The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 66

Judas ran.

His body, strengthened by magic, left scars on the ground with each step.

Amidst the rapidly changing scenery, he did not lose track of the trail.

Dragged marks.

A faint sweet scent mixed with the smell of grass.

The fragrance emanating from Eliza guided his way.

It feels as if time is flowing slowly.

Abduction.

He recalls the assassin who came to kill Eliza five years ago.

Eliza had found an ally worth using.

But that only meant more enemies.

It wouldn’t be strange if they were swept into something like this at any time.

However, Judas couldn’t deduce who the opponent was.

Though he stayed close to Eliza, he didn’t actually know the details of her circumstances.

He had become an adult, but his irrationality remained unchanged.

It was a matter of temperament.

He just assumed the worst-case scenario and kept running.

Before long, he stopped his sprint.

In the distance, under a large tree, there was Eliza.

‘Is she tied up?’

Due to obstacles like grass and trees, it was hard to make out clearly.

There was no time to examine closely.

‘No one else can be seen around. An ambush using a hostage?’

Even his hunter’s senses couldn’t detect anything.

The survival expert was also silent.

A calm and cautious opponent.

‘Have they set up a magic disruption field…?’

The optimal magic to counter a mage.

If they used that field, magic could not be used.

Even Eliza would not be an exception.

However, since Judas was not a mage, he could not sense the field.

No amount of thinking would give him an answer.

The only choice was to get closer and charge head-on.

Judas hurriedly ran toward Eliza.

“My Lady!”

Eliza quickly turned her head to look at Judas.

Before she could say anything, Judas embraced her.

“Judas…?”

The mumbled question scattered in his arms.

Judas’s every nerve was focused on the outside.

If the enemy was planning to act, now would be the perfect timing.

With himself and Eliza overlapping, he could defend and detect.

‘…Why is it so quiet?’

But no enemy appeared from the surroundings.

Judas released Eliza from his arms.

She didn’t seem to be injured.

While feeling relieved, he was also puzzled.

Her usual calm expression didn’t match the situation.

He couldn’t help but ask.

“My Lady, what happened…?”

Eliza did not respond immediately.

She just quietly looked up at Judas.

Running over in haste, embracing her with tension, then showing a relieved expression upon confirming her safety.

And now, a face filled with doubt.

That change was imprinted on her.

Eliza finally opened her mouth.

“Nothing happened.”

“What? But…”

“It was all my doing.”

She confessed calmly.

Her sudden disappearance.

The dragged marks on the ground.

The circumstances that seemed like an abduction.

All of it, a ruse of her own making.

“……”

As he listened, Judas gradually regained his rationality.

His calmed mind mocked his own delusion.

A magic disruption field?

Nonsense.

How difficult it is to set up such a field.

Even if it were possible, that would be a problem too.

If Eliza, who is sensitive in many ways, would have noticed it earlier.

It comes to mind belatedly.

There was a time, in the life before Judas appeared, when someone approached Eliza in a similar manner, and back then, Eliza sensed it in advance and fled.

Therefore, ambushing and kidnapping Eliza is impossible.

And she is not the one to be worried about.

Whether the reckless kidnapper died peacefully or painfully,

That was the real concern.

The situation is understood, but not entirely comprehended.

A lingering question is raised.

“Why… did you do it?”

The motivation was impossible to guess.

“That is…”

Eliza couldn’t answer immediately.

She found herself unfamiliar with this hesitation.

This staged incident was not the first one she committed against Judas.

All the previous candidates had fallen victim to the same ploy.

The reason given to them was simple and logical.

To assess their ability to handle and respond to unexpected situations.

An excuse, a cover story.

Eliza wasn’t interested in the reactions of the other candidates.

She simply wanted to see Judas’s reaction.

Applying the same test to the others was just to compare with Judas.

Yes, she wanted to see Judas’s reaction.

But…

“I was curious.”

Judas silently questioned.

“Curious about what?”

Even Eliza couldn’t answer that question.

She simply looked up at Judas.

The change of emotion on his face.

Whether in the past or now, his expression was always honest, almost foolishly so.

A slight furrow in his brows.

Heavy breaths.

Eliza reached out her hand.

He had grown much taller since when they were of similar height.

More than two hand spans taller now.

Judas flinched at her touch, but he didn’t pull away.

Her slender fingers traced the contours of his pronounced brow bone.

Gliding over his thick eyebrows, she reached his furrowed forehead.

“Why are you angry?”

Eliza asked.

It wasn’t a challenge.

She was purely curious.

Wondering why Judas was angry now.

How were the other candidates?

They just bowed their heads, saying it was their fault.

Seeking forgiveness for their mistakes.

If one were to name their emotions, it would be things like embarrassment, fear, self-reproach.

None of them were angry.

All showed predictable, dull, and insignificant responses.

‘Why are you always… different?’

Under Eliza’s touch, Judas’s frown softened.

He barely managed to regain his composure.

“…I’m sorry.”

“I want to know the reason.”

A familiar expression, seen once before.

For instance, when she used to frequently feel dizzy and collapse as a child.

Or during moments when they were threatened by assassins.

It was similar to the expression Judas had when he looked at her back then, but a bit more intense.

Eliza now understands what that emotion is.

But today, it’s a bit different from usual.

“That is, well… I was angry at myself for not properly attending to you, my lady. And also…”

Judas hesitated, looking at her.

Eliza waited calmly.

If there were a lake of red, it might look like this.

The moment he saw her clear eyes, he felt it was too late to turn back.

Too late for what?

“I was worried about you, my lady….”

Worried.

A word he had used before.

Back then, he said without hesitation that he had been worried.

But now, for some reason, he hesitated.

What had changed?

Eliza thought about the definition of worry.

Something akin to anxiety or nervousness.

Something that seems unlikely to happen as you wish, causing you to assume the worst and fear it.

When that worry is directed at others, it means you’re concerned for their well-being.

I understand.

That Judas often worried about him—Eliza knew at least that much.

Yet, Eliza still found Judas’s reactions difficult to understand.

“When you worry, do you get angry?”

When an emotion reaches its peak, it can express itself in the exact opposite way.

Crying because you’re happy.

Laughing because you’re in pain.

Hating because you love so much.

Longing because you hate so much.

Eliza didn’t understand him.

Judas, too, had never reflected on his emotions so deeply.

He merely lowered his head, like a sinner.

“I’m sorry. I reacted in a way I shouldn’t have, and I don’t know why.”

Eliza lifted Judas’s chin.

As if telling him not to avert his eyes.

She quietly looked into his face.

Being angry because you’re worried.

She didn’t quite understand it, but she had seen it before.

A long, long time ago.

Her mother had scolded her once.

Yes, back then, her mother had worried about her.

Eliza posed another question.

“Why were you worried about me?”

“I….”

Judas licked his lips with his tongue.

His hesitation didn’t last long.

“Because I am to be your escort knight.”

“…I see. That’s how it is.”

Eliza, still holding Judas’s face, locked eyes with him.

Golden eyes, which repeatedly met her gaze anxiously before looking away.

Worry. So, it was worry.

A fabricated scenario to provoke Judas’s reaction.

It was simply that.

She hadn’t expected a particular reaction or emotion.

Just. She was curious about the result. That was all.

And now, the result was right in front of her.

‘Strange….’

Her heart ached.

Like a tongue numbed by something sweet.

It tingled.

She hadn’t specifically expected Judas to worry.

But the moment he confirmed his intense reaction, she felt a thrill of excitement.

A satisfaction, not entirely innocent, similar to a sadistic pleasure.

At the same time, guilt began to sprout.

For some reason, she felt like a child who had done something wrong.

Regret that said, ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’

She had worried someone who cherished her so dearly.

Joy and guilt.

The two emotions filled her heart to the brim and threatened to overflow.

‘Really strange.’

Was it her fault?

She wasn’t sure.

Since passing the days when she was eager to receive her family’s love, Eliza had never thought of herself as being in the wrong.

She believed her sins were not sins.

‘Seeing you make that face….’

It hurts just enough to feel good.

Guilt accompanied by pleasure and joy.

The twisted emotion was unpleasant.

Would it feel better if she spoke it out loud?

Her full, red lips parted as if to say something.

A small sound escaped with difficulty.

“…I’m sorry.”

Judas’s eyes widened.

He looked down at Eliza with a face that seemed shocked and surprised.

In five years, this was the first time Eliza had ever apologized.

Finding it hard to face him, Eliza turned her head to the side.

She didn’t want to show her face.

She clung to Judas, grasping his collar desperately.

As if hiding in his embrace.

Yet from Judas’s downward angle, a bit of her face could still be seen.

Her lips, trembling as if embarrassed, and her flushed cheeks.

Her red eyes roved around aimlessly, above the prominent teardrop mole.

The sound of worries piling up in his heart collapsing could be heard.

Judas wiped his face once.

Unable to bring himself to embrace her now that she had become an adult, he spoke stiffly.

“It’s not something you should apologize for, my lady. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Judas didn’t know why Eliza had done such a thing.

Even if it was an excessively mischievous prank.

Since Eliza was safe, he felt that the rest didn’t matter much.

“I’m just glad you’re safe.”

Eliza looked down at his hand.

Two flowers that seemed to have been brought at her request.

They were Seollyeonhwa, winter flowers.

Looking at the flowers with opposing meanings, Eliza leaned her head against his chest.

The hot warmth felt through the clothes.

Her heart beat fiercely.

It was hard to tell whose heartbeat it was.

“…Yeah.”

Five years had been enough.

To be stained by each other. So much.

***

With the final test just around the corner.

After much deliberation, I decided.

‘A guard knight, why not?’

[Mana Release (Lv. 45)]

‘Eliza…!’