Time of the Blind Beast - Chapter 121

Filthy, disgusting desires spilled out of Akenaus’s mouth.

It was unbearable. Lisanne barely held back the urge to retch.

“You’ll bear my children and live chained to me forever. I need to have at least one thing that bastard couldn’t. Don’t you think? So if he comes chasing after you to save you, it’s to our advantage, and if he abandons you… well, I don’t mind either. You’re quite to my taste. If you hadn’t gone running off to him, things might have gone well between us a long time ago.”

Akenaus shoved Lisanne’s back, forcing her to walk faster as she tried in vain to resist.

“Don’t you want to know? Whether that bastard will stay loyal to his country, or stay loyal to you.”

She must not make a commotion.

There were more than ten soldiers, all armed with loaded rifles and blades.

Lisanne prayed desperately inside.

Please, let these spies leave the school without taking any more lives.

Her own situation as a hostage was equally dire, but Lisanne repeated to herself by force.

I… at least, I won’t die.

She didn’t know what to do here, and the future Akenaus hinted at terrified her, but at least, unlike the other students, she would not be killed.

But even if she managed to avoid death, there was no comfort in it.

If she were truly dragged into the enemy nation and forced to live as the prisoner of a man burning with vengeance toward Ezekiel, what meaning could such a life possibly have?

To bear Akenaus’s grudge, to be forced to carry his children, to live as nothing more than a tool to threaten Ezekiel.

Rather…

This mountain path, carved only by students’ footsteps, became dangerous the moment you strayed. If she looked carefully while climbing, perhaps she could find a sheer cliff.

It was a terrifying thought. She had already come close to death twice, yet she was still not accustomed to it.

If only that poison were in her hand right now, how much easier it would be.

“What are you dawdling for?”

The soldier dragging Lisanne along barked at her. Having filled their bellies in the kitchen, the men looked even livelier than before. Once morning came and the teachers and students awoke, they would discover one of the dorm rooms full of dead bodies, and a kitchen littered with scraps of food the spies had left behind.

Lisanne was finally dragged outside the school.

The middle of the mountain at night was so dark she could barely see the ground under her feet.

A long wind slashed across her shoulders. Only then did Lisanne realize she was still in her nightclothes. Even her shoes were only slippers. Her clothes were far too inadequate to climb a mountain caught between winter and spring, but her mind was too dazed to feel the cold.

She walked without knowing how she placed her feet. At least the men were hurrying and not slaughtering more students, which was some relief. But when word spread that she had been kidnapped from the school, she dreaded to imagine the shock her family in Claris would suffer.

And Ezekiel,

He…

If he heard the news, if these spies tried to use her to lure him, as a seasoned soldier, he would recognize a trap. Then, maybe…

Bang!

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.

Even as the explosion tore through the night, Lisanne could not comprehend what was happening. The soldier who had been gripping her bound wrist collapsed slowly, and a massive shadow leapt out of nowhere, slashing down two nearby spies with a machete. Lisanne could only stand stunned, unable to believe her eyes.

In an instant, three spies were dead. Snatching up the rifle dropped by the fallen soldier, Ezekiel immediately swung the barrel toward Levian and fired.

Sensing the danger, Levian hurled himself aside. Even so, Ezekiel’s shot struck squarely into his shoulder.

“Damn it…!”

Blood spurted as Levian spat out a curse.

But a soldier was still a soldier. The surviving spies, quick to gauge the situation, swung down the rifles on their backs and pulled their triggers. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! Though each rifle could only fire a single shot at a time, with so many firing at once, the gunfire roared like a volley.

By then Ezekiel had already wrapped Lisanne in his arms and hurled them both down the steep mountainside.

Her vision spun wildly. Lisanne clenched her eyes shut and endured. Even when their bodies, rolling and tumbling, came to a stop somewhere, she was too disoriented to notice.

“Lisanne, are you all right?”

A very quiet whisper woke her consciousness. Only then did Lisanne open her eyes.

Ezekiel, wary of his surroundings, helped her sit up. Lisanne finally caught her breath.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

She slowly shook her head. Even after rolling down the steep slope, she felt strangely no pain. It was probably because he had wrapped his body around her head and upper body to shield her as much as possible during the fall.

“Thank goodness. …You stayed calm and endured well.”

A deeply relieved voice reached her. Even so, he ran his hands over her body once more to make sure she was unharmed. Lisanne did the same. Instinctively, she slid her palm down the back she was clinging to.

In that moment, a chill ran down her spine. The hot, wet feeling soaking her palm was anything but ordinary.

Lisanne quickly pulled her hand back to check with her eyes. But the moonlight was too dim to see clearly.

It was not sweat. The smell alone proved it could not be. Thinking about it, it was only natural. Even if three spies had been killed and Levian injured, there were still seven left. Even if one or two had not managed to fire in time, the rest would have all aimed and pulled their triggers at once. Dodging every bullet would have been impossible for anyone.

Especially when his top priority had been protecting her.

“It only grazed me.”

Did it really just graze him?

When she tried to feel again, Ezekiel seized her hand and rubbed the bloodstains on her palm against his clothes.

Not only was he injured, but Lisanne also couldn’t understand how he had known in advance about the calamity at the school and come here.

Had he come alone?

Were soldiers from the 37th Regiment stationed nearby?

Lisanne hastily glanced around. If there were reinforcements, she could finally feel reassured.

Sensing her thoughts, Ezekiel answered, “Unfortunately, I’m alone. I’ve left the army.”

This time Lisanne was even more shocked. She stared at him with wide eyes.

Ezekiel gave a faint smile. “Why? Do you find me unreliable now that I’m not a soldier?”

Of course not. Honestly, when Ezekiel Valdemaira had appeared like magic and charged into the spies, the first feeling Lisanne had was relief that she would live. Such trust existed in Ezekiel Valdemaira. A conviction that he would always bring victory in any battle, and an unshakable strength that he would protect her even in the most perilous crisis.

It was just strange to think that he was no longer Major Ezekiel Valdemaira. Wasn’t that title his shadow, inseparable and ever-present?

Reading Lisanne’s doubt, Ezekiel briefly explained, “The King’s Army protects the royal family, not the person I want to protect.”

He had no choice.

Even the current situation proved it. If they had kidnapped Lisanne to use her as bait to lure Ezekiel, the only order the royal family would have given was one: do not respond. To the royal family, Lisanne, a mere commoner, meant nothing, no matter what Davis did to her.

That was why, from the day Lisanne had shown her will to leave the Valdemaira estate, he had been preparing step by step to hand over his position to Montcalm.

“I’ll go wherever you are.”

Following her all the way back to school had felt strange, but now she understood it had not been simply to see her off.

That was why he had so easily let her go to school in Cielsa, even though he disliked it.

From the start, he had planned to follow her in secret. To her school, and even after her graduation.

Without end, without a time limit. Because a commander of the King’s Army could not wander outside forever, he had resigned from the post that had spread his name across the nation, all to chase after her.

How could he do such a thing?

What was she supposed to do with such a foolish man?

“Let’s go. We don’t have much time. We need to get to safety quickly.”