Chapter 80

Clang—!

Eurell slashed at the assailant charging toward her and spoke.

Even as she said so, Eurell faced the assailant with a calm demeanor, showing no sense of urgency.

“But don’t tell me… Did you sprinkle the sleeping powder on your sword earlier?”

“Yes. Isn’t it effective?”

She playfully waved the dagger, which was heavily coated in sleeping powder.

The reason the assailants collapsed after only shallow stabs from her dagger was precisely because of that.

The moment she saw the peculiar merchant selling the sleeping powder, she had wondered, “What if I sprinkled this on my dagger?”

Since her dagger had a shorter attack range than a longsword, she thought it necessary to compensate with a decisive move.

Seeing the assailants fall into a deep sleep, she realized that the peculiar merchant had finally created a useful product this time.

“This is a real treasure.”

Eurell stared at her, who was beaming with pride.

What? Why that look? Don’t tell me, are you becoming like Pell too…?

However, the words that came out of Eurell’s mouth were unexpectedly praise.

“Well done.”

Then, he advised her to hold the dagger properly and gracefully dealt with the assailant.

While she was busily dealing with the assailants, another one charged at her from behind.

“Watch out!”

Thud!

She attacked the assailant with her sword. Eurell, who had just finished dealing with the assailants in front, turned to her with a surprised expression.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

“Of course.”

How much had I suffered until now?

Even thinking about the grueling days under Eched’s training made her tremble with unease.

Still, with a real situation to put her training to use, she thought it hadn’t been in vain after all.

The situation was quickly brought under control.

The guards arrived just in time to assist the knights in subduing the assailants.

Once the attackers were subdued, mages from the Mage Tower arrived to rescue those trapped under the rubble, and holy healers began treating the injured.

Amid the aftermath of the storm that had swept through the square, she sighed as she watched the scene unfold.

Eched was busy directing the scene.

Anella was equally busy assisting the holy healers in treating people.

In the midst of such chaos, she wondered if she was the only one taking it easy.

It was then.

One of the subdued assailants suddenly let out a strange cry and charged toward her.

Even though luck seemed to be on her side today, her basic stamina was not enough to keep up.

Already drained from the unfamiliar combat, her reaction was slow as she relaxed her tension.

Even as she saw the assailant’s sword swinging toward her, she couldn’t dodge it easily and ended up being slashed on the shoulder.

“Lady Shaterian!”

Anella’s sharp cry rang out as the assailant fell, slashed by Eched’s sword.

She, who had collapsed to the ground from the impact of the slash, looked up at Eched.

Eched stared at her with a shocked expression.

She had only meant to help but ended up being a burden, leaving her feeling uneasy.

“Are you alright?”

Eched knelt on one knee and carefully grasped her arm.

“It’s not a deep wound… Ah…!”

As he touched her arm, a sharp pain surged, causing her to grimace.

Seeing her expression, Eched’s brow furrowed as well. She had intended to reassure him, but instead, she ended up making him worry.

“I’ll take a look at the wound.”

“Thank you…”

Though she said she was fine, it had been a long time since she had felt such pain, and she wasn’t used to it.

The throbbing wound quickly healed under Anella’s treatment.

The injury seemed to be shallower than expected, as the treatment ended quickly. Her shoulder felt lighter than before, making her once again realize the greatness of holy healing.

Although her shoulder had healed thanks to Anella’s holy power, Eched still hadn’t relaxed his expression as he looked at her.

Certain that he was worried, she forced a bright smile.

“See? I’m all better now. So, stop making that face.”

But Eched’s expression didn’t ease.

Still, she couldn’t keep holding him back just to cheer him up.

Taking his hands in hers, she said, 

“I’m really fine. So, don’t worry.”

“Commander!”

At that moment, a voice calling for Eched came from behind.

She pushed against Eched’s chest, urging him to go.

Eched reluctantly stood up, looking as though he didn’t want to leave. Even after getting up, he lingered for a while before finally walking away.

“Lady Anella, I’m fine now.”

The pain had disappeared along with the wound, but her legs had given out from shock, leaving her unable to stand.

With so many injured, every helping hand was needed, and Anella couldn’t afford to stay any longer.

As she stood up, she looked at her with a worried expression and said, 

“If you feel any pain, call me again.”

“Alright.”

Smiling, she tried to reassure her.

After sitting on the rubble for a while to catch her breath, she finally began to feel a strange, pricking sensation in her shoulder.

Though Anella’s holy power had healed all her wounds, it felt as if her shoulder was aching again, like an old injury flaring up on a rainy day.

As she idly entertained such thoughts, the sound of explosions suddenly erupted.

Boom—! Boom boom boom—!

The *ssault had resumed. The earlier explosion had merely been the beginning.

The ground shook. Smoke billowed once more, and piles of rubble came crashing down.

And the moment the explosion sounded right behind her—

A piercing noise filled her ears, and her vision went dark.

***

‘Eched!’

Eched, who had dozed off momentarily, was startled awake by the sound of someone calling him.

It was unmistakably Shaterian’s voice.

However, Shaterian, lying on the bed, still had her eyes closed.

Eched let out a deep sigh and slumped back into his chair as if collapsing.

It had already been ten days since Shaterian had not opened her eyes.

During the Saintess’s parade and the festival held in the Empire, an unprecedented incident had occurred.

Buildings had collapsed, and assailants had attacked.

Coincidentally, the Saintess had been at the scene, leading people to speculate that the attackers had targeted her.

The Empire was still abuzz with the story, and the fervor had yet to subside.

The casualty count from that day had exceeded one hundred, leaving the citizens of the Empire gripped with fear.

And what had become another major topic of discussion was the fact that Shaterian, who had been at the scene, had fallen into a coma.

Reports had circulated that Shaterian had fought against the attackers and bled before being buried under the collapsing building. This news prompted people to fervently pray for the Duchess’s recovery.

The truth was that it was a miracle Shaterian was even alive and lying in bed.

Outwardly, she seemed perfectly fine, thanks to the numerous physicians who had treated her at the Ducal Residence. Yet, for some reason, Shaterian could not awaken.

Eched gazed intently at Shaterian, who lay on the bed.

Her face was no different from yesterday, but today it seemed paler, as though her fragile breath might cease at any moment, filling him with anxiety.

From the Imperial Palace physicians to the most renowned doctors in the Empire, everyone had come and gone, yet none could pinpoint the exact reason why Shaterian remained unconscious.

Some, however, suggested that the reason Shaterian had not awakened lay within her own heart.

‘So, you’re saying Terry doesn’t want to wake up?’

‘That seems likely. In most cases of comas, the patient’s will often determines life or death.’

Hearing this, Duchess Melis had collapsed. The idea that her only sister was lying there because she didn’t want to live had been too much for her to bear.

Eched found the suggestion that Shaterian was deliberately not waking up deeply unsettling.

Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to refute it.

Looking at Shaterian, who lay there with her eyes closed, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she truly wished to die.

Recalling Shaterian’s usual demeanor, it wasn’t hard to arrive at the answer.

Shaterian had always behaved as though she had no attachment to life.

She often seemed as if she were preparing herself to fly away somewhere at any moment.

In fact, she had even been making plans to purchase land for precisely that purpose.

“You really are…”

Eched’s expression grew heavy, and he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Even though Shaterian couldn’t respond, he feared that if she showed even the slightest hint of agreement, he might fall apart completely.

That was how fragile Eched’s emotional state had become.

For some reason, he found himself constantly watching over Shaterian with a worried expression, his nerves on edge.

It was a feeling Eched had never experienced before in his life.

Even after countless reincarnations, he had never once felt this way.

Eched had saved Shaterian’s past lives countless times.

But each time, it had not been his will.

It had always been the will of the reincarnated souls.

They had always begged Eched to save their lives.

Without exception.

Every single one of them had pleaded with Eched to save them.