The Monster Lady and the Holy Knight - Chapter 13

“Tiran has been breached?”

No, calm down. It’s just a hypothesis. It’s conjecture.

Veronica tried to calm her pounding heart, but in the back of her mind, the innkeeper’s voice echoed repeatedly:

“The sewers of Aseldorf run deep underground and connect to the southern parts, where they meet the lower Asel River. These Bahamut must have come from Bayern in the east. How could they have gotten into the sewers?”

Not from the east, but from the south. They didn’t come from the sea; they came up through the land. But…

“That can’t be. If what you’re saying is true, it would mean we’ve lost half the continent, and neither Bayern nor Aseldorf knew anything about it. Even if communication between cities was cut off due to winter, there are still messenger birds.”

“Yes, that’s likely true. The nobles and wealthy probably knew and escaped in advance.”

“What?”

As the color drained from Veronica’s face, Leon smirked coldly. “Think about it. Before the Bahamut invasion, were there really no signs of people leaving the city?”

Just as she was about to refute him, fleeting memories flashed through her mind. She remembered seeing a procession of luxurious carriages not typically seen on the outskirts of the city. For days, wagons were leaving Bayern, followed by the laughter of children chasing after them.

Could that have been people abandoning the city? Were they fleeing to save only themselves, just like they did yesterday?

While she was in shock, Leon crushed the remaining embers underfoot and drove the point home. “The one I killed yesterday had holy power emanating from it. The only logical explanation is that it had consumed a person with holy power.”

A chill ran down her spine. Aside from the holy capital, priests possessing holy power were stationed only in Tiran.

Could it be that Tiran had been breached? Were the Bahamuts that had been confined to the south for the past two years now surging north at a terrifying speed?

If so, their advance was unbelievably fast.

It had only been three months since the fall harvest from the southern breadbasket had been sent north. In less than three months, they had covered half the continent. All of this during winter, when travel between northern cities was nearly impossible, and only long-distance ships could still navigate the icy waters.

The reason Bayern had developed into a port city was because of the Derhorn Mountains that stretched horizontally across the south. The rugged and steep mountains extended from Bayern to Aseldorf, making it the last place to be attacked from the south.

Under normal circumstances, she would have dismissed the possibility as impossible. But now, she knew better.

The problem wasn’t that they were consumed; the problem was that they multiplied as they consumed. That would explain the absurd speed of their advance. Some of the monstrous creatures might have even devoured the Holy Knights of Tiran.

Goosebumps rose all over her skin as everything fell into place. The reason Leon had chosen to escape so quickly the day before, the meaning behind his disturbingly calm expression.

There had never been any time to waste.

It felt as though a Bahamut, ten paces away, had suddenly blinked and appeared right in front of her, smiling. Her ankle throbbed.

As she stared at the ground in shock, a long pair of legs came into view.

When she looked up, she saw Leon, silhouetted by the light, extending his hand toward her. Still seated, Veronica shook her head.

“I can get up on my own.”

Her confidence was admirable, but she ended up placing her weight on her injured foot and stumbled.

In an instant, a strong arm shot out and caught her waist. Above her head, Leon’s indifferent voice dropped. “If you prefer to be lifted, just say so.”

“It’s not that…”

Feeling frustrated, Veronica looked up at his carefree face and closed her mouth. Glaring at him with a mix of resentment, she finally spoke, “You’re really confusing, you know that?”

“What’s confusing?”

“You were so terrifying the first day, but after that, you’ve been taking care of me. You gave me medicine, cooled my ankle, and even gave me your cloak when it was freezing.”

The words she had been holding back for days suddenly came tumbling out. The shocking news she had just heard added to her distress. Veronica sounded like a child who had been tricked by a cruel prank as she continued.

“And that time you held me to keep me warm—don’t think I didn’t know you did it for my sake, not yours.”

“Why? I enjoyed holding a warm bundle on a cold night.”

“Stop joking around like that!”

Veronica furrowed her brows in frustration. Leon, amused by her immediate reaction, smiled. Even that face, annoyingly handsome, irritated her. She was afraid of losing her heart to a man who was irresponsibly kind.

“What do you want from me?”

Veronica asked, stepping back. But like always, the fleeing creature only piqued Leon’s interest. He pulled her wrist, closing the distance between them faster than she could retreat. Startled, Veronica found herself standing flush against him, unable to move her raised hand.

“I want you not to run away.”

Her heart skipped a beat.

“As I said, the situation is bleak, and I have no intention of letting you go, no matter what happens. Whether we cross the wilderness or descend into hell, I won’t stop until I kill ‘it.’”

As he spoke slowly, Leon threaded his fingers between hers, his touch sensual and deliberate. Veronica’s face flushed at the intimate contact. The heat built up slowly, first itching, then burning.

“I need you to turn the tide.”

Her heart pounded wildly, on the verge of spilling over like an overfilled cup.

“Do you still hate it?”

Leon’s voice, low and gentle, made her white fingers curl tighter between his. The desire welling up inside was enough to make her limbs tingle. She had no intention of running away. The people she had left behind still weighed on her mind. But these words… they were unfair.

How long had this frozen silence lasted? It wasn’t until Leon lowered his gaze to her wrist that he finally spoke again.

“Your pulse is racing.”

Suddenly, her face grew hot, and she angrily pulled her hand away. Just like that first day when he had taunted her about dancing, he let her go without resistance, only fueling her frustration.

Veronica spat out her words through clenched teeth, “…You might as well keep being forceful. You’re so unfair.”

Unfair. You’ve given everything to God, yet you won’t even ask my name.

The suffocating anticipation weighed heavily on her. Like a chain with a heavy iron ball attached, making it impossible to leave.

If only he had held a knife to her throat, like on the first day, she would have had the strength to resist, to fight back, to seek out another knight’s order. But instead of threats, he had wrapped her in a warm cloak and asked for her opinion.

It was the sun that strips away a traveler’s cloak, not the wind. Saying “I need you” is unfair. No one in the world could walk away after hearing those words.

Sometimes, your value is determined by others.

“Just help me get on the horse. My ankle hurts.”

Turning her back, Veronica limped toward the horse that stood nearby, waiting with shining eyes.

As she limped away, she glanced over her shoulder and snapped, “What are you waiting for? We need to cross the wilderness if you want to save Kart.”

Why, in moments like this, do I always think of that old story about the cripple?

In the holy city, they told a tale of how an apostle, in God’s name, raised a man who had never walked.

But, Apostle, the man you made walk… didn’t he lose his freedom to worship any other god in exchange for that miracle? Wasn’t his newfound ability to walk a form of bondage?

***

He said I was needed. I have nowhere to return to, anyway. If I’m being treated like an equal, maybe it’s not such a bad deal.

Veronica thought this as she gazed up at the cloudless, blue sky. When she looked ahead, the vast, snow-covered wilderness stretched out before her. There was truly nothing here. Only an endless sea of white snow.

The sound of hooves crunching through the snow. White puffs of breath. And warmth.

The next day, and the day after that, followed the same pattern. Two people and a horse traversed the barren expanse.

They rode. Ate. Rode some more. Found a campsite. Slept side by side in the cold, with no shelter from the wind.

Since that day, Leon hadn’t kissed her. Fortunately, there had been no more fits or visions, but instead, Veronica was plagued by nightmares of Aseldorf every night.

In her dreams, she was always running, but wherever she went, the people on the streets stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at her. Their pale faces. Their lifeless, hollow eyes. The gazes she had once craved so much were now unbearable in her dreams.

Trying to escape was futile. Even if she hid under a table in a tavern, the person sitting at the table would bend down, bringing their huge, unblinking eyes close to hers. She had woken up screaming more than once. Afterward, she instinctively burrowed into Leon’s arms.

To cling to a man she had no relationship with because of fear… that was something she could never have imagined before. But perhaps thresholds in relationships work that way. Once you’ve kissed, seeking comfort doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore.

Veronica simply needed someone to shield her. She needed someone who could protect her from the guilt that consumed her.

In the desolate wilderness, with only the two of them left, she clung to him, desperately craving warmth. She felt utterly powerless.

At some point, it really did feel like they were the only two people left in the world. And it wasn’t an exaggeration.

Leon was an enigma, but his exterior was undeniably solid. No matter how much she leaned on him, not a single crack would appear on his surface. Veronica envied him for that. She wanted to be like him.

She fell asleep each night, grappling with how to become stronger. When she woke up, another day began, just like the one before.

They ate light, dry meals for breakfast and lunch, then cooked with straw or wood from the barn at dinner. The apples, carrots, and grain they fed to the horse had dwindled significantly, and the horse had started to lose weight.

She remembered it clearly, just when they had become accustomed to the endless scenery of the wilderness—when they encountered others in the middle of the vast, white expanse.