The Villainess Captured The Grand Duke - Chapter 183

Chapter 183

Raygrain’s face was smeared with a thick liquid. However, he wiped it off roughly with his gloved hand and said firmly to Jess, 

“We will rescue the Northerners first. Not a single person who has suffered even minor injuries should be left behind.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

As he spoke, former Central knights known to be from the North, along with their apparent apprentices, each held a sprig of chamomile in their hands. The scenery on either side of the border starkly contrasted as if there were an actual wall dividing them.

The ones holding the flowers were slowly but surely improving, their condition getting better. Even those who seemed near death were starting to breathe more evenly, all of which unfolded clearly before Erina’s eyes.

Since the monster hadn’t fully crossed into the Central region, most of the injured were imperial knights.

‘All this for a monster hunt…’

It was exactly as Erina had feared from the start. The imperial knights, who had no experience in subjugating monsters, were never going to succeed by merely aiming for the monster’s head. Unpredictable things always happen in real combat.

Those who tried to staunch their wounds with cloth muttered complaints.

“They said we didn’t need the North to defeat the monster.”

“Bael, pull yourself together! Your Highness, Sir Bael!”

Amid excruciating pain, Erina forced herself to stand. Her arm wouldn’t move, and the continuous pain had become dull. She felt like she might collapse, but she bit her tongue to stay conscious. The bitter taste of blood filled her mouth. In her current state, she had no choice but to rely on Silcaro.

However, Silcaro merely clicked his tongue.

“We almost had it. You’ve gotten quite a bit sharper, haven’t you?”

His murmured words were just barely audible to Erina. For a brief moment, his elegant gaze swept over her, but that was all. He walked away as if he hadn’t even seen her, heading towards the knights.

Some of the knights had already begun asking their acquaintances across the border for assistance.

“Bedi, do you remember me? Is that flower from Her Grace, Scheuer? ”

“Ah, I heard it was, but…”

“Can I ask for just one? My companion is on the brink of death.”

“I’m sorry, but this isn’t something we can just give away.”

Looking troubled, the northern side turned away. Silcaro scolded them sternly. 

“Uphold the dignity of the Empire’s knights! ”

But all of that was meaningless in the face of pain. Those with only minor injuries from Central shouted eagerly.

“Please treat the injured first, Your Highness! ”

“We’re going back. There are healers waiting at the palace.”

“We’ll die before we get back! ”

At their reaction, Silcaro merely bit his lip. Yet he had no real options available to him.

‘Incompetent fools. Call yourselves knights of the Empire while you can’t even wield a sword properly! ’

He had even gone so far as to lead by example, providing them with all the necessary methods. Yet, aside from himself, there was not a single person who showed any noteworthy ability.

However, Silcaro knew he had to endure. No matter what card he played, nothing could surpass the power of the flowers bloomed by authority. The knights knew this bitter truth all too well. None of their superiors here could come up with a solution.

Amidst the despair, a teleportation circle opened from the northern territory. Zeros emerged from it, carrying a sack overflowing with chamomile. Approaching Raygrain, he kneeled on one knee.

“Your Grace.”

“Did Scheuer send you? ”

“Yes. She ordered me to help all the victims, including those in the north and central.”

A tense silence fell between the two opposing camps at the border. Someone softly murmured a desperate 

“Please.” 

In response, Raygrain issued a command to the northerners.

“Include the victims from the central region as well.”

After a brief pause, an explosion of cheers erupted.

“Thank you, Duke! I will repay this kindness! ”

With his words, the previously sharply divided border began to be crossed in various places. Before long, the border lost its meaning.

Erina watched the entire situation in a daze. Reflecting back, it seemed that the knight from the north, known as Jess, was the one who had kicked her before she collapsed.

‘He saved me before I died.’

Though it was a rough method, without it, she wouldn’t even be sitting here now. Erina clutched her aching chest with her good hand. In her eyes, the once recognizable lantana was now a crushed, messy heap.

It looked just like her.

In front of her, a small hand extended a chamomile flower.

“Are you hurt, sister? ”

It was a scruffy-looking little girl, perhaps only five years old. The child tilted her head as she looked at Erina.

“They say this is for sick people.”

She appeared to be one of the children from the North who had been affected. Erina was so choked up that she couldn’t respond. However, the child forced the flower into her hand.

“The Duchess is giving it to you. It’s good.”

“Good…? ”Erina questioned, and the girl beamed brightly.

“Yeah! My father almost lost his leg, but now he’s okay! ”

Behind the girl, a woman covered in blood-stained clothes rushed over in a panic.

“I told you not to cross the border! ”

The woman scooped up the child and repeatedly bowed her head.

“I’m so sorry; she doesn’t know any better.”

“…It’s fine,” 

Erina replied, and the woman visibly sighed in relief before quickly retreating back to the northern side, scolding the child.

“Why did you go over there?! ”

“But the other knights just crossed the border.”

“They’re knights, so they can do that.”

Erina looked down at the chamomile in her hand and muttered quietly to herself.

“Serve in your own place.”

Her place was that of the second daughter of the Netri family. A place without power, a place she shouldn’t have taken. Through force, she had reached the prestigious position of the Second Knight Commander. But that was all.

Her face twisted with the dirt and dust. No words came out. She had wanted it—she loved the sword. Her older sister, who could have had it but refused, always seemed so ungrateful. She couldn’t understand why her sister refused to wield a blade, thinking her head must be full of flowers.

Erina had believed that once she gained power, she could realize her ideals through authority. But now that the power had been distributed, the difference was clear.

Her lantana had helped no one.

The rightful use of that power and who its owner was—the gods were making it painfully clear to her.

As she held the chamomile, her wounds began to slowly heal. Despite the noticeably diminishing pain, Erina’s twisted expression did not ease.

She had thought she worked hard. She believed she had lived earnestly and cared for her knight division with all her strength, unlike her irresponsible sister, who neglected her duties.

But in the end, she was a coward without courage.

“My limits…”

Her throat tightened. As her breathing grew labored, a hot sensation welled up in her eyes. She buried her face in her hands, clutching the flower tightly.

“This is as far as I go.”

It was hard to accept that the abilities she had devoted her life to had reached their limit.

Zeros had also been someone without power, yet he had risen to the position of Grand Knight Commander. Erina had only attached excuses to her failure to reach that place—because she had no power, because she wasn’t from the north, because she was the second daughter.

“Ugh…”

Suppressing her sobs, tears began to force their way out of her throat. Accepting her own limits made her heart ache unbearably. The years she had spent clawing for what she couldn’t have crumbled in an instant.

The god of Lapel was cruel, showing her ugliness so bluntly.

The number of teardrops falling onto the dirt floor from Erina’s eyes steadily increased.

***

After swiftly settling the border between the central and northern regions, Raygrain’s first priority upon returning to the central area was to find Scheuer. He had been feeling especially anxious about being apart from her, and he wanted to show her that he had returned unharmed. Thinking about how she must have sent chamomile through Zeros, every minute apart felt like a waste.

Raygrain removed his gloves and handed them to Zeros.

“Dispose of these.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Zeros replied.

The gloves were stained with the blood of monsters, and it wouldn’t be good for her to see that. Raygrain imagined her looking out the window, running to him as soon as he entered the room. But when he finally opened the door, he was greeted by a cold, empty room.

“Where is Scheuer? ”He asked coolly.

One of the maids, who seemed especially close to Scheuer, trembled as she responded.

“Y-Your Grace, she… She hasn’t returned yet.”

“Where is she? ”

Raygrain’s voice remained calm, but there was a cutting edge to his tone as he pressed for answers.

The shadow of tension darkened his sharp blue eyes. Tiola, the maid, turned pale, looking as if she might faint at any moment.

Sensing the urgency, Jess stepped in to shield her from Raygrain’s towering figure, though he couldn’t fully block him. Tiola, shaken but realizing she couldn’t remain silent, finally spoke with great effort.

“L-Lady Annabelle… She went to see Lady Annabelle.

“I exist. In thousands of agonies, I exist ” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky3