Creak, clang.
Only after the massive grain warehouse door shut tightly and locked did the group exhale sharply, as if releasing the breath they had been holding.
Kraaagh. Grrr.
Beyond the thick door, the furious roars of the monsters deprived of their prey continued endlessly.
As if trying to ram their rotten bodies against the unyielding barrier, the door trembled slightly at intervals, but the massive iron-reinforced structure—built precisely for such situations—did not suffer any real damage.
After briefly waiting near the door, the men gently set Aileen and Mari down and caught their breath.
The man who had carried Aileen by the waist pointed at three of the others and issued an order.
“Emmett, Hudson, and Bill—check if there are any possible entry points.”
“Yes.”
Still slightly unsteady, Aileen quickly stepped forward.
“Please wait. I know the structure of this place.”
First, she needed to explain the warehouse layout.
The urgent issue was not the main entrance, but sealing the second-floor windows.
“There are only two entrances into this place—the door we came through and another at the back. The back door is usually locked. However, there are two windows on the second floor, so just in case—”
At her words, the sharp gaze of the black-haired man briefly swept over her.
Then he gestured toward Emmett and Hudson as if ordering them to follow her instructions.
Watching them leap up to the second floor, he turned back to Aileen.
“Who are you? And didn’t you have the key to this warehouse earlier?”
The question sounded indifferent, but Aileen felt the sharp suspicion hidden beneath it and flinched.
Fear rose so intensely that even the fine hairs on her body stood on end. She quickly lowered herself into a respectful bow.
“I greet the Fourth Blessing of Aria and the Empire’s Black Shield—His Highness the Prince.”
At her words, the man’s perfectly set brows twisted sharply.
He stepped closer, his lips curling upward—not in a smile, but something closer to a threat.
“How did you know I was the prince?”
Before she could react, a blade appeared beneath her chin, catching faint moonlight as it flashed.
His tone remained calm, but killing intent already lingered in his eyes.
She could not even feel the cold edge at her throat.
“Th-that is…”
Caught in the piercing blue gaze, she could not look away.
Srrring.
At the same time, the surrounding knights drew their swords in warning.
Only then did Aileen realize her mistake—she had forgotten to introduce herself.
“I inferred it from the black armor with the golden eagle, and your black hair and blue eyes. I had heard stories from my older brother before. If I have been rude, I apologize.”
“Your brother?”
“I am Aileen Whitewood of the Whitewood Count’s family. I greet His Highness Tristan, the Fourth Prince of the Empire. My elder brother, Willis Whitewood, who returned to the territory a year ago, is deceased.”
After she bowed again, Tristan silently observed her.
Then, slowly lowering the blade from beneath her chin, he spoke.
“…Ah. So Count Whitewood has passed. We lost contact due to worsening border conditions. My condolences. And I apologize for my earlier rudeness. I did not expect to meet a count’s daughter in such a place…”
He quickly shifted his tone, furrowing his brows slightly as if embarrassed by the misunderstanding.
But Aileen felt no relief.
On the contrary, she felt an even sharper sense of danger.
So this man truly was Tristan—the Fourth Prince of the Empire, and the male protagonist of this story.
The current of fate she had briefly slowed was now surging forward again, dragging her toward its depths.
For a moment, being able to see him in person felt like a small compensation for death itself.
But with that realization came suffocating dread.
‘If this man is here… then soon… my life…’
As she stiffened, another voice interrupted.
“Captain, you should come quickly.”
“The movement of the monsters is unusual.”
Emmett and Hudson, who had gone to check upstairs, returned urgently.
Blond Emmett with a bow, and brown-haired Hudson with a more composed expression.
Subordinates trusted by the prince.
Tristan signaled for Aileen to wait and rushed upstairs with the others.
“A-Aileen, my lady…”
“It’ll be fine, Mari. Come here.”
Aileen grabbed Mari’s hand and quickly searched for a hiding place.
She found an empty wooden crate among the grain sacks and hurriedly hid the girl inside.
“Stay still until morning. It won’t be safe even here until then.”
She tried to sound calm, but her voice trembled.
When Aileen reached the second floor, Tristan and the knights were staring out the window with hardened expressions.
“We may have to prepare for battle. This variant looks different.”
Another variant had appeared.
Two at once.
Monsters gathered toward places rich in magic.
Her magic shouldn’t have increased.
Aileen’s expression stiffened.
‘No… it can’t be because of me alone…’
Then she realized.
The others.
They were all swordsmen above the level of Sword Expert—magic users themselves.
With so many sources of power gathered here, two variants weren’t strange at all.
This was the backlash of trying to avoid death.
Her body trembled.
‘I have to do something. Anything.’
She couldn’t die here right after meeting Tristan.
Through the window, she saw the second variant clearly.
Much larger than the others, powerful upper body, yellow glowing eyes.
It smashed zombie necks and used them like bricks, stacking them against the wall.
Aileen swallowed hard.
“This one is more intelligent than the first…”
“Hudson, status of other windows?”
“No abnormalities. All monsters are concentrated here.”
The variant was stronger and more cunning than the first.
It had likely consumed a knight or been one itself before transforming.
The large ventilation window on the second floor was not well defended.
If it broke through—
“We must eliminate it before it climbs up here.”
“Emmett, arrows?”
“About twenty left.”
“Not enough,” Tristan muttered. “Hudson, axes?”
“Three throwing axes.”
“Bring them.”
As Emmett shot an arrow—
Swoosh. Thud.
It struck the variant’s arm and fell uselessly.
“No effect…”
“Of course not,” Tristan said calmly. “Prepare shields.”
Two knights stepped forward, raising shields as the zombie bodies began to fly.
BOOM!
A zombie smashed into the shields.
The battle was beginning.
And the night was far from over.
