Chapter 65
And then, following the direction Asil indicated after smelling Briden’s scent, she galloped the horse and found Briden with Skaya’s knights.
Lilibet, who jumped down from the horse, yelled.
“Brother!”
“Lilibet?”
Briden’s face twisted at hearing his younger sister’s voice in an unexpected place.
Even though it was hard to see well because of the dense trees, he accurately turned toward where Lilibet was.
“It’s really you?”
“I told you they’d catch up if you kept going like that.”
“Ha……”
Briden let out a sigh mixed with resignation.
During that time, Asil clearly saw Skaya’s knights, who had drawn their swords, exchanging meaningful glances.
She even faintly heard them saying things like ‘It’s Lady Erzébet.’ and ‘Not now.’
Briden looked back at Skaya’s knights.
“Take Lilibet out of the forest.”
“No.”
Asil quickly blocked Lilibet’s front.
It didn’t feel good.
She was still young, but Asil was a beast of prey.
Meaning she was specialized in reading someone’s hidden killing intent.
‘These knight humans are totally bad.’
Only then did Briden realize there was one more person besides Lilibet, and he scowled fiercely.
“This voice…… Lady Erzébet? Lilibet, you again!”
“These humans are dangerous. Go with Asil.”
“No, the dangerous one is the lady, not the knights-”
“Let’s do as Lady Erzébet says.”
Lilibet cut him off.
“It really feels safe with the lady. When I came alone, I encountered Arcs quite a lot, but after being with the lady, I haven’t met even one Arc.”
“So why did you come all the way here-!”
“If brother doesn’t leave, I won’t leave either!”
At her words that were stubbornly unyielding, Briden shut his mouth.
Lilibet, who tightly grabbed his hand, shouted loudly out of frustration.
“You can’t even see, so what are you going to catch!”
“……You’re saying that because you don’t know anything. About what situation we’re in right now-”
“What don’t I know! Am I an idiot?! I know what situation we’re in too! You’re the one who’s recklessly coming all the way in here believing in something without any fear!”
The siblings’ argument showed no sign of ending.
Asil stared blankly at the two fighting.
They fight so well. Asil and Snowabrother used to fight like that all the time.
‘I miss brother.’
Right at that moment, she heard Skaya’s knights whispering softly.
‘Let’s just abandon them like this. Then they’ll die on their own.’
‘Yeah. Even though it’s the duke’s order, it felt a bit iffy—they’re just kids.’
They didn’t even dream that Asil could hear their words and began to slink away.
They even took Briden’s horse with them.
Asil opened her mouth to let them know the knights were leaving.
“There they are.”
“Lady, talk later.”
“Don’t butt in!”
But she couldn’t continue speaking anymore due to the two’s sharp retorts.
Briden shouted.
“You think I’m doing this for my own good right now? It’s because we can only survive like this, that’s why!”
“It’s not us surviving, it’s just you surviving!”
“There they are……”
“Fine! If brother dies, I’ll die with you too. So don’t ever do this again!”
“Die with me? What kind of talk is that!”
“If you don’t like that, then don’t do this!”
“Even so, how can you say something like dying!”
“There they are……”
By then, the knights had completely left, and Asil became dejected.
“What do you expect when brother starts something unreasonable!”
“Unreasonable? Is going out hunting such a big deal? Enough to threaten with dying?”
“A person who can’t see going hunting is obviously unreasonable! If you do this one more time, I’ll tell everyone about the divine beast!”
“You!”
The furious Briden ground his teeth.
Oh, finally the fight stopped for a moment.
“There they are.”
She had to tell them before they started fighting again! Asil raised her hand high.
“The knight humans left.”
“……”
“……”
Only then did the two siblings realize their guarding knights had disappeared, and their expressions turned dazed.
At least Lilibet’s horse couldn’t be taken because she was gripping the reins tightly.
“Ha……”
Briden clenched his teeth.
On the other hand, Lilibet shrugged her shoulders.
“We have no choice but to go with the lady.”
And so, the three children amicably climbed onto one horse.
Briden, who had learned horseback riding before losing his sight, took the reins.
For the parts he couldn’t see well, Lilibet decided to be his eyes.
Before setting off, Asil quickly said.
“Asil has somewhere to go.”
“Fine. Get out of the forest.”
“Brother.”
“Ah, really……. Where.”
“Straight this way.”
“That’s the opposite direction. It’s going deeper into the forest.”
“You’ll know when you go.”
“Ugh……”
Briden groaned and pulled the reins.
“If Arcs appear, I’ll throw you as bait and run away.”
“Hey! Don’t be mean to the lady!”
“Liribet, get a grip. It’s Lady Erzébet of Count Erzébet. The daughter of the heretic inquisitor!”
At the remark that hit the nail on the head, Lilibet shut her mouth.
‘That human really hates Asil.’
While Asil was feeling down, not knowing why Briden was so hostile, Briden reluctantly steered the horse in the direction Asil indicated.
And they succeeded in reaching the center of the forest without encountering even a single Arc.
Realizing the leader Arc was nearby, Asil tugged at Lilibet repeatedly.
“Let’s get off here.”
Arcian had said just before coming here that the leader Arc becomes more dangerous the more you fear it.
She couldn’t be scared while going with the humans, so Asil had to go alone and scold it.
Lilibet, who looked around, panicked.
“What? Here? But this place…… there’s nothing here.”
“No. Right here.”
With Lilibet’s help, Asil got down from the horse. And she ran toddling toward where the leader Arc was.
Lilibet, who stared at that sight, muttered.
“Shouldn’t we follow?”
“Wait and see.”
Briden, frowning fully as he checked the compass he was holding, said.
“The Duke of Monlepe is coming this way.”
“……? How do you know?”
“This.”
He showed the compass he had to Lilibet.
Upon closer look, it wasn’t an ordinary compass.
Unlike a regular compass with two needles, it had four needles, and at the corner of each needle, there were drawings of sun, moon, star, and cloud respectively.
“It shows where the heads of each family are. See how the moon needle is shaking a little—this means it’s approaching from this side.”
“This…… I think it’s the one I dug up from the ground before. Why do you have this, brother?”
Briden said nothing.
Instead, looking toward where Asil had disappeared, he lowered his voice.
“It seems like there’s something over there.”
“It could be that they promised to meet. Let’s just go.”
“In the hunting grounds?”
“Don’t mind and let’s go.”
However, Briden didn’t move.
He couldn’t return empty-handed like this. To survive, he had to do anything.
For example, finding something that could be the Duke of Monlepe’s weakness.
Then maybe father would put aside the thought of killing them a bit……
Briden jumped down from the horse and headed toward where Asil had gone. No matter the purpose, he had to see for himself what the two were doing.
The astonished Liribet followed behind.
“Where are you going!”
“You go back first.”
“No, I’ll go together!”
Lilibet stuck close to him.
Briden didn’t shake off his sister.
It was because he thought that if even the younger Asil could run there, it wasn’t that dangerous a place.
They passed a few trees.
And they spotted Asil running energetically from afar and something in front of her.
Briden, who couldn’t see well ahead, frowned.
It seemed like some animal, but what was that-?
Lilibet, who first spotted the grotesquely shaped leader Arc, shrank back.
“G-Gross……”
Right at that moment, the leader Arc looked exactly at Lilibet.
☆☆☆
By Anna 💓
