Chapter 4
…As if I could possibly be “hello” right now!
A beat too late, Lucy realized the position she was in and screamed inwardly.
She was currently being carried in the arms of a man radiating an overwhelming, murderous aura—like a princess.
The hard, burning-hot thing she had touched earlier…
Turned out to be the man’s chest.
Well… technically, his breastplate.
Was his ribcage the size of an ocean? The breastplate covering it was unbelievably broad.
If a woman suddenly fell out of the sky and started feeling up your chest, would you be “hello,” Lucy?
No wonder the crimson gaze pouring down on her felt so terrifying.
Quietly withdrawing her hand, Lucy cautiously observed the man.
Thankfully…
At least he didn’t seem intent on killing her immediately.
But this enormous body, this frightening presence, and…
Judging by armor of this quality…
Could he be one of the temple’s Holy Knights?
This is bad.
Cold sweat streamed down her back as her eyelashes trembled.
Calm down.
She couldn’t let him see that she was frightened.
If she acted suspiciously, she’d be dragged back.
…No.
She refused to return to that freezing prison and wait there for the day she died.
Never again.
…Just like her previous life.
“Hide here and don’t come out, okay?”
“Big Sis! Little Sis! Don’t go!”
“It’s okay. We’ll be back soon!”
Coincidentally, monsters similar to the ones in this world had also existed in her previous life.
Right after surviving the hellish college entrance exams and finally becoming a carefree university student…
Dungeons and monsters had appeared.
Like in the novels, it would’ve been nice if Hunters and Awakened individuals had appeared to fight them too…
But no such miracle happened in Lucy’s world.
The survivors formed civilian militias instead.
Her older sisters, both former athletic students, had joined them and left to fight.
Lucy, who had no strength, remained behind in the shelter.
“Hey, parasite! Be grateful we even let you stay!”
“We claimed this shelter first! Keep your head down and stay invisible!”
Life inside the shelter had been brutal.
Her sisters never returned.
If she wanted to avoid being thrown out, she had to bow her head, crawl on the ground, and kill every selfish desire she had.
The shelter had become little different from a prison.
The only thing that made life bearable was the web novels she had downloaded onto her smartphone in offline mode.
I reread The Last Dragon’s Bride so many times back then.
Then one day…
The monsters finally breached the shelter.
The collapsing ceiling came crashing down onto Lucy.
…
That had been the final memory of her previous life.
…And now…
She was supposed to return to another prison that wasn’t much different?
No.
She was sick of cold stone walls and damp, stale air.
I’ve finally been given another chance to start over.
And there was something else.
“Lucy… I heard there’s a place outside called the sea. And fields covered in purple flowers.”
“Do you think we’ll get to see them someday?”
In this life…
As the memories of her possessed body returned, she also remembered the voices of the other consumable children who had died in the prison before her.
For some reason, those voices felt painfully familiar.
“I hate monsters…”
“Sis… do you think we’ll ever get outside?”
They overlapped with the children she’d known in the shelter during her previous life.
In both lives… we made the same promise.
That at least one of them would survive…
And see the outside world.
Determination blazed deep inside her heart.
That’s right.
This time will be different.
Across both lives…
She would survive for everyone who had gone before her.
She would build proper graves for them.
And then…
I’m going to beat every last one of those bastards.
Beat them all.
Become the boss—
No.
Become the owner of her own life.
Of course, before gathering enough strength to do that…
She first had to know how to lie flat.
That part’s easy.
She’d spent her entire previous life pleasing people.
Someone as powerless as her could only survive by staying on the good side of those in power.
So this time…
“Ha ha… Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?”
The night sky was completely overcast.
“The temperature is just perfect too…”
It was the middle of a sweltering summer.
“Let’s see… Sir Knight… you’re incredibly handsome…”
His face was hidden behind his helmet.
The more she spoke, the more miserable she felt.
Still, she had to distract him somehow.
Patting his armored chest twice, Lucy flashed a friendly smile.
“And to catch such a delicate, feather-light lady who fell out of a tree… You must be an incredibly kind gentleman.”
“…”
“So…”
She smiled even wider.
“Could you put me down now?”
Edward slowly tilted his head.
What is this?
The tiny, filthy woman was so thin she looked half-starved.
Yet despite standing before someone everyone feared and revered…
She showed no signs of fear.
More than that…
She spoke to him with bright familiarity, rolling her large eyes around as though they’d known each other for years.
That alone was absurd.
But what truly froze Edward was something else.
…It stopped.
The power raging wildly inside him…
Had gone quiet.
Or rather…
The parts of his body touching this woman had become strangely calm.
How peaceful.
The violent energy settled.
His pounding headache eased.
The dragon scales covering his body slowly receded.
Most of all…
It feels like…
I’ve finally gotten my body back.
If he were to receive true purification—
If someone took Sepina’s purification, removed that disgusting sensation of insects crawling beneath his skin, and left only its essence…
This was exactly how it would feel.
Filled with unfamiliar comfort, Edward looked down at the woman in his arms.
Small.
Undernourished.
Like a little animal.
White.
Tiny.
Soft.
Constantly reading the room.
Big black eyes…
“…You’re like a mouse.”
“Huh?”
Lucy narrowed her eyes.
What was that?
Not a squirrel.
Not a rabbit.
Just…
“You’re like a rat.”
She couldn’t exactly deny that she looked the part.
But…
Who says something like that the first time they meet?
She couldn’t help admiring the spectacular lack of social skills this man possessed.
Still… it’s better than being called a parasite.
Judging from his tone and murderous aura, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d thrown her to the ground already.
The surprising part was…
He was still holding her.
Actually…
Is he holding me even tighter than before?
The warm breastplate drew closer.
His crimson eyes somehow looked softer…
Just then—
“…Duke Edward!”
A shout rang out from behind them.
Lucy instantly stiffened.
Temple guards!
That alone was alarming enough, but—
Wait.
Duke Edward?
She looked back into those blazing crimson eyes.
The familiar name.
The unmistakable atmosphere.
Her throat went dry.
Then this is…
The male lead!
I had no idea…
Sure, his armor looked absurdly expensive.
His ruby-red eyes were surprisingly beautiful too.
But she’d never imagined…
It was because he was the male lead.
Of all people!
Normally, meeting the male lead for the first time meant sparkling lights, flower petals, and the comforting feeling that a savior had arrived.
Instead…
Every nerve in her body tensed.
Am I going to die at the male lead’s hands before the temple even catches me?
The male lead in this novel treated everyone except his destined partner like trash.
A complete bastard…
Well…
Not quite.
A complete menace.
Even in the novel, he hated physical contact with Sepina.
Although, admittedly, he still faithfully slept with her, which made the whole thing rather ridiculous.
Regardless…
There was every possibility he was already irritated simply because she was touching him now.
Perhaps that was why.
Instead of flowers floating through the air…
It felt as though killing intent itself surrounded them.
What do I do?
Lucy shrank into herself.
Clank.
Clank.
The footsteps of the approaching guard drew closer.
“Duke Edward… may I ask you something?”
“…”
“A prisoner has escaped from the temple.”
Hearing that, Edward tilted his head again.
A prisoner.
The woman in his arms immediately stiffened.
So…
She was the escaped prisoner.
Well, considering those filthy rags she was wearing…
“…”
Edward paused.
Then he looked at her more carefully.
Emaciated from starvation.
Filthy from head to toe.
Clothes torn in several places.
Her wrists bore wounds where blood had clearly been repeatedly drawn.
There were needle marks scattered across her skin.
This wasn’t what a criminal looked like.
It was…
“Duke Edward?”
“…”
“My deepest apologies, but if it isn’t too much trouble… could I see the face of the lady you’re holding?”
The guard reached out.
Smack!
A sharp crack echoed through the garden.
The guard staggered backward.
The back of his hand instantly swelled as though it had been struck by a cast-iron pot lid.
“…”
The bewildered guard slowly looked toward Edward.
“D-Duke Edward?”
“I’m not okay with that.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said…”
Edward’s voice remained flat.
“I’m not okay with it.”
Lucy and the guard both stared up at Edward in stunned silence.
