Chapter 63
In an environment where it wouldn’t be strange to live each day in tears, Angela had always shown Kalian a dazzling smile.
The image of that girl kept resurfacing in his mind.
But with the question came the threat of tears bursting forth, making it impossible for him to speak.
Kalian, who had pretended to be unaffected and stubbornly held back his tears, finally let them fall.
Kalian’s hand covered his eyes. These were presumptuous tears.
How dare he, after hurting the one he loved so deeply through his ignorance, think he could wash away his sins with something as trivial as these tears?
Kalian shook his head deliberately. It would be easier if Angela truly pushed him away harshly and pointed fingers at him—he could at least beg for forgiveness then.
But imagining her mind, unable even to entertain such thoughts, filled him with despair.
“Kali… an?”
“……”
“Kalian, are you here?”
It was then. Angela’s voice reached him, and the rustling sound of grass being stepped on grew closer from that direction.
Hearing the small figure moving, Kalian quickly turned his back and wiped away his tears. He couldn’t let her see his wet face.
“Kalian… are you crying?”
Even so, she noticed. He felt pathetic for not being able to hide even this properly.
Kalian scrambled for an excuse. Should he say dust got in his eyes? That the night air was cold? That he’d been staring at the moonlight too long? None of them would make a convincing alibi.
“Kalian. Look at me.”
Just moments ago, Kalian had been the one holding Angela and comforting her, but now the situation was completely reversed.
Angela pulled down Kalian’s arm and examined his face, still unable to fully erase the traces of crying.
“Don’t regret letting me know for no reason. This is just… my burden to bear.”
It seemed foolish to think such words from his ridiculous face could carry much weight, but Kalian said them as calmly as he could.
He wouldn’t have anything to say if Angela pinched his cheek and laughed at him.
But Angela didn’t mock Kalian’s state. Instead, she embraced him and soothed him.
“There’s no need to cry. Your share isn’t to weep and regret—it’s to love me endlessly.”
Kalian was so large, and Angela so small, that she couldn’t truly enclose him in her arms. Rather, it looked like Angela was clinging to Kalian.
Even so, it was warm enough. It felt like the sound of winter being driven away and spring arriving.
* * *
“I’m going back.”
“You can’t.”
“If I don’t go, war might break out.”
“Then let it.”
“I’ve never taught you to be a fool who can’t tell front from back.”
“If not wanting to send the one I love to a dangerous place makes me a fool, then call me one starting today.”
“Kalian.”
“Yes, Angela.”
The argument dragged on quite a while, but in the end, Kalian couldn’t bend Angela’s will.
The two boarded a carriage heading for Ron. They had been traveling for a full two days now.
Kalian had suggested sporadic rests to Angela even outside of nighttime, but she refused each time.
Instead, Angela said she wanted to go faster if the coachman could handle it.
There were three coachmen following anyway, so shifts were always possible. As Angela wished, Kalian instructed them to increase the speed even more.
Thanks to that, the carriage carrying them was just entering the outskirts of Ron.
“Graaaah!”
“Grahk! Graaahk!”
It was right at that moment that the grotesque roars of beasts echoed. The outside grew chaotic.
The sounds of knights drawing their swords came from beyond the carriage.
Kalian, too, instinctively reached for his scabbard.
“I’ll go check the situation. Don’t come out.”
Kalian opened the carriage door, stepped out, and firmly closed it behind him.
The sharp sound of a sword being drawn followed immediately.
Angela listened to Kalian’s footsteps fading away.
Having to wait inside the carriage without knowing what the commotion outside was stirred up unpleasant memories from sometime before.
Angela pressed hard on her chest, which felt clogged, and sharpened her hearing sensitively.
Just then, a vivid “thud” sounded, like a longsword piercing through flesh.
And such sounds began to come more frequently. Slashing, stabbing, tearing.
“Don’t let them near the carriage!”
Someone’s urgent shout rang out. Angela tensed. But unlike before, at her waist was the dagger Kalian had given her for emergencies.
Angela drew it and scanned all directions vigilantly. If anything appeared, she would stab without hesitation.
“These damned beasts! Urgh!”
Was the situation turning bad? An ominous sound came.
And at that moment, the carriage Angela was in shook violently, and the window shattered with a creepy cracking noise as it was torn away.
Angela pulled back her body, holding the dagger with both hands and thrusting it toward the gaping window.
At the tip of the sharp blade was a Red Wolf with a bright red muzzle and fangs so long they seemed to reach its chest.
Eyes without whites stared straight at Angela.
The instant she thought their eyes met precisely, the Red Wolf’s neck was severed in a flash and flung far away.
Then the open window was solidly blocked by something. It was Kalian’s back.
“Trust me here, and keep watching the other side while holding it steady.”
Understanding he meant the dagger, Angela turned her back to Kalian and kept a sharp eye on the opposite door.
“You’re doing well. It’ll be over soon, so just wait a little.”
Kalian praised Angela as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
“Graahk!”
“Grahk!”
“Graaaahk!”
With the window gone, the monsters’ cries came through even more clearly.
Facing beasts she’d only seen in pictures felt entirely different.
They seemed even larger and more formidable. How many were there, anyway? As Angela gripped the dagger’s handle again with hands stiff from tension,
Crack, craaack!
The carriage door was ripped off, and a Red Wolf’s head thrust through the door Kalian had exited.
Sensing the crisis behind him, Kalian kicked away the Red Wolf blocking his front and shouted.
“Duck your head!”
As Angela ducked sharply, Kalian’s sword came through the window and plunged straight into the neck of the Red Wolf threatening her.
With a whoosh, Kalian withdrew his sword, and the Red Wolf staggered.
Angela quickly dodged to the opposite side as the beast collapsed. Thud! The fallen beast’s eyes turned ashen, like they’d been burned in a pale fire.
“Angela, come here.”
As she caught her startled breath, Kalian, having climbed over the carriage, reached out his hand toward Angela. She hurriedly grasped it, not wanting to hesitate and become a burden.
The scene outside was utter chaos. It wasn’t as if Kalian’s knights were being overwhelmed—not by any means—but the sheer number of Red Wolves pouring in was staggering.
What in the world was happening in the capital of Phaelon? There was no way to know.
Kalian, seemingly deciding that nowhere was safe anymore, positioned Angela behind him and began to fight.
His sword never paused, its movements relentless.
Perhaps it was her imagination, but it felt like the Red Wolves were particularly charging toward where Angela stood.
Some of the knights must have sensed it too, as they formed a protective circle around her.
Angela couldn’t shake the thought that she was a burden, nor could she gather her wits amidst the onslaught of Red Wolves. Everywhere she looked, there were splashes of blood.
The marks were left by the Red Wolves, but in the blink of an eye, she feared they could become Kalian’s.
It was a strange worry—Kalian was the strongest man in the empire.
Yet, once the thought took hold, it wouldn’t fade. Instead, it grew, gnawing at her mind and blocking out all other thoughts. In the end, only one desperate plea echoed in Angela’s head:
Vanish. All of you, disappear. Don’t interfere with us.
“Get out of our sight!”
* * *
What had happened?
Angela looked around with dazed eyes. The countless Red Wolves, writhing and screaming, had collapsed and died on the spot. As her gaze slowly swept over them, she saw nothing but ashen eyes.
She knew with stark clarity that this was her doing, no one else’s.
It was undoubtedly the very power Grace had claimed was stolen from her. Angela hadn’t asked for it, yet here she was, confirming it had become hers.
The others seemed to vaguely realize that Angela was responsible for what had just happened. Countless eyes, filled with astonishment, were fixed on her without exception.
Trapped in their gazes, Angela stood frozen, unable even to blink.
What should she do? Should she deny it was her? Or confess that she was this strange, monstrous being? Her fingertips trembled.
“Are you alright? You must be shaken.”
At that moment, Kalian spoke to her with such casual concern. He must have guessed that Angela had caused this horrific scene, yet his expression showed only worry for her well-being. His gaze, scanning her from head to toe, was cautious and tender.
“Forgive me. It seems I and my knights still have much to improve. We couldn’t protect you properly.”
Perfect protection would have meant not letting a single scratch mar the carriage Angela was in.
But no knightly order could have achieved that. The fact that no one among Kalian’s knights had sustained serious injuries while facing such a horde of Red Wolves was proof of their exceptional skill.
Yet Kalian had protected Angela at the cost of his own scratches. That thought secretly warmed Angela’s heart, and she grabbed the hem of his cloak.
To the others, her action might have seemed telling. The knights, who had been staring at Angela as if she were something fearsome, lowered their heads, their faces etched with guilt. They seemed to believe they had failed in multiple ways—not only in protecting Angela but also in casting suspicious glances at the one who had saved them.
“The carriage is ruined, so we’ll have to continue on horseback from here. Will that be alright?”
Angela nodded, assuring Kalian it was fine. Confirming her agreement, Kalian began issuing unilateral orders to his knights.
“Half of you stay here to clean up this mess. The other half will continue with me. We’ll move as quickly as possible to avoid becoming targets, so only those who can keep up should follow.”
At Kalian’s command, Bilton sprang into action. Swiftly selecting those skilled at riding, Bilton sent them to follow Kalian, who had already mounted a horse with Angela and begun moving.
The horses’ tails vanished in a cloud of dust.
Bilton, tasked with commanding the knights in Kalian’s stead, didn’t follow. He would return after cleaning up the scene.
“…Phew.”
Bilton let out a subtle sigh at the sight before him. The blood-soaked landscape wasn’t much different from the battlefields he was used to, yet something about it felt off.
Thanks to Kalian’s handling, the matter had been brushed aside, but it was undeniable that Angela had used some strange power.
“Get out of our sight!”
The moment Angela had shouted those words, the Red Wolves’ frantic demise had begun… Even though they were beasts meant to be exterminated, it made him grimace. Some knights even turned their heads, as if it was hard to watch.
Bilton shook his head sharply to dispel the chills creeping up his neck.
No matter what, Angela was the woman Kalian had chosen, and that made her as good as a master to him. Besides, that strange power hadn’t been directed at them, had it? That was enough.
“Let’s hurry.”
At Bilton’s resolute command, the knights nodded curtly and began handling the Red Wolf carcasses. With so many, it would take considerable time to deal with them.
Some time later, Bilton’s group gathered the Red Wolves and set them ablaze.
As he watched the flames roar, a sudden thought struck Bilton: surely Kalian wouldn’t take Angela to the Bilton estate looking like that.
If Angela, who had come back from the dead, appeared covered in blood, how would the estate react? Bilton didn’t particularly want to find out.
Even he had nearly fainted when Angela, newly awakened, had walked out of her room. If she looked like this… it would surely be enough to shock several people senseless. They’d be lucky if no one foamed at the mouth.
Bilton could only hope Kalian would show some flexibility.
