The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 127

-Bang!

Eliza slammed her desk hard.

The books, glass bottles, and various experimental tools placed on the desk rattled.

Then, she swept everything off the desk with a rough motion.

Crash! They fell to the floor noisily.

Still unsatisfied, Eliza burned the book that transcribed dark magic.

The paper caught fire, scattering embers like sparks.

Despite her intense actions, her face remained calm.

Calm, but not peaceful.

A quiet anger lingered.

Her blazing golden eyes silently watched the fluttering embers.

It had been two days since Judas had died.

He still hadn’t woken up.

Of course, since he was dead, that was natural.

This was his house in Jericho.

After Drake’s death, a large force had poured into the city, among them people who had once stayed at the training camp.

They were the ones who brought her to this house.

She had no time to think about the identity of this house or why Judas owned such a residence.

Eliza was consumed by the obsession to save him.

She firmly believed it was possible.

She originally intended to take him to the aviary at the base of the mountain, but if Judas woke up, he would need a doctor, so she stayed here to care for him.

Magic cannot save a life.

But in dark magic, there is a way to raise the dead.

For two days, Eliza had foregone sleep, immersing herself in the study of dark magic.

‘I can’t give up… I must not give up… Please, somehow…’

Unlike her mother, whose body had left no trace, Judas at least left behind a corpse.

There might be a way.

Even the faintest possibility was worth desperate hope.

She had ordered all war efforts to halt and focus solely on defense for his sake.

Judas was more important than the war.

But it was all futile.

Dark magic can only make a corpse rise and move; it cannot truly revive the dead.

Even if she made him move with dark magic, if he couldn’t see her, remember her, think, or speak normally…

How would that be any different from a corpse?

Eliza bit her lip tightly.

‘What should I do…?’

His body was gradually growing colder.

To prevent decay, she filled his bedroom with an icy chill, but he would inevitably rot.

When that time came, she…

‘Please… Please think of something… Come on, think!’

Her desperation was overwhelming, yet no solution came to her.

“Mother…”

As she sank to the floor, she called out the name she wished to lean on.

Eliza had only informed the royal guard that Judas had died and that she was here.

Thus, there was no one to hear her call.

Even if someone had heard, reality likely wouldn’t have changed much.

***

A haggard Eliza entered Judas’s bedroom.

The space, made frigid by her magic, felt like a winter cave.

Inside were two doctors wrapped in thick clothing.

One was May, a young woman who had been Eliza’s personal physician since childhood.

The other was Gale, an elderly man who had moved from the knight escort training camp to the mansion.

Both had been ordered by Eliza to stay by Judas’s side for two days, trying to revive him.

There was nothing they could do but keep watch.

Reviving the dead was not medicine but a miracle.

Though they knew it was meaningless, they obeyed Eliza’s desperate command.

Eliza looked at them with lifeless eyes and asked.

“Any progress?”

May shook her head.

“…”

May felt it was time to tell the truth.

Judas was dead, and Eliza needed to accept it.

At this rate, Eliza herself would die.

The pale, lifeless Eliza spoke weakly.

“Leave.”

“My lady…”

As May tried to speak, Gale stopped her.

He shook his head, signaling her not to say anything.

Having lived long, Gale had both lost people and seen others lose loved ones.

Forcing the truth upon the grieving often brought little benefit to the bereaved.

“If you need anything, just call me.”

In the end, that was the best she could say.

Eliza pulled a chair next to Judas’s bed and sat down.

A limp body. Pale, lifeless skin.

Looking at his lifeless form made her feel as though she was dying too.

It was a horrifying reality.

She had missed him so much.

But this wasn’t the reunion she had hoped for.

Tears fell once again.

Those large hands, which used to always wipe away her tears, could no longer do so.

She couldn’t touch him now.

She shouldn’t.

She believed that she was only a source of harm to him.

Perhaps, back then—

If Judas, who had escaped from Drake’s body, had been alive…

But because she touched him—

Because her foolish, impulsive self forgot she shouldn’t have touched him and embraced him—maybe that was why he died.

She didn’t know exactly what caused his death.

But every possibility ultimately led back to her.

It was all her fault. Her sin and her responsibility.

“Judas…”

Eliza collapsed near his hand, unable to reach him for fear of causing more harm.

Even though she wanted to touch him, she didn’t dare lay a finger on him.

The bed shook as she sobbed, but he didn’t wake.

***

The boy was a shepherd.

He helped the adults tend to the sheep.

Occasionally, he herded them alongside the sheepdog.

In the forest lived a girl.

She was said to live with her mother, just the two of them.

No one knew why they didn’t live in the village.

The adults said everyone had their reasons.

The village children were curious about the mother and daughter.

Rumors abounded—that they were forest witches, spirits, or even exiled royalty.

But only two things were certain about the girl.

She was about the boy’s age.

And though her mother was an outsider, the girl had been born in this village.

The boy wasn’t particularly interested in them.

It was by sheer coincidence that he happened to see the mother and daughter one day.

Occasionally, the adults would deliver supplies to them—mostly food—and check on their well-being.

That day, the adults needed an extra hand, so they asked the boy for help.

Other children, too curious about the girl, were excluded to avoid startling her.

The boy agreed without much thought.

It was then, after delivering the food box, that he saw them from a distance.

Not up close, just a fleeting glimpse. He couldn’t make out the details, and they didn’t notice him either.

The girl, whom he saw for the first time, seemed timid and extremely shy.

She hid behind her mother, barely revealing the ends of her hair.

Black hair.

Just like her mother’s.

Her mother had black eyes—did the girl have them too?

She held a teddy bear tightly, seemingly fond of dolls.

Far from the rumors of witches or fairies, she was just an ordinary girl. And her mother was just as unremarkable.

And then one day—

The mother and daughter disappeared, and the villagers were massacred.

His parents. The adults. The children he played with. All of them.

Except for him.

.

.

Several years passed after the boy left the village with a priest.

He stood on a path, staring at a burning carriage.

Flames of a peculiar crimson hue consumed it.

The carriage carried the target he was supposed to kill.

His hand was empty now.

The dagger he brought, coated with a lethal poison, was no longer with him.

It was inside the carriage.

“…This should be enough.”

Muttering to himself, the boy fled as if running away.

***

“Ugh…”

I slowly opened my eyes.

My head throbbed as if it were splitting apart.

There is no feeling throughout my body.

No sound can be heard, and nothing can be seen.

It feels as if I’ve gone blind.

‘Where is this place…?’

My consciousness is hazy.

It’s like forcibly waking from a sleep that’s hard to break free from.

The breath entering through my mouth and nose feels unfamiliar.

Then, little by little, the memories returned.

‘…Ah. The Gigantic Drake.’

I gambled against an overwhelming foe that I couldn’t defeat.

A very slim chance of survival.

A high probability of death.

‘Am I… dead?’

But, I can’t tell whether I’m dead or not in my current state.

‘Or perhaps… I’m in a comatose state, recovering…?’

With no sensation at all, it’s impossible to distinguish.

If I am dead, what happens next?

When it comes to believing in the existence of gods, I’m somewhere in the middle.

I don’t know.

The same applies to the afterlife.

Does it exist, or does it not?

I don’t know.

After being reincarnated in this world, I’ve slightly leaned toward believing it ‘exists.’

‘Then… would I end up in the afterlife of the afterlife? Some place like that…?’

As if in a dream, random and nonsensical thoughts surfaced in my hazy mind.

Gradually, my senses began to return, though very slowly.

‘Looks like I’m not dead….’

There’s no way the Drake would have died.

There’s no one in Jericho with that level of skill.

‘Then how could it have happened…? Did it regurgitate me when I stabbed its insides? That seems like the most plausible explanation… Huh?’

Suddenly, I felt something off.

A sound.

Muffled and unclear, like hearing through earplugs while submerged in water, but I could hear something.

Soft breathing.

It sounded like someone peacefully asleep.

It came from slightly below my right side.

Around the direction of my right hand.

‘…Who is it? Who’s in this room?’

Could it be someone who carried me after I collapsed?

I cautiously raised my head.

‘I can’t see who it is….’

I still couldn’t see anything.

Although my vision had improved compared to before, it wasn’t clear enough to make out shapes.

Whoever it was, noticing my movement, rustled and stirred.

The figure appeared faintly, like a shimmering mist.

“─?”

The person said something.

It seemed like they were addressing me, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

It sounded like a woman’s voice.

For a moment, I thought of Eliza, then scoffed at myself inwardly.

I really need to stop.

“──?”

Since I couldn’t hear them, I at least wanted to see them, but even squinting my eyes to focus didn’t help.

The shimmering figure seemed to approach me.

Instinctively, I reached out my hand as if to tell them not to come closer.

My tingling hand was lifted with great effort.

Judging by the fact that they stayed by my unconscious body, they likely weren’t an enemy.

Still, with my senses completely numbed, a sudden surge of fear overtook me.

It was a reflexive action.

Seeing my response, the figure stopped.

I steadied my throat, which felt like it might tear apart, and barely managed to speak.

***

At the sound of movement, Eliza slowly opened her eyes.

Her mind felt foggy.

In her dream, she had been with Judas.

They had returned to their childhood, walking hand in hand with bright smiles, taking care of Yuel, and even sharing meals together.

So perhaps it was an auditory hallucination.

There shouldn’t be anything in this room capable of making noise.

But the sound of movement continued.

‘…?’

Eliza cautiously lifted her head.

Her half-closed eyes widened in surprise.

Judas, the Judas she thought was dead, was moving, sitting up.

She stared at him blankly, blinking her eyes.

Unnoticed, tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Is this a dream?

There’s no way a dead person could come back to life.

Could it be that I unknowingly performed some sort of dark magic?

No, I swore that wasn’t the case.

Fearing it might harm Judas, I conducted my dark magic research in a separate room and made sure it would never affect anything beyond its walls.

Even when I wasn’t in my right mind, I had that much sense.

If so, then the reality unfolding before my eyes must be one of two things:

A dream. Or a miracle.

Eliza bit her trembling lips tightly.

It hurt. The pain made it feel a little closer to a miracle.

Barely managing to exhale, she spoke.

“…Judas?”

At that, Judas furrowed his brow.

Those golden eyes—the only ones shining in this world—were undeniably looking at her.

Yet, it seemed as if Judas didn’t recognize her, merely observing and scrutinizing.

Her heart quivered so violently it felt as though it might drop.

Her breath grew ragged, her chest heaving.

A strange fear filled every corner of her body.

She tried again, cautiously.

“Judas…?”

Judas was still looking at him, as though assessing an unfamiliar presence.

Even from her gaze alone, Eliza felt as if they were growing apart.

She didn’t want to lose him. Though she knew she shouldn’t, Eliza unconsciously leaned forward, just slightly, as if to close the distance.

But at that moment—

Judas carefully raised his arm.

As though to maintain the gap between them.

His stance was wary, as if confronting something both dangerous and unfamiliar.

Nervously, Eliza swallowed hard. And then, her heart sank at Judas’s next words.

Judas, speaking in an unfamiliar, polite tone he had never used before, asked cautiously, as though addressing a stranger for the first time:

“Who… are you?”