Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 38 – Walpurgis Night (1)

“Did you feel it, too? I…”

“There are many ears to hear.”

He stopped Sienna and stood up. Then, the wind blew out the hand he held.

“I don’t think it’s the right place to have a conversation.”

“…That’s right.”

Sienna took his hand, stood up, and looked around her.

As he said, they were not in a position to talk leisurely. Kias was leaning against a nearby tree and closed his eyes, and the fire from Shushu was still rapidly blazing.

It was not enough to burn the curtain, so it was spreading into the forest.

— Shushu. Stop.

— Yes, Master.

The fire that was burning without being extinguished lost its power and quickly extinguished. Where the ashes fluttered like snow, several of the kidnappers, whose faces were red, were approaching her with knives.

‘I thought they all ran away.’

It was time that she saw the faces of the kidnappers in her eyes with a tired face because of the blindfolds.

Originally, resentment and kindness must be repaid.

However, the guy she spotted as her companion to the underworld was nowhere to be seen. Although he was blurry in the dark, there was a long scar on his face, so she would never get confused.

— Shushu. That child?

— You were the first to run away.

— Damn it! I knew it.

Sienna’s body trembles when warm hands wrapped around her.

“It will be fine.”

It was as if he had mistaken her for trembling in fear. Dandelion grabbed the sword and hid her behind him.

“Are you going to kill them?”

“From the moment they kidnapped the Princess, they are felony criminals who will be sentenced to death.”

It wasn’t that she had sympathy for the humans who tried to kill her. Nevertheless, she just didn’t want him to do this.

“Don’t kill them.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t kill them directly, beat them to your heart’s content. You can break them anywhere.”

’Don’t get hurt.’

Sienna then patted him on the shoulder and turned around.

Ching, ching.

The sound of swords clashing was heard. There was also an occasional muffled sound as if something was breaking.

She leaned against a tree and walked over to Kias, who was watching the situation.

“I’ll borrow this.”

“…It must be heavy.”

Still, he handed over his sword surprisingly docilely. She immediately returned the scabbard to the owner and picked up the sword, though just lifting the sword requires strength.

Sienna walked straight ahead, dragging the long sword to the ground, stopping in front of a tree.

“Tall…”

As she murmured, she grabbed the sword with both her hands and slashed it with all her might.

The speedy sword stopped later than originally intended.

“Hiiik—!”

Nathaniel hardened his body as he screamed.

His mouth was dry at the cool, firm touch on his neck.

“I guess what you’re confident about is barrier magic? No, should I call it camouflage?”

She didn’t know much about magic, but as for kidnapping, she found it strange that she felt his presence.

Eventually, she came to one conclusion there.

“Isn’t there a time limit?”

“….”

Nathaniel stabbed her in the face and secretly avoided her gaze.

“Why are you eavesdropping like a rat? I thought you ran away earlier.”

Shushu said that the first thing it heard when the hut caught fire was this man in front of her eyes escaping.

Seeing him smiling awkwardly, he smiled at Sienna as well.

“Ah. Were you waiting to apologize after dying?”

“No way. Pri, Princess, have you ever killed anyone?”

“Yes, never.”

“You are not in the form of holding a sword.”

“But, wouldn’t it be possible to cut it somehow? It’s a knife anyway.”

“It’s absurd to have blood on the hands of a noble princess!”

“Don’t be silly. If you try to disappear, I’ll stab you without hesitation.”

“The Princess wouldn’t be able to because stabbing a person is harder than you think.”

“I don’t have time, so let’s end this meaningless conversation. Will you answer the question now?”

Power entered her hand as she gripped the sword before she spit out the name of the leading suspect in a cool voice.

“Emmet.”

“.…”

“Is it Duke Emmett Ludwig who instructed you to break the castle barrier and kidnap me?”

“Uh… Princess? Wouldn’t it be better for us to be certain? I didn’t participate in the kidnapping. I didn’t even go into the princess’s bedroom. What I did was break the barrier and play around a bit. I want you to know that.”

Nathaniel stepped gently to the side and shook his head vigorously as if innocent.

Meanwhile, Sienna’s eyes narrowed when she saw him like that.

“It’s shameless. I know you want to waste time, but when asked, only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

She knew it, too.

There was not much time left before he could use his magic again.

Time was not on her side.

“Emmet.”

“.…”

“Is that right?”

“…Yes.”

Sienna raised his chin with the sword, as Nathaniel had done earlier, with an expressionless face.

“Huupp—”

At that moment, he stopped breathing for a moment.

“Hey, what are you going to do with me?”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Yes?”

“Perhaps it will be you, not Duke Ludwig, who will be caught.”

“What…!”

“The incident has already happened. I was kidnapped, and I survived. Someone should be held accountable…”

“Don’t tell me that’s my responsibility…”

“I wouldn’t dare touch the Crown Prince’s maternal grandfather without any solid evidence.”

“….”

“Though you are different. By now, they must have figured out that you were the one who played a prank on the barrier. There is no way that the current Magic Tower will be involved in this kind of madness. Have you been kicked out?”

He flinched as if he had pushed to the corner.

“It seems like you’re wandering around in the wild… Well, it would be the most plausible way to end a defiant mad wizard who was dissatisfied with the royal family. Emmett would definitely try cutting off his tail.”

After listening to Sienna quietly, Nathaniel began his calculations.

Originally, it had been a few days.

If the promised deadline passed and the princess returned safely, the case would be forgotten, and in the meantime, he would receive the pay and run away.

What a simple plan this was.

However, there were too many variables.

Emmett, the Employer, suddenly told him to take care of the Princess, and the Princess, who used to be a crybaby coward, was now pointing a sword at the tip of his chin.

‘Besides, the fire…’

He looked down at Sienna’s red hair, which looked just like him, and smiled seductively.

Isn’t there a saying that you can’t point a knife at his smiling face?

Besides, he was quite confident in his smiling face. It was he, who had enchanted people all his life by this innocent smile, with his eyes folded like a half-moon.

However, she frowned at that smile and lowered her sword.

“You only have one way to live.”

‘What is that…?’

He tried to ask, but his mouth did not open.

‘Now, you’re looking at me and frowning…’

That fact was deeply ingrained in his mind.

“It sounds like you have a lot of talent, but try to hide with all your might. So I won’t see a single strand of your hair.”

“….”

“If caught, I will really kill you.”

Instead of answering, Nathaniel nodded his head vigorously.

“Good.”

Satisfied with that answer, Sienna smiled brightly for the first time.

“Princess.”

Then, she heard Dandelion’s voice looking for her and ran away without looking back.

“Whoo—”

Nathaniel watched the distant back and sat down, leaning against the tree, following Sienna’s words.

“I will kill you.”

He stroked his chin, where the blade was pulled and started to laugh like a deflated balloon.

“It makes my heart flutter.”

He smiled on the spot for a while, and for a moment, disappeared like smoke.

“Oh, my. Oh, my.”

Groans were heard everywhere. It seemed like it was the voice of the band of kidnappers who had been beaten by Dandelion.

“How should we deal with it?”

In principle, they should be taken to the judge and then to jail.

“Leave it.”

“They kidnapped the princess!”

Dandelion claimed it was nonsense, though it was inevitable.

“Behind the scenes is Duke Emmet Ludwig.”

“If it’s Duke Ludwig…”

“He’s my brother’s maternal grandfather.”

The name of the man was also a little surprising for him.

“…Then, shouldn’t it be even more important to inform His Majesty?”

“If I take them all back to the castle, will they believe me? Will Duke Ludwig be punished?”

“….”

“It’s not just a matter of uncovering the truth of the case.”

The Crown Prince’s maternal grandfather tried to kidnap and murder the Princess. It was an unbelievable story, although if it were true, the Kingdom would be turned upside down.

A little while ago, she was bluffing about it to Nathaniel.

In fact, she wasn’t sure.

Will the King, her father, believe her… or, will they not ask her if she knows the truth?

The moment it was revealed to the world, there would be a serious setback in Pierre’s succession to the throne. In addition, the dignity of the Royal Family was extensively damaged.

Perhaps, the King was satisfied that he had come back alive. And, there was no way Emmett was unaware of that mentality.

“We don’t have any solid evidence. He’s not that sloppy.”

“…What are you going to do next, Princess? Are you going to just stay like this and move on as if nothing happened?”

“No way. It’s Stern’s way of giving back as much as it’s received.”

“What are you thinking?”

She smiled softly with her eyes that shook as if anxious.

“Let’s go back to the castle for now. I think the festival I prepared will start soon.”

“…I will take you to the castle.”

However, someone grabbed Siena’s hand from behind as she was walking towards where they had tied the horse.

“You have to return mine.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

She was still dragging Kias’ sword.

Sienna immediately returned it to the owner. Taking the sword, Kias slowly bent his knees.

“Kias?”

And, without a word, he took her shoes out of the box.

‘That…’

The last time she went out, Sienna had left it at his hideout.

Kias stood up, placing the pair of shoes neatly in front of her feet. She then brushed the dirt and saw her dirty feet, and she hurriedly put on her shoes.

“Thank you, in many ways.”

“….”

“How did you come back just for this?”

Fascinating. It was really fascinating…

After muttering like that, she put on her shoes and ran to the horse with a lighter step than before.

“Are there only two horses?”

“It appears that the horses they rode were frightened by the fire and fled.”

“Hmm.”

Sienna approached one of the horses slowly, gently stroked it, and grabbed the reins.

“Good boy.”

Standing on the horse with her feet on the saddle, she breathed heavily with the reins in her hand.

‘The air above is clear.’

Suddenly, the sun was setting.

“What are you doing? You’re not riding?”

Her heart raced.

Because Walpurgis Night was an important chapter in which the relationship between Pierre and Eleanor progressed.

‘I have to stop it. I’ll definitely stop it.’

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