Chapter 20. What She Saw from the Future
Herdin and the knights inspecting the front didn't seem to have discovered it yet.
"Her—"
But before she could call him, a giant hand appeared and attacked the two.
Boom—!
With a deafening roar, trees shattered and the snow piled on top of them scattered like a blizzard, obscuring their vision.
"Blaire!"
When Blaire came to her senses, the first thing she saw was Herdin checking her complexion with a contorted expression.
Just before the attack hit, Herdin, who had sensed the presence, had pulled Blaire into his arms and rolled on the ground by a hair's breadth. The horse was nowhere to be seen, having apparently fled.
"Your Excellency! My Lady!"
Through the white swirling blizzard, the voices of the knights echoed distantly.
Blaire, who had barely come to her senses, first checked on the marten cradled in her arms. Perhaps because she had instinctively shielded it with both hands as if protecting a child, the marten was unharmed.
"Can you stand?"
Herdin asked. Blaire put strength into her body instead of answering. Herdin supported her unsteady frame and helped her up.
Meanwhile, as the snow settled, the hazy vision gradually cleared. Beyond it, a one-eyed giant revealed itself. It was a Cyclops, a human-form demonic beast.
Meeting eyes with that enormous eye, Blaire froze completely. The Cyclops, having discovered the two, reached out its hand to attack them.
Noticing this, Herdin enveloped his body with aura to enhance it and scooped Blaire up. Then he swiftly leapt to dodge the attack. His agility was at a level that far surpassed that of humans.
At that moment, the knights who had found them attacked the Cyclops with their bows.
The sound of arrows slicing through the air rang out in succession. But they only briefly distracted the Cyclops's attention without dealing any significant damage.
Herdin joined the knights in the meantime. The Knight Commander rushed to Herdin and Blaire.
"Your Excellency! My Lady! Are you alright?"
"Fortunately. Kail, take the first squad and escort the Lady out of the forest. The second squad will hold off the demonic beast with me."
"Yes, sir."
The Knight Commander hurried away to relay his lord's orders to his subordinates.
Herdin took off the cloak he was wearing and put it on Blaire.
"Please bear with this for a moment."
Blaire stared at him blankly. There was no trace of fear on his face. Having stood on the frontlines in war and lived in the northern region where demonic beasts roamed, this was perhaps a natural reaction.
But Blaire was different.
'If things unfold as they did in the past, there would be no danger to Herdin, but...'
The monster before her eyes was terrifying, and the possibility of him getting hurt was frightening. Even knowing the future where he would be safe, the fear of "what if" consumed her.
Blaire desperately grabbed Herdin's arm as he tried to approach the Cyclops. She felt she should say something, but no words came to mind.
All she could do was look at him.
Herdin, looking back and forth between the hand she held and Blaire's frightened face, let out a soft laugh.
"Do you think I'm going to die?"
Herdin entrusted Blaire to the Knight Commander who had just approached and stepped toward the Cyclops. Blue aura enveloped his body and sword.
"My Lady, we must go."
The Knight Commander urged Blaire, who was staring blankly at Herdin's retreating figure.
She knew. She knew that staying here would not help but only be a burden. But she couldn't bring herself to move her feet, to tear her eyes away.
Herdin ran up the Cyclops's arm as it tried to attack and leapt high. Then he immediately channeled mana to attempt a linked magic spell. It was at that moment he realized his body felt different from usual.
The sword aura he launched aiming for the Cyclops's neck was blocked by its hand. Normally, this attack would have severed the hand and cut through to the neck.
'The mana...'
The amount of mana he could utilize was significantly less than usual. Even so, it was still considerably more mana than others had, but the deviation from his expectations created a flaw in his tactics.
"Kuwaaaah!"
The Cyclops, having suffered a large wound on its hand, raged and swung its hand at Herdin.
Herdin was momentarily flustered by the unexpected situation, but quickly dodged. He immediately regained his composure and moved to formulate his next plan.
He swiftly darted under the rampaging Cyclops and slashed its legs. This was to completely cut off its escape and prevent further casualties.
'Next, the arm.'
He had previously slashed its right arm heavily instead of the neck, so this time he aimed for the left arm.
However, the moment he slashed the Cyclops's left arm, its wounded right arm grabbed him. An enormous pressure crushed his body.
"Herdin...!"
Blaire, who was about to get on the horse to leave with the Knight Commander, screamed at the sight.
At that moment, a red magic circle flashed between Blaire's neck and collarbone. At the same time, a fleeting memory flashed through Herdin's mind.
The image of Blaire, full-term pregnant, looking at him with tearful eyes.
'What is this...?'
Just as Herdin questioned the suddenly surfaced memory, he felt the mana that had been insufficient moments ago fill up. Herdin didn't let that opportunity slip by.
He immediately channeled mana and cast a spell. The mana that erupted from within him tore through the Cyclops's hand.
Herdin enveloped his sword with aura and simultaneously manifested a massive magic circle. Then, swords of light tinged with blue appeared in the air and rained down on the Cyclops like a downpour.
"Kuwaack!"
Herdin slashed the neck of the Cyclops writhing in pain. Eventually, the thrashing Cyclops went limp.
Herdin wiped the hot blood splattered on his face with the back of his hand. Only then did he feel the pain in his abdomen, and his brow furrowed involuntarily.
It seemed his ribs had been broken when the Cyclops grabbed him.
'Why couldn't I properly utilize my mana earlier?'
For the past two months, busy with wedding preparations, he had only done physical training. He hadn't trained using mana.
However, even if neglecting training could reduce his mana control, it shouldn't have affected the absolute quantity of mana.
Unless some of the mana contained within him had suddenly disappeared.
But seeing how he could use mana as before so quickly, it didn't seem like the mana had disappeared either.
Mana wasn't something that could disappear in a brief moment and then reappear. It was strange.
"Herdin."
Lost in thought, Herdin snapped out of his reverie at the sound of Blaire's voice.
Seeing her looking at him with worried eyes, the image that had just flashed through his mind overlapped. The image of her, full-term pregnant.
Just what was that memory?
* * *
The event was suspended due to the sudden appearance of the demonic beast.
Ivan summoned the imperial hunting ground keeper to execute him and ordered the imperial knights to investigate the incident. The evening banquet scheduled at the imperial palace was also canceled.
Because of this, the atmosphere among the nobles, who had been excited to welcome the new year, became somber.
However, they couldn't even skip the first service of the new year, which was to give thanks to the gods and ancestors, so the service proceeded, albeit several hours later than scheduled.
Upon arriving at the temple, Herdin and Blaire first sought the annex. This was to treat his broken ribs.
But there were no priests resting. The deacon who received them wore a troubled expression.
"Oh dear, what should we do? The priests have all stepped out..."
Among the temple's deacons, only those chosen by the gods could become priests who used divine magic. Therefore, priests were fewer in number than deacons and always busy.
"There might be one who is teaching the deacons. I'll bring them right away."
The deacon, who was about to leave the waiting room after guiding them, seemed to remember something and looked back at Herdin.
"By the way, as Your Excellency may know, for internal injuries, we need to approach carefully, so it would be best to undress."
After the deacon left, only the two of them remained.
Herdin began to remove his clothes one by one. Seeing this, Blaire tried to take his clothes, but Herdin placed them on a nearby chair.
If he gave his clothes to the small woman, it seemed like she would be buried under a pile of clothes.
Herdin unbuttoned his shirt and asked Blaire.
"Can you really see the future?"
Blaire, who had been watching him for a moment, opened her mouth.
"...You said you couldn't believe it."
Her voice was calm, but resentment lingered in her tone.
"It may be hard to believe at first, but if incidents like today repeat, you'll come to believe it whether you want to or not."
Herdin had completely removed his upper garments. Facing his firm half-naked body, Blaire quietly averted her gaze from his eyes.
Herdin gently cupped Blaire's cheek, aligning their gazes, and said.
"Tell me. What else did you see in the future."
Blaire looked up at him steadily. His eyes were still cold, but unlike last night, they weren't mocking.
But there was no story she could tell him.
Would he believe her if she told him that she had returned to the past after dying at someone's hands, and that perhaps he was behind it?
In the first place, the future stories this man was curious about weren't like this—they would be related to the Empress Palace fire incident. However, since she didn't even know the truth herself, she couldn't tell him.
Blaire decided to brush it off at this point as just having had an ominous dream.
That was when it happened.
"Your Excellency the Duke, My Lady. We're coming in."
With the voice of the deacon who had gone to fetch the priest, the door opened and two people entered.
Blaire, who inadvertently looked in that direction, spotted the priest following behind the deacon and froze.
"Hello, Your Excellency the Duke. And My Lady."
Miella Elias.
The woman who was Herdin's lover in her past life, and who was about to become just that.