The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 65.1

The courthouse owned by the Bevel family.

Someone walks down the wide corridor.

Click, clack, click, clack.

With every step, the moderate-height heels echo brightly against the marble floor.

A light blue skirt that reaches her ankles.

Her white ankles flash briefly with each step, drawing attention.

It’s not just her ankles, though.

Simply passing by, she captures the gaze of others.

Like a shooting star being pulled to the earth, naturally.

The attraction is closer to a natural phenomenon.

It occurs regardless of age or gender but is especially strong among men.

If there is a man who does not look at her, he must examine two factors.

His eyesight or his sexual orientation. Or perhaps both.

Her consistent expressionless face resembles a doll.

Beautiful but stiff.

With such a face that would perfectly suit a smile, she rarely smiles.

She does, but very rarely.

And when she does, it is not a pleasant smile.

There is something eerie about her smile.

As if a blade is held against one’s throat.

In contrast to her cold and refined aura, the red scarf around her neck is somewhat worn.

The small black cat plush that she never separates from her arms is almost cute.

She, who is about to undergo her coming-of-age ceremony, stopped.

Her thick black hair swayed.

She looks ahead.

Someone blocks her way.

She meets eyes burning with anger, crimson red.

A color similar to her own. Unpleasant.

The blonde hair tied in two braids contrasts with her fierce expression, looking soft.

The blonde woman speaks.

“Eliza…!”

Facing her, Eliza replied with a sigh.

“Sarah, sister. What are you doing blocking the way? You’re causing an obstruction.”

A tone as if handling a naive child.

The meaning within was clear.

Step aside and don’t interfere.

Sarah had no intention of doing so.

“Give back my mother!”

A simplistic demand.

Eliza understood Sarah’s level.

The true youngest among the direct descendants of Barak, excluding herself, the illegitimate child.

She grew up receiving all the love from the main house.

All her complaints were indulged, and no one restrained her.

Eliza found it bothersome that she had to treat her childish older sister with care.

“If you want to appeal the judgment, you should do it with the court, not with the defendant.”

“What, wh-what…?”

At the mention of difficult words, Sarah was immediately at a loss for words.

She seemed so confused you could almost see her eyes spinning.

But Sarah did not back down.

Whenever she wanted something, she had to get it immediately to feel satisfied.

Let alone five years.

For five years, she had to endure having Narcissa by the side of that vile illegitimate child.

But after a five-year trial, the court acquitted Eliza.

As a result, Narcissa still belonged to Eliza.

And now, it was even legally recognized.

“This is absurd! This doesn’t make sense! We originally won the trial!”

“Yes. You can go ahead and report all those complaints to the court.”

“Did you do something strange?! Did you seduce those old elders in their beds to get them all on your side?!”

A vulgar and shameless insult.

Paradoxically, having been raised well, she uttered coarse and crude words without hesitation.

Lia, who was following behind Eliza, turned red in the face.

Unable to curse directly at the high-ranking noble, she could only watch.

However, Eliza remained indifferent.

There was no need to react to childish insults that only fools would utter.

“So, you’re still hanging around with that commoner, Judah? I even heard you were sharing the same bed until recently! You can’t kick that habit…”

Sarah, who had been shouting until her throat hurt, suddenly clammed up.

For a moment, she even forgot to breathe.

Because Eliza smiled.

Her eyes narrowed finely.

Her lips curved into a soft line.

For a split second, Sarah felt a threat to her life.

A tension like walking on the edge of a blade.

Yet, Eliza, who had created this atmosphere, was calm.

“Sister.”

A person’s choice of vocabulary is influenced by their level of education, background, intellectual capacity, recent exposure to cultural environments, and the social circles they engage with.

There was no need to say more.

It would be a waste of effort.

Not that the other party would understand, anyway.

She simply looked Sarah up and down.

Sarah shuddered and hesitated.

“Stop wasting my time and just step aside, will you?”

Eliza approached.

Click. Click.

Walking towards Sarah, she looked down at the person blocking her way and spoke kindly.

“Unlike my beloved sister, I’m quite busy.”

Sarah, looking up at her, slumped down on the spot.

Her legs had given way.

Eliza brushed past her.

“Oh dear. It seems the young lady is exhausted. Make sure she is escorted to a safe place.”

Her words were directed at the escort knights.

Several knights were accompanying Sarah.

They couldn’t say a word in front of Eliza.

They froze like frogs before a snake.

“Oh, by the way,”

Eliza, who had already passed by, suddenly said.

“I’ll send regards to the Duchess.”

Of course, that Duchess wouldn’t care about any of her other children, but he swallowed the rest of his words.

Finally, Sarah burst into tears.

Eliza left the courtroom with a lively stride.

***

Five years.

That was the duration of the trial over Eliza’s kidnapping of Narcissa.

She lost in the first trial.

Appeals continued repeatedly, dragging on for five long years.

In the end, she won.

The verdict: Not guilty.

The trial was conducted under the internal laws of the Bevel family.

The court was entirely composed of the elders of the Bevel family.

There was no room for any external forces to intervene in this trial.

And over five years, Eliza had managed to win over the majority of the elders.

Controlling the majority of any group meant controlling the group as a whole.

The method was not difficult.

Her talent as a magician exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Some even claimed that the founder, as recorded in the history of the Bevel family, had returned.

People called it the revival of the mythical era.

A time when not humans but transcendent beings akin to deities roamed this land.

Her magic was that powerful.

A natural persuasion that grew stronger with her increasing power.

Crucially, the victim, Narcissa, defended Eliza.

There was no other choice.

To momentarily escape the eternal torment, she had to keep Eliza pleased.

“Now that the trial is over, they’ll resort to other means.”

The trial was the moderate approach.

It was the way for both Eliza and the Bevel family to avoid maximum loss.

The opposing side would have hoped to win without bloodshed if possible.

But Eliza was the victor.

There’s no way the other side would take this result quietly.

“Just as I hoped.”

For five years, she had built up her strength.

The forces had been reorganized.

Her power as a mage was unparalleled.

Even if she lacked experience, she had the confidence to face Barak head-on.

Eliza would not back down.

“By the way, there’s still no progress on the forbidden spell…”

A type of magic capable of interfering with the mind.

Sealed away by the cooperation of the royal family and the magic tower due to its danger.

Eliza had been searching for that spell for five years.

She wanted to peer into Judah’s memories.

Inside her mind was crucial information about the Moon Church.

There would be no reason to manipulate her memories otherwise.

But that wasn’t the only reason.

She also wanted to retrieve memories of Judah’s childhood.

“I’ve been looking into other avenues as well…”

An orphan the Anggra had brought from Judeca.

She traced the records back to before Judeca, up to the orphanage managed by the Moon Church.

It was no ordinary facility.

It was a kind of training ground for raising holy knights.

Judah stayed there for several weeks.

Not just Judah.

There was also Traditor Heis, an assassin from the Moon Church who had tried to kill her on her birthday five years ago.

She, too, came from the same facility as Judah.

“Meaning, it wasn’t just a facility for training holy knights, but also served as a place for raising assassins useful to the Moon God Church.”

And Judah, was someone who entered her training center before Traditor.

Circumstantial evidence suggests he received special training.

He came from a facility like Traditor and approached her in a similar manner.

“The possibility that Judah is an assassin prepared for me.”

It exists in theory.

However, saying something exists in theory is close to saying it’s practically impossible.

As Judah suspects, Eliza is still insensitive to rational curiosity or romantic affection.

She only acknowledges that such concepts exist in the world.

She has never felt them herself.

As she sees it, Judah’s feelings toward her are quite special.

It is truly an extraordinary loyalty.

Therefore, it’s not hasty to conclude that Judah is unlikely to be her assassin.

“It could be different if I dig deeper into the past…”

She is also tracking records prior to the existence of the childcare facility.

The investigation has led to the vicinity of the Demon Realm.

No matter how much Eliza tries, it is difficult to obtain information near the Demon Realm.

This is because there are few people living there, and they die quickly or disappear somewhere.

“It would be easier if Geumju was discovered sooner…”

A few years ago, the Magic Tower proposed an exchange, to which Eliza agreed.

She also requested the Magic Tower to investigate or research Geumju.

There is still no news from either side.

“I expected it to take a while, but having no progress at all is frustrating.”

She could approach the Imperial Family, but it feels unsettling.

Five years ago.

Someone suspected of being a spy for the Imperial Family infiltrated her escort knight cadet training center.

Eliza still hasn’t figured out why.

“I’ll find out sooner or later.”

The Imperial Family. Geumju. The Moon God Church.

Baits have been cast in various directions.

It’s about time for a bite.

In particular, she has already identified the location of Anggra, who is on the run under the pretext of a pilgrimage.

“They say today is for impromptu joint training?”

Eliza asked as she boarded the carriage.

She had memorized almost all of Judah’s training schedules.

Lia, sitting across from her, responded.

“Yes, my lady.”

“I have some time left, so I must go and see.”

Eliza is busy.

And occasionally, visiting Judah is added to her busy schedule.

It was so amusing to see his surprised and bewildered face whenever she visited.

The carriage started moving.

Eliza leaned back against the seat and hugged a doll.

A faint smile spread across her face.

It was a smile without a shadow, something the public rarely saw.

“I’m tired, so I’ll hug him as soon as I arrive.”

Lia watched her with a complex expression, then lowered her gaze.