DEHH 09

Chapter – 09

Seeing the curious look in his eyes, Renev lowered her lashes and thought for a moment.

When she didn’t answer right away, Ikar raised one eyebrow impatiently and pressed her.

“Or maybe you’ve never even heard any rumors about the foreign emperor?”

Only after taking a deep breath did Renev slowly begin to speak.

“I heard that His Majesty the Emperor of Bashker is a very devout and chaste person.”

“What?”

One of Ikar’s eyebrows shot up sharply.

The expression looked somewhat roguish, but thanks to his exceptionally handsome face, it only made him seem more attractive.

“You, Sir Drehan, must know His Majesty very well if you receive direct orders from him.”

“If you’re trying to fish for information, stop. I’m not going to fall for it.”

“…”

This time Renev tilted one eyebrow.

Wasn’t he the one who was curious about his own reputation?

She couldn’t understand why he suddenly changed his attitude.

Just as Renev was about to voice her slight dissatisfaction—

“Stop the carriage!”

Ikar suddenly shouted.

The fast-moving carriage came to an abrupt halt, and Renev’s body tilted sideways.

“Ah!”

Her head hit the carriage wall and she cried out in pain. Ikar looked at her briefly with concerned eyes.

But only for a moment. Soon he jumped out of the carriage without another word.

“What was that all of a sudden? Ah… that hurts…”

As Renev held her head and groaned—

She heard a low growling sound from outside.

“…”

After making sure the carriage door was tightly shut, she looked outside through the window.

Large black creatures—too big to be wolves—were surrounding the carriage.

At that moment, one of the beasts lunged at Ikar.

He swung his sword at it.

Each creature was as large as a grown man, but every time he swung his blade, another beast fell to the ground.

Another beast charged from the side.

Ikar swung his sword again.

Dark red blood splattered across the carriage window, and the severed head of the beast rolled across the ground.

“…!”

That scene triggered something inside Renev.

For a brief moment, the beast overlapped with the image of Patrick’s beheaded corpse at the guillotine.

Renev immediately lost consciousness.

After quickly finishing off the wolf pack, Ikar climbed back into the carriage.

His eyes fell on Renev’s limp body.

“Hey! Hey! Wake up!”

As he lightly slapped her cheeks, he shouted to the coachman:

“Change course to the nearest village!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

The coachman quickly drove the horses.

Inside the rattling carriage, Ikar looked down at Renev.

As he wiped the blood from her cheek, he muttered quietly:

“If the young lady wakes up and sees this mess, she’ll probably faint again…”

When Renev regained consciousness, the carriage was still moving.

“Hey, you’re awake?”

Through her still blurry vision, she saw Ikar’s frowning face.

“I… think so.”

As she tried to sit up, Ikar gently pressed her shoulder.

“Stay lying down.”

“I’m really fine.”

When she tried to sit up again, Ikar spoke in an annoyed tone.

“You collapse so easily, yet you still say you’re fine?”

Renev really wanted to sit up.

The back of her head was resting against his thigh, which felt as hard as stone.

And with the carriage shaking so much, the back of her head was starting to ache.

“Sir Drehan, thank you for worrying, but I’m really alright.”

She spoke firmly and sat up.

“You’re quite stubborn.”

Shaking his head, Ikar helped her up.

How much farther do we have to go?

Renev casually turned toward the window—then froze.

Her memories from before she fainted flashed briefly.

But she quickly steeled herself.

I can’t keep fainting every time I see blood.

She didn’t want Ikar to think she was a troublesome woman.

When she looked toward the window again, she blinked rapidly.

The window was clean.

“Did you clean the carriage window, Sir Drehan?”

“Wasn’t it because you fainted after seeing blood?”

“Probably…”

Avoiding the unpleasant memory, Renev looked outside.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ve passed the western border yet.”

“I turned the carriage around. What would be the point of going to Bashker when a precious noble lady has collapsed?”

It sounded like criticism, but Renev wondered if he might actually be a kind person.

Come to think of it…

It was like that before too.

When she was pregnant with Kael in the past, she suffered from severe anemia.

On the day of the Founding Festival, the royal physician advised her to rest.

But Lucius did not allow the empress to be absent.

He said if she didn’t appear at such an important event, the nobles would suspect problems between the imperial couple.

In the end, Renev had to attend the event with her swollen belly, smiling like a decorative doll in front of countless people.

She endured the tight dress and heavy jewelry pressing down on her.

Then—

She suddenly felt dizzy.

It wasn’t surprising after walking around the vast palace for so long.

Are you alright?

Someone had reached out a hand to her as she staggered.

“Hey, are you really okay? You didn’t get a brain hemorrhage when you fell, did you?”

Ikar asked, one eyebrow raised.

Pulled out of her thoughts, Renev gave a faint smile.

She really had fainted earlier.

But—

‘Collapse easily’?

It sounded as if Ikar had witnessed what happened at the imperial ball.

“By the way, Sir Drehan, why did you say I collapse easily? Today was the first time I’ve fainted. ‘Easily’ means often, doesn’t it?”

Just then the carriage stopped, and the coachman spoke.

“The road to the nearest village is flooded.”

“What a nuisance.”

A faint crease formed between Ikar’s brows.

Though she was curious about his answer, Renev focused on the present.

“Why were we going to a village anyway?”

“Why do you think, precious daughter of a marquis?”

“Was it because of me?”

Ikar gave her a look that said Isn’t it obvious?

“If that’s the case, I’m really fine now. We can go straight to Bashker.”

When she quickly added that, Ikar replied:

“Well, it seems that’s our only option now anyway.”

How long had they traveled toward the border?

The sky outside had turned sunset red.

Renev’s hips and back ached terribly, but she couldn’t bring herself to suggest resting.

Because she had already delayed them by fainting.

And she didn’t want to hear precious noble lady again.

“Wait.”

Ikar, who had been silently watching outside, tapped the carriage wall.

The carriage slowed and stopped.

“We must be near the border.”

Renev looked at the desolate western sunset and nodded slightly.

“I see.”

“This area borders the Siren Marquisate. You speak as if it’s your first time here.”

The scenery seemed vaguely familiar, but this really was her first time near the border.

“I’ve lived in the capital estate since I was young.”

The sunset disappearing beneath the endless horizon was beautiful.

Suddenly she remembered Kael’s soft face buried in her dress.

She had always wanted to show him only the best things.

A child she would never see again.

“…”

Her eyes quickly grew moist, but she tilted her head slightly upward to hold back the tears.

As Renev turned to get off the carriage—

“…?”

A large hand suddenly entered her view.

“You must be stiff from sitting in a shaking carriage. Yet you didn’t complain once.”

Is that supposed to be praise?

Renev grabbed his hand, then flinched and quickly let go.

His body temperature was surprisingly warm—almost hot.

“Why? Should I carry you down instead?”

He moved as if to pick her up.

Renev’s cheeks flushed as she waved her hands urgently.

“N-no! I’m fine! I can get down myself!”

“Suit yourself.”

This time he politely offered his hand again.

Renev gave a small snort and took it.

As soon as she got down, he let go.

She stared briefly at his large hand.

Before transmigrating into this novel, she had died single.

There was that joke that if you stay single until 30 you become a great wizard.

Anyway, because of that, Lucius had been the only man in her life.

And his hands had always been cold.

Unlike him, Ikar’s warm hand leaving hers felt… slightly disappointing.

“By the way, Sir Drehan, why did you suddenly stop the carriage?”

Surely it wasn’t for her sore backside.

“You should wash first.”

Ikar pointed to a nearby stream.

His clothes were stiff with dried blood.

In the original story he was described as having slight germaphobia.

It made sense that he would feel uncomfortable like that.

And Renev was no different.

She crouched a little distance away and put her hand into the clear water.

“Ah!”

She let out a short cry.

“What is it?”

Ikar’s sharp voice immediately followed.

Embarrassed to admit it was just because the water was cold, she hesitated.

But Ikar had already drawn his sword and rushed to her side.

After sighing, she admitted honestly:

“The water is just very cold. It surprised me.”

She expected him to mock her again.

Instead, he agreed.

“You’re right. You could get frostbite. Be careful.”

He looked at her hands, which had quickly turned red.

What?

She couldn’t understand what had earned his sympathy.

While she was still confused, Ikar gave instructions to the coachman.

The coachman led the horses to the water.

The tired animals snorted as they walked away.

Making them continue without rest would be cruel.

“Sir Drehan, how about we rest until sunrise?”

As if he had the same thought, Ikar nodded.

To think we’d end up spending the night outside instead of in a village.

The unexpected situation made Renev frown slightly.