Chapter 25
A realization slipped through Lily’s clenched teeth.
So that’s why they hung the baby bear there—to kill her. They even sacrificed another life just to get rid of her. Lily sprang up from her bed.
“Your injuries aren’t healed yet—huhp.”
The doctor had intended to tell her to sit down since she wasn’t fully recovered, but he closed his mouth and stepped aside. The sheer fury radiating from Lily’s face was terrifying.
“Where are those bastards?”
Lily directed the question at the Duke standing in her way. The Duke advised her to lie down and focus on recovery, but his words didn’t reach her ears.
If they wouldn’t tell her, she’d just head to the training grounds. Her mind was too clouded for rational thought. Forgetting all manners, Lily pushed the Duke aside. Surprised by her unexpected strength, the Duke stumbled back.
Many tried to stop her.
“What are you doing? You need to rest…”
Even the Duchess stood in her way. But Lily shoved them all aside and walked on, silently and firmly.
“Why did you say something like that and start this mess? You could’ve waited until you got better! You’re not even fully recovered yet!”
The Duchess, who had only ever spoken kindly to her husband, suddenly shouted at him. Her angry voice echoed behind Lily as she stomped down the stairs, skipping two or three at a time.
Voices desperately calling her name followed, but the pain in her shoulder was drowned by the burning rage wrapping around her like armor.
At the training ground, the knights had all gathered. At the front stood Brendley, and behind him, the three who had been especially close with him—those who had tormented Lily the most.
The Commander, who had been intensely questioning Brendley, turned his head.
“Hegelstern! What are you doing here…?”
“Oh, thank goodness you’re awake! That’s a relief. But are you really okay to be up? What did the doctor say?”
The Commander and Vice Commander both tried to speak to her, but Lily said nothing. Her eyes were locked on the four of them. Brendley, his face bruised, gave her a cruel, mocking smirk.
“Hah, everyone said you were as good as dead, but look at you, perfectly fine. Made me nervous for no reason.”
Then he spat bloody phlegm on the floor of the training ground. Enraged, the Commander smacked Brendley’s head hard, but Brendley wasn’t finished.
“And who ends up in critical condition over a single bear, huh? What kind of Guardian Knight is that? Really, Commander, Vice Commander! You weren’t this soft before!”
“You filthy brat, still flapping your mouth—!”
“Was it you?”
It was the first time Lily spoke directly to Brendley.
He had been knocked to the ground by the Vice Commander’s kick, but even as he lay there, he mocked her, brushing off her murderous glare.
“Oh, gonna hit me now? You got it in you? No? Then I guess you’ll go crying to your precious little lord again, huh? Maybe try whining next to his pillow or somethi—ARGHH!”
Before Brendley could finish, a brilliant blue light shot from Lily’s body and pierced straight through his chest. He screamed in agony, clutching his torso.
Just like the bear had screamed when struck by her holy power.
“Aghhh… Someone help me, please—!”
“You killed an innocent creature. And now you want to live?”
Her power didn’t stop with Brendley. It had long since slipped from her control. Her divine energy surged upward and rained down like shooting stars on everyone in the training ground.
The knights, mesmerized at first by the beautiful sight, only realized why the Duke’s family treated Lily with such reverence once that divine light struck them directly.
“Urgh!”
Not long ago, a dazzling meteor shower had passed over the Duke’s estate. Gardeners said their old aches—backs, shoulders, knees—were miraculously healed.
Some knights had bruises vanish. One man even wept with joy when a fingertip he lost two years ago grew back.
Was this the same power? Was this really that same miraculous force?
To the knights experiencing it now, it felt less like a miracle and more like pure venom. For the first time, they felt fear toward that body housing such power.
“S-Save… Please save me…”
Lily crushed Brendley’s hand beneath her foot. The same hand that had likely hunted the bear. She poured her power straight into it. Brendley’s eyes rolled back. He couldn’t even scream from the pain—he had never known such agony could make a person silent.
“You all conspired, didn’t you? To leave that path open.”
Lily then unleashed a torrent of holy power on the remaining three. Watching those vermin writhe on the ground was almost satisfying. The ones who had humiliated her were now begging with snot and tears for their lives…
“What did that bear ever do wrong?”
How long would it have lived—months at most?
“What did I do wrong?”
What sin had Lily committed in the few short months she’d been here?
“You all had so much to say when you were mocking me! Why are you so quiet now? You call yourselves knights, you disgusting cowards!”
Her voice rang like a bell across the training ground.
Even the Commander and Vice Commander lay gasping on the floor, unable to endure the pain.
No one outside dared enter. Just getting close made their bodies tingle with dread.
“Lily, please.”
But someone stepped in without hesitation.
“I’ll make sure they’re all detained so they can’t escape. You can deal with them once you’ve healed. Please. Using your holy power like this when you’re not recovered—your body can’t take it.”
He clung to her glowing blue body, sobbing.
“This is my fault. I never should’ve brought you here…”
Stewart’s eyelids trembled. He was in pain. Severe pain. But still…
“If you need someone to kill, I’ll do it for you. You don’t have to dirty your hands.”
His voice sounded like the whisper of a devil.
When Lily’s power finally subsided, the training ground was filled with groans from both the conscious and unconscious.
The four, including Brendley, had tried to crawl away—but their bodies wouldn’t respond. It was as if their nerves had been completely severed.
“Just a tiny speck,” Lily whispered, “and I kneel before the divine.”
She looked down at Stewart, who clung to her, and said clearly:
“My existence is the Lord’s calling. This lowly body will serve the will of the divine.”
Her gaze turned to the Duke and Duchess standing at the entrance.
“I don’t like temples, and I’m not devout… But even as one blessed with holy power, I don’t take life lightly.”
She took a deep breath.
“So tell me—how is your proud Northern Guardian Order doing now?”
Her soul burned, as if immersed in hellfire. She looked at everyone—inside and outside the training grounds—with the same look of scorn, regardless of their status.
She coldly shook off Stewart’s clinging hand and walked away from the training ground.
She had brought nothing with her. There was nothing to take.
Lily headed straight toward the forest path behind the annex that led outside the estate.
With each step, a faint blue glow followed. On any other day, it might’ve looked like she was walking through the Milky Way. But now, having seen firsthand what that power could do to people, the light no longer looked beautiful.
“Lily!”
No one dared follow… except—
“Just stay until your arm heals. At least let me treat you, please. I won’t ask you to stay longer—just until then, please…”
Stewart ran after her.
The Vice Commander, who had collapsed in the training ground, came running once he regained his strength. The Duchess shouted angrily at the frozen doctor. At the sight, Lily felt hot blood running down her shoulder.
“You’re bleeding…”
Surely the young master had been through sword training, monster hunts, and tournaments before. He should’ve been used to blood. Yet Stewart was trembling.
His wide eyes were fixed on her shoulder. His pale lips and cheeks looked drained of all life. Compared to the injured Lily, the unharmed young master looked far more fragile.
“Are you crying again?”
“Don’t bear the pain alone. I know I’m the last person who should say that, after putting you in danger, but still…”
Stewart’s red eyes brimmed with tears. He clutched the hem of her sleeve and fell to his knees. Lily looked down at him.
Was her life worth as much as the young master’s knees?
The Duchess had already been healed. Even without Lily, the North had done just fine—just as they always said.
The Vice Commander, running over, came to a sudden stop. The servants and the Duke and Duchess all fell silent.
Only Stewart’s sobs filled the air.
Lily sighed quietly. That breath felt like a signal of execution. Stewart looked up at her with a terrified expression.
“What happened to the baby bear?”
One thing was certain: after everything, the most foolish person here… was herself—for still not being able to walk away from that tear-stained face.
