MPAWD 33

Chapter 33

Although she still felt a little uneasy, Lucy forced herself to believe that Dino would be safe—she had witnessed his skills firsthand before.

First, she needed to understand the situation.

“Your father hired assassins. I came to save you.”

“Why would my father try to kill me? I could understand if he were looking for me, but to kill me?!”

Edwin’s words made no sense. The Baron wouldn’t go so far as to kill his own daughter just because she ran away.

“I… I told him I would take you with me. From his point of view, that meant even if he found you, he couldn’t send you to the Duke. Because of me.”

Lucy frowned, still not fully understanding Edwin’s explanation.

“He’s caught between owing compensation to both sides. So his plan is to stage your kidnapping and murder, to avoid taking responsibility.”

The more Lucy heard, the more absurd and outrageous it all sounded.

‘I knew the Baron was greedy, but this…? And wait—what did he mean by taking me with him?’

It must’ve been an extension of what Edwin had said back at the banquet before she fled.

“Don’t worry, Lucy. I’ll protect you now. No one will ever lay a hand on you again!”

Looking at Edwin’s gentle expression, Lucy was overcome with fury.

Clenching her fists to suppress her rising anger, she took a deep breath and fixed him with a cold stare.

“There’s something I’ve always wondered. No matter how much I thought about it, I could never figure it out. Why… why did you disappear on our wedding day?”

She asked in a calm voice.

Edwin’s face registered surprise—clearly, he hadn’t expected that question.

“Wait… you’ve regained your memory? You recognize me now?”

“That’s not what matters! Why did you abandon Lucy—no, why did you abandon me!?”

Lucy could no longer hold back her bottled-up rage and exploded with a shout.

“Lucy… back then, I had no choice. I had to reclaim my rightful position!”

“Then why didn’t you show up at the wedding?!”

Frustrated with his evasive answers, Lucy raised her voice again.

She didn’t care about his long-winded backstory. What mattered was the conclusion.

What reason could possibly justify abandoning the bride on their wedding day?

“I… I couldn’t bear to face you. And I had to meet with His Majesty the day before.”

And what was she supposed to do with that?

Edwin looked at her with a tormented expression, his face twisted as if about to cry.

“So you were just going to leave me? And now you want to take me with you? In the end, it’s your fault—the Baron sent assassins after me because of you!”

Lucy was so furious that her head turned cold from the intensity.

‘I have to break this cursed chain of events! I refuse to be dragged around by these trash characters from the original story!’

If she went with Edwin now, it was obvious how the plot would unfold—she’d be caught between the female and male leads, suffering as collateral damage.

“Stop the carriage! I’m getting out—now!”

“I can’t do that. Do you know how hard I searched for you? I’m never letting you go again!”

From the intensity in Edwin’s voice and his piercing gaze, Lucy could sense an obsessive attachment directed at her.

‘He’s not listening. This is dangerous. He really has no intention of letting me go!’

She glanced out the carriage window. They were just beginning to cross a bridge over the river.

“Listen carefully, Edwin! I’d rather die than go with you. Damn you! Let’s never meet again—not even in death!”

With her mind made up, Lucy flung open the carriage door and jumped out.

Even as she jumped, she instinctively shielded her head with her arms. She rolled her body sideways to reduce the impact when she hit the ground.

In that moment, she desperately wished she had been wearing a voluminous dress—it might have cushioned the fall. Instead, pain shot through her entire body as she rolled across the ground.

“Lu—Lucy! Lucy!”

Edwin, shocked by the sudden turn of events, called her name and brought the carriage to a screeching halt.

Gritting her teeth, Lucy forced herself to her feet.

‘I’d rather die than go with you! No… I’m not going to die. Never!’

As Edwin came running toward her in the distance, Lucy bit her lip hard—then leaped over the edge of the bridge.

The river current was strong. In an instant, she was swept away by the rushing water.

“Huff… huff…”

Lucy clung to the riverside bushes with one hand, struggling to pull herself up.

‘Thank goodness my legs are okay…’

But something was wrong with her arm. She must’ve injured it when she jumped from the carriage—her left arm wouldn’t move properly.

Clenching her teeth, she used her one good hand to grab the bushes and hoist herself onto the riverbank.

She looked around. The area was a remote forest with no sign of people, connected to the river she had been carried through. Lucy collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

“Haa… I’m alive…”

She had survived—somehow.

Her whole body ached, but for some reason, laughter bubbled up from her lips.

Lying there for a while, she looked up at the sky, laughing softly.

But she couldn’t afford to relax for long. If the fourth prince’s men followed the river, they would catch up quickly.

She had to keep moving.

Clutching her injured arm, Lucy trudged blindly down a mountain path. Only when the sun had begun to set did she arrive at the edge of a village.

But she didn’t enter right away. She waited for night to fall.

‘I don’t know where they could be searching for me, so I have to be careful. But… where am I? I should’ve at least found out the name of that last village…’

She didn’t even know where the mountain house had been, or what the name of the village she went to with Dino was.

That frustrated her a little. Still, she brushed off the dirt from her soaked cloak and took a short rest. Only after sunset did she enter the village.

‘If what Edwin said is true, assassins are after me too. But how did they find me in that village?’

Maybe the assassins were lying in wait in all nearby villages—or maybe even Dino and Anna’s location had been exposed.

‘I’m worried about Dino and Anna… but going back would be too dangerous. What am I supposed to do now…?’

Even if she were lucky enough to meet up with Dino’s group again, she might end up endangering them too.

“I thought I’d finally escaped the original plot…”

The overwhelming sense of despair crept in again at the thought of being completely alone in this world.

‘Get it together! You’ve made it this far. Now’s not the time for useless thoughts—you need to find a safe place and make a plan to reunite with the others!’

Lucy slapped her cheeks lightly to regain her focus.

After taking a deep breath, she pulled the hood of her cloak low over her head and walked into the dark alleys of the village.

There were occasional passersby, but Lucy tried her best not to show her face. She couldn’t be sure there weren’t assassins among them.

‘I don’t have any money on me… Oh, I still have Lucas’s brooch!’

Feeling along the inside of her clothing, Lucy found the brooch connected to her necklace. Fortunately, it was still pinned securely.

‘But… is it really okay to sell this? It’s such a valuable item. And in a village this small, who would even buy it?’

Selling it might be difficult—but more than that, she felt guilty about pawning something Lucas had given her.

“If you need money, feel free to sell it. But it’s worth quite a lot, so be sure to get a fair price.”

Suddenly, she recalled what Lucas had said when he gave her the brooch.

As she wandered through the surprisingly large village, Lucy finally spotted a small jewelry shop and stopped in front of it.

‘If I want money fast, this is the only way!’

Having made up her mind, Lucy stepped into the shop.

“I’m here to sell this brooch.”

The shopkeeper looked her over, seemingly suspicious of her appearance, then picked up a magnifying glass to examine the brooch.

“Th-this is…”

When he saw the black opal embedded in the brooch, the shopkeeper flinched in surprise and quickly checked the back.

On the back of the brooch, in tiny, delicate lettering, was the name of the Grand Duchy of Cretane.

It was adorned with a rare black opal mined only in Cretane and shaped like the Grand Duke’s symbolic eagle—clearly an item from the ducal family.

As the startled shopkeeper squinted at her suspiciously, Lucy realized—

He might think she stole it.