"Then, if you get a divorce, will you immediately return to Marquis of Milliner?"
David asked her about her plans after the divorce.
"No. I have no intention of returning to the Marquis."
David asked back with a blank expression as if he didn't understand Karina's denial.
"You're not going back to the Marquis?"
"Yes. I'm thinking of going far away."
"Where to?"
"Where no one can find me."
Karina smiled softly, lifting the corners of her lips. It was a smile that clearly showed her good mood. Karina, who spoke like that, seemed like a bird dreaming of freedom. It seemed like she was waiting for the moment when the door would open inside the iron cage, and when the time came, she would fly into the sky and disappear far away. As far as her feet could take her.
David unconsciously grabbed her shoulder.
"...?"
Karina looked at him with a questioning expression at his sudden action. David, who was receiving the gaze, pulled his hand away because he was surprised himself.
"Oh, no. Nothing."
For some reason, David seemed confused and didn't know what to do.
"Is there a problem?"
"No. That's not it..."
David opened his mouth a few times as if he was going to speak, then bit his lower lip once.
"..."
He raised his hand to cover his mouth and then turned his head away.
"Go to sleep now. As soon as the sun rises, we'll have to find a way to escape from here."
He was right. she's already so tired that she's going to die, but if she doesn't sleep, she'll have a hard time moving tomorrow.
"That's right. Your Highness, please go to sleep soon."
She had no idea what to do tomorrow, but for now, resting was more important. Karina must have been very tired and worn out, so she quickly dozed off and fell asleep.
David, who had been watching Karina sleep with her cheek on her knees, approached her for a long time. Then he carefully undressed her and laid her comfortably on his side. However, her white bare legs, exposed because her skirt was short, stood out too much. David, who had been hesitating and thinking about it while looking elsewhere, soon took off the shirt he was wearing. Then he unfolded it neatly and covered it over her legs.
"Phew."
David covered his eyes with his hands and sighed deeply. The corners of his ears were slightly red.
***
Meanwhile, Selena and Hasten were chasing the suspicious men. They had also entered the Cursed Forest.
'Why are you going to the Cursed Forest to rescue Croana?'
At first, they felt something strange when they saw the men entering the Cursed Forest.
'It's not like ordinary people can just wander around the Cursed Forest without any preparation or equipment, right?'
Knights and magicians who trained their bodies were able to protect themselves to some extent from the magic contaminated with their aura or magic power. However, it was rare for ordinary people to be able to do so. Selena and Hasten hesitated a little when they saw the men entering the forest of curses, but they did not stop following him. As they followed them, it seemed that they had been on this path more than once or twice. Even in the pitch-black darkness of the setting sun, they found their way in without getting lost. Contrary to their worries, they were fine even though they had been in the forest of curses for a long time. It seemed that no contaminated magic had spread at all along the path they had taken.
'Is it possible to avoid contaminated magic?'
There was no time to find an answer to the question. Selena and Hasten had to try not to lose sight of the men who were quickly moving away. After walking for a while, the men stopped walking as if they had arrived. As the clouds parted, bright moonlight illuminated the surroundings.
'That's...!'
Selena and Hasten's eyes widened. The sight they had arrived at was much more shocking than they had expected. Beyond the men, a herb garden was cleverly hidden between the thick trees. Upon closer inspection, they saw that the same type of plants were growing in sections, divided as if they were measured with a ruler. This was definitely not a natural place.
"You crazy bastards! Were you secretly raising Croana in the Cursed Forest?"
Hasten stood there with his mouth open in astonishment.
"..."
Selena was surprised as well. In addition to Croana, other rare grasses and plants she had never seen before were growing here and there. However, it didn't seem like they were being grown for good purposes. Many of the narcotic plants that Selena knew were mixed in throughout the herb garden.
"Hey! Landlord!"
The men who arrived there looked around, looking for someone.
"We're here!"
At his call, someone slowly walked out of a small, shabby hut that had been roughly built as a shelter nearby. It was an old man with white hair. Although he had a straight back and a strong step for an old man, he looked like an old man. The old man was holding a staff with a magic stone lantern at the end. The old man raised the staff and illuminated their faces one by one.
"I need Croana Grass today."
The men as if they were used to it, ignored it and immediately named the herbs they needed. At their words, an old man came out of the hut and motioned for them to follow him. He led them to one side of the herb garden and pointed to a certain spot with the tip of his cane. Then, the two men who followed each took out the sacks they had wrapped around their waists and opened them. As the old man was about to leave with his cane, a man with a knife mark on his mouth called out to him in a rude voice.
"Wait a minute! We didn't bring any lights today. So, turn on some lights around here."
The old man furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance but then tapped the ground twice with his cane. Then, the magic lights hanging around him lit up, brightening his vision.
"Oh!"
The men were amazed to see the magic lights that came on without them having to turn them on.
"It's convenient because it's a magic light!"
The mustachioed man frowned as if a memory had just occurred to him while he was looking at the magic lantern.
"Come to think of it, you're a wizard, right? If you could just use magic to organize these all in one place and put them in a bag, we wouldn't have to squat down and open them."
The man spoke, patting the grass growing on his porch with his foot.
"I see?"
The man with the knife in his hand responded with a loud thud and threw the sack he was holding at the old man's feet.
"We can do it easily, so there's no need for us to go through all the trouble. Fill this bag up."
"..."
The old man ignored their words and turned away as if to leave.
"Hey! What are you doing? Are you ignoring us?"
The man with the knife scar raised his voice.
"You think we're just errand boys because we came here to pick weeds? I'm not the type of person to do that kind of work."
"Yes. We belong to the Countess of Vestianne!"
The mustachioed man also joined in and spoke.
"So don't be a bother and just do whatever I tell you to do. Got it?"
The two men were smirking at each other. But the old man still didn't respond to those words. Instead, he snorted with an indifferent expression. The men who felt that they were being ignored by that attitude got angry.
"You don't understand even if this old man speaks to you? Are you deaf? Pick some grass and fill this sack with it! Right now!"
The man with a knife mark on his mouth grumbled and roughly grabbed the old man's arm. At that moment.
"These damn bastards..."
A young woman's voice, completely out of place, flowed out from the old man's mouth. The old man swung the cane he was holding fiercely.
"Ugh!"
Then, with a dull thud as if the cane were a hammer, the man's head cracked.
"Eek!"
The mustachioed man who was watching from the side, giggling, also turned pale in an instant.
"I gave those little bugs some useful work to do, and now they're crawling around without even knowing what they're doing."
A pitch-black aura shimmered in the eyes of the old man who had spat out his old voice. That aura gave off an extremely unpleasant and ominous feeling, like a polluted magical power.
"Ugh!"
The mustachioed man started to run away screaming. The old man swung his cane at the back of the mustachioed man as he ran away. The cane didn't even reach him.
"Ugh!"
The mustachioed man also fell down, spitting up blood.
"Things like trash that can't even be used as fertilizer for a herb garden."
The old man, who had been looking down at the two men who had now turned into pieces of meat, clicked his tongue.
"...!"
Meanwhile, Selena and Hasten had overheard the situation and their conversation so far. They held their breath even more and made no noise so that the wizard would not find out about them. Although they were far away, they were strongly convinced that if they were found out, they would not be safe either. Fortunately, the wizard did not seem to notice that Selena and Hasten were around.
While the two were quietly swallowing their impatience amid the tension, the wizard went into the hut, took something out, and went into the forest.
'It wasn't just Croana that was involved. I didn't know a wizard was involved...'
Selena's head was in tatters. There was more to this herb patch than she had guessed.
"Let's go back from here for now. It's too dangerous."
Hasten held her with a look that said he knew what she was thinking. But Selena had a gut feeling that she couldn't let that wizard go there.
"Let's just wait and see where that wizard is going."
Hasten shook his head.
"Before you came here, you said you would definitely listen to me if things got dangerous. You even broke your promise to the Grand Duchess."
"...!"
Hasten pointed out the fact that Selena had been ignoring. But if not now, there was no guarantee that there would be another opportunity like this. And the men who had said they were part of the Countess of Vestianne had just died. If she went back, she might have to start the investigation all over again.
"I know it's risky, but I feel like I can't miss this opportunity."
Selena urged him on as he hesitated.
"There's no time. Just follow my instincts this once. Ues?"
After Selena's earnest persuasion, Hasten finally gave in.
"Phew... Just this once."
Selena's expression brightened.
"Thank you."
Selena got up and hurried to where the wizard had gone. Hasten followed closely behind Selena, though he was reluctant. He had to protect Selena if she was in danger. And he didn't forget to leave marks on the trees or the ground with his dagger, as he might get lost in the Cursed Forest.
***
"Ha."
Mikhail sighed as he searched for Karina all night. As soon as he arrived at the Cursed Forest the night before, Mikhail began searching for the signal of the ring that Karina had. However, it was not easy to find the ring's location signal due to the contaminated magic that spread throughout the Cursed Forest.
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