6. Hey, give me back my sweet kids! (5)
Despite Tezette’s murderous charge, the man didn’t let go of Elsez’s hand; instead, he gripped her wrist even tighter.
Seeing this, Tezette’s eyes grew colder than ever, and his voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
“If you don’t want to, I’ll cut that arm off for you.”
The man dissolved his magical barrier and formed a wave of magical energy, striking Tezette.
Tezette staggered back but quickly regained his footing and charged again.
Caught off guard by Tezette’s sudden appearance, the man hesitated briefly. But soon, his red eyes filled with murderous intent.
The man’s magic clashed with Tezette’s sword repeatedly, the sharp clangs echoing menacingly through the clearing.
Each impact sent shockwaves rippling through the air, shaking the ground.
Elsez was shocked by the sudden turn of events.
In terms of speed, Tezette, a close-range fighter, should have had the upper hand. Yet, the man was matching his swift reactions.
And Tezette was dodging the man’s precise magical attacks with equal agility.
It seemed they would fight to the death.
Elsez bit her lip.
‘The noise from the fight with the cyclops will soon attract the palace knights.’
The masked man would be at a disadvantage then.
After a moment’s hesitation, Elsez pulled her wrist free from the man’s grip.
As his attention wavered, she struck his abdomen.
“……!”
Caught off guard by Elsez’s attack while facing Tezette, the man was thrown back.
This disrupted the flow of their battle, causing Tezette to pause his attack.
Seizing the moment, Elsez approached the masked man and struck him again.
The man barely blocked her punch, his magical barrier flickering from the impact.
Behind the mask, his red eyes, slightly distorted, met Elsez’s gaze.
Just then, the sound of approaching palace knights echoed.
“Over here!”
Elsez grew anxious.
‘If the palace knights find us, things will get complicated.’
If the man lost to Tezette and the knights, he would be captured. But if he fought back, it would also cause problems.
‘Run away,’ Elsez silently urged the man, hoping he would understand her intention.
The man’s red eyes flickered with a hint of pain.
Suddenly, Elsez felt a presence behind her—it was Tezette, who had momentarily retreated during her attack on the man.
The masked man looked at Elsez one last time before using a teleportation spell to disappear.
As the magical light faded, Elsez saw a glimpse of sorrow in his eyes.
She sighed in relief as the man vanished completely.
Tezette approached her, his expression unreadable.
Elsez nervously glanced at him, wondering if he had noticed her deliberate attack to help the man escape.
‘Did he realize I intentionally attacked the man to let him go?’
Tezette was perceptive, and though she had tried her best to make it look like a real attack, she wasn’t sure if she had fooled him.
But Tezette’s first concern was for her well-being.
“……Are you hurt?” he asked.
Caught off guard by his question, Elsez blinked in surprise before replying, “Uh, um… I’m fine.”
Noticing Tezette’s gaze on her tattered dress, she awkwardly scratched her cheek and added, “……But my dress is ruined.”
Without a word, Tezette draped his outer garment over her shoulders.
Before Elsez could react, he scooped her up into his arms.
Startled, she grabbed his shoulder.
“I can walk,” she protested.
“Barefoot?” Tezette replied, nodding towards her dirt-stained feet visible beneath the ruined dress.
Realizing her disheveled appearance, Elsez decided to accept his help. She stole a glance at Tezette, wondering if he had noticed her ploy.
‘I thought he’d immediately ask if I let the masked man go.’
Usually, Tezette would have stared her down, but this time, his gaze was elsewhere, lost in thought or deliberately avoiding her eyes.
Just then, the knights approached them.
“Are you both alright?” one of them asked.
“We’re fine,” Elsez replied.
“That’s a relief. But may I ask, young lady, how did you end up here? If you witnessed the initial incident—”
“Does it have to be discussed right now?” Tezette interrupted before Elsez could answer.
The knight’s attitude, failing to consider Elsez’s recent ordeal, irritated Tezette.
The knight, startled by Tezette’s cold gaze, bowed his head.
“I-I apologize. I wasn’t thinking.”
The knights, sensing the tension, moved to investigate the broken-down palace, the fading cyclops corpse, and the unconscious kidnappers.
Tezette set Elsez down on a nearby rock and ordered the nearby knights,
“Bring shoes and escort the lady to the palace.”
“Yes, sir.”
One of the knights hurried off to find shoes.
As Tezette turned to join the knights investigating the scene, Elsez spoke up.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
He paused and looked back at her.
“You came to rescue me. Faster than anyone else.”
A chilly spring breeze passed between them as they gazed at each other.
Tezette seemed on the verge of saying something, his red lips parting briefly, but he ultimately remained silent and turned away.
Elsez watched his retreating figure, puzzled.
‘He looked like he wanted to say something.’
It was unlike Tezette to hold back his thoughts. His behavior seemed unfamiliar.
A knight approached Elsez.
“My lady, I brought these shoes. I hope they fit.”
“These will do. Thank you.”
Elsez put on the shoes and headed back to the palace.
Tezette, still facing away, listened intently to Elsez’s voice fading into the distance.
He wondered about her feelings.
What was she thinking? What emotions was she experiencing?
But in that moment, he didn’t want to know her thoughts or feelings.
He didn’t ask because he didn’t want to hear the answer.
He silently questioned himself, over and over, about the question he couldn’t bring himself to ask her.
Elsez.
Why did you let him go?
****
After dismissing the nobles from the banquet, Cedric headed straight for the abandoned palace.
His steps were urgent, yet his expression, hidden by the night’s darkness, was that of a satisfied hunter checking his trap.
‘How perfectly everything has fallen into place.’
Cedric had chosen the abandoned palace as the scene of the crime for Rashiel’s sake.
Typically, magic couldn’t be used within the imperial palace.
However, there was an exception.
The abandoned palace, built for the heir by the late emperor, was also the site of experiments to transplant Rashiel’s mana into Cedric.
Using magic was essential for these experiments, so the abandoned palace was the only place within the imperial palace not protected by the magic-blocking barrier.
After the experiments ended, the palace was completely sealed off, freeing it from the barrier’s influence.
Thus, anyone needing to use teleportation magic to quickly reach the imperial palace had to come through the abandoned palace.
Cedric had lured Rashiel there to frame him as the culprit of the incident.
The second reason for choosing the abandoned palace was to remind Rashiel of the childhood experiments he endured, making him aware of his true place.
You should have died there, as an experiment subject.
‘A place filled with memories. I wonder if it brought back old feelings.’
As Cedric approached the abandoned palace, he encountered knights coming from that direction.
He asked in a low voice,
“What happened?”
“Someone opened a dimensional rift at the abandoned palace. By the time we arrived, only the corpse of a cyclops remained.”
“And the suspects?”
“We apprehended several individuals suspected of opening the rift. While we need to interrogate them for details, we believe their leader is Rashiel Celeste, the Tower Lord, who is currently suspected of involvement in the dimensional rift incident. He was also seen at the scene.”
Cedric frowned. The men he sent to open the rift being captured was an unexpected turn.
He didn’t know how things had gone awry, but he had instructed them to implicate Rashiel if caught, so there shouldn’t be any issues.
At least one part of his plan had succeeded, with Rashiel framed as the culprit.
Now, only one task remained.
“Were there any casualties?”
He was referring to Elsez Rohen.
He had heard the commotion from the abandoned palace and received news from a knight in the rear garden that Tezette had rushed there.
‘What expression would Tezette wear upon seeing his former comrade’s plan and his dead fiancée’s body?’
Before the knight could answer, the answer emerged from the shadows of the forest behind the knight.
It was Elsez Rohen, who, according to Cedric’s plan, should have died at the abandoned palace.
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