༺ Interference ༻
– Rolling…
One wheel from the overturned carriage wobbled down the path after the accident.
If anyone witnessed this, they might have thought it was a major accident, and those inside wouldn’t have come out unscathed.
Despite the protective magic on the carriage, the severity of the crash suggested potential moderate injuries.
“Ugh…”
Although Serena felt dizzy from the shock of the carriage flipping, she wasn’t injured.
Frey had acted swiftly, using himself as a cushion to shield Serena as soon as the accident happened.
“…Hmm.”
Frey, gazing down at Serena shivering in his arms, cautiously extended his hand toward her.
– Sssk, ssk…
He delicately brushed away Serena’s hair that obscured her face.
“…You’re not hurt.”
After a brief pause, he said, still wearing the cold expression he had earlier.
Frey took Serena’s hand and helped her stand while maintaining his cold expression.
“Your face wasn’t attractive to begin with, so it couldn’t get any worse.”
“…Uwaah.”
After lifting Serena, Frey spoke softly and leaned against the overturned carriage.
“Why the heck aren’t you moving and getting out of here?”
“…What?”
He crouched inside the flipped carriage, took a few deep breaths, then gave Serena a cold look and spoke.
“It’s obviously an attack. You handle it.”
“Ah, ah… okay…”
“But honestly, you couldn’t even handle a small ambush as an assassin. You’re useless as a fiancée.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“The least you can do is be a meat shield, right?”
As Frey scolded Serena with an icy frown, her face darkened.
“I’m sorryyy…”
“Get out there and find out who’s behind this, stupid.”
“…A-alright.”
The joy of Frey protecting her faded as he looked at her with disapproval, treating her as if she were pathetic. Serena responded immediately, looking utterly dejected.
“I-I’ll go out right away now…”
Soon, with a piece of carriage debris stuck to her hair and slumped shoulders, she crawled out of the carriage.
“Phew…”
Frey quietly watched Serena, then sighed, lowering his head.
– Crash…!
He lifted his left arm, concealed behind him all this while, and with an impassive expression, pulled out a piece of debris lodged in his arm.
“Hmm.”
Despite the severe wound, he showed no concern. He delicately shook his arm before fetching a bandage from his inner chest pocket.
“…Cough.”
As a result of the collision and shielding Serena, he had suffered injuries, and a trickle of blood streamed down his lips.
“No life reactions in the vicinity…”
He muttered in his cold voice as he wiped the corner of his mouth nonchalantly.
“No magical reactions either… something’s not right.”
Quietly, he extended his mana in all directions, beyond Serena’s awareness, and ensured the absence of threats.
“…Hmm?”
With a puzzled expression and a grimace, Frey suddenly tilted his head at an unexpected sense of presence.
“Who’s that?”
Someone had intruded into his extensive surveillance network.
“They weren’t here before.”
Confused by the unexpected turn of events, Frey glanced at Serena, who was carefully scanning her surroundings outside the carriage.
– Clang…!
Next, he kicked open the door on the opposite side of the carriage, stepping out quietly to investigate the potential presence.
– Thud, thud…
Frey gazed out and saw the dense forest.
“Who could be here?”
He carefully moved through the underbrush, keeping a low profile, and then extended his hands forward with a gleam in his eyes.
“Let’s see who’s that…?”
He quietly drew on his hero power, ready to confront anyone suspicious hiding in the underbrush. However…
“…?”
“Uh.. ugh…!”
Quietly, he tilted his head upon seeing the startled figure before him.
“W-who are you…?”
Crouched in the thicket was a slender girl with a pale face.
“Is she the culprit…?”
Frey, examining the suspicious girl, started questioning her connection to the incident while wearing a stern expression. However…
“…It’s more unlikely.”
Suddenly, he shook his head.
“Uh… ugh…”
The reason was that the petite girl, curled up and in hiding, was blind.
“Why are you here?”
“I-I…”
“Answer quickly.”
“Hiiik…”
However, Frey hadn’t let down his guard. He grabbed her throat and threatened her with a cold tone.
“If you don’t answer… I’ll wrench your neck.”
“Pl-please spare me…”
“I’m quite annoyed right now… My date got interrupted.”
Frey tightened his grip, making the blind girl tremble uncontrollably.
“No, instead of wrenching your neck, I might just chop it off…”
“I-I was hiding here…”
“Why?”
As Frey tried to unsheathe his sword, the girl hurriedly replied, prompting Frey to pose another question.
“Why were you hiding here?”
“Ugh keuk…”
Frey held her neck tightly, lifting her chin with his thumb. The frightened girl, shaking with fear, began to explain slowly.
“I-I got startled when I noticed something… so I hid here…”
“Why?”
“I-I hid here… I-I couldn’t see anything in front of me… and I didn’t know what was happening…”
“Hmm…”
Frey watched the girl intently, gulping silently.
– Tighten…
“An insignificant human, a lowly peasant like this… is so unnecessarily bothersome…”
“P-please spare me… You can do anything to me. Just spare my life… I have younger siblings to feed…”
As Frey unknowingly exerted force with his hand and muttered, the girl desperately begged with choked sobs.
“I finally found something to eat… If you take it away, I won’t be able to feed my younger siblings…”
“Then scram out of here quickly, filthy and worthless…”
The ground was littered with many sprouting potatoes.
“…Tsk.”
Frey’s expression twisted as he watched the sight.
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“This is…”
Serena’s eyes gleamed as she carefully inspected the overturned carriage.
“As I suspected, it was an ambush.”
The front of the carriage was noticeably distorted.
She couldn’t figure out the type of attack, but she was sure it was incredibly powerful. The defensive magic, set up two to three times for Frey’s safety, had been ruthlessly breached.
“……”
Serena’s expression instantly turned cold.
It was the most fearsome expression she had ever shown before Frey.
– Tap, tap.
Serena swung her fan twice, causing shadows to converge from all directions.
– Swish…
Serena soon lowered her fan, and around half a dozen figures emerged from the shadows. They knelt on one knee and bowed their heads before her.
“Why didn’t you intervene?”
Serena asked the kneeling figures with a cold expression.
Those figures who lowered their heads further were from a direct line of the assassin family within the Moonlight family—a lineage that had served as assassins for generations.
“I’m sorry, My Lady.”
“It’s all our fault.”
“…So, please, punish us.”
The assassins quivered, heads bowed.
They were supposed to serve the family head, Serena, but they actually obeyed the “Secret Lord”—the true leader.
Not entirely controlled by the Curse of Familial Subordination, Serena gradually started taking command over them.
Eventually, she managed to gain complete control over all direct assassins, except one cursed like her. This earned her almost infinite loyalty for redeeming them.
“…Please, kill us, My Lady.”
As part of the Empire’s dark shadows, Moonlight family assassins occasionally deviated from conventions.
“I told you I’m not like the Secret Lord. I won’t kill you.”
Serena relaxed her expression and spoke gently, looking at those bowing before her, and asked.
“So, why didn’t you step in?”
“Well, Lady Serena, there’s a reason for that.”
Then, the girl leading them stepped forward to explain.
“…We couldn’t sense anything.”
Surprisingly, she was the same blind girl Frey had found in the thicket earlier.
In fact, all the other assassin girls were also blind.
The Secret Lord, their trainer, had blinded everyone except Alice, who had initially been their leader. He did that to maintain secrecy.
Serena had disguised them as passersby to ensure Frey’s safety.
“That’s a bit odd…”
Deep in thought after the leader’s report, Serena suddenly realized something unusual.
“I might not be skilled in this, but if none of you could detect the attack…”
Despite their loss of sight, their other senses were superhuman.
Even with five or six of them nearby, they hadn’t noticed the attack at all. It wasn’t just an error by the assassins; it was almost uncontrollable.
“…Who dares to target my husband.”
Having taken various measures to ensure no obstacles for her husband, Serena looked at Frey. He leaned against the carriage in the distance, gazing at the sky.
“For now, stay ready. Stay hidden in the vicinity and handle the attackers at your discretion when they show up.”
“How much discretion should we have?”
When the blind girl asked while tilting her head, Serena responded with a cold smile.
“Just as you’ve been doing.”
“…Got it.”
With those words, the assassins swiftly turned into shadows, dispersing, prepared for any attack. Meanwhile, Serena prepared to head toward Frey as if nothing had occurred.
“Uh, um…”
“…Hmm?”
However, the blind girl, who had been at the forefront, cautiously grabbed Serena’s shoulder.
“I-I want to show you this…”
“Hmm?”
Then, the girl took out a gold coin.
“This is… a coin enchanted with a tracking spell, right? Where did you find it?”
“…Excuse me?”
Intrigued, Serena inquired, and the girl looked surprised.
“Uh, well, you see…”
Then, she recounted the story behind the coin.
“So, that man… he bought your basket of potatoes?”
“Y-yes… He said he was hungry and forcefully took the basket from me, saying it’s enough for peasants like me…”
“Hmm…”
“B-but… he mentioned it was a copper coin…”
Saying so, the girl fiddled around hesitantly.
“T-then… are these all also… real gold coins?”
She took a handful of gold coins from her pocket and showed them to Serena.
“Hmm…”
The girl secretly blushed as Serena stared blankly at those coins and nodded.
“So, who is this… person we’re escorting…?”
The girl asked while fidgeting nervously.
“I-it’s not a big deal… I just want to know his name, but…”
Serena’s expression turned cold upon hearing that question.
“I-I’ll tell you later. For now, please return to your duty.”
“A-alright…”
Then, Serena moved with an anxious expression.
Serena was delighted that her fiancé became more charming, but it was uncomfortable when others tried to tempt him.
Determined to showcase her charm and fully captivate Frey’s attention during this opportunity, she approached him.
“F-Frey…”
“..It was clear that you couldn’t find the cause.”
“Ah, well…”
“Useless bitch.”
However, when Frey shot her a cold look, her resolve crumbled, and she gave up.
Whenever she faced him, her mind went blank.
“Th-that… why did… you buy that basket?”
So, Serena, stammering, ended up asking the question out of intense curiosity.
“What? What the hell are you looking at?”
To her question, Frey responded with indifference.
“I bought it to disguise myself as a farmer. My identity might be suspected if I keep acting like a noble.”
“Th-That’s how it is? But… you gave her all those gold coins…”
“……..”
Serena stared blankly at him and asked another question. Frey, looking quietly at the hand that had gripped the girl’s throat, responded nonchalantly, saying it was nothing special.
“…I might have confused them for copper coins.”
“Uh, well…”
“Don’t bombard me with questions. It’s irritating.”
As Frey turned his head while saying that, Serena’s bright smile faded instantly, and she hesitated to speak.
“B-but… with the carriage breaking down and the attack, should we… end our date now?”
“……..”
“I… I had a short but delightful time. I wore the dress you chose for me… felt the warmth of your embrace… and… um…”
Her shoulders down, Serena acted like she had lost everything. Frey began walking ahead.
“If the carriage broke down, we could walk to the city or whatever.”
“…Huh?”
Serena, looking puzzled, asked.
“B-but… that means we’ll arrive in the evening, and there will only be a few hours left…”
Frey walked ahead, leaving her behind, and stated bluntly.
“…Did you only plan for today?”
“Huh?”
Serena’s eyes widened as she tried to decipher the meaning of his words.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you following me?”
Gulping nervously, Serena pulled a small notebook from her pocket upon hearing Frey’s distant words.
[21 Best Music for Prenatal Education]
Marche Limpide
Serenade of Stars and Moons
Symphony of Destiny
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“Which academy should I send her to…? Is Sunrise Academy still the best for the child’s future? No, maybe an academy abroad could be more beneficial…”
Though Serena calmly flipped through the notebook, her imagination ran wild uncontrollably.
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Meanwhile, at a tower quite a distance from Frey and Serena.
“Wh-What’s happening…?”
After receiving the order about Frey’s ambush and monitoring the situation through a magical tool, Alice nervously started to sweat.
“Who the hell is attacking them…!?”
Their carriage had been attacked before the ambush order had been issued.
“I-I need to report this… something’s wrong…”
Feeling flustered by the unusual turn of events, Alice tried to speak to her colleagues behind her in a shaky voice.
“Can you guys please be quiet…?”
“Huh?”
Her words were cut off by a tense voice coming from behind.
“Irresponsible, Ms. Alice.”
“…..?”
To her surprise, Ferloche, usually sporting a foolish expression, was sweating heavily and glaring at someone.
“What’s going on?”
After a while, the youngest Paladin, who had been the focus of Ferloche’s gaze, asked quietly.
“…Is there a problem?”
Just a week ago, before the Church summoned her, her eyes were silver. Now, for some reason, they were shining crimson.
“Oh, greetings, Lord Frey.”
“…..!”
Ferloche, observing her, suddenly shifted her gaze to her back and waved cheerfully. In that brief moment, the Paladin’s body twitched slightly.
“……….”
Then, a long silence ensued.
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