The boss’s eyes widened in surprise at Karina’s answer.
But for a moment, he let go of Karina’s collar and immediately opened his mouth wide and smirked.
“Ah. You really were the Grand Duchess? So that’s why you knew so well! Oh, how embarrassing.”
The escapees around him noticed the boss’s joke and laughed along.
The boss, who had been laughing, changed his expression in an instant.
“Did you think we’d bow and say, ‘Oh, I understand, Your Highness,’ if you were the Grand Duchess? You stupid woman.”
“No way.”
Karina replied indifferently.
“I was hoping to take the Grand Duchess hostage anyway, so this is a good thing. If we keep you, the Grand Duke won’t be able to come and arrest us.”
The boss laughed as he said that.
‘Would that really be the case?’
On the outside, she kept a blank expression, but inside, Karina was also laughing at the escapees.
'You're the stupid one. Even if you take me hostage and threaten me, Jeremiah will never negotiate with the escapees.'
The people who had been blankly watching the situation hesitated.
“I told you to get out!”
Jen, who came to her senses at Karina’s shout, quickly grabbed the people.
“Get out! Hurry up! Hurry up!”
Jen urged the people to move.
The mother also came to her senses and grabbed the two children’s arms tightly and ran out the door.
Starting with her, the rest of the people also started to escape out the door.
Jen also helped the man, who couldn’t walk quickly because of his bad leg, out the door.
While they were all out, Karina kept her guard up to prevent the escapees from moving.
“...”
Even after everyone had left, Karina stayed for a while.
It was to give the people enough time to escape.
‘If these guys catch them again, we’ll really die then.’
Karina swallowed hard.
“All of you, over there.”
Karina raised her other hand, which wasn’t holding the glass shard.
She pointed with her finger to the corner farthest from the door.
“Gather in that corner.”
The escapees glared at Karina with fierce eyes, but they had no choice but to do as she said.
Karina slowly gathered the escapees to the corner farthest from the door as she had wanted.
The blood flowing from the wound on her neck soaked Karina’s hand and soaked the front of her chest. She felt dizzy as she lost enough blood to feel hot.
‘No! If I collapse here, I’ll really die. Don’t lose your mind!’
Karina desperately held onto her senses, using every ounce of her strength.
“Haa, haa.”
Every second felt like it was going to be crazy.
Her hand holding the glass shard trembled and she used more force than necessary.
Although it was slight, she felt a small cut on her palm.
The tingling pain brought her back to her senses a little.
‘Okay, it’s okay. I can go out.’
Karina maintained her composure.
She faced the escapees and slowly backed away toward the door.
However, the escapees seemed to have noticed Karina’s condition and gradually closed the distance between them.
“Stop! I told you not to move!”
Karina shouted, but her voice was already cracking.
“..!”
She felt defeated.
On the contrary, the escapees who heard Karina’s voice laughed viciously again and tried to get closer to her.
“Don’t come any closer!”
She squeezed out her voice with all her might, even though she knew it would be useless.
However, contrary to her expectations, the escapees stopped moving.
The expressions of the escapees, who had been frozen just as they were about to approach, drained of blood and turned pale.
'...?'
The atmosphere seemed to have frozen.
There was an inexplicable tension.
Karina was puzzled, but she didn't stop walking back.
The moment she was about to cross the threshold and go out the open door.
Bam.
"...?!"
Something blocked her path.
Startled, Karina looked back at the door.
An unidentified figure wearing a robe pulled down low was standing in front of the door.
But for a moment, he let go of Karina’s collar and immediately opened his mouth wide and smirked.
“Ah. You really were the Grand Duchess? So that’s why you knew so well! Oh, how embarrassing.”
The escapees around him noticed the boss’s joke and laughed along.
The boss, who had been laughing, changed his expression in an instant.
“Did you think we’d bow and say, ‘Oh, I understand, Your Highness,’ if you were the Grand Duchess? You stupid woman.”
“No way.”
Karina replied indifferently.
“I was hoping to take the Grand Duchess hostage anyway, so this is a good thing. If we keep you, the Grand Duke won’t be able to come and arrest us.”
The boss laughed as he said that.
‘Would that really be the case?’
On the outside, she kept a blank expression, but inside, Karina was also laughing at the escapees.
'You're the stupid one. Even if you take me hostage and threaten me, Jeremiah will never negotiate with the escapees.'
Jeremiah Karina knew would never give in to the escapees' demands.
Rather, he would look at her as a hostage in front of many people with contempt, saying that she was pathetic.
'I might even be publicly abandoned in front of everyone, saying there would be absolutely no compromise.'
Just imagining that scene was so horrible that it made her sick. She had already experienced being cruelly rejected and abandoned. She couldn't stand being held hostage and then being thrown into that misery again.
'I absolutely hate that. If I were to be in that situation, I'd rather...'
Karina tried hard to suppress her surging emotions and maintain her composure.
She looked around with an indifferent face.
On a nearby table, a half-filled water bottle and an overturned glass cup were visible.
“...”
Karina thought for a moment, and then a way to break the situation occurred to her.
She slowly picked up the glass cup.
The boss, who had been watching Karina’s actions, snickered and sneered.
“What? Do you want me to get you some water? Are you asking me to take care of you right now?”
The escapees also burst into laughter.
Karina snorted and released the strength in her grip on the glass cup.
Boom!
The glass cup fell to the floor with a loud noise and shattered into pieces.
Sharp shards of the glass cup scattered here and there at Karina’s feet.
Karina picked up the largest piece of glass among the broken pieces. She held the sharp part of the piece upright and held it up so that the escapees could see it clearly.
“What the heck? A piece of glass? You’re going to threaten us with that?”
The escapees burst into laughter at Karina’s actions.
“Kuhahahahahahaha.”
“You’re using your brain.”
“Should I compliment you?”
Their mocking laughter died down at Karina’s next action.
Karina held the glass shard to her neck.
“What are you trying to do now?”
The escapees just stared at Karina’s actions.
Karina decided to take a gamble at this moment.
‘I don’t know if this method will work as well as I thought, but.’
Karina braced herself not to let her voice tremble as she opened her mouth.
“I told you I was the Grand Duchess.”
Karina was grateful for the escapees’ carelessness and stupidity.
“You escapees who took the Grand Duchess hostage and then killed her. The Grand Duke would never let you live, would you?”
Karina held the sharp end of the glass shard to her neck.
“...!”
“That!”
The escapees’ eyes turned bewildered.
Karina, who thought she had taken control of the situation, demanded.
“Release all the hostages. Otherwise...”
Karina clutched the glass shard tightly.
Everyone knew what was coming next.
However, the boss did not respond to Karina’s sharp warning.
“Just keep going.”
Rather, he encouraged Karina’s actions as if to say, “Go ahead and try. ”
She could read his intentions from the mocking expression on his face.
He thought Karina was just making empty threats.
It was understandable.
Most noblewomen of high status would lose consciousness at the mere sight of blood.
So, it was thought that Karina, who was also a noblewoman, could not possibly slit her own throat.
However, Karina pressed hard on the glass shard she had placed against her neck as if she were trying to show off.
Then, the sharp section dug into Karina’s neck.
Blood flowed out from the delicate skin where the section had cut.
Even though it was cut quite deeply, Karina’s hand did not stop.
The boss’s expression finally distorted viciously when he saw Karina’s unwavering gaze.
“This crazy bitch!”
He was about to rush in and snatch the glass shard she was holding.
“Don’t move! If you move, I’ll stab deeper!”
Karina shouted as she dodged his hand and stepped back.
The boss groaned with an angry and excited expression.
Even so, he could not move easily.
A different tension than before filled the space.
“Get the hostages out right now. You have to listen to what I say.”
Karina resolutely shouted.
Although she looked calm, Karina was actually anxious.
She didn’t know how the situation would change when the knights arrived, but she felt that now was the only chance to free the hostages.
She felt her insides squeezing with anxiety.
However, she didn’t get excited and calmly demanded.
“You there.”
Karina pointed to the man closest to the door among the escapees.
“Get up slowly, open the door, and step back.”
The man who was pointed out glanced at the man who was the boss.
“I told you to open the door.”
Karina frowned and gripped the glass shard tighter.
“Tsk!”
Then the boss clicked his tongue and nodded as if to tell him to do as he was told.
The man who was pointed out slowly got up with a helpless expression, opened the door, and stepped back.
“Everyone, get out quickly!”
Karina shouted at the hostages.
The moment Karina was being held by the escapees.
“This way. Your Highness.”
Jeremiah and the knights were also inspecting the nearby monster disposal site while they were inspecting.
It was the place where Mikhail had disposed of the monster and rescued Karina.
“Who could it be?”
Jeremiah looked around.
At first glance, it looked similar to the marks from swords, but upon closer inspection, they were different.
Rather than a clean cut from a solid piece of metal, it was more like a mark that had been torn and ripped by something at high speed.
Jeremiah had seen marks like this before.
“Is it magic?”
When he realized that it was a trace of magic, he naturally thought of Karina’s escorting magician.
However, he soon shook his head.
There was no way the magician escorting Karina could have been there.
“Because Karina couldn’t have been here.”
His eyes sank deeply.
At that moment.
“Your Highness! We’re in trouble!”
A knight came running from the mansion and reported to Jeremiah the hostage situation by the escapees.
“The man who came to deliver the letter from the escapees said that their families were being held hostage. They begged to be rescued.”
“A hostage situation.”
Jeremiah’s expression remained calm even after hearing the report.
“What are their demands?”
“They want the magician who is imprisoned to be released. And they want eight horses and a carriage with enough water, clothing, and food.”
“That’s funny.”
Jeremiah found it ridiculous that they were making such unreasonable demands as escapees.
“I heard that about nine hostages are being held. Among them are two children.”
Jeremiah’s face turned sour at the mention of children being held as hostages.
“If you don’t meet their demands, they will kill one hostage every hour.”
However, Jeremiah had no intention of granting the escapees’ demands. He only thought that he was annoyed that they were holding the hostage situation at the exact moment when troublesome incidents occurred one after another.
“What happened to the people who were sent to scout the city?”
“I apologize. They said she didn't see the Grand Duchess."
"I see."
She would be with an escort anyway, so there wouldn't be much danger, but he was needlessly nervous.
'If not the northern city, then where did she go?'
Jeremiah exhaled slowly.
"For now, half of you will continue the inspection as scheduled, and the rest will go with me to the scene where the escapees are."
"Yes."
The knights and soldiers quickly divided up and reorganized their ranks under his command.
Knight Commander Ron approached Jeremiah and asked.
“What do you want them to do?”
“There’s no need to prepare. We have no intention of negotiating with criminals.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Ron had already expected that kind of answer.
He didn’t respond to Jeremiah’s words and backed away.
“The children who were captured are the only ones who are pitiful.”
He felt sorry for the hostages, but their chances of survival were extremely slim.
Ron swallowed his bitterness and followed Jeremiah.
“...”
Rather, he would look at her as a hostage in front of many people with contempt, saying that she was pathetic.
'I might even be publicly abandoned in front of everyone, saying there would be absolutely no compromise.'
Just imagining that scene was so horrible that it made her sick. She had already experienced being cruelly rejected and abandoned. She couldn't stand being held hostage and then being thrown into that misery again.
'I absolutely hate that. If I were to be in that situation, I'd rather...'
Karina tried hard to suppress her surging emotions and maintain her composure.
She looked around with an indifferent face.
On a nearby table, a half-filled water bottle and an overturned glass cup were visible.
“...”
Karina thought for a moment, and then a way to break the situation occurred to her.
She slowly picked up the glass cup.
The boss, who had been watching Karina’s actions, snickered and sneered.
“What? Do you want me to get you some water? Are you asking me to take care of you right now?”
The escapees also burst into laughter.
Karina snorted and released the strength in her grip on the glass cup.
Boom!
The glass cup fell to the floor with a loud noise and shattered into pieces.
Sharp shards of the glass cup scattered here and there at Karina’s feet.
Karina picked up the largest piece of glass among the broken pieces. She held the sharp part of the piece upright and held it up so that the escapees could see it clearly.
“What the heck? A piece of glass? You’re going to threaten us with that?”
The escapees burst into laughter at Karina’s actions.
“Kuhahahahahahaha.”
“You’re using your brain.”
“Should I compliment you?”
Their mocking laughter died down at Karina’s next action.
Karina held the glass shard to her neck.
“What are you trying to do now?”
The escapees just stared at Karina’s actions.
Karina decided to take a gamble at this moment.
‘I don’t know if this method will work as well as I thought, but.’
Karina braced herself not to let her voice tremble as she opened her mouth.
“I told you I was the Grand Duchess.”
Karina was grateful for the escapees’ carelessness and stupidity.
“You escapees who took the Grand Duchess hostage and then killed her. The Grand Duke would never let you live, would you?”
Karina held the sharp end of the glass shard to her neck.
“...!”
“That!”
The escapees’ eyes turned bewildered.
Karina, who thought she had taken control of the situation, demanded.
“Release all the hostages. Otherwise...”
Karina clutched the glass shard tightly.
Everyone knew what was coming next.
However, the boss did not respond to Karina’s sharp warning.
“Just keep going.”
Rather, he encouraged Karina’s actions as if to say, “Go ahead and try. ”
She could read his intentions from the mocking expression on his face.
He thought Karina was just making empty threats.
It was understandable.
Most noblewomen of high status would lose consciousness at the mere sight of blood.
So, it was thought that Karina, who was also a noblewoman, could not possibly slit her own throat.
However, Karina pressed hard on the glass shard she had placed against her neck as if she were trying to show off.
Then, the sharp section dug into Karina’s neck.
Blood flowed out from the delicate skin where the section had cut.
Even though it was cut quite deeply, Karina’s hand did not stop.
The boss’s expression finally distorted viciously when he saw Karina’s unwavering gaze.
“This crazy bitch!”
He was about to rush in and snatch the glass shard she was holding.
“Don’t move! If you move, I’ll stab deeper!”
Karina shouted as she dodged his hand and stepped back.
The boss groaned with an angry and excited expression.
Even so, he could not move easily.
A different tension than before filled the space.
“Get the hostages out right now. You have to listen to what I say.”
Karina resolutely shouted.
Although she looked calm, Karina was actually anxious.
She didn’t know how the situation would change when the knights arrived, but she felt that now was the only chance to free the hostages.
She felt her insides squeezing with anxiety.
However, she didn’t get excited and calmly demanded.
“You there.”
Karina pointed to the man closest to the door among the escapees.
“Get up slowly, open the door, and step back.”
The man who was pointed out glanced at the man who was the boss.
“I told you to open the door.”
Karina frowned and gripped the glass shard tighter.
“Tsk!”
Then the boss clicked his tongue and nodded as if to tell him to do as he was told.
The man who was pointed out slowly got up with a helpless expression, opened the door, and stepped back.
“Everyone, get out quickly!”
Karina shouted at the hostages.
***
The moment Karina was being held by the escapees.
“This way. Your Highness.”
Jeremiah and the knights were also inspecting the nearby monster disposal site while they were inspecting.
It was the place where Mikhail had disposed of the monster and rescued Karina.
“Who could it be?”
Jeremiah looked around.
At first glance, it looked similar to the marks from swords, but upon closer inspection, they were different.
Rather than a clean cut from a solid piece of metal, it was more like a mark that had been torn and ripped by something at high speed.
Jeremiah had seen marks like this before.
“Is it magic?”
When he realized that it was a trace of magic, he naturally thought of Karina’s escorting magician.
However, he soon shook his head.
There was no way the magician escorting Karina could have been there.
“Because Karina couldn’t have been here.”
His eyes sank deeply.
At that moment.
“Your Highness! We’re in trouble!”
A knight came running from the mansion and reported to Jeremiah the hostage situation by the escapees.
“The man who came to deliver the letter from the escapees said that their families were being held hostage. They begged to be rescued.”
“A hostage situation.”
Jeremiah’s expression remained calm even after hearing the report.
“What are their demands?”
“They want the magician who is imprisoned to be released. And they want eight horses and a carriage with enough water, clothing, and food.”
“That’s funny.”
Jeremiah found it ridiculous that they were making such unreasonable demands as escapees.
“I heard that about nine hostages are being held. Among them are two children.”
Jeremiah’s face turned sour at the mention of children being held as hostages.
“If you don’t meet their demands, they will kill one hostage every hour.”
However, Jeremiah had no intention of granting the escapees’ demands. He only thought that he was annoyed that they were holding the hostage situation at the exact moment when troublesome incidents occurred one after another.
“What happened to the people who were sent to scout the city?”
“I apologize. They said she didn't see the Grand Duchess."
"I see."
She would be with an escort anyway, so there wouldn't be much danger, but he was needlessly nervous.
'If not the northern city, then where did she go?'
Jeremiah exhaled slowly.
"For now, half of you will continue the inspection as scheduled, and the rest will go with me to the scene where the escapees are."
"Yes."
The knights and soldiers quickly divided up and reorganized their ranks under his command.
Knight Commander Ron approached Jeremiah and asked.
“What do you want them to do?”
“There’s no need to prepare. We have no intention of negotiating with criminals.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Ron had already expected that kind of answer.
He didn’t respond to Jeremiah’s words and backed away.
“The children who were captured are the only ones who are pitiful.”
He felt sorry for the hostages, but their chances of survival were extremely slim.
Ron swallowed his bitterness and followed Jeremiah.
***
“...”
The people who had been blankly watching the situation hesitated.
“I told you to get out!”
Jen, who came to her senses at Karina’s shout, quickly grabbed the people.
“Get out! Hurry up! Hurry up!”
Jen urged the people to move.
The mother also came to her senses and grabbed the two children’s arms tightly and ran out the door.
Starting with her, the rest of the people also started to escape out the door.
Jen also helped the man, who couldn’t walk quickly because of his bad leg, out the door.
While they were all out, Karina kept her guard up to prevent the escapees from moving.
“...”
Even after everyone had left, Karina stayed for a while.
It was to give the people enough time to escape.
‘If these guys catch them again, we’ll really die then.’
Karina swallowed hard.
“All of you, over there.”
Karina raised her other hand, which wasn’t holding the glass shard.
She pointed with her finger to the corner farthest from the door.
“Gather in that corner.”
The escapees glared at Karina with fierce eyes, but they had no choice but to do as she said.
Karina slowly gathered the escapees to the corner farthest from the door as she had wanted.
The blood flowing from the wound on her neck soaked Karina’s hand and soaked the front of her chest. She felt dizzy as she lost enough blood to feel hot.
‘No! If I collapse here, I’ll really die. Don’t lose your mind!’
Karina desperately held onto her senses, using every ounce of her strength.
“Haa, haa.”
Every second felt like it was going to be crazy.
Her hand holding the glass shard trembled and she used more force than necessary.
Although it was slight, she felt a small cut on her palm.
The tingling pain brought her back to her senses a little.
‘Okay, it’s okay. I can go out.’
Karina maintained her composure.
She faced the escapees and slowly backed away toward the door.
However, the escapees seemed to have noticed Karina’s condition and gradually closed the distance between them.
“Stop! I told you not to move!”
Karina shouted, but her voice was already cracking.
“..!”
She felt defeated.
On the contrary, the escapees who heard Karina’s voice laughed viciously again and tried to get closer to her.
“Don’t come any closer!”
She squeezed out her voice with all her might, even though she knew it would be useless.
However, contrary to her expectations, the escapees stopped moving.
The expressions of the escapees, who had been frozen just as they were about to approach, drained of blood and turned pale.
'...?'
The atmosphere seemed to have frozen.
There was an inexplicable tension.
Karina was puzzled, but she didn't stop walking back.
The moment she was about to cross the threshold and go out the open door.
Bam.
"...?!"
Something blocked her path.
Startled, Karina looked back at the door.
An unidentified figure wearing a robe pulled down low was standing in front of the door.
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