Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance

“I wasn’t expecting that.” 

Lobel frowned in annoyance. The duke was supposed to be ten days away, even at full gallop.

 “What’s wrong with me being in my own home?” 

The angry Auror cut between Lobel and the children. The duke, who had moved to the children’s side in an instant, spoke in a low voice.

 “Where did he come from?”

the duke asked.

 

Eileen replied, grabbing the duke by the hem of his robes before Lobel could answer.

 “He said he was sent by the Earl of Forss!” 

The duke’s eyes narrowed. Damien Luan Forss. The Count of Forss was a man far from virtuous, but he was not one to be so reckless as to send an assassin into a ducal household.

 

Shy by nature, he was a staunch Vosinist. And Lobel was far too sophisticated to be considered a mere assassin.

 

‘Damien Forss could not have done it. What would he gain by killing Felix?’

 “Duke!” “Form up!” 

Came the voice of the knights surrounding the greenhouse. Realizing that uninvited guests had arrived, Lobel’s grin stiffened, and he nervously ran a hand through his hair.

 “I admit it, Master. You caught a not so bad master this time.” 

An explosion of eerie flesh erupted from the man’s body, like darkness descendi

ng. It was thick enough to make Eileen and Felix weak in the knees.

 

The duke’s forehead was covered in blood. They’ll know everything when they capture and interrogate this lenient man. 

 

Straining the hand that held his sword, he spoke.

 “Eileen, Felix. Close your eyes.” 

His sword flashed and lunged. Lobel drew his scythe to block it, but it was no use. At the eerie sound of something hitting the ground, Eileen’s eyes snapped open.

 “Oh, Swordmaster. That’s scary.” “!” 

Eileen’s eyes widened. Where there should have been blood and bones, there was only a black aura. It was something strange and shapeless, like an insect infestation.

 “You. It’s not your body.” 

At the Duke’s words, the thing in human form raised its eyebrows.

 “Had I known I would see the Duke, I would have brought more. Shall we call it a day?” 

It was anyone’s decision.

 

The duke’s sword moved again. He plunged it into his heart to end the fight, infusing him with auras. The man before him was a dummy anyway. There was nothing to be gained by capturing him, so he would vanquish him before he became a further danger to the children.

 

The man with the pierced heart laughed as if he could not contain his amusement.

 “Ahaha! Too bad. I was saving it!” 

The man’s grin faded instantly. Eileen couldn’t help but look away, as strange as a flipped coin.

 “I guess I’ll have to take the duke’s favorite.” 

The sound of fingernails scraping a chalkboard echoed through the greenhouse. The duke, realizing what was happening, swooped down and wrapped his arms around the children.

 

Lobel’s body froze, stiffened, and turned black. It was an unpleasant sight, and the duke held them tightly so they wouldn’t see it.

“The mana is gathering. It’s trying to destroy itself.” 

He surrounded himself and the children with auras. He wanted to get out of the greenhouse before it exploded.

 “This is ugly, and I didn’t want you to see it! Shall we finish the game another time?” 

Felix shuddered, and the duke held him a little tighter.

 “We have to get out of here.” 

The life drained from Lobel’s eyes and he felt no energy in his body. The duke’s keen senses warned him that whatever was inside him had already left, and the shell that remained was about to burst.

 

Quickly scooping up the children, he stepped to the crumbling wall. With a quick scramble, he was on his way out.

 “What about the greenhouse…?” “…….” 

Eileen grabbed him with a trembling hand. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she instinctively knew that if that thing blew up, the greenhouse would disappear without a trace.

 “I’m sorry.” 

The duke understood her despair.

 

This place was as special to him as it was to her. But even a special place was worth less than life. He could not do anything to endanger the children. Turning away from the child’s trembling, the duke left the greenhouse.

 “Derek, get everyone out of the greenhouse!” 

Rushing knights picked up the children, Lucian and Cordelia following behind, muttering something in Moorish, but it didn’t reach Eileen’s ears.

 “Eileen.” 

Whenever Eileen tended the greenhouses, Theresia sat behind her, often talking over her.

 

“Do you want me to braid your hair down today? It’ll be prettier with a flower in the middle like this.”

 

The soft feel of the soil, the sunlight streaming through the glass, Theresa’s smile. It was embarrassing to admit, but Eileen thought she was like a mother.

 

Both of her biological mothers had turned their backs on her so easily, but not Theresia. Genuine affection was as bitter as poison to those who lacked it.

 

It was Eileen’s choice to love, even when she knew it was an unstoppable death.

 

But she never wanted to lose it.

 “Eileen.” 

At that moment, Star spoke. Unlike its usual sound, which was like the cry of a small animal, it spoke in the clumsy but clear language of a child.

 “Eileen. You don’t want that place to go?” “I hate…” 

The words sounded like labor pains.

 “Eileen, come back!” “Eileen!!!” 

There was a commotion all around her, but she couldn’t hear it because she was in a daze. The sounds outside were as muffled as the day she’d looked up from the surface of the lake.

 “Eileen!!!” 

Cordelia screamed at the top of her lungs.

  

* * *

  

Feeling the Duke’s a

ura, Cordelia rose to her feet, sheathed her sword, and ran out as soon as she heard that the greenhouse had been attacked. 

 

Lucian did the same, and they arrived at the greenhouse almost simultaneously.

 

The knights stopped them as they tried to enter the greenhouse. The opponent was a mage with high enough stats to separate space.

 

They are still children, strong but inexperienced.

 

There was nothing they could do but wait helplessly for the duke to come out.

 

Cordelia finally breathed a sigh of relief when Eileen emerged safely in the Duke’s arms. 

 

Cordelia’s hand, outstretched to comfort the startled girl, stopped. Eileen’s irises were a brilliant gold.

 “Eileen?” 

Their eyes met, but she wasn’t looking. Eileen turned slowly. She turned toward the greenhouse. Before anyone could react, she was gone.

 

At the same time, dozens of dead trees of unrealistic size grew and enveloped the entire greenhouse.

 “Eileen!” 

Throwing down her sword, Cordelia clung to a dead tree, looking for an opening. Lynn prowled around, looking for a space to slip through, but the dead trees were tightly sealed and locked according to the master’s wishes.

 “Should we push in? What if Eileen gets hurt? 

Walter grabbed her wrist as she hesitated.

 “Let go of me!” “Didn’t you hear the Duke?! He said to stay away!” “But!!” 

Eileen was in there.

 

As they stood there, the Duke’s shout of disapproval soon reached them.

 “Stand back, everyone!” “But Father!!!” “Stand back.” 

The voice was firm. Having warned the children, the Duke pointed his sword at the greenhouse, which had become a nest-like structure wrapped around a sturdy tree. His eyes were tightly closed.

 

The look was cold and yet somehow pleading, and Lucian and Cordelia gritted their teeth and drew away from Walter.

 

The Swordmaster’s keen senses searched the greenhouse. It was the best he could do.

 

The Duke cleared his throat, pressing down hard on his turbulent emotions.

  

* * *

  

Meanwhile, Eileen strolled through the greenhouse, feeling relaxed despite the commotion outside. The presence of Lobel, about to explode, was somehow more amusing than frightening.

 “Eileen. What do you want to do? Do you want to cry, do you want to be angry, do you hate losing something so precious to you, do you want me to make that thing go away?” 

Star asked as he spun in circles around Eileen, his voice upbeat as if he were singing about what he was so excited about.

 

‘Should I give myself over to that heart?’

 

She wondered. She had the odd conviction that if she did everything she wanted, there would be no more pain.

 

First, blow up that damned explosive. Hunt down and destroy the Count of Forss’ people who attacked the greenhouse. Oh, and while I’m at it, I might as well kill all the other original characters that bother me.

 

Get rid of them all, leaving only the Duke of Gaudium’s people and the people at the orphanage. How neat and tidy that would be.

 

‘Okay, let’s do that.’

 “Okay, let’s do it.” 

Star’s jaw dropped open, and Eileen, who had been inching closer as if mesmerized by the sight, caught something at her feet.

 

A snap.

 “Ah.” 

Eileen’s eyes widened as she unconsciously checked the object at her feet. It was the seedling shovel and gardening shears she’d brought with her to trim the greenhouse.

 

‘What am I doing?’

 

It was the greenhouse she had come back to change in the first place, to live tomorrow together instead of being held back by the past and nostalgia.

 

A chill ran down her spine.

 “Let’s kill them! Let’s kill them all!” 

Star jumped up and down. The eyes were not her usual soft hazel eyes, but the gaping throat of a viper, black as the abyss.

 “You’re not real.” 

Eileen declared, stumbling backward.

 

Star, who had been prancing along, froze like a screen stuck in a load, and soon black water trickled from Eileen’s eyes like tears.

 

Panicked, Eileen rubbed her eyes and looked back at Star, to see the familiar hazel eyes staring back at her with concern, tears hanging in their sockets.

 “Chew…?” 

Star wasn’t the one who had gotten weird. It was Eileen herself who was seeing an illusion.

 “You did this.” 

Eileen hissed at Lobel, who had already lost his human form.

 “Oops, I got caught!” 

HIs voice was light, almost frivolous.

 

A shimmer of darkness seeped from the blackened crystallized flesh where only the outline of a face remained. Emotion returned to its expressionless brow; it was still smiling.

 Visit my Ko-fi for discounted advance chapters!!