CH 26

Kiel joined the fray, reaching out with his short arms, and he directed the underworld’s power all over the place. There were more than just one or two intruders—presumably, there were still roughly thirty people still alive now.

‘You all came with determination. The three-syllable woman truly must be of that bloodline.’

He’ll have to be nice to her from now on. While concluding in this way with evil intentions, Kiel swung a death scythe that was ten times larger than his body, then he confronted the intruders.

‘Shit. Our side also took some damage. I really have a bone to pick with these Pilsburg scoundrels.’

The Cardiago household, which wielded the underworld’s power, was basically weak to beings above ground who had vitality. If it were just normal human soldiers, the reapers would have turned them into mush long before.

‘I can’t believe they sent the earthly corps as spies.’

The terrene corps, or the land’s forces. They were a special unit in Pilsburg, protected by the goddess Isis. They were a private unit or soldiers who had vowed their loyalty to one particular person in the imperial family.

The reapers complained of severe itching and nausea once the terrene scattered light. They couldn’t help but react this way because they’ve been living thus far without seeing the light.

As he frowned, the power that Riggs temporarily unsealed for him rushed in. The moment Kiel temporarily looked to be an adult around the age of twenty, the reapers around him cheered.

“Yes! Lord Kierkegaard!”

“Our King!”

“Shut up. If we don’t take care of this quickly, we’ll get in trouble so let’s work hard.”

His way of speaking was still the same, but Kiel, who was now an adult, acted freely and swung his death scythe as he faced the terrene. The terrene corps themselves basically couldn’t express themselves regardless.

‘If it’s done under the name of Pilsburg that the goddess has been protecting, then these punks would even give up their lives.’

They were nothing short of zombies acting under the command of Pilsburg. They’d vowed their loyalty, so even if an arm of a leg was hacked off, they would continue to fight.

Much like the terrene, since this was roughly like their own temple, the reapers also had no choice but to fight.

Kiel struck his scythe on the floor, creating fissures, and then pulled some of the terrene’s troops down underground.

‘There’s a lot of resistance.’

His opponents were tricky to face because their characteristics weren’t the same.

“Our opponents use poison. If it touches you, these kids from the dark like us would melt away, so be careful.”

Though of course, just because they were tricky to face didn’t mean that it was impossible to attack.

* * *

Back inside the closet—

Isabelle was going crazy.

The atmosphere was awkward. She was alone with Riggs, who was apparently the most at ease person in the world. She couldn’t believe the atmosphere was like this.

It wouldn’t have been like this if Riggs just reacted normally, frightened or even frantic about what she was doing.

But here he was, just watching her while she was caressing his body.

‘Why did I do that…’

Isabelle cursed her hands. It was difficult to breathe in such a suffocating atmosphere, as though she entered a steaming bath. Was it because it was hard to face him now?

Riggs smiled and spoke softly.

“Isabelle. Our opponents are the terrene. It’ll be safer to hide for as long as we can, so let’s stay here until Kiel takes care of the situation and comes for us later.”

The moment the terrene would see Isabelle, they’d definitely attack like crazy. It was better to let Kiel take care of it and defend them at least.

Isabelle glanced outside and asked.

“The terrene has soldiers who follow the orders of the Pilsburg family, right? Why do they have to go this far…”

Her expression crumpled because of what was pointed out. Then, the vague assumption that’s been nagging at her since the goddess Isis started speaking to her popped in. Riggs confirmed it.

“It’s probably because they’d been ordered by the Pilsburgs to capture you. You have the blood of the imperial family.”

“……!”

Her round eyes seemed to ask Riggs if it was definitely true. He nodded.

“Even if it isn’t the case, the Pilsburgs would take you away because the goddess chose you. The terrene is just acting according to the command given to them.”

“Wait—then my mother…”

Then at that moment, some of the terrene troops broke through the defenses of the reapers, then quickly approached with wide strides. Seeing them through the gap in the closet, Isabelle couldn’t hide her anxiety.

‘They look like humans, but… I think their souls are empty.’

Isabelle saw such a sight once, a pseudo-religious missionary work in the marketplace. Even though the man was clearly recommending the religion through his own words, his eyes seemed to be far away.

The gazes behind the terrene corps that she could see now were just like that. Their body was here on earth, but their souls seemed to have gone far away.

‘…They’ll try to catch me until the bitter end unless Pilsburg retracts their command.’

It was a fact that could be realized just with one look into their eyes. Even if they were defeated with the help of Riggs and the Reapers this time, they would aim for her again next time.

‘I heard that Pilsburg is doing all that they can to solve the problem about their successor.’

Although she was chosen by the goddess Isis, Isabelle did not feel any inherent desire to be part of the Pilsburg household. Rather, she thought that they were disgusting.

‘Until now, you’ve left me alone in the hands of Saintess Mary, but now you’re here?’

They would never be able to act of their own accord. This time, Isabelle tried hard to suppress her heavy heart.

One of the terrene troops glanced towards the closet where Riggs and Isabelle were hiding. Riggs carefully grabbed his sword as he listened to their voices.

“If you think about how limited their movements are, they should be around here…”

“As soon as any of you find her, check if she has goddess Isis’ tears, then secure her immediately.”

“Understood. Should we confiscate the memento?”

“Do not stir the goddess’ ire. Let the woman keep the memento.”

Memento. Isis’ tears.

Isabelle and Riggs made eye contact for a moment, then their attention was drawn to one place—the blue necklace he was wearing.

This was the only memento that Isabelle had kept since she was born.

“Saintess Mary also told me to value this necklace.”

“Why did you give me such a thing?”

“If I knew I was proposing to Cardiago, I wouldn’t have done it…”

But Isabelle and Riggs weren’t stupid enough to continue bickering. Riggs leaned down slightly towards Isabelle and spoke.

“You take it first. If you’re wearing it, they won’t hurt you.”

A treasure bestowed by the goddess Isis must be invaluable to the terrene. It was a pity that he had to return a gift that Isabelle had given him, but nothing was more important to Riggs than Isabelle’s safety.

“Hurry. I can’t move, so you have to take it yourself.”

“…I got it.”

This wasn’t the time for him to play any tricks. Quickly assessing the situation, Isabelle immediately went on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Riggs’ neck. The clasp was difficult to undo.

“Hurry up.”

“I’m doing it as fast as I can. Tell me if the terrene’s coming close. It’s dangerous.”

“……”

Riggs’ throat moved as he swallowed dryly. The terrene? Of course, they were also dangerous.

But what was more dangerous was…

‘Who the hell’s responsible for this thin dress?’

It was much more dangerous that his body was so close to Isabelle’s like this, with only soft, thin silk on her.

The reason why he was hurrying her up was because there’s only one towel and one silk dress between them.

“…Hurry.”

“Sorry, Riggs, ugh…”

The lock punctured the underside of Isabelle’s fingernail, and so she groaned.

Riggs was going mad. Blood rushed to his cheeks and ears.

This position was dangerous.

Because she had immersed herself in a warm bath for a long time, Isabelle’s skin was much softer and even more stimulating for him than usual. There were more than just one or two spots that their bare skin touched.

He wanted to find that place where the sweet scent was coming from—to bite her skin, kiss it, leave a mark. First, here, on her nape that was revealed through the thin silk.

‘…Driving me nuts.’

“Isabelle. Get off. I’ll do it.”

“No, just a little more… Hngh…!”

Why the hell was she making that sound when it was only a necklace. Riggs was going numb, starting from one place in his body. He wanted to run out of this closet right this second.

“Ah, this can’t go on. Riggs, wanna do it?”

“……”

Why did Isabelle have to word it so strangely. Because she was on her tiptoes, her face was right in front of his.

“…Fine, so get off first.”

Riggs barely managed to remove the necklace, diligently singing the regional anthem of the Cardiago Duchy, which was so boring in all of its six verses.

Though the lyrics expressed the significant achievement of Cardiago’s establishment, the real victory here was Riggs, who showed patience transcending limits.

Then, the moment the necklace was back on Isabelle’s neck—

“Found her.”

“……!”

An eerie voice was heard from the side. Right then, Riggs kicked the door open so as not to give them a chance to rush in.

“Keugh…!”

Along with the door, the terrene corps were flung far away. At the same time, voices burst out.

“Lady Isabelle is here!”

“The heir of Pilsburg is here!”

Thud, thud, thud—

The sound of footsteps moving in unison shook the building. Isabelle was instantly frightened to see hundreds of hands reaching out to take her.

“It’s okay, Isabelle. Can you fight?”

“I can, but…”

The terrene troops went into formation and crowded together. They made a barricade with their bodies. When they got out of the bathroom, Kiel had managed to keep them at bay, but the moment they saw Pilsburg’s heir, the terrene troops would resist even until their bodies would turn to ashes.

‘As long as I’m someone who’s been chosen by Isis, these people will come back for me over and over again.

Even with either victory or defeat here, she would have to live in anxiety all her life. They were faithful to their commands as they were people who could not disobey the orders they’d taken from the Pilsburg family, which had been blessed by the goddess.

‘Wait a sec, then…’

“Riggs, can you cover me for a bit? Just one minute is enough.”

“Okay.”

Riggs swung his sword and pushed back the terrene troops. Even if parts of their bodies were sliced off, they rushed right back like crazy. Had Kiel not blocked them from outside, even more of them would have encroached.

While Riggs bought her some time, Isabelle clenched her necklace and quickly recalled the blue butterflies. Then, the symbol of the goddess began to appear one by one in front of her eyes.

“……!”

As they saw this, PIlsburg’s terrene gradually put up less of a resistance. The blue butterflies, the goddess’ symbol here on this land, had only been an account passed through word of mouth down the imperial family. And.

Fwaaa—

By Isabelle’s feet, a huge magic circle woven with divine power appeared. From one side of her periphery, Isabelle saw the traces of divine power in the shape of butterflies appearing in translucent light.

Blue eyes. Silver hair. Blue butterflies fluttering beautifully.

“G-G-Goddess Isis…”

“Goddess!”

“Master of the land!”

The terrene corps knelt in front of Isabelle, dropping all the weapons they were carrying. The sight before them was enough evidence that Isis was here.

‘I knew it.’

Isabelle kissed the necklace and accepted Isis’ power. There was only one reason why they obeyed Pilsburg, and that was because they followed those that had the bloodline blessed by Isis.

Once the real deal could be seen right in front of their eyes, it’s obvious where their loyalty would be.

“Your God has spoken, and her commands have gone through me.”

「 My Isabelle. Think about your God’s image and speak with appropriate grace. 」

Isis’ voice rang behind her ears. Isabelle nodded, then she spoke.

“My little lambs, I send you off beautifully. Now, kindly piss off.”