The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 147

Eliza nestled in the enemy’s embrace and wept like a child.

She had just heard what was said.

That she was loved.

Could it be true?

Why was he still saying such things?

She mustn’t believe it.

After all, his goal wasn’t to kill her.

And yet, pathetically, she wanted to believe it.

She just wanted to believe it outright.

To shut her eyes, cover her ears, and drown in faith—to simply become a fool.

But she mustn’t.

That would be wrong, Eliza rationally argued with herself.

Unaware that his reason had already been paralyzed.

Sometimes, humans are like that.

They believe they can analyze everything with cold, steel-like logic, making only rational, practical, and objective decisions without regret.

But reason is nothing more than a rider holding the reins of wild emotions.

Unaware of being swayed by emotions, they firmly believe themselves to be endlessly rational.

Blinded by the self-assurance of their own rationality, they fail to see that they are, in truth, far from rational.

Eliza was no exception.

“…You’re not planning to kill me but to use me, aren’t you?”

“That is not the case, my lady. Though my past may have been so… I would never do anything to harm you.”

“…Is that so? Why… I don’t know….”

Eliza murmured absentmindedly.

The confusion in Judas’s mind only deepened.

He had no key to solving this situation.

Everything had already been thrown onto a board woven for tragedy.

He struggled to think of an argument that might desperately persuade her, but no answer came.

All he could do was convey his honest heart.

Even if the outcome remained uncertain.

“I cherish you too much…. No matter what happens, I will always stand by you. I know I’m late, but….”

At that moment.

As if mocking his forced composure, the system messages arrived.

[‘Twisting Fate, Beginning of Causality’ has been completed.]

[This quest now concludes as ‘Discovery of Fate, Fulfillment of Causality.’]

[Discovery of Fate: You were born with the fate of killing Eliza de Bebel.]

[Fulfillment of Causality: You have defied fate and failed to kill Eliza.]

[You have welcomed a new ending to a twisted fate.]

[As a result of this new causality, a special reward for the main quest will be provided.]

[Special Reward: One-time Dimensional Gate Access.]

[Dimensional Gate: Through this gate, you may travel anywhere and become or achieve anything.]

[Example: Return to your original world and live the life you desire.]

‘…….’

As he stood frozen in shock, Eliza slowly pulled away from his arms.

“…Sorry. If it were dying by your hand, maybe. But I won’t allow myself to be used.”

She staggered to her feet.

Her gaze, as she looked down at him, was hollow yet firm.

As if she had made a decision.

“I’m tired now.”

“My lady?”

“…Goodbye.”

At that moment.

—Thud!

“My lady—!”

The office door burst open.

Lia rushed inside, almost stumbling.

She was panting heavily from running.

Both Eliza and Judas turned their gazes to her at the sudden intrusion.

“Eliza, my lady… please, wait….”

The moment Eliza had used magic on Judas, Lia had been in the bedroom.

Hearing the commotion, she had hurried over.

She hadn’t caught everything, but she could guess why things had escalated to this point.

And ultimately, it was her fault.

So, she had to fix it.

“My lady… No, Elly.”

“…?”

Hearing that long-forgotten nickname, Eliza blinked in surprise.

Lia took a deep breath, steadying herself.

“…Eli. That day, ten years ago—your mother didn’t die.”

Her voice sounded unfamiliar yet familiar.

A voice unlike her usual formal tone—soft, coaxing.

That was ten years ago…

“I’m truly ashamed for deceiving you all this time. I have no excuse. I’m really sorry.”

Lia bowed deeply in apology.

Eliza stared at Lia with blank eyes.

That crown of her head.

The roots of her hair were black.

But Lia had always had red hair from the beginning…

“Eliza.”

“……”

“I used my weakness as an excuse, claimed that I was powerless to do anything, and hid the truth under the pretense that it was for your sake… I’m a coward who kept the truth from you all this time.”

“……”

“It’s a title too good for me, but…”

Lia lifted her head.

Eliza met her deep, dark eyes.

A sorrowful smile appeared on Lia’s face.

“I am… your mother.”

“……”

Eliza’s consciousness drifted far away from reality.

Like watching a series of flashing images, her mind raced back through the past up to the present.

Ten years ago.

Her mother, assassinated by Narcissa.

The burned site.

A funeral held without a body.

Lamech. They always made sure to announce their deeds.

They killed their targets with deadly poison.

Dying in a fire… was never their way.

“……”

As much as Eliza was in shock, Judas was equally confused.

Maria… didn’t die?

Then what about the documents he had seen back then?

What about his own past?

There was no time to dwell on it.

A tingling sensation crept into his fingertips.

…Someone is watching this place.

A heavy, suffocating killing intent pressed down on his entire body.

It wasn’t just one person.

There were countless.

A survival instinct honed by experience warned him, slow and thick with certainty.

Is the target Eliza? Me? Lia? All three?

He slowly placed a hand over the pupil of the moon.

Ready to draw his weapon at any moment.

Nine of them. Can I cut them all at once?

Tension made his palm sweat as he rested it on the hilt of his sword.

Lia took a step closer to the dazed Eliza.

“Eliza. Judas is not to blame. I will explain everything.”

“……”

“I never planned to say anything, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch you suffer. So, what really happened is—”

“Get down—!”

Judas’s urgent shout rang out just as the ceiling and windows shattered.

Dozens of assassins in black swarmed in from all directions.

Eliza’s mind was still half-trapped in the past.

She was too lost in her memories to notice.

That was why the alert magic she obsessively kept active had been disabled.

That was why she stood there blankly, even as the assassins stormed in.

What the hell…!

Judas quickly pushed Eliza down and swung his sword.

A thin ivory-colored afterimage flashed as an assassin’s head was severed.

But he couldn’t kill them all at once.

There were unavoidable blind spots.

One assassin survived.

A single, fleeting opening.

The most important one here is Eliza.

Judas decided to take the blade in her place.

He would think about the next move after that.

If he died, so be it.

That was the very purpose of a knight’s existence.

But the assassin who had slipped through didn’t go for Eliza.

Nor for Judas.

“Kh…!”

Lia was the one who was stabbed.

The blade pierced through her side, slicing through as it exited.

“…Ah?”

Eliza finally registered reality.

She turned to look at Lia.

Lia’s body swayed.

That face.

The expression she showed her.

As if telling her not to worry.

A warm smile.

Judas quickly shoved the assassin away and severed their neck, but he was a step too late.

Lia had already been stabbed.

“Ah, ah….”

Eliza crawled over to Lia.

She cradled her fallen head, lifting her up.

Blood poured relentlessly from her mouth and body.

Even with Eliza’s healing magic.

Even with any priest’s divine power, a fatal wound that split her upper body could not be reversed.

Yet Eliza desperately tried to use healing magic.

However, the magic wouldn’t activate properly.

“Ah…? Ah, ugh, uhh….”

She couldn’t use magic at all.

A sense of déjà vu struck her.

Ten years ago.

The day she received the news that her mother had died.

Judas noticed that something was wrong with Eliza.

He ran straight to the window and shouted outside.

“Gale and May! Bring two medics and the mage Bols! Anyone, hurry—! There’s a critically wounded person!”

With no magic or medical knowledge, that was all she could do to help.

At that moment, a single idea flashed through her mind.

‘…Wait. Could it be? If I use that, can I save her? But would it even work on a wound this severe?’

Meanwhile, Lia, leaning against Eliza, shakily raised her trembling hand.

Eliza recognized that gesture.

Once, when Judas was on the brink of death, she, too, had tried to reach out to him.

Just like back then, Eliza placed Lia’s hand on her face.

Her blood-soaked red hand touched her skin.

It was wet and sticky.

Lia, shuddering and coughing up blood, gave her a hazy, bitter smile.

“Eliza… I’m sorry….”

At that moment.

—Bwooooo!

A horn blast echoed from outside.

‘An attack warning?’

Judas, running through the possibilities in his head, quickly turned his gaze.

Someone was galloping toward the mansion gates on horseback.

It was Hermes.

She was blowing the horn with all her might, her face flushed red.

The warning, starting from her, rapidly spread and shook the entire mansion.

—Bwooooo….

Judas cast his eyes far into the distance.

Beyond the vast mansion grounds, figures began emerging one by one.

Platinum banners fluttered in the wind.

The golden emblem at their center was the sun.

The mark of the Imperial Army.

The soldiers beneath the banners were all heavily armed.

Among them, scattered throughout, were knights clad in golden armor—the Imperial Knights.

Those in platinum armor were the Imperial Guard.

The Empire had launched an assault.

There was no way this was a coincidence.

This was a deliberate move.

Judas clenched his teeth and muttered the name of the enemy lurking behind them.

‘Johan…!’

“Hmph….”

Helios Empire’s Emperor, Johan, furrowed his brows in displeasure and shook his head.

“What a shame. So it was a far deeper bond than I had calculated….”

Johan had anticipated this situation, and, to some extent, orchestrated it.

However, it hadn’t played out exactly as he intended.

This was how it had all unfolded.

When Eliza first started digging into Judas’s past, Anggra and the Imperial Court thoroughly erased all traces of Judas’s information.

They prevented Eliza from discovering anything too soon.

But as time passed, Eliza fell for Judas before even learning who he really was.

And Judas, too, developed feelings for Eliza.

Johan found this phenomenon truly fascinating.

It was the perfect relationship for an assassination to take place, yet Judas had no such intention.

He wasn’t sure how or why this had happened, but the answer was also obvious.

It wasn’t uncommon for a man to be bewitched by a woman and neglect his mission.

Even if that woman was his sworn enemy.

At first, Johan found it troublesome, but the situation soon changed.

If that affection ran so deep, then he would simply use it to his advantage.

Johan deliberately leaked some of the hidden information about Judas.

He concealed the source while subtly ensuring that it reached Eliza’s ears.

He had designed it so that Eliza would collapse—and then, he waited.

The power of the sun, unable to be controlled by reason, would go berserk and perish along with everything around it.

But even after learning the truth, Eliza did not perish.

There was only a slight gap—a moment of hesitation.

Regrettable, but there was a countermeasure in place.

Johan hired a group of skilled assassins to target Eliza all at once.

Originally, that ambush was meant to kill both Eliza and Judas.

However, Judas’s reaction was far sharper and faster than expected.

Instead, an unexpected harvest was gained.

“Well, at this level, the plan won’t be disrupted. It’s not an important issue anymore. In any case, they won’t be able to rise again.”

Eliza’s close maid, Lia.

She was Maria.

Eliza and Judas survived, but Maria was killed.

And with that, Eliza’s power was sealed.

When Maria died—

Eliza felt disillusioned with her own power and became unable to use magic.

“I expected Maria to be alive… but to think she was right beside them all along.”

This time was no different.

Eliza had collapsed.

For the time being, she would be unable to use magic.

And with this war, Johan was certain that they would completely eliminate the powerless Eliza.

“That was an unexpected stroke of luck. Fortunate indeed. Still, perhaps it would have been better if the truth had remained unknown… Tsk, tsk. Human curiosity is truly irrational—yet so useful.”

Scoffing in disdain, he gave an order to Geist, the commander of the Imperial Mage Corps.

“Bring me the Sun statue. I shall usher in a new era.”