Chapter 11 (Part 1)
In front of the Papal Palace, Anthus, who seemed ready to destroy everything, stopped his aura and looked up at the sky. His eyes turned red. With trembling lips, he spread his arms toward the sky and shouted.
“Lia!”
With Elisha’s help, Yuliana had escaped and felt Anthus’s mana.
“Yan!”
[Is that him?]
“Yes, that’s right. He’s the one I love most.”
[Right. It’s a verbal contract, but tell me your name.]
“My surname is Loengrin, and my name is Yuliana.”
<You were the chosen one… That’s why it felt so tender.>
“The chosen one? I couldn’t hear the last part because of the wind, Elisha.”
<You’ll soon understand what being the chosen one means.>
Yuliana, surrounded by golden light, slowly descended. As she got closer to the ground, Anthus grew more anxious.
Anthus pushed off the ground and jumped high. He embraced her mid-air and landed safely. He tucked her golden hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead and eyes. Feeling Anthus’s presence, Yuliana felt relieved.
Tears welled up in Anthus’s reddened eyes.
“Lia…”
Yuliana hugged Anthus’s neck tightly and cried. Her hand touched his cheek. Anthus felt her warmth fully, kissed her palm, and shed tears.
“This isn’t a dream, right? It’s not an illusion I created because I missed you so much, is it?”
By now, Anthus’s face was covered in tears.
“Yan, I knew you’d come to save me.”
“Of course, I had to.”
Anthus thought he could control his life. But that was arrogance. Only Yuliana could truly control his life.
Anthus started planting small kisses around Yuliana’s lips. Then he licked the loving droplets on her reddened eyes. They cried tenderly and sadly for a long time, feeling each other’s warmth.
“But Lia… how did you escape?”
“The spirit of light helped me.”
“The spirit of light?”
“Yes. It removed the magic restraint from my neck and broke the wall to help me escape.”
Yuliana pointed at her neck and explained to Anthus.
Seeing the red bruise around Yuliana’s neck, Anthus quietly fumed. His hands trembled at the thought of Yuliana being forced to wear a magic restraint. The red-stained wound on her white neck disturbed his mind.
“I’m sorry for not protecting you…”
“It was unavoidable.”
Once again, Anthus’s eyes turned red.
“Stop crying, Yan…”
“I’m so upset. I’m sorry for not arriving sooner. Lia, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t think that way. I’m grateful you came to save me. Now, stop crying. When you cry, it makes me sad too. If I’m sad, our baby in my belly will cry too.”
At Yuliana’s words, Anthus wiped his eyes. He placed his hand on Yuliana’s belly. Anthus kissed her temple and cheek, feeling grateful for the moment.
[Your beloved man cries a lot.]
“He’s tender-hearted, Elisha.”
At Yuliana’s words, Anthus tilted his head.
“Is the spirit of light, Elisha, with you?”
“Can’t you see?”
“No, I can’t see anything.”
[Without spirit affinity, it’s impossible to see or talk to me.]
Yuliana nodded and explained to Anthus.
“I see. I’m glad you have spirit affinity, Lia.”
“Yes.”
[And having spirit affinity doesn’t guarantee you can see or talk to the spirit of light.]
“What do you mean, Elisha?”
[To see the spirit of light, you also need divine power.]
“What?”
[But you don’t have divine power. However, the child does.]
At Elisha’s words, Yuliana placed her hand on her belly and smiled. It was then.
“Young Lady!”
“Luda, you’re safe.”
Seeing Luda running toward Yuliana, Anthus released his hold on her waist.
Luda threw herself into Yuliana’s arms. Like Anthus, Luda’s face was covered in tears, and she could only repeat that she was sorry while crying.
“I’m sorry for getting captured. I’m disqualified as a battle maid.”
“It’s okay, Luda. Stop crying.”
[Luda has already been saved. There’s no need for me to step in.]
“Thanks to the courage you gave me, Elisha, I was able to meet Luda. Thank you.”
Yuliana felt she had successfully escaped and smiled brightly.
* * *
After seeing Yuliana descend slowly, surrounded by bright light, Rybid replenished his divine power and immediately followed her out of the Papal Palace. He saw Anthus and Yuliana hugging tightly in front of him. He also confirmed Luda was by Yuliana’s side.
“No wonder… there was a reason she escaped so boldly.”
Unable to contain his rising anger, Rybid shouted with divine power.
“Get away from my partner immediately!”
Hearing the voice, Anthus and Yuliana looked at Rybid.
“Lia, come to me now! You are my partner, and you’re carrying my child! You can’t go anywhere!”
Naturally, Anthus’s patience had long disappeared like sand slipping through his fingers. Rybid was clearly insane. No sane person would claim the child as theirs in front of him.
Anthus pulled Yuliana tightly into his arms and kissed her. Even after pulling away from her lips, he continued to kiss her face and neck, making loud smacking sounds, as if to show Rybid.
“Get away! I said get away!”
Furious at their actions, Rybid stomped his foot on the ground and shouted.
“I’m kissing my lovely wife, but a fly keeps buzzing around, being noisy.”
Divine power began to gather in Rybid’s hands.
Anthus was dumbfounded. No matter how angry someone was, would they attack while claiming the woman and the child as theirs? Anthus hid Yuliana behind him and gripped his sword tightly, glaring at Rybid.
“Truly insane.”
“Return my woman to me. I’ll pretend I didn’t see that kiss just now! Lia is mine! Anthus Rockbellion!”
Rybid kept shouting, repeating the demand to hand over Yuliana. Of course, Anthus listened with one ear and let it out the other.
“Lia.”
“Yes, Yan.”
Anthus whispered softly into Yuliana’s ear.
“After you were kidnapped by the pope, I spoke with your father and submitted the marriage certificate. From now on, Lia, you must stay by my side as the Duchess of Rockbellion for the rest of your life.”
Hearing Anthus’s words, Yuliana smiled.
“I was worried… A kidnapped noble lady… has a high chance of being annulled. But I had faith in the love you showed me, Yan, so I was more eager to see you than anxious.”
Yuliana knew that once rescued, a kidnapped young lady who announced her pregnancy would be the talk of the town, with people questioning the timing of the pregnancy. Her greatest fear was that the child in her belly wouldn’t be acknowledged.
“I’m more possessive than I appear. No matter what you go through… I have no intention of letting you go.”
Tears flowed from Yuliana’s eyes.
“Now I’ve become the Duchess of Rockbellion.”
Anthus kissed the back of Yuliana’s hand and said,
“Indeed, Duchess of Rockbellion. And there’s no need to worry about rumors.”
With the Sirius Empire declaring war on the Holy Kingdom, people’s attention was focused on the war. The fact that Yuliana had been kidnapped was a top-secret known to only a few. Even if rumors spread, they could be silenced under the name of Rockbellion.
“Lia, you weren’t kidnapped. You came with me to invade the Holy Kingdom. So there’s no need to worry. It seems Pope Rybid is preparing to attack.”
Yuliana turned her gaze in the direction Anthus indicated. Enormous divine power was gathering above Rybid’s head.
“With the spell I’m using now, you might die! So come to me now, Lia! If you don’t, I’ll kill everyone!”
Feeling Rybid’s obsessive gaze, Yuliana shook her head while holding her belly.
Anthus gripped his sword and spoke sharply.
“I’m trying to control my anger because of the child in the womb, but I’m extremely angry. Why do you keep insisting that our child is yours?”
“Yan… Pope Rybid said the child in my belly has divine power and intends to make him the next pope.”
“It seems your mother’s power was passed on to the child.”
“Give me Lia! Astraphe! If I drop this, everyone will die!”
“Astraphe…”
It was the final spell Fidelion had shouted in the spirit of light Elisha’s past, and Elisha had desperately tried to stop it.
“What’s wrong, Lia?”
“The Astraphe spell shouldn’t be used…”
It was a tense moment. At that instant, Donnie, Huesman, and the Rockbellion knights arrived.
“Duke! What’s that? Is it a new toy?”
Donnie asked Anthus.
“It’s not even a toy; it’s a sewer bug, so you can’t play with it, Donnie. And I’m the one who has to deal with that bug, so step back.”
“Lia is mine! The child in her belly is my child! It’s mine!”
The Rockbellion knights knew. Anthus had boasted about Yuliana’s pregnancy. And since the marriage certificate had been processed before departure, Yuliana was no longer Lady Loengrin but officially the Duchess of Rockbellion.
“That piece of trash just said what? His child? Can I kill him, Duke?”
Grogi said, drawing his sword.
“Grogi. The duke is going to handle the bug, so don’t interfere.”
Huesman calmed the excited knights while quietly suppressing his own anger. Rybid’s words instantly turned the Duchess of Rockbellion into a woman who had committed adultery. It was an incredibly disgraceful statement.
“That guy is completely insane.”
“Does he have multiple lives?”
As the enraged knights gathered and began to emit a murderous aura, Anthus shouted at them.
“Everyone, calm down! Put away your murderous intent. Our baby in the belly will be scared!”
At Anthus’s words, Huesman, Donnie, the knights, and the commanders put away their murderous intent and started smiling.
“We’re sorry, Duchess. We were so angry at Pope Rybid’s words that we couldn’t help it…”
“It’s okay. But Pope Rybid’s appearance doesn’t look right.”
Rybid bit his lower lip until it bled, seething with anger.