The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 179

“Mom, is there anywhere that hurts? Can you see well? How about your ears?”

Eliza persistently asked as she touched different parts of Maria’s face.

Maria was momentarily silent, just staring at her.

Though she had stayed by her side, it had been five years since then.

In those five years, Eliza, who now called her “Mom,” seemed to have grown up so much.

She was still cute and lovable like a child, but also seemed more mature.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I can see well. I can hear fine, too.”

It was a relief, but both Eliza and Judas were a bit puzzled.

When Judas and Gawain woke up, their sight and hearing hadn’t immediately recovered.

Maria took Eliza’s hand and spoke to Judas.

“She asked me to pass a message to you.”

“Pardon? Who?”

“Well… I’m not exactly sure, but I think it might be someone like God.”

Eliza tilted her head, not understanding, but Judas immediately realized who it was.

The person in question.

“They said they had delivered the third gift for sure.”

“The third gift…”

The words he had heard before leaving came to mind.

That there were gifts prepared.

If we start with the third one, it was Maria’s quick and certain resurrection and recovery.

The second one?

Probably the return of the memory when he kissed Eliza.

There was no proof, but it seemed likely.

Normally, recovering memories shouldn’t have happened.

It should have remained a wish, but he really did remember.

There must have been help from God.

Then, the first one?

“When I went out to the dock to greet you, that voice guided me.”

The last question was also answered.

The first gift was to help guide Maria.

Maria felt a little sorry for being forceful when talking to God earlier, though not much, just a little.

“Thank you so much. It’s all because of you.”

Maria bowed politely in gratitude.

“Uh, ah, no, not that much…”

Judas shivered at her excessive gratitude.

Eliza, smiling softly from the side, spoke gently.

“Thank you, Judas.”

She gently took Judas’s hand.

Naturally, she sat by Eliza.

No matter what had happened so far.

Whatever it was, seeing Eliza smile so purely and happily made Maria think it didn’t matter anymore.

After being hungry for so long, Maria was in urgent need of a meal.

Eliza ordered them to bring a soup that would be easy to digest.

While waiting, she explained things to Maria.

Her opening statement was quite shocking.

“I’ve become an emperor.”

She said it nonchalantly, as if she had picked it up off the street.

But to Maria, it was an unfamiliar word.

Emperor.

Though she had been the concubine of Duke Barak, Maria had never even received proper treatment as a concubine.

She was essentially treated as if she were no wife at all.

Born a commoner, she had lived as a commoner.

And now, when she came to her senses, she had become the Empress Dowager, the mother of the emperor.

“C-Could that happen so easily…?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh… I see…”

Maria knew that Eliza was her daughter and that she was remarkable.

Even without the positive bias of being a mother, Eliza’s excellence was an objective fact.

Yet, this was far beyond her expectations.

Then, Eliza went on to tell how she had handled things on her own, just like when she spoke to Judas.

Maria listened, her mind soothing as she sipped the soup.

Though the content seemed overwhelming for someone like her, a commoner, the more she listened, the calmer she became.

She simply felt proud of Eliza.

She hadn’t done much for her, yet Eliza had grown into such a fine adult.

“Elly, you’ve grown up so much. I’m proud of you.”

Eliza responded with a proud smile.

Like a confident adult.

Though in her heart, there was still a childlike part of her.

Eliza knew that.

But she couldn’t show it to Maria.

It was like a fate that a grown child had to uphold in front of their parents.

Instead, it was fine because she could spoil Judas as much as she wanted.

After Maria finished her meal, Eliza spoke to the two of them.

“There’s a place I want to go with you.”

They both happily agreed.

***

The place she took them to was Gethsemane.

The garden where Maria’s tomb lay.

“I think it’s time to get rid of it.”

“……”

Every year, on the anniversary of Maria’s death, Eliza would visit the grave.

She would make a stronger resolve, crying while hugging the gravestone.

Maria remembered everything that happened every year.

She was about to apologize, but Eliza suddenly grabbed her hand.

Before long, the grown-up daughter spoke first.

“It’s okay.”

“… Yeah. Thank you, Elly.”

If they dug under the gravestone, the coffin would be revealed.

At the time of her death, the coffin had been buried empty because they couldn’t find the body.

Eliza vividly remembered herself, crying on top of the coffin.

Maria hadn’t attended that time.

She had been just a maid, and she couldn’t bear seeing Eliza cry.

It had been about 10 years since then.

The years buried in the earth seemed to have passed in vain, as the coffin was in excellent condition.

It was as if it were the same as the day 10 years ago.

The inside was also clean.

The coffin had been prepared with the highest quality materials, as if it were something a great noble would use, thanks to Barak’s influence.

How disgusting it was.

Now, it was hard to say.

She hadn’t forgiven him.

But she didn’t want to dwell on it.

She wanted to move on, leaving it all behind.

With Judas and Maria.

She had buried the meaningless things of the past and was no longer obsessed with them.

Inside the coffin, a small teddy bear was lying.

It was the bear Eliza had always carried with her before being dragged back to her family.

Although it had faded over 10 years, it hadn’t rotted or been eaten by insects.

Judas gently picked up the bear and handed it to Eliza.

It was the perfect size for one arm to hold.

It had been quite large when she was younger.

Having been buried underground for so long, it smelled faintly of earth.

Eliza gently stroked the bear.

The effect of time was noticeable.

The once-soft fabric had worn a bit.

Holding the teddy bear, Eliza reminded Maria of the little girl she once was.

“Do you want me to fix it and make it like new?”

“… Yeah. Please do.”

After handing the bear to Maria, Eliza broke the coffin.

She also shattered the gravestone engraved with Maria’s name, then filled the spot where the coffin had been buried with everything.

She covered it with earth and packed it down flat.

All the painful past would be buried here, and she would start fresh now.

Eliza was confident she could do that.

***

Eliza returned to the mansion with Judas and Maria.

There were still some news to share.

The place they arrived at was the courtyard, where many people were busy moving about.

“Your Majesty…!”

They hurried to greet her, and some of them widened their eyes when they saw Judas beside her.

“Judas?!”

Eliza’s Escort Knight.

Now, they were the Royal Guards, 11 strong.

Since Eliza hadn’t notified them, they hadn’t heard that Judas had arrived.

“Judas, you…!”

“Where have you been?! Are you alive?”

“Why haven’t you come until now…!”

They swarmed around him, bombarding him with questions.

With 11 large men rushing toward him, Judas almost stumbled backward without realizing it.

“Wow…”

They suddenly became aware of Eliza.

“Oh, Your Majesty. You’ve returned.”

“You weren’t going for something…?”

“That’s right. I went to bring Judas back.”

“I see…”

The 11 of them looked at Eliza, then at Judas, then back at Eliza.

They had many questions they wanted to ask Judas.

They glanced at Eliza to see if they could steal some of Judas’s time, and Eliza nodded slightly.

“Thank you for allowing me, Your Majesty.”

Of course, he was still standing with his arms crossed, pressed close to her side.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

After Eliza ascended, she opened a dimensional door, met a god, and then went to the afterlife.

In exchange for bringing Eliza back, he lost his memories.

Even as she explained, Judas thought it sounded like quite an unreal story.

Contrary to his concerns, they accepted it without much resistance.

After all, Eliza had perished with the evil god.

At that moment, all of humanity dreamt of Eliza, and she resurrected after three days.

Just those events alone already felt unreal.

It was also believable that Judas had gone to the afterlife.

“Now, I somehow regained my memories and came back with the lady.”

He decided not to explain how he regained his memories.

“Well… I’m glad. Yeah, good. Good for you, man.”

Richard wiped his face and sighed.

Dylan nodded in relief.

“I’m really glad you’re back, Judas…”

Lindel, Argon, Dyke, Felin, Jerry, Esmo, Hadore, Gauss, Nils.

After greeting Judas one by one, they finally took notice of Maria.

The red-haired maid they thought was dead.

There was something different about her now.

Unlike before, where she was cold and stern, she had become gentler.

Eliza suddenly declared in front of them.

“This is my mother.”

“…What?”

“Her name is Maria. From now on, treat her with respect, as you would expect.”

“Yes, uh, I, uh… Yes?”

Eliza had no intention of explaining further.

Maria simply smiled awkwardly, and Judas gestured for them to accept it without question.

The next place they visited was the knight training hall in a corner of the mansion.

There, they found Gawain.

He had now been appointed as the commander of the royal knights, and he had received a new false identity.

Taking his middle name and his teacher’s name, he was now known as “Galehad.”

“Judas?!”

He hurried over and began touching Judas’s arm here and there.

Judas hadn’t seen it, but Gawain had a prosthetic arm on his right side.

“Where have you been? Are you okay? Did something happen…? Ah, Your Majesty… I apologize.”

“It’s surprising that you’re just now recognizing me. But since you were worried about Judas, I’ll let it slide.”

“Hmm…”

“Sir Gawain, it’s been a while.”

Judas gave a bitter smile.

Every time he saw Gawain’s right arm, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.

Though he knew it was a situation they couldn’t avoid at the time.

“You’re fine, so there’s no need to worry about me.”

“Haah… I’m glad you’re okay. Where have you been?”

Judas repeated what he had told the royal guard.

From going to the afterlife to rescue Eliza, to losing and regaining his memories.

“Such an event… Does that mean you were the one who brought Her Majesty back to life…?”

“It’s a bit awkward to admit, but yes, that’s correct.”

For some reason, Eliza smiled happily and tightly hugged Judas’s arm.

Gawain found it awkward and couldn’t look at them properly.

“Ah, well, it’s a good thing. Really a good thing. Hmm. And from now on, call me Gallerahead.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“By the way… the person next to you…”

Gawain also took note of Maria, and this time, Eliza briefly spoke.

“This is my mother.”

“…What?”

“She will be treated as the Empress from now on.”

“…”

Once again, Eliza didn’t elaborate.

There was still more to show them.

Eliza continued to guide them through the mansion, which had changed and was still changing.

She hoped the two of them would adapt soon.

Miguel, who had been the butler, was set to become the head chamberlain of the royal household.

May and Gale, the mansion’s physicians, were now appointed as the chief physicians of the royal court.

Bols, whom they had hired as a mage, was appointed as the royal court’s new secretary in the reorganized royal mage order.

The deputy head was the tower master, Epona, and the head of the order was Eliza herself.

Hermes and Shylock were appointed as elite knights under Gawain’s command to lead the royal knights.

“Ah, by the way, the royal palace is still under construction. The scale of the palace is so large that it will take a lot of time. Until then, you can stay in this mansion. I’ll show you the grounds of the palace later.”

After all the introductions were over, it was already late in the evening.

As they walked through the kitchen, Maria mentioned that she wanted to prepare Eliza’s meal, and Eliza happily agreed.

***

Currently, Maria was in the kitchen, and Judas and Eliza were heading towards Yuel’s Stable.

“Yuel!”

As soon as Judas entered, Yuel rushed out to greet him.

“You’re really alive!”

Yuel had visited the Underworld before.

How it was possible, Judas didn’t know.

He had been worried, wondering if Yuel had died, but thankfully, Yuel was alive.

He had heard from Eliza that Yuel was in good health, but only after seeing him in person did he feel a sense of relief.

“Ah, you’ve been well. Yes, yes. It’s so good to see you. Are you hurt anywhere?”

Judas was fussing over Yuel, petting and scratching it while receiving its clingy hospitality.

He checked Yuel’s body, finding no injuries, and he appeared healthy.

The only thing that stood out was a small pink scar on its rear.

Eliza stood beside them and petted Yuel as well.

“I heard you helped out. Thank you, Yuel.”

Yuel didn’t seem to have much of a reaction, simply allowing their hands to pet him.

While petting Yuel, Judas spoke up.

“By the way, a lot has changed in the week I’ve been away. You must have been very busy, young lady.”

“Right? It was so busy. Honestly, I had to rush through some things, so I’ll have to review a few later… But, Judas.”

“Yes?”

“How long are you going to call me ‘young lady’?”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“……”

Eliza, who had been petting Yuel, froze for a moment.

She pouted her lips and looked at him.

It seemed like she was expressing some discontent, but to Judas, it was just incredibly cute.

“Why do you say that?”

“Not ‘Your Majesty’.”

“Yes?”

“You know….”

Eliza’s face turned red, and she hesitated, mumbling in a voice so small it was almost inaudible.

“El…ly….”

“Yes?”

“Call me Elly….”

“……”

Judas could now understand why his heart skipped a beat when faced with such a cute situation.

It just felt like that.

Even though she had said it, Eliza was too shy to look at him and closed her eyes tightly.

“Th-then, um…”

As cute as it was, Judas was a little surprised.

He never imagined Eliza would ask something like this.

It made him feel a little awkward.

After all, she was his liege, the new emperor of the Bevel Empire, the pope of the Sun Church, and a saint….

But all that status meant nothing between them.

‘…What exactly our relationship is, I haven’t really defined it, but… anyway.’

Judas also felt a bit embarrassed.

He felt a little nervous.

He too stopped petting Yuel and took a step back.

Somehow, it seemed like it needed to be done seriously.

“Well, I’ll do it then?”

Before he knew it, Eliza was looking up at him with an expectant gaze.

“Mm…”

After clearing his throat a few times, he slowly spoke.

‘It’s no big deal. It’s just calling her by a shortened version of her name, right?’

But for some reason, his lips wouldn’t move easily.

He finally managed to say it with great difficulty.

“…Elly.”

Eliza’s eyes sparkled with joy and delight.

Her reaction to just one call made Judas feel so touched and he called her again with a trembling heart.

“Elly.”

Eliza—no, Elly—leapt into his arms.

She hugged him tightly around the waist.

Judas wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“Mm, mm. Judas, it’s me.”

Judas deeply inhaled her scent.

It was a soft, sweet fragrance.

This was the same smell he had known since childhood, and he loved it so much.

It brought him peace.

And more than that….

He gently pulled away from her shoulders.

“Young lady… Ah, no. Elly.”

It would probably take a while to break that habit.

It had taken him quite some time to say that.

It’s just that I’m hesitant and scared.

Even without saying it, I know Eliza’s feelings.

Still, I wanted to clearly say it and define our relationship.

Eliza, who had been waiting quietly for his words, seemed to have noticed something, as his eyes widened.

His face instantly turned red.

He looked nervous, yet the corners of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to smile.

Judas spoke with great difficulty.

No, he confessed.

“I like you.”

“……”

“I’ve liked you for a very long time, as someone of the opposite sex. So, uh, please officially date me. No, please go out with me.”

Eliza was already smiling brightly.

Tears, like dewdrops, gathered at the corners of her beautifully folded eyes.

She pulled Judas’s neck towards her and stood on tiptoe.

He naturally lowered his head.

They kissed.

A light touch.

When she pulled away gently, she smiled brightly.

“How can you use formal language after calling me Elly?”

“…Ah.”

‘Does this mean I have to drop the formalities now? This is going to take a while…’

Eliza, with a smile on her face, asked.

“How much do you like me? Like, really?”

“Uh, um…”

Can he even express that in words?

How should he say it…?

“Heh!”

Eliza laughed as she saw Judas seriously pondering.

“Come to think of it, you have a cute side.”

“……”

“I can tell without you saying anything. Just watching you struggle to think so seriously, I know. Judas.”

“Yes. Uh, miss… I mean, Elly.”

“Actually, I also have something I want to say.”

“What…?”

Upon hearing the next words, Judas’s soul seemed to leave his body for a moment.

“I want to marry you.”

“……”

“No. Marry me.”