Chapter 35
A Heart Turning Toward Rebecca
2023.11.04.
Following the blue light, I lifted my head and saw a familiar silhouette.
“…Cedric?!”
Cedric, lips curling into a charming smirk, leapt down through the torn roof in an instant.
As I stared at him in shock, he flashed me a refreshing smile.
“You look better than I expected. I’m glad, Rebecca.”
He spoke while slashing mercilessly through enemies with the blue light extending from his hand.
The monsters, cut by that sharp beam, instantly lost their forms.
“They’re straw dolls. Someone must’ve placed a curse on them to create voodoo dolls.”
I had assumed they weren’t real people, but cursed straw dolls?
No wonder their numbers seemed endless.
Just as I was staring at the giant straw dolls scattered across the ground in disbelief, Cedric shouted loudly toward Adrian, who was outside the carriage.
“Adrian! Can you set up a protective barrier around the forest while driving the carriage?”
“Of course, Your Grace!”
Adrian shouted back and quickly turned to run toward the driver’s seat.
But before he could, more of those cursed dolls charged at him.
Yet this time, unlike before, bolts of blue light struck their backs like lightning.
With Cedric’s cover, Adrian made it back safely.
Before long, his voice rang out again from the driver’s seat.
“Preparations complete! Ready to go!”
At his words, Cedric drove the monsters out of the carriage in one swift strike.
Then he planted a glowing blue barrier at the broken doorway.
The monsters tried to rush inside once again, but the moment they hit the barrier, their strength failed, and they crumbled back into straw dolls.
“The barrier seems to be working.”
Cedric muttered lowly, then shouted toward the driver’s seat.
“Adrian! Drive as fast as you can! We need to push them behind us!”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
The carriage jolted into motion, quickly picking up speed.
With the doors broken and the roof torn apart, harsh winds swept inside.
At the same time, monsters unable to keep pace began to fall behind.
We ran like that for a while.
Through the missing door, I glimpsed a shimmering purple glow rippling through the forest.
Adrian’s protective barrier was finally spreading across the entire woods.
I barely had time to take it in before I squeezed my eyes shut against the rough wind.
I-I won’t fall out, will I…?
Nervously gripping the window frame, I suddenly felt something firm wrap around my waist.
When I opened my eyes again, Cedric’s chest was right in front of me.
At some point, he had pulled me close with one arm, gazing down at me intently.
“There’s no need to fear, Rebecca.”
His voice was low and gentle.
“From the moment I arrived, no danger can touch you. I’ll make sure of that.”
His casual reassurance quickly washed away my anxiety.
Clinging to his waist, I tried to sound bold despite the tremor in my voice.
“Keep that promise. At least today, I don’t want to die.”
He noticed me biting my lip to hide my trembling jaw and gave a soft smile.
“Bold of you. You could declare yourself a member of the Twins family without shame.”
“I’ll avoid that embarrassment by not mentioning it at all.”
I gritted my teeth in reply.
When I pinched his waist in protest, he only hugged me tighter, laughing warmly.
“Ow, Rebecca. I can feel pain too, you know.”
“That’s exactly why I pinched you.”
“But why did you say you don’t want to die today, specifically?”
“Why does that matter? You’re not planning to let me die just because I pinched you, are you?”
Seeing my face pale, Cedric chuckled lowly.
“I was just curious.”
“…”
“Why is today, of all days, so important to you?”
He brushed aside my wind-blown hair as he asked.
It was the first time he’d shown interest in such a mundane part of my life.
Though, of course, nothing about this situation is ordinary.
Caught in a strangely pleasant awkwardness, I finally spoke.
“I went to the gift exchange market today.”
“I know that much. And then?”
“And then…”
“Is the reason you’re happy today perhaps… because of the person you were with?”
“The person I was with?”
“…Yes.”
The carriage suddenly jolted, and Cedric held me tighter to steady me.
His familiar, grounding scent drifted past my nose.
By now, his embrace felt oddly natural as I continued.
“Oh, if you mean who I was with…”
“…”
“Camilla was there. Countess Dmitri.”
Cedric’s brows shot up, clearly expecting a different name.
“I won a gift I’d been eyeing for a long time, beating her in a bidding war. Now I just have to make a fortune with it, but if I died today…”
“…”
“…that’d be terribly inconvenient.”
I confessed with complete seriousness. Cedric let out a dry laugh.
“That’s the reason you don’t want to die today?”
“Yes. Of course I don’t want to die any day, but today it’s especially true.”
“I see…”
Cedric lowered his gaze, silent for a while.
When I realized he was suppressing laughter, I grew flustered and raised my voice.
“Don’t laugh! I mean it! Today really matters to me!”
“Alright, alright…”
Dodging my renewed pinches, Cedric laughed heartily.
Then suddenly, he caught my hand, pressing it to the window frame.
“Wait here a moment. I’ll be right back.”
And with a nimble movement, he leapt onto the roof.
Alarmed, I shouted after him.
“What?! You said you wouldn’t let me die! Where are you going?!”
Looking down through the broken roof, Cedric’s lips curved into a bright smile.
“To finish off your special day perfectly.”
With that, he seized a monster that had climbed atop the carriage, gripping its neck with iron strength.
“I know someone’s watching through you.”
“Grk…”
“So listen carefully.”
He seemed to be addressing the one controlling the dolls.
His voice dropped, deadly quiet, as he glared at the struggling creature.
“If you ever threaten my wife again, I will hunt you down and personally tear you limb from limb.”
A blue light flared in his hand gripping the monster’s neck.
It burst into flames, the creature crumbling into straw.
Then Cedric hurled the burning doll toward the pursuing horde.
The blue fire spread instantly, erupting into a blazing inferno that devoured the monsters.
Meanwhile, in a shabby building in a northern city alley.
Its basement was cramped and damp.
The stench of mold and formalin thickened the oppressive atmosphere.
A cupboard held black iron cauldrons, dried frogs and rats. Old tomes with strange titles filled the shelves.
An old crone walked past them with practiced ease and sat at a round table.
Draped in dark purple cloth, the table held a large crystal ball.
When she touched it, the sphere glowed with mysterious light.
She watched for a long time, then frowned.
A sharp tongue-click broke the silence.
“Well, well… another failure, I’m afraid, my lady.”
At her words, a young woman leaning against the cupboard sighed.
“I thought killing her would be simple. How did it fail?”
Unfazed by the woman’s sharp tone, the crone answered leisurely.
“His Grace, the Grand Duke, intervened.”
“…His Grace?”
The woman blinked slowly.
The crone caressed the sphere again, replaying what she had seen.
『If you ever threaten my wife again, I will hunt you down and personally tear you limb from limb.』
The image of Cedric delivering his chilling warning appeared.
The woman’s lips curved slyly.
She tapped her finger on the table.
“Again.”
The crone rewound the vision.
『If you ever threaten my wife again, I will…』
The woman stared intently.
“Again.”
『If you ever threaten my wife again…』
The warning repeated like a broken tape.
“Stop.”
Lost in thought, the woman murmured.
“So His Grace threw himself in to save Rebecca’s life…”
She blinked in disbelief, staring at Cedric’s face once more through the crystal.
“That man… why?”
By then, night had fallen over the forest.
The blue inferno and violet barrier intertwined, illuminating the dark woods with cosmic beauty.
The monsters’ numbers dwindled rapidly.
Adrian slowed the carriage, and Cedric only returned inside once the last of the horde was burned away.
There, he saw Rebecca, gazing dreamily out the window.
Now that the threats were gone, she had finally been captivated by the breathtaking sight outside.
Watching her marvel in awe, Cedric smiled softly.
“Is it that fascinating?”
“Yes, very. And beautiful too. Come look.”
“…I’ve seen enough of it from the roof.”
Still, he stepped closer.
Rebecca tugged on his arm, pulling him right beside her, and turned back to the view.
“See? From here it’s even prettier, isn’t it?”
As she spoke gently, his gaze lingered on her.
Her pale face glowed with the forest’s lights, her familiar fragrance drifting from where their bodies touched.
“…Yes. Truly beautiful.”
Rebecca, still smiling, kept her eyes on the scenery.
Cedric’s lips quirked without thought.
But then, a question struck him.
Would the man he once was have rushed here the moment Rebecca was in danger?
No.
He would’ve simply dispatched knights to find her. That would have seemed more logical.
So why, today, had he lost all reason and come running himself?
Questions circled endlessly, feeding his stubborn pride.
At last, a thought surfaced.
Perhaps… his heart was slowly turning toward Rebecca.
