episode_0006

The temperature inside the room dropped suddenly.

It had been a long time since Orc, who was kneeling on the floor, had stopped his contemplation.

Rachel’s behavior was different from before.

Normally, she would have clearly been a woman who detested Ian to the point of madness and wouldn’t have given him any attention.

Ian was a scoundrel, the kind of person who caused trouble in his study every day.

But ever since he suddenly started showing filial piety, Rachel had become strange.

As if loosening something that had been stuck.

She even brought a comfortable concept to the thorny issue of paperwork that had been causing her a headache.

Even the problems that would have taken several months with the help of 10 subordinates were swiftly resolved.

Was it a talent that bloomed late? It was so outstanding that it made even herself bewildered and doubtful.

On top of that, there were morning greetings she never used to give, and she would have the maid leave a love-filled letter at the door with an apology for feeling unwell.

It had been a long time since that became Rachel’s daily delight.

The emotion of love seeped into her arid, desert-like heart.

There were three main reasons why her heart had become so arid.

Firstly, she couldn’t tell when her husband, whom she had been forcibly engaged to, would come to her bed.

Both her busy self and her second son couldn’t even meet within the mansion anymore.

So, she buried herself even more in her study to deal with her work.

Occasionally, she found satisfaction in catching glimpses of news about her son in the newspaper or hearing stories about her child from the maids or in conversations among the staff.

But Ian, whom she detested the most, had erased that part of herself.

If he didn’t come to say good morning, she worried that his illness might have worsened.

If there was no letter written for her in the evening, she felt hurt.

She was surprised and alarmed by her inability to hold her usual fountain pen and her lack of concentration.

Unbeknownst to her, Ian had permeated her being.

Now, she found herself only waiting for letters and unable to do anything in the evenings.

News of her son’s growth brought relief, a spell had been broken.

Could it be that this was the reason she had been sitting in her study for so long? She began to feel emotions not as a splendid something, but as a mother.

Finally, she came to her senses.

I love you.

I cherish you.

However, it’s strange.

There was no reason for his heart to race even in the carriage.

I should be worried about him.

“Sorry, I’m sorry.”

Ian, absentmindedly wearing a startled expression while patting his chest, is taken aback.

But he didn’t push her away.

It meant that he didn’t dislike it inwardly.

Now, isolated within Ian’s arms, a faint trace of masculinity clung to his neck, almost brushing against his nostrils.

Even when his hand withdrew, thoughts of wanting to touch a little more filled her mind, which felt inappropriate.

When her body touched Ian’s, it was as if—

Yes.

This is an emotion that shouldn’t exist.

Rachel was certain.

Such emotions are like oil.

As the flames spread, they ignite an overwhelming fire.

Her youngest son, whom she did not love.

Her son, born from excruciating pain.

On the noble body of a son who wouldn’t hurt her eyes, a vile and grotesque creature dared to—

“…touched you.”

Trembling,

“…”

Just one word caused the orc merchant’s body to convulse as if it would burst.

“How dare you…”

Up until now, a ferocious magic, unseen, enveloped the entire room.

He, still unaware of the situation, simply froze at just one word, enough to stir Rachel’s emotions.

Fueled by rage, Rachel clenched her fist so strongly that it trembled.

As the ground shook, Rachel’s black hair floated into the air, surrounded by a blue aura of magic. It was akin to the appearance of a sorcerer manipulating gravity.

“You truly don’t value your life.”

The menacing gaze killed the orc.

Merely meeting his gaze was almost mistaken for an act of murder deserving death.

The surrounding stone seemed to freeze.

A sense of foreboding arose from the experience of the carriage attack.

“……”

“…You won’t answer? Well, then. If I execute everyone related to you for insult, that would be the end of it.”

With a chilling expression, speaking numbly, it was truly believable.

No, it was true.

Someone like Rachel could easily publicly execute slaves with just a breath, so there was nothing but despair.

“I’m, I’m sorry…!!!!!”

She bangs her head.

The metallic taste of blood paralyzes her senses.

All she can feel is the woman’s foot stomping on her head right now.

“Shut up.”

If apologizing would have ended it, this situation wouldn’t have escalated like this in the first place.

Just before the erupting volcano within him was about to explode, Rachel managed to grab Ian’s arm, holding onto her severed rationality.

Dripping blood from his arm.

His skin torn apart.

A blue bruise marked the center of his pale skin.

His brows furrowed roughly, and a hint of anger surpassed the maximum level.

“Mother, I’m okay-”

“Don’t lie. Your body isn’t that strong to begin with. If you recklessly endured such a whip, your bones might have been damaged. Hurry and take that slave to the carriage. There will be a steward there who can tend to your wounds.”

An authoritative command that allowed no argument.

Ian couldn’t utter a word because of her resolute appearance.

“Ugh.”

The freezing floor began to get colder and colder.

The room, now below zero, seemed as if caught in a blizzard.

He opened the door and took Yuria outside.

She crouched, shivering from the cold.

Clearly, a mere cloth wasn’t enough.

“Yuria, are you okay?”

“…….”

No response.

As she was led by my hand, her trembling figure wasn’t a good sight.

I lowered myself to her level and met her gaze,

Her dilated pupils only expressed loss.

“…”

It wasn’t the look of a child.

Her lips twitched, opening and closing repeatedly.

She wanted to say something.

Thank you for saving me.

I’m sorry, I’m useless.

Because of me… I, I… Because of me…

She didn’t know what to say first or apologize for first.

“Because of me… Did Ian get hurt a lot…? I’m, I’m sorry. Sniff, sob.”

She was so distraught that she mixed her speech levels.

Ah, she’s crying,

That reaction was expected.

But upon closer inspection, it was different.

Her combat power, which is divided based on whether she has consumed a minimal amount of blood or not.

An Elder Vampire,

She was already at the level of a hero, having been a vampire of the aristocratic class. Moreover, she possessed a special racial class that only the chosen few among the scarce aristocratic vampires had.

In other words, just like the strongest in the world. It meant that she would be incredibly powerful from now on if the conditions were met.

– Thud, thud.

Tears fell beneath her blood-stained eyes.

It must have been tear ducts that had dried up long ago.

They were still flowing.

Her heart, which seemed to have stopped like a cold corpse, was beating steadily.

Revealing sharp, gnarled fingernails, she exuded a vitality that was hard to believe for someone so young.

To Ian, who was insensitive to such sensations, there wasn’t much of an impression, but if a knight had seen this sight, they would have fainted and fallen into a fit, frothing at the mouth.

But she was too angry, so angry.

She wanted to kneel down right away and wail, releasing her lost emotions as a loud lamentation.

These emotions she felt for the first time pierced Yuria’s heart so painfully.

As if a stake had cut through her own heart, leaving a large hole in her chest.

It was agonizing.

So very painful.

She had hurt herself.

Because of herself.

Ian’s pained gaze.

Overlapping with her own trauma.

Her determination to take care of herself until the end.

Each time it resonated in her heart, it made her even more agonizing, accompanied by tears.

What can she do?

What is there?

She doesn’t even know how to eat human food. She doesn’t know the taste.

She doesn’t even know what he wants.

The more she agonized, the more her heart twisted.

Unconsciously, she had grabbed her chest and stopped walking.

“I… should kill myself.”

“…”

A chilly breeze passed between them, who had unknowingly stepped outside.

“Master.”

Yuria called out to him as she ran, causing Ian’s body, which seemed to have moved forward, to stretch back as if pulled in the opposite direction.

Squelch, even if he tried to move forward, he couldn’t possibly overcome the initial strength difference against a vampire.

“Why did you save me?”

It was strange.

This man was strange.

Knowing that I was a vampire, an internationally recognized vampire, and giving blood to one of the top vampires among them was not something a sane person would do unless they were extremely crazy. But that wasn’t the reason.

This man wasn’t insane. That’s why it was puzzling.

In fact, there was no longer any significance to the chill that ran through me just after I had drunk blood.

“That’s…”

-Kugugugugung!!!!

I regained my senses with a start as a deafening noise shattered the tranquility.

There, naturally, a bloody battle was unfolding between Rachel and what appeared to be mercenaries.

I had thought the clash from earlier had settled matters, but now our concern was not her safety.

It was ours.

The shattered debris didn’t vanish like in cartoons.

The looming darkness immediately evoked primal fear.

But that wasn’t important right now.

Yuria had no experience in combat.

That’s why she couldn’t even adapt to the speed of superhumans.

A reckless leap could cover 3 meters or 10 meters.

And that action could actually lead to danger.

Right now, Yuria’s mind held only the thought of jumping to a place where nothing existed.

Perhaps then, no matter how many meters she jumped, she could escape properly from here.

It wasn’t an incorrect statement.

Yuria was an incredible superhuman, so it was clear she could somehow avoid this.

However.

The place Yuria leaped to while holding Ian was where the carriage should have originally arrived.

When she turned her head with an indifferent gaze,

Ian was screaming as if his life depended on it.

“Dodge!!!!!”

What.

“Dodge it!!!!!!!!!!!!”

That place.

It was where the large carriage, startled by the sound of collapsing building debris, was rampaging.

The attention was drawn to the swiftly flying black shadows.

The black hooves rushed forward with a “purr.”

If they directly hit the several hundred-kilogram carriage at who knows how many kilometers per hour, how many people would survive?

If it were the matured Yuria, she might have used a yawn as an excuse, but the current Yuria was like a newly awakened sprout.

‘Not knowing any defensive techniques yet, if I were to be hit directly by that thing…’

I would die.

Even if it were anyone, it wouldn’t matter.

(Note: This is a direct translation of the Korean sentence provided.)