Chapter 95
Kierne gazed impassively at the fairy before him.
The Chains of Condemnation, infused with divine power, stretched haphazardly across the room.
The fairy, bound by them, hung limp and motionless, like a butterfly caught in a spider’s web.
Long, forest-green hair cascaded messily over the white chains that gleamed with a subtle light.
Kierne stared at the fairy’s tangled hair for a long while.
It reminded him of the first time he met his wife in the Black Forest.
She, too, had let her hair spill out like that.
Ignorant folks often chattered about how Count Basilian had stumbled upon his wife in the Black Forest and fallen in love at first sight.
But the couple’s initial encounter was nothing like the romantic fantasies people spun.
For Kierne, born with a nature that mistrusted others, it was impossible to take someone to heart from the very start.
Yet, in that first moment he saw her, there had undeniably been a stirring in his soul.
He had met her in a place filled entirely with darkness.
The Black Forest, where even the gleaming eyes of monsters were hard to make out.
There, Kierne saw a color that shouldn’t exist.
A brilliant gold, like the sun.
For an instant, he thought it was a hallucination.
After all, lingering too long in the Black Forest often led to visions or auditory illusions.
She was a woman of astonishing beauty.
She lay asleep like a painting, her hair scattered across the tangled black grass, leaves, and thorny bushes.
Her disheveled golden locks shone brightly in the dark forest.
People who traversed the Black Forest stuck strictly to the designated paths.
The forest’s ominous aura stirred instinctive fear, so no one dared to act recklessly.
Everyone obediently followed the established order.
As if they knew full well that breaking it meant death.
And yet, here in the heart of the Black Forest, he had encountered someone not from Basilian.
A slender woman who looked like she’d never properly held a sword.
Narrowing his eyes, he observed her for a moment.
Perhaps a new species of monster had emerged.
The Black Forest had endured for centuries, so it wouldn’t be strange for something novel to appear now.
But he sensed no aura from her at all.
She was truly an ordinary human.
That made it even more suspicious.
It made no sense for a human woman, dressed in fluttering clothes, to be collapsed in the center of a monster-infested Black Forest.
Kierne deliberately made noise as he approached.
Crunch.
Dry leaves crumbled under his feet.
At the sound, her eyelashes fluttered faintly.
She had been in a deep sleep, but now she slowly opened her eyes.
Unconsciously, Kierne held his breath and watched her quietly.
Beneath eyelids lifting languidly, pinkish eyes like flower petals were revealed.
The woman sat up groggily, blinking blankly.
Her face was vacant, like that of someone simple-minded.
Kierne drew closer to her.
He bent his knees and sat facing her, and only then did she look at him.
His reflection filled her empty eyes.
The hazy focus gradually sharpened.
The moment it became perfectly clear, she spoke.
“Where is this?”
Thinking her voice was as clear as a bird’s chirp, he replied.
“The Black Forest.”
“The Black Forest…?”
“This is a dangerous place. How did you end up here?”
Kierne asked with a faint smile.
All while preparing a spell that could slice through her neck.
The woman murmured with a confused expression.
“…I don’t know.”
As if her head ached, she frowned slightly and whispered again.
“I don’t know anything.”
“Not even how you got here?”
Kierne extended his hand to the side and waved it.
A red light shot out, slicing through the monsters that had been creeping closer.
Hideous screams echoed as black blood sprayed everywhere.
“This isn’t a place for humans.”
The red magic massacred the monsters.
Kierne wielded it more slowly and cruelly than usual, ensuring she could fully witness the spectacle.
When sticky blood pooled all around, he spoke again.
“You’d better stop the nonsense and tell the truth. Otherwise…”
Kierne lightly traced a finger across her throat.
Drawing a long horizontal line, he gave a sly, narrow-eyed smile.
“I’ll end up doing something bad.”
It was an unmistakable threat.
He expected her to cower in fear at this point.
Instead, she scowled fiercely.
She glared at Kierne.
“You stop the nonsense and tell the truth. Didn’t you kidnap me and dump me here?”
“…”
Suddenly accused of being a kidnapper, Kierne let out a hollow laugh.
Meanwhile, the woman surveyed the Black Forest and shuddered with disgust.
“I hate places like this! There’s no way I’d come here on my own. Absolutely not.”
Seeing the viscous blood oozing from the dead monsters, her already pale face turned even whiter.
“Ah, I can’t stand it. This place feels so awful…”
The woman suddenly stood up abruptly.
Kierne, caught off guard, rose with her.
Her slender body swayed, then collapsed entirely.
Golden hair fluttered through the air.
He caught her as she fell.
Even for Kierne, it was a bit startling in that moment.
A lavish floral scent wafted strongly from the body that pressed against him.
It was vivid, even amid the Black Forest’s bloody stench.
“Why won’t my legs move?”
Clinging to Kierne, the woman looked bewildered.
She held onto him and tried moving each leg one by one.
But they seemed powerless.
She couldn’t stand straight, staggering repeatedly like a newborn fawn.
After struggling alone for a while, she looked up at Kierne with a tearful expression.
“Um… Take me to a place with flowers and grass.”
Kierne, who had unwittingly served as her support all this time, stared at her in disbelief.
At his gaze, the woman wore a surprised look.
With a hesitant expression, she cautiously asked.
“Are you maybe too weak to carry me…?”
“…It’s not that I can’t.”
Kierne started to speak, then closed his mouth.
He didn’t know where to begin correcting this.
From her demeanor, it seemed she’d lost her memory.
She was suspicious in many ways, so taking her to the Serpent’s Castle for interrogation seemed wise.
Clear judgment was difficult here.
Having lingered in the Black Forest too long, his own mind felt a bit off.
He needed to leave to think rationally.
Kierne glanced down obliquely at the woman hanging on his arm.
“I’ll take you to a place with flowers.”
Did the Serpent’s Castle have flowers?
Maybe some weeds…
With that half-hearted thought, he scooped her up effortlessly.
Startled by the sudden lift, the woman clung tightly to Kierne.
Holding her soft body, he walked indifferently, pondering.
Perhaps those targeting Count Basilian and the underworld’s master had crafted this woman and sent her to him.
Using a beauty trap was common, but dropping her in the Black Forest was quite novel.
In any case, taking her to the Serpent’s Castle and interrogating her properly would reveal the details.
That was how he thought as he carried her to the castle in their first meeting.
“…”
If only he’d been a little kinder back then.
Recalling his past self threatening her, Kierne smiled bitterly.
But regretting an unchangeable past changed nothing.
He erased the faint smirk that had risen.
Gazing at the fairy before him, Kierne snapped his fingers with a sharp click.
The clear sound roused the consciousness of the fairy bound by the Chains of Condemnation.
“…!”
The fairy jerked in surprise and lifted her head.
Kierne met her faintly trembling eyes and smiled.
He approached her with slow steps.
A sinister gleam swirled in his red eyes.
It was the moment he intended to cast mind control on her.
The fairy spoke first.
“Why…”
As if the divine power weighed heavily on her, she gasped for breath before continuing in a strained voice.
“Why does a human have the queen?”
