Bido quietly mulled over Nereia’s words,
and the warm presence that had lingered above her head.
The first to break the silence was Laen.
“That person… who is she?”
Miryeong let out a long breath.
“Phew… Well, a dragon.”
Laen’s eyes went round.
“Like Maho?”
Miryeong cut her off at once.
“No. Not a half like that—a real dragon.”
Then she added, looking fed up.
“I thought I was going to suffocate.”
Bido looked at the two of them, then carefully pushed herself up from where she had been leaning.
Pain still followed at the end of every movement,
and her brow immediately furrowed, but her entire body was no longer held down as it had been before.
“Hey, hey. Stay still.”
Miryeong waved a hand and started toward her,
but Laen darted forward first and gently took hold of Bido’s arm.
Bido looked back and forth between Laen and Miryeong for a moment, then said quietly,
“I think… I can stand now.”
Miryeong looked at Bido with distrustful eyes.
With Laen supporting her, Bido slowly set her feet on the floor.
Her wounds throbbed, but it no longer felt as if she would collapse on the spot like before.
Her body was trembling, and strength had not fully returned to her legs,
but at the very least, the sensation of standing was clear.
Miryeong clicked her tongue.
“Hold on. You should eat something first.”
The medical officer who had been watching from the side finally seemed to come back to his senses.
“Ah… I’ll bring something.”
He hurried out of the room.
Still leaning on Laen with her body trembling faintly, Bido asked in a small voice,
“What do you think… Lady Nereia meant by what she said…?”
Miryeong looked out the window for a moment.
Then she turned her head back toward Bido.
“Don’t think about it too hard.”
She spoke calmly, as she always did.
“Just do what you can, like always. Like standing there now.”
And she smiled, just a little.
Beside her, Laen quickly nodded as well.
“That’s right, Bido! I’ll help too!”
At those words, Bido smiled faintly.
Then she turned her gaze to Tiamar’s sword lying beside the bed.
The sword that, at some point, had become hers.
Something she had once only feared.
But that, too, was ultimately a weight she had to bear.
No,
she had already been bearing it all along.
It was the same now.
She had to endure this pain and take the next step.
Bido said softly,
“Laen… just for a moment. You can let go.”
Laen looked conflicted for a moment.
But soon, very carefully, she withdrew her hand.
Bido stood there on her own.
Her body was still trembling, and if she let her guard down even slightly, she felt as though she would sink to the floor.
Even if she received help, in the end, standing up was something she herself had to do.
Just then, Miryeong’s gaze turned toward the door.
Soon the door opened, and Edgar entered.
Edgar’s eyes widened for a moment when he saw Bido standing alone.
But soon he turned to Miryeong and said,
“Lady Miryeong… Lord Raymond is looking for you.”
“Bido. Play with Laen for a bit.”
Leaving those words behind, Miryeong left the room.
Edgar led the way without another word, and Miryeong followed him down the corridor.
In the room they soon arrived at, Raymond was sitting alone.
Several documents were already spread across the table,
and beneath the oil lamp, his face was deeply shadowed with fatigue.
Miryeong crossed the threshold and said,
“I’m here. What is it?”
Raymond did not get straight to the point.
He first looked at Miryeong’s face and asked carefully,
“How is Miss Bido?”
Miryeong answered briefly.
“Yeah. She still looks like she’s having a hard time, but she did stand on her own feet.”
At those words, Raymond’s expression changed ever so slightly.
A flicker of surprise passed over his face, but he soon returned to his usual composed expression.
“That is… faster than I expected.”
After choosing his words for a moment,
he spoke again.
“First of all, the initial meeting itself was positive.”
“We will be staying here in Belosa and receiving protection.”
“And this matter will be formally reported to the Grand Duke in the capital, Carmen.”
Miryeong listened silently with her arms crossed.
Raymond continued.
“Until then, it has been decided that the witnesses, the evidence, and all escort forces will be kept within Belosa’s sphere of control.”
“Nominally, it is protection, but in practice, it likely also means they intend to keep watch over us.”
Miryeong let out a short breath through her nose.
“Right. I don’t really know about that kind of thing. So why did you call me?”
Raymond was silent for a moment.
The light of the oil lamp quietly licked along the edges of the documents.
“Yes.”
At last, he spoke in a low voice.
“The reason I called you is not so much the result of that meeting itself, but what comes after.”
Miryeong’s eyes sharpened just a little.
Raymond looked straight at Miryeong and continued.
“It concerns Miss Bido.”
At that single sentence, Miryeong’s expression stiffened slightly.
“What about Bido?”
Raymond did not answer immediately,
but lightly pressed one of the documents on the table with his fingertips.
“First, I reported to Carmen about everything, including the Shadow’s attack.”
“What’s interesting is that even on this side, the existence of the Shadow was not treated as something completely unfamiliar.”
“At the very least, those close to the upper ranks of the duchy knew the name.”
Miryeong said nothing.
But her gaze grew colder, as if urging him to answer.
Raymond continued slowly.
“I conveyed it like this: that Miss Bido was seriously injured while stopping the Shadow.”
He paused to steady his breath,
then spoke in an even lower, clearer voice.
“And from this point on, there is something else I wish to know.”
Miryeong raised her chin slightly.
Raymond no longer spoke in circles.
“Let me tell you my guess first.”
A brief silence passed.
“The Shadow… no, the Empire is trying to eliminate Miss Bido.”
He met Miryeong’s eyes head-on and added the final words.
“Am I correct?”
“You are.”
Miryeong answered firmly, without the slightest hesitation.
“We have the same enemy. There’s no need to hide that much.”
Raymond looked at Miryeong without saying anything.
Miryeong continued slowly.
“Bido had something necessary for the Empire’s plan.”
The moment he heard those words,
Adel’s madness-filled face rose in Raymond’s mind.
The black-haired girl.
The holy relic.
And the sword.
Raymond asked carefully,
“Do you mean the sword Miss Bido used?”
Miryeong did not answer right away.
She merely turned her gaze toward the window for a moment, as if organizing her thoughts, then caught her breath
and spoke again.
“That sword is part of it.”
Her voice was low and clear.
“But now, it’s closer to them wanting to eliminate Bido herself.”
Raymond’s gaze deepened a little more.
“Why?”
He paused for a beat,
then offered the first answer that had come to his mind.
“Is it because of the power that restrains Mirkin?”
Miryeong thought for a moment.
She could not deny it, and yet those words alone were not enough to explain it.
In the end, she answered while drawing a line.
“I can’t tell you the details yet.”
Raymond waited without interrupting.
Miryeong looked straight at Raymond and said,
“But one thing is certain.”
The air in the room settled a little heavier.
“If Bido, or the sword, falls into the Empire’s hands as they wish.”
She cut herself off briefly, then continued in a lower voice.
“Then all this talk of Carmen’s support and envoys will become meaningless.”
For a long while, Raymond could not say anything.
Those words were no exaggeration.
Rather, though Miryeong had said the least she had so far,
she had laid out the greatest danger with absolute precision.
“…Is it to that extent?”
Raymond asked quietly,
and Miryeong did not avert her eyes.
“Yes.”
It was a short answer.
“So now there’s only one thing I want to ask.”
Raymond’s gaze sharpened slightly.
Miryeong continued with her arms crossed.
“How far can we trust Carmen’s claim that they’ll protect us?”
Raymond remained silent for a moment, then let out a short sigh.
“First, I told them about the Shadow.”
He lightly pressed the documents on the table with his fingertips.
“However, I have not yet brought up the matter of the ducal noble who tried to stop the envoy delegation.”
Miryeong’s eyebrows moved slightly.
“Why?”
Raymond answered immediately.
“It is too dangerous to put forward rashly.”
He continued slowly.
“Of course, the document bearing that seal can serve as evidence.”
“But at the same time, that document alone does not contain an order to directly eliminate us.”
“It only says to turn the envoy delegation back.”
Miryeong listened in silence.
Raymond lowered his voice.
“However, the mercenaries at the scene were all found dead.”
“If we present that document first, Carmen may instead ask us this.”
“Whether we did not respond excessively against those who were merely trying to block the road.”
The room fell quiet for a moment.
“And we are, after all, outsiders.”
Raymond spoke those words with clear emphasis.
“Just because we have entered Belosa does not mean everyone here is on our side.”
“If we carelessly bring up a noble’s name, we may only make those connected to that side wary of us first.”
Miryeong asked quietly,
“So you’re saying we bury it for now.”
“For now, yes.”
Raymond nodded.
“It is true that Carmen has said they will protect us.”
“But at the same time, they have also said they will keep watch over us.”
“If, in a situation like this, we even touch upon the issue of an internal noble,”
“we risk being seen not as protected guests, but as outsiders who brought trouble with them.”
He paused for a moment,
then added more quietly,
“So for the time being, we must move while keeping in mind the checks from those who find us unwelcome.”
Miryeong looked at Raymond with her arms crossed.
Raymond did not avoid her gaze either.
“At least while we are inside Belosa, we must be even more careful than we were outside.”
“Fine. I understand.”
Miryeong answered briefly.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, she continued.
“Then we’ll do things our way.”
Raymond silently looked at Miryeong.
Miryeong added, arms still crossed.
“Don’t accept any escort personnel. And don’t split up our rooms.”
Her eyes settled coldly.
“You understand what I mean, don’t you?”
For a moment, Raymond faced Miryeong without saying anything.
Those words were not a simple precaution.
They meant that even inside Belosa, they would not fully trust anyone yet.
After a while, Raymond slowly nodded.
“…Understood.”
Beneath the light of the oil lamp,
the air between them quietly settled once more.
They had crossed the border.
But no one had yet told them
that the place they had entered was safe.