Ch.329Chapter 329 – The Princess’s Shadow (1)

The nobles began to fear.

News suddenly arrived that the Holy Knights of the Emiris Order had breached the southern gate and invaded, and that an important tower meant to be guarded by demons had collapsed, crushing almost all demons inside the castle.

Then came word that the Dragon Slayer of the Emiris Order had reached the castle.

But these facts alone wouldn’t have been enough to break their resolve.

Their spirits were crushed for another reason.

“Impossible, that powerful guardian beast…!”

The monster that the royal guards, including Traditore, had brought to kill the resistance.

News had arrived that this monster had been slain by the resistance forces after battle.

The fact that the monster, the source of their confidence, had been defeated by the resistance and the Order rather than driving them away meant they had lost their military advantage, and it awakened the fear they had forgotten.

And then, a slightly pale-skinned man entered and shouted at them.

“Disaster! Reinforcements for the resistance have broken through the royal guards and are heading here…!”

“I haven’t heard such reports until just now.”

The king spoke sternly.

But the pale-skinned man bowed his head and said:

“There seem to be many mages among the enemies. Suddenly reinforcements… I barely heard the news and rushed here…”

“Verify it.”

“You can see for yourself with this, quickly!”

The man pulled out a crystal ball from his breast.

And scenes of the surroundings appeared within the crystal.

Behind a melting, disappearing three-headed hound, resistance fighters were pouring in like a flood.

And finally, they could see the resistance surrounding the royal guards and killing them one by one.

“…Is that crystal ball something the royal guards use?”

“Yes. It’s a recording crystal that only captain-level guards use for emergencies. When activated, it can record the surrounding scenery.”

A royal guard in the room quietly explained, apparently familiar with it.

Soon the king bowed his head slightly and spoke.

“We should evacuate.”

“Indeed.”

A loyal guard replied quietly.

The king nodded.

And shortly after.

Behind the king protected by royal guards, nobles began to flee one after another.

“I told you we shouldn’t trust demons! I, I did nothing wrong!”

“If we hand over the king’s head now, perhaps we might be forgiven…”

“We still have soldiers left! Send them all out!”

Right after one man finished speaking, the sound of a building collapsing was heard.

The panicking nobles saw a massive purple beam of light.

“What is that, the direction is…”

“It’s the western gate, did the resistance bring some new weapon?!”

“The Order’s god is angry… We’ve touched those who shouldn’t be touched and are receiving divine punishment…”

“We should join the resistance now…!!”

One noble drew his sword and turned around.

And that sword was aimed at the man in front, the king of this country.

“It’s all your fault…!”

To survive by offering the king’s head.

The noble exerted his ceremonial swordsmanship skills to their fullest.

But the moment he swung his sword, a royal guard deflected it and struck him with a shield.

“Ugh!”

“What, we’re allies!”

“What’s happening, why are the royal guards attacking us…!”

Perhaps because they were already in confusion.

Absurdly, the nobles failed to recognize that one of their own had attacked the king first and misunderstood that the royal guards were attacking them.

Due to the chaos, they couldn’t perceive the situation correctly.

Soon a man shouted as if all was lost:

“We, we outnumber them! Kill them! Kill those men, offer the king’s head, and survive!”

“Kill them!!”

Soon the confused nobles drew their swords.

Of course, they had no chance against the royal guards who trained their bodies and skills daily and were battle-hardened, but their slightly greater numbers encouraged their rash behavior.

While nobles who couldn’t fight retreated in confusion, the royal guards and nobles began to clash.

And one of the royal guards spoke to the king who had momentarily stopped.

“Your Majesty, please escape first!”

“With their numbers, you might be attacked by mistake. For your safety, please.”

The royal guards would certainly subdue the nobles, but they were concerned about a stray blade.

There was a chance someone might unluckily break through the guards and reach the king, and the resistance forces could be closing in.

Believing the king needed to reach safety first, the royal guards immediately took action.

“Two of you protect His Majesty. The rest of us will deal with these rebels here.”

“Your Majesty, please go ahead and wait for us briefly.”

At the loyal guards’ words, the king nodded and turned around.

Soon all but two royal guards began fighting the confused nobles.

And as the king fled, he moved his head curiously after a moment.

“…That man from earlier is nowhere to be seen.”

He meant the man who had come to the room with news of more resistance forces approaching.

The man had been notably pale-skinned, but somehow wasn’t visible when the nobles were fleeing earlier.

Having this thought, the king hesitated momentarily.

Soon, he stopped in place.

“Your Majesty?”

“We must continue moving…”

“You two go ahead and secure the area.”

The king spoke quietly.

“…Then at least one of us should—”

“I can protect myself as well. It won’t take you long to go and return. So go ahead.”

The king said this, then spoke threateningly:

“This is my command. Will you disobey?”

“…We’ll return immediately.”

Finally, the royal guards turned and began running.

Though they were temporarily leaving their post due to orders, they ran desperately, needing to return as quickly as possible.

Thanks to this, they quickly moved away from the king toward his evacuation shelter.

The king, watching their backs, quietly turned around.

“There must be a trap.”

Thinking about it, something was strange.

That a noble had received a crystal from the royal guards.

If it were such an urgent matter, a royal guard would have come to report.

The king had initially accepted the situation as urgent since it involved a magical tool issued only to captain-level royal guards, but now that he was calmer, it seemed odd.

Moreover, the man who brought it wasn’t among the evacuating nobles.

Then the man’s purpose must have been to get him out of that room.

And to send him to the predetermined evacuation shelter, the king thought.

‘There must be an ambush waiting if I go there.’

It would certainly involve significant numbers and skill.

The guards he sent ahead would unknowingly approach and be killed.

“But it’s their duty to sacrifice their lives for me.”

Thinking there was nothing wrong with sending them ahead, the king began to run.

‘That pale skin, was he a vampire?’

Considering the characteristics of the reporting man, the king quietly assessed the situation.

‘Was there a traitor among the demons? Or did they make a deal with the resistance?’

Whatever the case, that part wasn’t particularly important.

The Emiris Order and resistance forces had already invaded, and the guardian beast was dead.

The confused nobles had begun attacking him, and someone was setting traps amid the chaos.

The castle interior wasn’t safe.

Therefore.

“I need to get outside.”

The king spoke quietly after arriving at a certain location in the palace.

He had reached a corridor somewhere in the castle.

In this somewhat secluded location decorated only with knights’ armor, the king drew upon his magical power and touched one of the suits of armor.

A light flashed once from the knight’s helmet.

Then the wall’s appearance changed, revealing a space large enough for a person to enter.

It was a secret passage that only the royal family could use.

‘I should escape first, then make contact later.’

After checking a small magical device that could communicate with the royal guards, the king threw himself into the passage.

Soon stairs appeared at the end of the passage, and as he descended them for quite some time, the king gritted his teeth.

“…I finally obtained this position, yet I end up like this.”

He had vowed not to meet the same miserable end as his brother whom he had killed so wretchedly.

“…I thought I would finally obtain everything I desired, even if it was just a substitute.”

The king gritted his teeth.

“I will surely repay this humiliation, you resistance dogs, Ella.”

To do that, he first needed to escape safely and assess what cards he still had to play, the king thought.

Considering various options as he descended, he eventually reached a passage leading outside the castle.

‘Now I just need to keep going straight ahead.’

He moved his legs forward.

Feeling his mind calming, he advanced.

“This time I’m in this wretched state.”

The king spoke quietly.

“But I’ll be the one laughing in the end.”

His body and mind had calmed, perhaps because he was in a safe place.

If he stayed still, he could smell something like incense.

‘Perhaps there’s a device here to help escaping royalty stay calm.’

In any case, the calming scent made his head feel clearer.

Wanting to experience more of that feeling, the king inhaled deeply to smell it more.

And within that scent.

He belatedly detected the smell of burning.

“…Tobacco?”

He frowned at the smell he had secretly tried in his youth.

And an alarm went off in his body.

Placing his hand on the ornate sword at his waist that he carried for emergencies, he quietly asked:

“Who’s there?”

There was no answer.

And the king spoke again, facing the direction he had been heading:

“This place is permitted only to royalty. It’s not a place for just anyone to tread.”

Again, there was no answer.

Instead, something like small footsteps was heard from ahead.

Suspicion turned to certainty.

The king looked ahead and threatened:

“Smoking in such a place. Know your insolence.”

The footsteps grew louder.

The king looked in that direction and said:

“Stop, insolent one!”

“I refuse.”

A woman’s voice came from ahead.

The king frowned slightly.

Somehow a similar voice was in his memory.

He quietly said:

“Ella, is that you?”

There was no answer.

And the king, with a slightly exhilarated smile, said:

“So it is you. Did you lead your subordinates here to ambush me?”

There was no answer, only footsteps.

The king shouted with confidence:

“Foolish girl. Bringing outsiders to a place permitted only to the king. You’re disqualified as royalty.”

Therefore.

“Show yourself before me, Ella.”

It was around when he said this.

The shadow of the approaching person became visible.

And the moment he saw it, the king.

Shot magical power at the wall.

“There you are!”

With a confident voice, bricks fell from above the shadow.

And the king shouted with a laugh:

“This place responds to royal magic. You shouldn’t have thought there would be no devices to repel enemies of royalty!”

With a slight sneer, the king shouted:

“You shouldn’t have brought subordinates. You should have ambushed me at the entrance, foolish one.”

There was no answer.

The king laughed, certain of victory.

“Now, what will you do alone? Ella? You’re not without skill, but this uncle, despite appearances, has more combat experience than you think. You have no chance of winning.”

And he smiled viciously and said:

“So surrender. Come to my side. I couldn’t have your mother, but I’ll have you instead.”

The king laughed loudly and said:

“Come, come here!”

The king shouted.

And.

“Since you’re making so many misconceptions, I’ll have to explain them one by one, though it’s troublesome.”

A voice came from where the bricks had fallen.

“First. There are no subordinates here. No comrades either. Just me alone.”

“…Speaking informally. You’ve grown a lot, Ella.”

The king was displeased.

“Do I need to teach you manners again?”

The king spoke threateningly.

And the voice answered:

“Second. I am not Ella.”

“What?”

The king shouted incredulously.

“Don’t be ridiculous. The only royalty who can come here are me or Ella!”

“You might think so. But this is the truth. There’s only one set of footsteps, right?”

At those words, the king quietly listened.

Indeed.

There was only one set of footsteps.

“Then how can you be here if you’re not Ella!”

“Because I’m someone who crawled up from hell.”

With those cold words, the smell of tobacco grew stronger.

And with that smell.

A woman dressed in black was slowly approaching.

“Fortunately I have this.”

The woman said, finishing the cigarette in her hand.

“It has a calming effect. I needed it to wait so persistently.”

“State your name, now!”

The king shouted in panic.

And facing such a king, the woman smiled slightly and said:

“Don’t bark. Does my name really matter?”

“Stop playing games, state your name!”

The king shouted in confusion.

And the woman slowly finished her cigarette and said:

“I’m one of the people you killed and eliminated, so pick one from among them… Ah, I see.”

As if something occurred to her mid-sentence, the woman chuckled.

“You’ve killed so many people that there are too many names to choose from?”

The king pointed his sword.

And facing such a king, the woman quietly smiled and said:

“It might be inconvenient without a name to call me.”

Having finished her cigarette, the woman flicked it away and continued:

“Call me Beatrice.”

Beatrice quietly said.

“I’ve come for you to pay for your crimes.”