The Escort Knight Who Is Obsessed by the Villainess Wants to Escape - Chapter 79

Sarah’s face was full of a smug smile.

‘How dare you bully Sister Jezebel!’

She had clearly heard the conversation between Eliza and Jezebel.

Eliza openly rebuked Jezebel.

‘I’ll pay you back for this!’

However, she couldn’t touch Eliza directly.

A wizard known as the reincarnation of the mythological era.

She didn’t know how strong that power truly was, but it was too frightening to act rashly.

But the guy beside him was different.

Judas.

He had just completed the knighthood ceremony today.

And five years ago, he was the demon who had uttered the terrifying words of tearing apart her twin braids.

‘Hmph. I’m not who I was back then.’

She had been grinding her teeth since five years ago.

One day, she swore to repay Judas for the humiliation of that day.

And today was the right day.

Sarah brought two of her knights with her.

Both of them were not only skilled in swordsmanship, but also experts in hand-to-hand combat.

One was similar in build to Judas, while the other was even larger.

With more confidence than anyone, Sarah approached the dressing room where Eliza was.

In front of it stood a man.

His stiffened expression seemed deeply caught in serious contemplation.

His massive frame stood like a doorpost rather than a person.

Even through his black uniform, his muscles stood out with a raw, primal strength.

Sarah found his attire unpleasant.

A black and gold uniform.

The uniform only permitted to the knights of the Bevel family.

‘To think he serves an illegitimate girl…’

Sarah motioned to her knights with her chin.

Though the opponent wasn’t ordinary, he was still just one man.

That one man had defeated the entire first division of Jezebel’s secret corps on his own—a piece of information Sarah was unaware of.

As the two knights approached, Judas raised his head, blocking the door.

“What is your business?”

“Lady Sarah, the fifth daughter of the Bevel family, has come with important matters.”

“I’ve received no word of any guest from Lady Eliza.”

It was clear that he intended not to let them in.

However, Sarah’s side did not back down.

“Are you saying an illegitimate child dares to disregard the order of a pureblooded noble of a respected lineage?”

Judas wasn’t angry, but rather puzzled.

The fact that Eliza was illegitimate was an internal matter of the Bevel family.

It wasn’t something a mere knight serving them had any right to speak of.

Yet the knight spoke confidently, and their master, Sarah, didn’t even bother to correct him.

In fact, she was smirking.

Judas nodded inwardly.

This was something Sarah had permitted.

Today was Eliza’s birthday.

And now, he was someone who served Eliza.

He was no longer a mere candidate.

He couldn’t act as recklessly as he had in the past.

‘Patience…’

Judas spoke again, politely.

“You have been ordered not to let anyone in.”

“Hmph, someone so insignificant sure likes to hide things.”

“…”

Seeing Judas not resist, Sarah smirked.

A tingling thrill rose in her chest.

This was exactly the feeling.

The pleasure of crushing those who overstepped their boundaries with status, wealth, and power.

The overwhelming sense of superiority that came from flipping the emotions of those who had once looked down on her.

Sarah even went so far as to hide her own status at times just to savor this.

The satisfaction born from the absolute social dominance that came with being human filled her deeply.

At the same time, she hoped Judas would lose his temper, just like in the past.

She wanted to see him get helplessly defeated by her two knights right before her eyes.

‘No matter how skilled he is, he stands no chance against the two of them.’

Even among nobles, there were levels.

Sarah wanted Judas to feel that truth deep in his bones.

The world of nobility was not so easy.

‘What good is a bad temper? In the real world, you can’t survive with that kind of personality.’

Sarah folded her arms and raised her chin.

With an arrogant attitude, she looked down at Judas, who remained silently powerless.

Meanwhile, Judas didn’t particularly feel powerless.

He simply finished rationalizing in his mind.

‘A Escort knight has two priorities. The safety of the master. And the master’s honor.’

These people just tarnished Eliza’s honor.

Therefore, from this moment on, the violence he was about to inflict was self-defense.

Judas lifted his head.

Calm anger lingered on his serene face.

A scoff. Sarah sneered.

What could someone like him possibly do?

And in the next moment.

Sarah watched as her massive Escort knight flew through the air.

It was a scene difficult to comprehend.

On the other hand, Judas, who had created this spectacle, was quite at ease.

His growth curve over the past five years hadn’t followed a normal trajectory.

Some nameless knight? Easy.

‘One-arm shoulder throw.’

His opponent was slammed into the ground.

But he was a bit different from the opponents Judas had fought so far.

Thud!

The dull sound didn’t come from his back.

He had slapped the ground with his palm.

‘A breakfall?’

He’s pretty skilled, with a lot of experience.

It wasn’t a perfect breakfall, but he seemed to know a technique to mitigate the impact when falling.

However, that didn’t mean there was no shock.

Due to the pain, his opponent couldn’t immediately get back up.

In that case, he’d just use his next technique.

Judas naturally twisted the wrist he had grabbed.

Along with the wrist, the entire arm slowly rotated.

It was heading towards a progressively unnatural angle.

“Gaaahhh-!”

His opponent let out a deep scream.

“Let go of his hand, now!”

Sarah, her face pale, shouted.

She couldn’t understand how this was happening, but the reality in front of her was clear.

Her Escort knight was being helplessly overpowered.

“The lady has spoken! That’s an order! Let go of his hand…!”

The remaining Escort knight tried to draw his sword.

Just as his hand touched the hilt.

“Don’t.”

Judas, who had approached unnoticed, pressed down on the hilt and issued a low warning.

The Escort knight whose wrist had been twisted was now trembling on the ground, clutching his arm.

“If you draw it, there’s no going back.”

The man froze, his hand still on the sword.

He knew Judas was right.

If he drew his weapon, this wouldn’t end with just a simple conflict.

The Escort knight was flustered.

His mind came to a halt.

What should he do? There was no need to worry.

Judas relieved him of the burden.

He grabbed the back of the Escort knight’s neck, swept his leg around, and toppled him.

A simple leg sweep.

Thud!

The man hit the ground harshly.

“Ugh…!”

Judas walked past him indifferently.

Even without using magic, he had easily subdued two knights.

It had been a surprise attack, and he was unarmed, but still, only the result mattered.

He had beaten both of them.

Sarah trembled and retreated.

Thud-

Her back hit the wall.

“Eek!”

Judas had approached right in front of her before she even realized it.

His towering figure cast a shadow from her head to her toes.

“Y-You, you’re not going to…”

Did he really dare to lay hands on a noble like her?

She wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t come out.

His brow furrowed in frustration.

His golden eyes, staring down at her, gleamed coldly.

Like a beast contemplating its prey.

“…Judas?”

At that moment, Eliza’s voice rang out.

Judas quickly turned around.

She stood in the doorway of the dressing room, watching him.

Eliza’s gaze alternated between Sarah and Judas, slowly filled with a mad fire.

‘W-Why is she like that…!’

Judas, forgetting his earlier frustration, was suddenly flustered.

“…What are you doing with her?”

Judas hastily stepped back from Sarah.

For some reason, he felt that being close to her would lead to trouble.

He approached Eliza and hurriedly explained.

Remembering the second tragedy made his spine tingle.

“While guarding the door, they approached first. They suddenly said they had business with the lady.”

Since he couldn’t let them in, Judas refused.

“Then they insulted the lady, and I couldn’t stand by anymore.”

“Then you should’ve dealt with the two Escort knights, so why were you near her?”

“Even though she’s a noble, the level of provocation was so low that I thought I’d teach her a lesson too….”

“There wasn’t another reason?”

Judas asked back sincerely, puzzled.

“If there was another reason, what would it be?”

At that, Eliza pursed his lips tightly.

She squinted slightly and rolled her eyes back and forth.

“…Right.”

What other reason could there be?

If there was one, why was she even interrogating him about it?

For a moment, Eliza found it difficult to understand her own reaction to this situation.

“Anyway, to summarize, you’re saying they started the provocation first?”

“Yes.”

Eliza nodded and smiled faintly.

“Good job.”

Her eyes returned to their usual state.

“It seems you really are an excellent Escort knight. I always knew that, though.”

Judas let out a small sigh of relief inside and bowed his head lightly.

“…Thank you.”

Eliza passed by Judas.

As she stood in front of Sarah, a woman approached from one end of the hallway.

With braided blonde hair, it was Jezebel.

She glanced at Eliza, Judas, and Sarah in turn and asked,

“I was looking for Sarah because she was nowhere to be found… What’s going on here?”

Eliza smiled sweetly.

“Well. That’s something the parties involved need to sort out….”

“Sister-!”

Sarah suddenly stood up and rushed to Jezebel.

Whimpering, she spilled everything that had happened.

Jezebel’s face turned grim, and she glared at Eliza.

“Eliza. Can’t you even manage one Escort knight properly?”

Eliza tilted her head slightly to the side.

The slow movement didn’t match the tension in the situation.

“Or are you really planning to have a power struggle with us? Do you think you can handle it?”

“But, I didn’t provoke first.”

“Do you think you and we are the same?”

“Hmm, true. We aren’t.”

Eliza smiled faintly.

Handle it, huh?

She seemed to chew on those words for a moment before asking Jezebel,

“And you, sister, can you handle it?”

“What….”

“The specially selected secret agents you sent were humiliatingly defeated by one of my Escort knight.”

“…!”

“Moreover, the second team was annihilated by just one other candidate, wasn’t it? Do you still feel confident with that level of power?”

“You…! H-how do you….”

“To be surprised by such an obvious deduction, how dull….”

Judas, who had inadvertently become part of this dullness, was startled.

‘The ones who ambushed me back then were Jezebel’s secret agents? Then, the ones Richard fought too? How did Eliza know that?’

Sarah, who hadn’t known this, was equally shocked.

Unlike the three who were flustered, Eliza remained calm.

She smiled coldly as she spoke.

“Don’t worry. I won’t make this public.”

Jezebel’s pupils trembled slightly.

Eliza wasn’t being considerate.

Saying she wouldn’t hold them accountable publicly meant she was ready to respond in a similar manner whenever necessary.

Clenching her fists tightly, Jezebel couldn’t refute her.

“…Sarah. Let’s go.”

“S-sister?”

“Let’s just go for now.”

The two sisters stormed off.

It was almost like they were running away.

On their way, they bumped into Sarah’s Escort knight, but neither of them cared.

In a fit of anger, they trampled over him even harder.

Before Sarah disappeared around the corner, she shouted a warning.

“Just wait! I’m going to tell Brother Aghan-!”

Judas and Eliza lightly ignored her.

“Miss…? The Jezebel’s secret group, what does that mean?”

“Oh, that.”

Eliza answered as if it was no big deal.

“I thought that might be the case.”

“…Excuse me?”

“It’s a long explanation….”

She stretched out her words and looked up at Judas.

His face was still caught in confusion.

Seeing his dumbfounded expression made her chuckle.

If it was Judas, it was fine to tell him.

“Come closer.”

She gestured to Judas.

He bent down and lowered his head.

Eliza slightly lifted herself onto her toes to bring her lips near his ear.

She rested her weight on his shoulder as she leaned forward.

Judas, in an attempt to support her, instinctively reached to wrap his arm around her waist but hurriedly stopped.

‘I almost made a mistake….’

Her soft and gentle voice whispered into his ear.

“I’m only sharing this theory with you. I’ve leaked a few pieces of information to members of Bavel, including Jezebel. Among them was the information about the Offering to the Sun you conducted recently. Of course, I didn’t expect Jezebel would actually take the bait.”

“That’s….”

“Let’s move past the fact that I unintentionally used you.”

Eliza smiled softly.

Her scoff made Judas’s ear tickle with warmth.

“Anyway, Jezebel is the most active among my siblings. Even if it’s risky, she’s the type to take action. Sometimes recklessly so. In summary, the most likely faction to possess the information that could have caused a conflict with you outside the ruins is my sibling’s faction. And among them, Jezebel is the most probable.”

Eliza had gambled on the probability and made her move against Jezebel.

Acting as if she knew everything.

“Even if I was wrong, it wouldn’t matter. After the trial involving the Duchess, there’s no way my siblings didn’t do anything against me. So if it wasn’t Jezebel, they would have still revealed some information that I could infer from their reactions.”

A gamble on high odds.

But even if it failed, Eliza had nothing to lose.

She was skilled at reading others’ emotions and reactions.

By observing how her opponent responded to the bait she cast, she could gather new information.

Thus, for Eliza, there was no reason not to take the gamble.

“Did you understand?”

Eliza slightly pulled away and asked.

Judas absentmindedly nodded.

He was simply in awe.

‘Is she a genius…?’

He had always known Eliza was smart.

In the original story, she was a brilliant genius.

But experiencing it firsthand and realizing it was an entirely different feeling.

Her designs, deductions, and psychological tactics—things he could never have dreamed of doing.

Lately, he found himself repeatedly realizing just how remarkable his master was in various ways.

“Oh, and.”

Eliza stepped back and spoke.

“I have something to give you.”

“For me?”

“Yes. Who else would I give something to if not you?”

“……”

“Follow me.”

The place she led him to was the Sun Church holy artifact storage.

All around, various holy relics were carefully and solemnly stored.

It was a place even Judas recognized.

Several relics caught his eye.

Each one was precious and unique.

Eliza spoke to Judas.

As if it were nothing.

“Pick one.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Pick one and take it.”