The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 153

Hoo, hoo—.

Eliza blew softly.

She cooled the thin porridge on the spoon.

She lightly touched it to the edge of her lips to check the temperature.

It was warm enough.

Carefully, she moved the spoon to someone else’s mouth—not her own.

She gently parted the lips with her hand and let the porridge flow inside.

Then, she closed the lips and wiped the area clean.

She repeated the process several times.

Eliza’s bedroom.

On the bed lay Judas, still unconscious, and Eliza sat beside him, tending to him.

On the wall opposite the bed was a large crystal.

It shimmered with a translucent sky-blue hue—it was ice.

Ice that Bols had created and Eliza had reinforced, ice that would never melt.

Inside, Maria was trapped.

Preserved exactly as she was at the moment of her death.

Her torso, half-severed, her spilled organs and blood—all of it encased within.

A dagger was still embedded in her chest.

Eliza could use magic now, but she dared not retrieve Lia hastily.

It was Judas who had claimed that Maria could be saved if the dagger remained in place. But he had not yet awakened.

She couldn’t risk touching it carelessly.

Several days had passed, and she had not left Judas’s side for even a moment.

The maids brought food, but only Eliza was allowed to feed him.

She never forgot to cast detoxification magic compulsively.

No doubt, piles of documents had arrived at the mansion.

The aftermath of the recent war.

And explanations demanded after the Empire’s sudden attack.

Eliza let go.

Or rather, nothing was in her grasp anymore.

Even thinking of Judas alone was overwhelming.

Fortunately, there were people in the mansion to handle those matters.

At the center was the butler, Miguel, along with Captain Gawain and the mage Bols.

A few knights skilled in paperwork also took turns managing it.

The Imperial army had not returned.

Some scouts had come, but they had burned to death immediately.

Above the Eliza estate, a small sun floated in the sky.

An automatic defense spell that shot beams of light to incinerate any enemy who approached within a certain range.

Eliza had constructed it.

It was a magic that had never existed before, something she had never learned.

She simply desired such a magic, and it became reality.

It was no longer mere creation—it was creation itself.

Such a feat had been impossible before, but Eliza had no time to dwell on her growth or transformation.

Only the occasional visitor from the magic tower came to observe the spell.

As long as they held no hostility, the sun did not attack them.

And so, for several days—

Eliza ate nothing. She barely slept.

Standing blankly beside Judas was her entire daily routine.

And then—

“My lady, I will enter.”

A visitor arrived.

Eliza had not spoken in days, so the visitor carefully opened the door without waiting for a response.

It was Hermes.

Behind hER, a woman with white hair and violet eyes came into view.

The blind star.

Eurydice.

The one who had held documents regarding Judas.

On the day she learned the truth about Judas, Eliza had believed he and the information guild were connected to her death.

But she realized that Judas had not killed Maria.

And in the end, he had spared her as well.

Then, what were they?

She was curious but did not speak.

She only stared blankly at the visitors.

“My lady, it has been a while.”

Eurydice cautiously approached.

She worried Eliza might lose control again.

“Ah, should I call you Duchess now instead of Lady?”

Even at the light joke, Eliza remained expressionless.

She simply gazed up at Eurydice with vacant eyes.

It was impossible to tell if she was even listening.

“…She’s in a far worse state than I expected.”

Eurydice let out a sigh and sat down across from her.

At any rate, eye contact was made, and she wasn’t being driven away.

That, at least, was a small relief for Eurydice.

“I’m sorry about what happened last time. Things were urgent, so I couldn’t explain, but the truth is, I’ve been on the run from the imperial family for quite some time. I had no idea I would end up barging in at that exact moment, under those circumstances.”

“…….”

“I came to clear up the misunderstanding. I’ll skip the unnecessary details and get straight to the point. As you already found out, Judas was an assassin, and his targets were you and your birth mother, Maria.”

“…….”

“But it seems that Judas never actually killed Maria. I looked into the assassin guild’s records—they listed the mission as a success, but in reality, it was a failure. Because of that, Judas was reprimanded and cast out. Lamech covered it up to hide their own mistake. …Are you listening?”

Eliza slowly nodded.

“Anyway, I’ve been trying to trace the background of the incident, but it hasn’t been easy. I came to check if you might know anything. You’re curious too, aren’t you? About why all this happened.”

“…….”

“Or… have you ever peeked into Judas’s memories? I heard you completed that magic.”

Eliza shook her head.

She had tried.

But she had failed time and time again.

She had assumed it was some sort of protective spell, set up to prevent anyone from prying into his memories.

She knew she was a skilled mage, but she wasn’t omnipotent.

Now that she thought about it—

Back then, Judas had… his memories again….

“Hey.”

Hermes cut in.

“It just came to mind while I was listening.”

Eurydice was startled.

Eliza wasn’t supposed to know that Hermes was part of an information guild.

And yet, she had just jumped into the conversation so recklessly.

On the other hand, Eliza, lost in her haze, failed to notice or question it.

Hermes, unable to hold back, spoke up anyway.

“I once visited Selene with Lord Judas. At the time, he said he felt like he had been there before.”

“…Selene? Are you sure…?”

She almost slipped into informal speech.

“Yes. I’m certain.”

Selene.

Eliza remembered.

Judas had gone there once, on a mission.

She had always found it strange—why that place, of all places?

Selene.

Near that city, there was a small village.

It supplied the city with soap, candles, and milk and was home to a large pasture where the city’s sheep were kept.

When Eliza had been taken back to her family home, she had been forced to sign off on a massacre because of Narcissa.

To be exact, she had to sign the order to wipe out a certain village.

That village had been near the small wooden house where Maria and she had been hiding.

It was also the place where Maria had been given a stable to give birth to Eliza.

And it was home to kind-hearted people who occasionally visited the mother and daughter in hiding, offering help.

And under her signature, every last one of them had died.

Narcissa had given the order to assert dominance over Eliza.

She had grabbed her by the collar, slapped her, and struck her with a cane.

If she didn’t do it, she had threatened, her mother would never return.

That village’s name was—

“Bethlehem….”

Eurydice spoke the name.

It wasn’t widely known, but those who knew, knew.

A village unjustly massacred by the Bavel family.

Bathlehem.

Only Eliza and Narcissa knew she had been the one to sign the order.

And the massacre had been carried out by Black Stigma and Cain, who had been training as an assassin under them at the time.

“…….”

Finally, all the clues had come together.

Scattered fragments had formed a complete picture.

The village where Eliza was born.

The place near the wooden house where she had lived with Maria.

Judas, who had come from that very village.

Judas, who had tried to kill Maria and Eliza.

Eurydice flinched at Eliza’s change in demeanor.

It wasn’t just that she was silently shedding tears.

Her eyes had turned gold.

It was not a light mixed with red and orange.

It was a pure golden color.

“Young Lady, why… why are you…?”

Eliza did not respond.

She simply cast a spell on Judas.

A kind of magic that peeks into memories.

She wanted to confirm the truth directly through his memories.

It was a dangerous spell even for the one affected, but Eliza did not hesitate.

There was no reason to.

She was certain she could use it perfectly, without side effects.

Her first attempt was blocked.

But then, she recalled Judas’s words from before.

He had told her—once again—to check his memories. To use the spell.

As if that would make everything clear.

Eliza waited three seconds and cast the spell again.

“…!”

It worked.

Her consciousness was sucked into Judas’s memories.

She moved to the date she needed.

The time when Bethlehem was massacred.

About ten years ago.

***

Knights. Armor. Insignias.

A blazing emblem.

A window. Night. The moon. Lights.

A sword gleaming silver.

Blood splattering red. Agonized screams.

“Mom? Dad…?”

A boy murmured.

A call that would never reach.

A call that should never reach.

He was hiding—he must not be discovered by them.

“Mom… Dad….”

The boy swallowed his sobs and rage alone.

The emotions that festered inside him grew like rotten pus.

He would never forget this day.

Nor the ones who killed his parents.

Nor his powerless self, unable to do anything.

His hands, with nothing to hold, clutched at his own skin, tearing at it.

His chest burned.

‘…….’

Eliza was there.

Beside the young Judas.

She crouched with him, watching everything, confirming it all.

This was Bethlehem.

The covert forces of Bavel, Black Spot, had attacked the village.

Cain had massacred Judas’s family.

Judas had hidden in the closet.

Cain did not search further. He simply set fire to the house and left.

‘Ha, haha….’

Eliza, seeing the past as a hazy, mist-like figure, shook her shoulders and let out a hollow laugh.

Her laughter soon turned into a heavy sigh.

The sigh, in turn, became sobs.

‘Hahaha…. Ha…. Hic…!’

She had confirmed the truth.

The one who had Judas’s family killed—was herself.

In the end, it had all been her fault.

***

It was a horrific truth.

Because of her orders, Judas’s family had died.

The village had vanished.

And yet, how had she treated him?

How cruel had her words been? How dare she…?

Eliza wept for a long time before she finally forced herself to regain composure.

She could not allow herself to drown in negative emotions.

‘Calm down… I can’t waste time here.’

Time in memories flowed faster than in reality.

It depended on the magician’s skill, but in Eliza’s case, even experiencing years would only take minutes in the real world.

‘Still, I need to leave as soon as possible. I don’t know what might happen. I should look around a little more before I go. But….’

She suddenly found herself watching the young Judas, still hiding in the closet.

Black hair. Golden eyes.

He was young, but it was undoubtedly him.

The same appearance.

But…

‘…Hey, who is this?’

It feels like a completely different person from the Judas I know.