The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 143

“Did the negotiation go well?”

“…Judas.”

Eliza, who had quickly nestled into my arms, called me in a cold voice.

‘…No way.’

Her expression as she looked up at me while being held was stiff.

A blank face that seemed angry.

I tensed up immediately.

Soon, her red lips moved.

“Were you with a woman?”

“…What?”

“I think I smell a woman on you.”

She sniffed around my chest and neck.

Like a cat smelling something.

‘I thought maybe she found out, but I guess not….’

But it’s not too far off.

Since I was with someone related to that matter.

‘But what smell is she talking about…? I don’t notice anything.’

I quickly shook my head.

I felt guilty for lying, but there was no other choice for now.

“There’s no way that would happen.”

“Hmmm….”

She twisted her lips in dissatisfaction, then soon buried herself into my embrace.

“Alright. Hold me.”

I obediently wrapped my arms around her shoulders.

Eliza then rubbed her head against my body for a long time.

Her aloof expression while doing so reminded me of a cat marking its scent.

‘At this rate, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she grew ears and a tail.’

Only after quite a while did she finally speak again.

“The negotiation fell apart. The Emperor demanded the Sun Statue.”

The revered Sun Statue.

It was the artifact I had found during my final trial.

When used, it grants any wish.

On the condition that it must be used together with the ‘Fallen Star’s Fragment’ sealed in the underground catacombs.

‘I clearly remember using it, but I don’t recall what wish I made.’

“When I refused, the Emperor said he couldn’t accept the deal either.”

“What does he want to do with the Sun Statue?”

“I don’t know. But I do know he can’t be trusted.”

Come to think of it, even before my possession, I had stolen imperial information and discovered the location of the Sun Statue.

In other words, the Emperor had already been after it.

‘…What is he trying to do with it?’

Since I took it away, his true goal remained unknown.

“There will be another war.”

“Are you worried?”

“I know how strong you are, my lady, but of course I am.”

Eliza smiled brightly, as if pleased.

“It’s fine. This war will be over quickly.”

Even though she was about to face the Empire head-on, she wasn’t tense at all.

It wasn’t arrogance.

She was simply that powerful.

Which made it all the more suspicious.

The Emperor must have witnessed Eliza’s strength during the Bevel family’s civil war.

And yet, he still chose to antagonize her.

Did he have something up his sleeve?

‘The Emperor isn’t someone to be underestimated, but he shouldn’t be capable of handling Eliza.’

Or… was he expecting me to do something?

‘If so… that’s too absurd of a gamble.’

“Judas.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“……”

She called my name but didn’t speak.

I glanced down at her.

For some reason, her face was red.

Her trembling eyes met mine before she averted her gaze and hesitantly asked.

“…Did you not miss me?”

“……”

“I… missed you.”

It was just a few hours.

A brief separation due to my private audience with the Emperor.

We’re often apart for similar durations during training.

But being taken away for work and choosing to part voluntarily were different matters.

Eliza looked at me with expectant eyes.

‘This kind of unexpected cuteness… is cheating.’

I pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Of course, I missed you.”

“Hehe…”

It had only been a few hours, but the truth was, I had missed her too.

Enough to think I was being ridiculous.

And it wasn’t just today.

Even when we were apart due to training, all I could think about was finishing quickly and going to see Elia.

‘…Though today, that surprising news distracted me a little.’

But still, was it really the right decision to keep that truth hidden from Eliza?

Wouldn’t it be better to just tell her now…?

“Judas.”

Eliza spoke cautiously.

“Before, you asked me where I was before I went to the main house.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“I want to give you that answer now, but there’s somewhere I’d like you to go with me.”

Her expression was serious.

I didn’t know what she was about to say, but I nodded.

“I’ll go anywhere.”

The place she took me to was a village called Gethsemane.

It was the last stop of the train we passed during the final test.

At that time, I had almost recalled a vague memory of coming here before.

‘Even now, something about this place feels… strange. I can’t quite put my finger on it.’

We didn’t take a train this time.

Eliza teleported us there in an instant.

From Gethsemane, we walked.

Eliza held my hand and pulled me along as she spoke.

“Before I went to the main house, I was hiding with my mother.”

“Hiding?”

“Yeah. Narcissa was trying to capture me. I didn’t know if they wanted to kill me or train me into obedience. I thought it was the former, but when I got to the main house, I realized it was the latter.”

“…….”

“Anyway, before that, I was always with my mother. We lived in a forest near a small village.”

“A forest? Wasn’t that dangerous? There must have been wild animals.”

“That area was relatively peaceful. The only wild animals were rabbits and squirrels. Besides, people from the nearby village often came to help us. I was born in that village, actually.”

“Sounds like a kind village.”

“…….”

Eliza fell silent at my response.

The silence was slightly awkward.

Did something happen to that village?

“…Yeah. It was a very kind place. Though I don’t remember much, since I was always hiding behind my mother.”

A little Eliza, hiding behind her mother….

‘…That’s too cute.’

I don’t know why, but I could imagine her being shy when she was really young.

Anyway, what mattered was that it was adorable.

It was a shame I hadn’t seen it for myself.

“We were doing well there. Maybe… that was the only time in my life I ever felt human.”

By then, we had reached a small hill.

Eliza continued to lead me forward.

As we climbed the gentle slope, she spoke again.

“But nothing lasts forever. One night, when it was raining… my mother said she had to go out for a bit. She told me to wait patiently, that she’d be back soon. And then, after a long while, someone knocked on the door. I thought it was my mother. But it wasn’t. It was a knight from the Bevel family.”

“…….”

“Narcissa had found me. That night, my mother never came back. And I was taken to the main house.…It rained so much that night.”

Eliza always clung to me more deeply when it rained.

She had for the past five years.

Lately, we shared a bed every night, but until a few weeks ago, it wasn’t always like that.

Sometimes we slept together, and sometimes we didn’t.

But on rainy nights, not even once did she sleep alone.

She always crawled into my bed.

“Barak wasn’t there at the time. I only found out much later—after I was already at the main house—that Narcissa had my mother killed through an assassin’s guild…Up until then, I still believed she would come for me someday.”

Her voice was innocent, like she was asking if she had been foolish.

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“This is the place where my mother died. And on this hill….”

As we climbed to the middle of the gentle slope, a single grave came into view.

It was hidden beneath overgrown grass and fallen leaves, but it was unmistakably a gravestone.

“My mother sleeps here.”

“…….”

For the past five years, I had been aware of Elia’s vulnerabilities.

And at the core of them, there was always her mother.

Every time she slept, she would mumble, ‘Mom, Mom.’

Right now, Eliza is trying to reveal her most precious and vulnerable side to me.

That means she trusts and relies on me that much.

‘…Is it really right to keep hiding this?’

The fact that I am actually Eliza’s assassin.

It keeps bothering me.

I know there’s no real need to say it.

Objectively speaking, that’s true.

But human relationships aren’t always purely logical and rational.

If they were, we wouldn’t be holding hands like this.

‘Since nothing has happened yet, maybe it’d be better just to get it off my chest…’

Eliza firmly took my hand and strode toward the gravestone.

Brushing away the grass that had gathered over it, she spoke.

“This is my mother, Judas.”

As the dry leaves scattered, the name engraved on the tombstone was revealed.

‘…Huh?’

I know that name.

My body froze on the spot.

‘No way, was this what Eurydice was trying to tell me earlier…?’

The name overlapped with the documents I had seen at the assassin’s guild.

‘The first target… Maria…’

[Maria. May she rest in peace here.]

‘And that mission was marked as completed…’

Eliza gently caressed the tombstone.

“It’s been a while, Mom.”

“……”

She spoke to the gravestone.

Asked if she had been well.

Told her about how she had been.

That Barak was dead, that Narcissa was dead.

How the Bevel family had fared, and so on.

It all sounded distant and faint.

My heart was pounding like mad.

Cold sweat trickled down my body.

My chaotic thoughts were in complete disarray.

Yet, a few sharp details stabbed at my consciousness.

The Empire and the Moon God’s Church.

Assassins. Training.

Eliza. And Maria.

“And the man I brought here with me…”

Eliza looked up at me.

I stared down at her, frozen.

I was terrified to meet her gaze.

No, more than terrified—it was just horrific.

This whole situation was.

But Eliza seemed to interpret my tension differently.

She smiled shyly and said,

“Judas, do you remember what you asked me before? What I think of you?”

I suppressed my shaky breath and answered.

“…Yes, I remember.”

“You answered that you were mine.”

She laughed playfully.

I smiled back.

I don’t know if it looked like a real smile.

“And a few days ago, you were curious again, weren’t you? About what you are to me, if not just a pet.”

“…Yes, I was.”

That was when Eliza had suddenly fed me.

Of course, I remembered.

She seemed ready to give her answer now.

Gently, she approached me.

Wrapping her arms around my neck, she locked eyes with me.

With trembling hands, I embraced her waist.

Her red lips moved—slowly.

Of all times, at this moment.

“You are my world, my universe, the last color left to me, and the one weakness I have chosen to accept.”

“……”

“Stay my weakness, from now on.”

A brief silence.

The dim afternoon.

The mountainside was a little dark.

Her gleaming red eyes, looking up at me, were the only sun in this place.

They shone brightly, filled with emotions too strong to contain.

I don’t know what my own eyes looked like as I gazed at her.

As if she had been about to say something, she suddenly buried her face in my chest.

And then, with a slightly trembling voice, she spoke.

“I like you, very much. Judas.”

I organized the undeniable truth lingering in my mind into a sentence.

I am an assassin raised to kill Eliza.

I grew up in the Assassin’s Guild as part of my training.

On my first mission, I killed Eliza’s biological mother, Maria.

And then, Eliza fell for me.

Very much.

The more horrifying truth is—

So did I.

“…….”

I couldn’t bring myself to respond to her confession right away.

What should I say?

Countless answers surfaced and sank in an instant.

As my response delayed, Eliza tightened her embrace around my waist.

She was waiting for my answer.

“…….”

In a garden somewhere in Gethsemane,

Before Maria’s grave, I confirmed Eliza’s feelings.

I also confirmed the truth I never wanted to know, and I answered her.

“I…”