As soon as the knights’ presence disappeared, Valenstein and the insect knights stopped pretending to fight.
In the garden of the 1st Prince’s Palace, pieces of people floated on a sea of blood.
Here, only four living humans remained.
“Ahem! Ahem! This is something I can’t even do… But now, there’s no need for this crude act, right? Isn’t that so, Princess Ai-shan Gi-or? You’ve been resting quietly for a while, have you regained some strength?”
Spitting out a bloody cough, Valenstein spoke to Ha-shal-leur.
The insect knight’s ambush was just an act, but the penetrating wound in his abdomen seemed real, as his complexion looked a bit pale.
“…If you’re curious, why don’t you come at me? That famous Ghost Sword, I’ll definitely break it this time and send you to your grave.”
Ha-shal-leur raised the Black Iron Sword again.
Her voice was slightly hoarse, as if tired, but it was clear and without madness.
With the knights scattered, she no longer needed to play the monster.
“Princess…! Have you regained your senses?!”
“I’ve been sane from the beginning, you slow prince.”
Ha-shal-leur answered sarcastically.
Her rude tone, dropping formalities, carried a hint of scorn in her fierce voice.
If you think about it, the situation had escalated largely due to Leopold’s excessive caution.
“Good heavens, you did all that while being sane…?”
Leopold was too shocked by Ha-shal-leur’s words to even notice her tone.
He had just learned that his formidable ally had a habit of eating people while fully conscious.
“Well, they say youth can chew through stones… But I never knew Or-han’s Daughter had a taste for human flesh. Was it really that delicious?”
“If you’re curious, come at me. I’ll cut off your wrinkled thing and shove it in your mouth. It’s not like you’ve ever used it anyway, so no loss, right?”
Ha-shal-leur bared her teeth, provoking Valenstein.
Did she really enjoy the taste of human flesh? It was a disgusting, salty, bitter, and nauseating lump of meat.
She had only forced herself to swallow it to regain some strength and instill fear in her enemies.
“Haha… cough! Ah, I can’t even laugh properly… Anyway, it’s obvious you’re reaching your limit. How long do you think you can last in that state?”
“Hmm… Until an old man like you dies of old age?”
Ha-shal-leur forced a smile and stood as if fine, but… Valenstein was right.
If the enemy attacked, she might be able to defend herself, but she wasn’t in any state to go on the offensive.
Pressing on her wounds to stop the bleeding had its limits.
To make matters worse, her mind kept fading, as if her time was running out.
If she lost consciousness now, she would lose control of her body again. She bit her lip.
“Hmm… Alright, let’s stop.”
At that moment, Valenstein shook his sword and sheathed it.
The insect knights followed suit, sheathing their swords as well.
Clearly, they had no intention of fighting any further.
“…What are you thinking?”
Ha-shal-leur narrowed her eyes and asked.
They could have dragged this into a prolonged battle and surely ended her life.
Even though the old man was injured… to let go of such a perfect opportunity to kill the enemy.
She couldn’t understand Valenstein’s intentions.
“Isabella asked us to capture the princess alive… but how do you capture a woman who moves her limbs with Life Force and wakes up even after being knocked out? It’s obvious she’ll die if we keep fighting… and that’s not what ‘we’ want.”
Valenstein’s answer was strange.
They wanted to capture her alive, but since she might die, they’d just let her go?
It wasn’t the attitude of someone facing an enemy.
It was more like the behavior of warriors trying to tame a wild horse.
“Besides, as you can see, my injuries aren’t light either… If luck is bad, I might even lose my life. Why should I take such a risk just to fulfill Isabella’s request? In time, the princess will come to thank us.”
“Thank you? To the one who split my chest in two? Have you gone senile in your old age?”
Ha-shal-leur pointed at her chest defiantly.
While she was down, someone had done some first aid, and though it was bandaged, the vertical scar was clearly visible through the half-loosened bandage.
“Well… when you face the limits of a master, that towering wall… you’ll understand what ‘our’ purpose is.”
With a low murmur, Valenstein turned and left for the 3rd Prince’s Palace.
The insect knights followed without a word.
“They’re retreating? After winning… now?”
Leopold muttered in disbelief.
He understood that the whole charade was orchestrated by Isabella and Valenstein.
Their goal was likely to pin Isabella’s misdeeds on Leopold and Princess Ai-shan Gi-or.
‘Why go through all this trouble…?’
They had already won the fight; there was no need to retreat after gaining the upper hand.
Just keeping Ha-shal-leur tied up and killing Leopold would have secured Isabella’s victory.
This felt like taking the long way around instead of the shortcut.
“Isabella… what on earth are you thinking?”
“Who knows…? Anyway, it seems we’ve escaped the immediate danger, so I have one request, slow prince.”
Ha-shal-leur staggered toward Leopold.
The cracked Black Iron Sword had long been discarded.
Persval tried to block her, but upon meeting her gaze, he stepped aside.
Her eyes were bloodshot and red, but… they no longer held hostility or madness.
“A request?”
Leopold asked dumbfounded, and Ha-shal-leur chuckled.
Frowning with a furrowed brow and gaping mouth, she looked quite funny to him.
“It’s not particularly difficult… Just somehow keep me alive. I’m planning to faint soon.”
After finishing her words, Ha-shal-leur weakly collapsed towards Leopold.
The flow of life force energy melted into the air and disappeared.
Perhaps the sword pressure had lifted, as blood began to pour from her chest, soaking the ground.
“Princess…?! Ah, no! The wound…!”
Leopold, his face pale, hurriedly picked her up.
If he didn’t get her to a priest as quickly as possible, it wouldn’t be strange if she died from such severe injuries.
“Sir Persval! Prepare the horses immediately! We’ll head to the sanctuary by carriage!”
“Yes, sir!”
As he ran towards the carriage, Leopold checked Ha-shal-leur’s condition.
A horrifying wound that stretched from her collarbone through her chest to near her abdomen. Leopold let out a sigh.
‘To think she fought like that with such a wound… At least, we need to stop the bleeding…!’
Laying Ha-shal-leur on the carriage seat, Leopold took off his coat and wrapped it tightly around her upper body.
It was only a temporary measure, but it was all he could do.
Watching anxiously as her splendid dress quickly turned red, Leopold prayed to the gods.
‘Elpinel, please watch over us…!’
—-
Perhaps his prayer reached the heavens.
Ha-shal-leur’s breath didn’t stop until they arrived at the Elpinel Order’s sanctuary.
Though the saint candidate, Lacey Elmain Staldorf, was absent, she wasn’t the only healing priest at the sanctuary.
The priests of the Elpinel Order, who were in turmoil over the collapsed imperial palace, were shocked to see the “Knight of the Goddess” severely injured and hurriedly prepared for treatment.
To them, who were still unaware of the tragedy at the 1st Prince’s Palace, Ha-shal-leur was still a knight blessed by Elpinel.
The miraculous healing power, exerted by dozens of healing priests, poured over her.
As the brilliant holy light enveloped Ha-shal-leur’s body, the wound on her chest began to slowly heal.
Color returned to her pale face.
Though it would take time to fully recover from such critical injuries, the immediate danger had been averted.
Leopold let out a sigh of relief.
======[Isabella]======
Inside the dark carriage.
“A bit disappointing, Sir Valenstein. Failing to capture a girl not even twenty years old. The reputation of the Empire’s greatest swordsman has fallen to the ground.”
Isabella, dressed in a black dress, sharply criticized Valenstein, who was leaning against the carriage and drinking a recovery potion.
She had prepared hounds and warhorses to use once he brought Ha-shal-leur, but now they were useless, and she was a bit annoyed.
“Well. She was a much stronger opponent than expected. The power inherited from her father, and skills surpassing her father. Even I or Orhan at that age wouldn’t have reached that level.”
Valenstein shrugged nonchalantly.
His chest and stomach ached, but thanks to the recovery potion, it was bearable.
“Even so, with you and the Para-Chevaliers attacking together, it should have been enough…”
Para-Chevaliers.
Monsters created by implanting parasitic worms into master-level knights or those close to it.
They were a force Isabella frequently used.
Though capturing Ha-shal-leur with just them would be difficult due to the Oath Sword, she believed that with the Ghost Sword and their combined efforts, it would have been possible.
“We could have won. But capturing her alive would have been impossible. She was a warrior who would fight on even if her bones were broken, reattaching them by sheer will. What could we have done?”
Isabella sighed openly, clearly disappointed.
“I was surprised when Feyrus brought you in… But you’re less useful than I thought. If only you had captured her, we could have had some fun. What a pity.”
“If you’re so regretful, why don’t you step out yourself? Instead of rolling around with your son.”
Valenstein sneered.
Though the plan to capture Ha-shal-leur had failed, it was only a secondary objective. The main goal of the staged event had been perfectly achieved.
So there was no need to lower himself.
After all, he wasn’t Isabella’s subordinate.
Valenstein followed Feyrus, not Isabella.
Isabella’s gaze turned cold.
“If I had stepped out myself, it would have been your side that would have been in trouble… And… don’t speak so casually. Brat.”
“…Brat?”
Valenstein asked, incredulous.
As far as he knew, Isabella Benes was in her forties. There was a gap of over twenty years between them.
“Didn’t Feyrus tell you? That I am the last witch to survive the witch hunts by the church.”
Isabella chuckled.
Valenstein swallowed hard.
The witch hunts had ended a hundred years ago. If that was the case, then Isabella’s age, having survived the witch hunts…
‘Poor Ferdinand, even I can’t help but pity you.’
Valenstein offered his condolences to the late emperor.
To the man who had married a prostitute over a hundred years old.
