Rocks and branches protruding from the snow scraped and cut her body.

After rolling for a while, she finally stopped, her body lying limp and motionless. Sticky, red blood spread across the white snow.

The man, who had lost her just within reach, punched a nearby tree in frustration as he stood on the cliff.

‘Damn it, if she was going to die, she should have done it after we arrived!’

His mind, returning to its senses too late in this unexpected situation, bit his lip and carefully descended using the surrounding trees to check if she was alive. But just as he was about to touch her…

‘……!’

Swords extended from all directions, aimed at his throat.

His body froze, and he swallowed hard. The sharp tip of the sword touched his moving Adam’s apple, sending a tingling sensation that stopped him from swallowing again.

Soon, footsteps approached him from the darkness. As the sound grew closer, layers of fear filled the man’s eyes.

He had made a mistake. Blinded by murderous intent, he had forgotten the most important thing.

“There were still rats daring to enter my territory.”

That he should never cross the northern border.

The oppressive pressure from the figure standing before him felt like it would crush him. Every cell in his body screamed in agony.

The figure, slowly surveying the situation with only his eyes, paused when he saw the woman bleeding red against her snow-white skin. His pupils briefly wavered, and he tightened his grip on the cane he held.

“Come to think of it, there was a guy who used to sneak up along the border.”

After a while, a voice, choked and strained, echoed through the white forest. The man, knowing he was the subject of the conversation, flinched.

“Sometimes causing chaos outside the border while transporting people.”

“…….”

“I never thought you’d come to pay the price yourself.”

“N-no! I—!”

“Lock him up.”

“Yes.”

“Please, spare me! It was a mistake! I was wrong, mmph! Mmph!”

The deep navy blue eyes, as cold as the deep sea, watched the man being dragged away, mouth covered, then turned back to Ria.

“…….”

Without the earlier oppressive pressure or coldness, his eyes, filled only with sorrow and anguish, saw someone else superimposed over Ria.

He carefully knelt on one knee, lifted Ria into his arms, and brought his hand, now free of the black leather glove, to her nose. Unlike the strong arms supporting her body, his wrinkled, calloused hand trembled endlessly.

The trembling only stopped when he confirmed the faint but unmistakable breath.

“Ha-.”

A sigh of relief escaped him. He carefully wrapped his cloak around Ria, stood up, and adjusted her in his arms. The surprising lightness of her weight made him let out a worried sigh without realizing it.

He turned and began to walk, his pace somewhat hurried.