Madam! I must step out for a moment!

Seeing Vika Lamberst hastily rush out, Yura Blake instinctively sensed that danger had befallen Sikar Blake.

That was why Yura asked no questions. Instead, she turned her head and looked at Durion.

“If Master Vika Lamberst dashed out so urgently, doesn’t that mean something life-threatening has happened to the Duke? Shouldn’t you go too, Master Durion?”

“If I also leave the manor unguarded, there will be no one left to protect you, Madam, and the young masters. I have already sent a letter to Reidox; he will arrive with reinforcements soon. Please do not worry yourself.”

Yura showed Durion the wand she was tightly gripping in her hand.

“Look at this. Since I have this, Master Durion, you should go and help Master Vika Lamberst immediately.”

“That is not possible. The Duke entrusted me with the safety of you and the young masters. Even if… even if the Duke does not return alive, protecting you and the young masters comes first.”

“But, Master Durion, you know this too—when the curse manifests, the Duke’s body becomes extremely sluggish! If the curse activates during battle, the Duke might truly be lost!”

Yura pleaded earnestly, but Durion remained coldly composed.

“I apologize, Madam.”

Durion was no longer the man he usually was. Even his gentle-looking eyes had turned fierce and lethal.

For a moment, Yura stared at him as if questioning whether this was truly the knight Durion she knew, then remembered how profoundly important a knight’s duty was.

A knight sworn to an oath ignores everything else to fulfill their mission.

Yura realized now, no matter how hard she tried to persuade Durion, he would never listen.

Heartbroken, Yura sank onto the sofa with a vacant, dazed expression.

Including the Queen, there were two spirit mages—Rafe and another. Behind them stood Pasium, made even more powerful by sacrificing parts of his own body, and King Gillian, whose immense divine power could heal them endlessly.

Could Sikar and Vika possibly defeat them?

Even if Roen arrived, her divine power could not compare to that of royalty.

No matter how sharp Reidox’s blade was, he would struggle to handle Dienne and Rafe, who commanded spirits freely. Veronia was held hostage, and Sikar’s body was prone to sudden curses—making their situation extremely disadvantageous.

“We didn’t even get to say goodbye…”

Seo Yeon, beside her, gently stroked Yura’s arm.

“Duchess. I didn’t say goodbye either. I believed he would surely return alive, so I didn’t say it. He will return alive. Surely.”

Yura forced a bitter smile.

“You must be suffering too, Seo Yeon. I was being foolish.”

“No, not at all. Honestly, I’m so anxious I can barely stand it.”

Yura felt she understood Seo Yeon’s feelings better than anyone. So Yura tightly held Seo Yeon’s hand.

The two clasped each other’s hands tightly, leaning deeply on one another.

There was still one last bastion remaining. Yura recalled that tiny, fragile hope and prayed for Sikar’s safety.

Unaware that the children upstairs might already be following Vika out.

Hearing what Yura said, Kian Blake knew he couldn’t stay put.

Even if the curse manifested, if he himself dispelled it, the Duke would not die.

Kian quickly changed clothes and attempted to leap from the second-floor window.

He would have jumped, had Luid not grabbed one of his legs.

Luid, half-asleep and yawning, muttered,

“What? It’s not Lucy?”

Because Lucy used to run away often as a child, Luid had developed the habit of waking up whenever Lucy stirred in her sleep.

So this time, thinking Lucy was attempting to run away again after a long while, he instinctively woke and grabbed Kian’s leg.

“L-Let go! Luid! We don’t have time for this!”

“Why? What’s going on?!”

The commotion woke Lucy too, and she also grabbed tightly onto one of Kian’s legs.

“What? Are you running away?”

“No! I have to go save the Duke right now!”

The half-asleep twins suddenly snapped fully awake, their eyes wide open.

“We have to save the Duke?!”

“Yes! So I have to go! Let go already!”

While Lucy held one of Kian’s legs, Luid hurriedly changed clothes and said,

“Then I’m coming too!”

Hearing that, Lucy also clung stubbornly to Kian’s leg.

“I’m coming too! I want to save the Duke too!”

Like a baton handoff, Luid tightly gripped Kian’s leg and urged Lucy to hurry up and change clothes.

“Yes! Let’s save him together! We owe the Duke something—we must repay his kindness!”

Lucy quickly pulled on her pants and shouted,

“Right! I’m going to save the Duke too!”

Oddly, for once, the perpetually quarreling twins agreed completely. Kian sighed, realizing he had no choice.

“Fine. But you must hide quietly and not get caught.”

“Okay!”

Kian and the twins tried to jump from the second floor, but sensing the height, they climbed down along the wall instead.

Then they sprinted off, and all three children mounted their ponies.

“But where are we going?”

To Luid’s question, Kian spurred his pony onward.

“The third step of Recador Creek! That’s the entrance to the waterway!”

Since Kian had been standing beside Durion when the letter was sent, he instantly knew the location.

Fearlessly, the children rode their ponies through the night wind, racing toward Recador.

“Why does that insane mage keep chasing us?!”

“He wants to kill us.”

To Roen’s urgent cry, Reidox replied with infuriating calmness, making Jeremi Iker grind his teeth.

“Reidox! Don’t act like that’s nothing! We’re under threat of death right now!”

“That’s why we’re running away!”

More accurately, they were galloping on horseback to rendezvous with the Duke’s party.

Reidox’s group had received Sikar Blake’s letter stating he’d found the princess and were urgently heading toward Recador.

But while riding through the mountain range, they began to be attacked by Pasium.

Sikar’s letter had already instructed them: even if attacked en route, do not fight midway—head straight for Recador Creek.

Yet even as they rode forward, Pasium’s fireballs relentlessly flew at them from behind.

One such fireball singed Roen’s fluttering hair and grazed past Jeremi’s ear, and he began to grow truly angry.

“Can’t we just dismount and fight?!”

“No! The Duke strictly forbade fighting!”

“Why?!”

“Pasium has no eyes or tongue!”

“What?! What does Pasium lacking eyes and tongue have to do with us not fighting him?! Are you saying we shouldn’t cowardly attack someone without eyes or tongue?!”

Even patient Reidox occasionally reached the limits of his tolerance when conversing with Jeremi, who never seemed to grasp the point—and now was exactly such a moment.

“Why?! Because he sacrificed his eyes and tongue as offerings!”

“Oh. You should’ve just said that from the start, you idiotic fool Reidox!”

“Do I really need to explain that for you to understand? Are you even a mage?!”

Meanwhile, Pasium’s fireballs continued flying relentlessly from behind.

Each time a fireball struck the horses’ hindquarters, Roen cursed loudly while healing them.

Her mouth spewed such vulgarities that one might worry the gods themselves would be angered at a priestess speaking so crudely.

“Lady Roen, is it really okay for a priestess to curse like that? Please… I’m scared lightning might strike from the sky before Pasium’s fireball kills us!”

“God Leper is merciful to all who serve Him—do not worry!”

“What happens if God’s mercy exceeds His patience?”

“Huh? That question… I feel like I’ve heard it before.”

“Yes. Because Lady Roen is someone who frequently challenges God’s patience.”

Even amid this chaos, seeing Roen and Jeremi exchange banter, Reidox thought the two were truly made for each other.

Undoubtedly, Roen must be the destined match for Jeremi that Seo Yeon had mentioned.

“But if a mage wastes magic power like that, won’t he run out later, giving us better odds?”

“Sacrificing one’s own body is reckless and foolish, but it is also an immense sacrifice. Thus, Pasium has already transcended such limitations.”

“There’s no way to shake him off?! At this rate, we’ll exhaust all divine power before we even arrive!”

“Since Pasium is targeting only you, Lady Roen, and Jeremi, that seems to be his goal! So we must ride even faster!”

Roen began cursing again, and this time Jeremi joined her.

Reidox had told Roen there was nothing to be done, but he was skeptical they could safely reach the capital with Pasium dogging their heels. Pasium had become like a human weapon, sacrificing even his own body, living solely for battle.

Originally, like Sikar, Pasium had pledged loyalty to Gillian after the deposed king killed the master he trusted and followed.

Back then, Pasium was a youth who, though always gloomy-faced, occasionally smiled shyly. As Gillian’s subordinate, he fiercely clung to his beliefs—but he hadn’t been blindly obsessed with power like this.

Reidox believed Pasium had become this way due to his own excessive ambition.

And that ambition had, quite visibly, made him stronger.

“Reidox! Lady Roen can’t endure much longer—don’t you have any good ideas? You’re supposed to be the cleverest one!”

“What ideas could I possibly have here?! None! Just keep riding!”

“Think harder! We’re going to be burned to death by Pasium before we even arrive!”

Reidox was frustrated too. If he had a solution, he would’ve used it already.

Since his children were born, he had never spent a single moment apart from them. Even though they were much older now, he’d never been separated from them for this long.

To Reidox, they were still spoiled children. He imagined they might be crying for their father right now, and all he wanted was to return to them quickly.

His innocent twins hadn’t noticed anything amiss. When he left for this long journey, they’d smiled brightly and told him to play marbles if he got bored on his “short trip.”

Wait.

Reidox suddenly remembered the marbles Lucy had packed into a leather bag for him when he left. Perhaps he could use them to temporarily shake off Pasium.

“Jeremi, catch this!”

Reidox immediately tossed the leather bag he’d received from Lucy toward Jeremi. Jeremi, caught off guard, caught the bag, checked its contents, and instantly understood Reidox’s intention.

Since Pasium was closely chasing Jeremi, he was the perfect one to act. Jeremi nodded at Reidox, then turned his body toward Pasium.

“Pasium! Want to play marbles?!”

Jeremi grinned widely, turned the bag upside down, and shook it out. Hundreds of marbles poured onto the ground. Pasium’s black horse, charging madly behind them, stepped on the marbles and tumbled over.

It happened in an instant. Jeremi laughed gleefully as he watched Pasium fall.

“Haha! Keep the marbles!”

Even as he fell, Pasium viciously hurled a fireball at Jeremi. The satisfaction from that was indescribable.