Chapter 34
Clip-clop!
Reina kept urging her horse forward. The moment she stopped, she would become prey for the snow foxes.
Her body was already littered with scratches and bite wounds from every corner.
The scent of blood only made the snow foxes more savage.
Reina stroked her exhausted-looking horse and murmured.
“Please hold on.”
At least until the next hiding spot.
Reina fired signal flares at every turn along the path she raced down.
It was to signal her position and wait for rescue.
Now, only a few signal flares remained.
In her frantic dash, she had long since left the safe zone behind.
If she stayed like this, other predators drawn by the blood scent might swarm in, turning the situation even more perilous.
Her throat burned dry from the overwhelming tension.
At that moment, a snow fox sank its teeth into the horse’s hind leg.
The horse reared up on its front legs, letting out a scream, and collapsed.
Hee-hee-ing!
“Ah!”
Thud!
She gripped the reins of the bucking horse, but it was impossible to withstand the recoil.
In the end, Reina tumbled from the horse and rolled across the ground.
Her body slammed into a tree trunk, and a fierce pain engulfed her entire frame.
“Huk!”
It hurt as if her whole body were shattering.
As Reina tried to stagger to her feet, a nearby snow fox lunged at her.
She quickly aimed the pistol in her hand at the snow fox’s eye and fired.
Bang!
Kheung!
The struck snow fox staggered back, reeling.
The ones charging in behind flinched and glared at Reina.
Meeting those blazing pairs of eyes sent a chill down her spine.
Reina secured her slingshot with her scarf and took a deep breath.
‘How long can I hold out?’
She never imagined her second life would end so futilely like this.
If she’d known, she should have told Kaiden everything about the future ahead.
Now, she regretted doling it out piece by piece, driven by the thought that she needed to become indispensable to him.
Of course, spilling it all might have created variables in the altered future, which was why she’d held back.
But standing on the threshold of death, the regrets just kept piling up.
Reina checked the bullets she had left.
The bullet pouch had been torn open by bites along the way, leaving her with only three rounds.
It was then, as she held her breath with the thought that she had to endure as long as possible.
The hesitating snow foxes all charged at Reina in unison.
True to their clever nature, they seemed to have instantly realized that attacking together gave them the advantage.
Reina clutched the gun in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut.
She was utterly defenseless. There was no way to fend off the snow foxes swarming all at once.
‘Please, let death come in a single blow.’
She was wishing such a ridiculous prayer, awaiting her end, when the urgent sound of hoofbeats echoed from nearby.
Bang! Bang!
Startled by the successive gunshots, Reina’s eyes flew open.
In the distance, Kaiden was charging forward with his rifle, precisely striking down the snow foxes lunging toward her.
Even with Kaiden’s arrival, the snow foxes tried to close in on Reina.
Seeing him, Reina fired her remaining bullets at the snow foxes.
Kaiden followed up, hitting every one of the pursuing snow foxes without fail.
His movements were precise, without a single flaw.
After dispatching even the last remaining one like that.
He hurriedly dismounted and ran to her.
“Are you okay?”
It was an unnecessary question. Even at a glance, Reina’s entire body was already riddled with wounds.
She trembled, her hands still gripping the pistol, and let out a sigh.
“I thought I was going to die.”
“I’m sorry. I arrived too late.”
Kaiden draped his coat over Reina’s shivering body.
Her clothes were torn and ragged in places.
“Can you stand?”
Reina weakly shook her head.
Her leg had been bitten, making it impossible to get up.
“Excuse me.”
Kaiden murmured his apology softly and lifted Reina into his arms with ease.
Her body was still quaking from the terror she’d just endured.
He gently pressed his forehead against hers and said.
“Close your eyes. It’s not a sight you’d want to see.”
Blood was everywhere around her. The metallic stench from the carcasses was enough to numb her nose.
Reina obediently shut her eyes at his command.
Her tensed body began to relax as she caught his scent.
With the tension released, Reina fainted right then and there.
* * *
When Reina arrived at Crencia Castle, covered in blood, the entire place was thrown into chaos.
Kaiden wore a grim expression and didn’t utter a word.
Because of that, the atmosphere inside the castle froze solid.
The attending physician, having felt the full force of Kaiden’s murderous aura, spoke with a face taut with nerves.
“The treatment is complete. She may have difficulty moving for a while, but there are no major injuries, so there shouldn’t be any lasting effects. However, scars might form, so I’ll prescribe an ointment.”
“Good work.”
“Then.”
After the physician bowed and left, Ben, who had been waiting nearby, approached.
“What on earth happened?”
Reina had gone out for a picnic and met with disaster.
And it had started right within the safe zone, making it all the more bewildering.
Kaiden silently observed Reina’s pallid face.
Her deathly still, sleeping form made him uneasy, so he lightly touched her cheek to check her temperature.
He had nearly lost her right before his eyes.
“It seems she ran in the opposite direction to save Miss Dalia. She was heading for a nearby shelter but must have taken a wrong turn.”
He quietly recalled Lily’s tearful words.
The place where Reina had first fired the signal flare was far from any shelter.
Reina, who always carried maps and books with her, would have surely known the locations in advance—it was strange.
Even if it was a mistaken judgment in a frantic moment, that wasn’t the only odd thing.
The snow foxes had first appeared in what was supposed to be the safe zone.
While it was rare for beasts to enter the safe area, it was almost unheard of for them to appear in packs.
That meant something must have lured the snow foxes there.
“As per Miss Reina’s instructions, I just ran straight ahead… But at some point, even the snow foxes that had been following me all disappeared. They were definitely trailing behind…”
Adding Dalia’s testimony made it clear this wasn’t a simple accident.
If they were mere beasts, they would have targeted the easier prey—the child.
Kaiden’s expression turned gravely serious.
“It seems someone was targeting Reina.”
“What?”
“Snow foxes entered the safe zone. And they only went after Reina, which means something was done to her specifically.”
“Who would do such a thing…”
As Ben wore a stunned look, Kaiden issued a savage order.
“It’s obviously the work of those who think ill of Reina. I must have been too lenient in my responses so far.”
“Your Grace.”
“Investigate thoroughly what happened. Hunt down everyone involved and interrogate them. No exceptions, no matter who.”
At Kaiden’s razor-sharp command, Ben bowed his head.
It was something he’d foreseen from the moment Kaiden’s face went blank.
‘He’s really angry…’
Whoever the culprits were, they had poked the wrong bear.
Kaiden was generally tolerant toward the northern folk, but cross his line, and he turned into a beast.
Especially Reina—she was one of the people he was most concerned about lately.
Ben suddenly wanted to ask why he was going this far, but he swallowed the urge.
There were things you could tell without asking.
It was better not to pose questions that wouldn’t lead to anything good.
Having served at his side for so long, Ben could see that Reina was no mere contractual partner in his eyes.
To blatantly target someone like that was bound to invite wrath.
In cases like this, swift handling was the best course.
“As you command.”
Ben immediately rushed to the scene.
