Chapter 2.
— — —
My breath was coming in ragged gasps, and my lungs felt as if they might burst at any moment.
"Haa, haa!"
The harsh, ragged breaths I exhaled froze into white plumes in the biting northern air, leaving a trail behind me in the dark forest.
"Haa, huff. Damn it."
Feeling the world spin before my eyes, I finally forced my feet to stop. I had no choice but to lean my back against a large tree, and the sweat that had soaked my entire body began to turn icy cold.
I had been unlucky.
On my way out of the mansion, I had run into a few members of the elite squad. They were the ones who had been out on external inspection with Edward. The time wasted shaking them off had caused my shoulder wound to tear further, leading to severe blood loss.
"Whew."
As I let out a sigh and dropped my head, my eyes caught sight of the black hair that had been hacked off.
"Now... it's all over."
It had been exactly one month since the day my family was killed. I had discarded my noble identity as Helena Morton and infiltrated the very bottom of the Wickers Count Family to exact my revenge. It had taken a grueling thirteen years to climb the ladder of power, starting from a street pickpocket. And finally, I had completed my revenge.
BOOM! CRASH!
A massive explosion echoed from afar. The Wickers mansion, now visible as nothing more than a tiny speck, was being engulfed in flames once again. It seemed the fire started by the mana bomb had successfully spread to the gunpowder traps I had pre-installed.
"Haa."
Where should I go?
Once an assassin and the leader of the intelligence unit for the Wickers, I had now become a fugitive hunted by them.
"I should be fine for the moment, but..."
Edward would be busy inheriting the boss's seat and cleaning up the Wickers family, which I had spent a long time carefully fracturing. Hunting down a traitor would be a task for later.
Just then, I remembered what Edward had said right before the mana bomb exploded.
"I will find you, Helena. You will eventually return to the Wickers. And when you do..."
The rest of his words were buried by the explosion, but I could read his lips clearly enough.
'I will break your ankles first.'
Edward was exactly the kind of man who would do just that. My fate would be worse than death.
"I must run far away."
I would change my appearance once again, just as I had thirteen years ago. So that no one could ever find me. However, there were very few places on the continent safe from the influence of the Wickers. A place where I could hide from them, and a place I knew inside and out.
"If it were that place..."
A name crossed my mind. Or rather, the name of a faction.
*Gulp.*
I swallowed hard without realizing it. It was a name that sent chills down my spine just by thinking of it, so it couldn't be helped.
"Ugh."
A groan escaped my tightly pressed lips. Perhaps it was because my shoulder wound felt even more painful now.
To run away to 'that organization'? If someone had asked me a few days ago—no, even a few hours ago—I would have laughed in their face. I would have said, "If you want to die that badly, find a different, cleaner way to do it."
I had created the intelligence unit and served as an executive to win Benedict Wickers's trust, and in doing so, I had made many enemies within that organization. In short, if my identity were discovered, I would be in deep trouble.
"But surely, there is no better place to hide."
Even if it were me, they wouldn't suspect that I had hidden myself within the Wickers's hostile faction. Especially not in that notorious group. The more I weighed my options, the better a choice it seemed.
"Anyway, as long as I don't get caught by that man, wouldn't it be fine?"
The deliberation did not last long. Nox was stronger than the Wickers. No matter how powerful Edward was, he couldn't just barge into Nox as he pleased. Once I had become someone hunted by the Wickers, there was no place safer than Nox.
I took one last look at the Wickers mansion.
"It burns well."
The mana bomb from an obscure workshop I had painstakingly acquired was doing its job perfectly. It was a pity I couldn't get a closer look at the centuries-old historic mansion burning like dry kindling from a special fire that water couldn't easily extinguish.
Without lingering, I turned my back and began to walk along the forest path again. First, I had to cross the border.
Chapter 1
— — —
One year later.
Lautern, the capital of the Bernheim Empire, which occupied half of the vast Eastern Continent. The House of Nox was the only ducal family in the Bernheim Empire. The ducal estate located on the outskirts of Lautern was as magnificent as the status of the family itself. It looked more like an independent village or a fortress than a noble's mansion.
A massive castle that could only be seen after traveling for a long time along the main road by carriage. Dozens of annexes for the retainers of the Nox Ducal Family surrounding it, along with various other buildings for different purposes. People visiting the ducal family for the first time could never hide their awe whenever they saw the sight.
Naturally, someone had to guard the only main gate of the magnificent Nox Ducal Family.
"We will conduct a brief inspection."
A man with a mechanical, clearly annoyed, yet still somewhat youthful voice said. The employee of the Kelita Trading Company, one of the dozens of merchant groups delivering daily necessities to the Nox Ducal Family, glanced at the approaching Nox guard. He was a pretty boy with straw-colored blonde hair and faint sky-blue eyes. The person, who looked like he had barely reached adulthood, wore the mark of the action squad, the lowest unit of Nox.
"Rookie, do the inspection thoroughly."
"Yes."
The boy, who answered the senior's nagging without any soul, was much shorter than the other burly members of the action squad. However, perhaps because of his slightly upturned eyes or his indifferent expression, it seemed his personality wouldn't be easy to handle.
"Please show your identification."
"Ah, yes. Here it is."
The Kelita Trading Company employee, who usually liked small animals or cute dolls, stared blankly at the boy before belatedly handing over her ID. The boy, who compared the ID she handed over against a list, nodded and said,
"Ms. Ilise of the Kelita Trading Company. Confirmed. Thank you for your hard work."
"Excuse me..."
"Yes?"
"May I ask what your name is?"
"My name?"
Perhaps flustered by her sudden question, the boy asked with his already large eyes widened even further.
"Runelk Eins, is my name. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no. I just wanted to know... Th-thank you for your hard work!"
The Kelita Trading Company employee, feeling embarrassed, blushed and quickly jumped onto the cargo wagon. The sky-blue eyes watched the back of the slowly, yet somehow hurriedly, retreating Kelita Trading Company wagon intently.
"Why, is there something suspicious?"
Jake, a direct senior in the action squad, tapped Runelk on the shoulder and asked.
"...No. It's nothing like that."
"What is it? If it's strange, tell me right away. I'll have them stop. Rookie, I can trust your keen eye."
Although he was a greenhorn who hadn't even been on the job for a year, the new recruit, who had performed brilliantly several times with his incredible eye for detail, was already famous within the action squad.
"It's nothing, really."
As he shook his head in response, Runelk glared at Jake with sharp eyes and added,
"And I'm not a 'Rookie'. I have a perfectly fine name, Runelk, so please call me by it, Senior."
"Hahaha. Why? It's the perfect nickname. Rookie, the new recruit."
"Haa. Yes, do as you please."
"But was that trading company really okay earlier? It'll be a headache if there's trouble later."
"No, there's no problem with the cargo, but the employee was a bit..."
"What about the employee?"
"She suddenly asked for my name. I wondered if she was someone who knew me..."
"Ah, is that all. Rookie, that's because!"
"Because?"
"I won't tell you, kid! If you don't know, just keep living without knowing!"
Jake laughed, shaking his shoulders, and walked back to the shaded guard post while shouting things like, "Heaven for singles, hell for couples!"
Leaving his junior standing in the scorching sun while he went to slack off. The small guard post attached to the high wall of the Nox Ducal Family was packed with senior action squad members like Jake who were taking it easy.
Rookie, who glared at that annoying sight with narrowed eyes, finally let out a deep sigh and muttered,
"Ha, living in hiding is damn hard, really."
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