After declaring at the Razent Imperial Palace party that I would sponsor Dekain, I acted as his proxy to empower him.

Merely attending meetings with nobles alongside him as his proxy and displaying the magical engineering weapons I possessed was already a great boost to his influence.

Thus, with the aid of myself and Empress Dowager Kysandra, Dekain gradually expanded his faction.

He was not yet as powerful as Crown Prince Shusain, who enjoyed the Emperor’s faction’s support, or Second Prince Seiji, who was backed by the nobles—but Dekain was steadily establishing himself as a legitimate prince.

Today, too, I attended a meeting with nobles. Dekain, judging the discussion would drag on, quietly approached me and said,

“Go ahead. It seems this gathering will last quite late.”

I glanced around—the nobles were emptying their wine cups, clearly signaling the conversation would stretch on.

I nodded slightly and whispered softly, so only Dekain could hear,

“Understood. Hang in there. I’ll contact you again.”

“Alright. My subordinates will be waiting for you outside.”

Having finished speaking, Dekain turned back toward the nobles with a smiling face.

He showed no sign of resentment after being rejected by me—even I sometimes wondered whether that conversation had merely been a dream.

I couldn’t be sure what Dekain truly thought inside, but at least he seemed to understand my meaning, which was a relief.

So I watched for a moment as Dekain mingled with the nobles, then slipped quietly out of the banquet hall unnoticed.

Had I attended as Tanashia, my absence would have been conspicuous—but as a proxy, no one paid me any mind.

The Razent Empire placed great importance on social hierarchy. Though they showed immense interest in magical engineering weapons, they paid no attention whatsoever to a masked proxy.

Outside, as Dekain had said, I found a carriage and his subordinates waiting for me.

Even though disguised as a proxy, my movements were kept strictly secret—thus, whenever I traveled somewhere, I received ironclad escort protection.

Zen, seated on the driver’s bench, spotted me and stepped down. He opened the carriage door himself and said politely,

“Please board.”

I nodded slightly while scanning the surroundings—Ascan was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is he?”

I deliberately avoided speaking Ascan’s name aloud, but even with my indirect phrasing, Zen instantly understood whom I meant.

“He went to investigate—there have been suspicious movements near our lodging lately.”

“Oh, really?”

Lately, I’d had the feeling Ascan was coming and going somewhere without telling me. But whenever I asked where he’d been, he avoided giving a proper answer.

‘Could something be wrong?’

He would never hide something from me without good reason. An ominous feeling crept over me, but I quickly shook my head.

‘Don’t jump to conclusions. I’ll ask Ascan when he comes back.’

I gathered my thoughts and settled into the prepared carriage.

As soon as I boarded, Zen began driving the carriage.

Creak… creak… the faint sound of wheels rolling came as usual.

The mask on my face felt suffocating, but I couldn’t remove it until we reached our lodging—I had to remain cautious.

I was idly tracing the edges of the mask, trying to soothe my restlessness, when—

Screeeeech!

The carriage screeched to a sudden, urgent halt.

My body lurched forward violently—it was such an abrupt stop I was startled and peered out the window, asking,

“What’s going—”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

My field of vision was suddenly filled with a group of figures clad in pitch-black garments, surrounding the carriage.

They were densely packed even atop nearby buildings—too numerous to count. Their sinister aura made them feel like grim reapers.

‘That person…!’

My eyes locked onto the man standing at the very front. Though masked, his massive build and sharply slanted eyes were unmistakably familiar even from afar.

I involuntarily recalled someone I’d encountered in the Karlua Empire—

Carter, Helsion’s long-serving loyal retainer and commander of the First Knight Order.

‘Impossible. How could he possibly know I’m here?’

It was unbelievable. I’d thought my identity remained completely hidden—yet I had no clue how this information had leaked.

While I stared rigidly at the assailants—

The lead man slowly lowered his mask and smirked, curling the corners of his lips. As I’d expected, it was Carter.

“Lady Brellof, do you recognize me? You should know whose hand ends your life.”

His leisurely tone felt ominous—as if he’d already completed every preparation.

I wanted to deny being Tanashia, but Carter’s presence here—from the Karlua Empire—meant he was already certain of my identity.

With trembling hands, I removed the mask from my face. Since my identity was exposed, there was no point hiding my face any longer.

“How did you know I was here?”

In response to my question, Carter grinned wickedly and replied,

“Did you really think you could hide forever? You escaped me last time—but today, I will surely claim your life.”

Then Carter pulled his mask back up over his face—and at that very moment, gestured toward the other assailants.

Several of them immediately shouldered portable rocket launchers and began firing, as if they’d been waiting for this signal.

Boom!

A tremendous explosion erupted, and flames engulfed the carriage.

Just before impact, Zen, seated on the driver’s bench, leaped into the carriage, grabbed me, and hurled us both outside.

Only someone with Zen’s darkness-attribute ability could move with such agility.

Barely escaping the carriage by a hair’s breadth, I stared grimly at the vehicle now engulfed in fire.

Inside it were the magical engineering weapons I’d brought to display at the meeting.

Because the carriage was attacked, I could no longer access or use those weapons.

Strangely, Carter and his men remained calm—as if they’d anticipated I would escape.

Perhaps attacking the carriage wasn’t meant to kill me, but to prevent me from using the magical engineering weapons.

‘But how did they know I was transporting those weapons in the carriage?’

It was astonishing enough that they’d discovered my location—now I realized with alarm that Carter likely possessed far more information than I’d assumed.

But I had no time to dwell on it.

One of the assailants holding a portable rocket launcher aimed directly at me again.

“Miss!”

Zen swiftly shielded me and rolled us sideways.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

We barely dodged again, but this time, the building behind me caught fire.

As the building turned into an inferno, people inside fled outside—those who couldn’t escape in time turned the street instantly into chaos.

“AAAAAGH!”

Screams of people suffering burns echoed from all directions.

I stared tensely at Carter and the few assailants holding rocket launchers.

I couldn’t keep dodging like this—I had to stop them somehow. Otherwise, everyone on this street, including me, might die.

At that moment—

The assailants set their rocket launchers down. Since rocket launchers were also magical engineering weapons, their magic stones had exhausted after only a few shots.

Had they been made with the magic stones I developed, they could have fired longer—but conventional magic stones became unusable after just a few shots.

‘Now’s my chance!’

I had to counterattack before the assailants could draw new rocket launchers.

Zen, seemingly reading my thoughts, shouted loudly beside me,

“Attack!”

At Zen’s command, Dekain’s subordinates—who had been guarding the carriage—drew their swords and charged simultaneously toward the assailants.

Zen vanished like a ghost—and reappeared instantly right in front of an assailant holding a rocket launcher.

Silently and swiftly, he eliminated the assailant and destroyed the new rocket launcher to prevent its use.

But that wasn’t enough.

I drew the K39 strapped to my ankle and fired at the rocket launchers held by the assailants.

The number of rocket launchers was limited, while the number of assailants was large. Even if I targeted one assailant, another could pick up a launcher—so I prioritized destroying the weapons first.

Neutralizing the dangerous weapons wasn’t ineffective—but it still wasn’t enough to stop all the assailants targeting me.

Whizzzz!

An arrow fired by another assailant shot straight toward me.

I dodged desperately, but not as swiftly as when Zen had helped me moments earlier.

“Ugh!”

Fortunately, I didn’t take a direct hit—but the arrow grazed my arm, leaving a wound.

I felt hot blood streaming down from the torn flesh.

Intense pain surged through me, but I gritted my teeth and endured it. I hastily clutched my injured arm with my other hand and barely managed to steady myself.

Seeing my injury, Zen appeared beside me in an instant. Protecting me now meant fending off far more than just one or two threats.

“Miss, I’ll buy you time—run!”

Run? Where?

Given that Carter had tracked me here, our lodging was likely already compromised. And aside from Dekain, I had no one else to turn to for help.

For some reason, they clearly knew much about my current situation—they’d probably already deduced Dekain was aiding me.

In short, I had nowhere to run.

But staying here and enduring further attacks was utterly hopeless—and would only burden Zen. So I nodded with difficulty and said,

“Understood. Be careful.”

Zen was too busy blocking the assailants’ relentless attacks to even reply.

I hurriedly began moving away from the battle site.

Seeing this, Carter pointed at me and shouted loudly,

“Lady Brellof is fleeing! Catch her!”

Clutching my wounded arm, I ran as fast as I could. Initially, Zen and Dekain’s subordinates protected me, preventing the assailants from immediately giving chase.

But that didn’t last long.

I shot an assailant pursuing me into a narrow alley with my K39—and just as I turned to hurry down the street—

Whoosh!

An invisible hand seized my ankle, lifting me into midair.

“Aah!”

Startled, I kicked and struggled—but it was useless. I instinctively turned my head, but saw nothing holding me.

I realized naturally—

It was an ability.

One of the assailants possessed an ability—likely telekinesis.

Captured by the ability-user, I dangled helplessly in midair. I scanned my surroundings, but the ability-user remained hidden.

Then—I heard footsteps approaching me steadily.

Clack… clack…

I turned my gaze—and saw Carter, masked and massive, with sharply slanted eyes, walking toward me.

In his hand gleamed a sword, its edge icy cold.

‘I can’t just accept this.’

I quickly unfastened the magical engineering weapon disguised as a bracelet. It could extend like a whip to strike opponents.

Swishhh—

I swung the extended bracelet forcefully from midair, but Carter easily blocked my attack by holding his sword vertically.

When Carter gripped the sword wrapped by my bracelet and yanked hard, I had no strength to resist.

“Ugh.”

In the end, I dropped the magical engineering bracelet onto the ground.

The greatest reason things had deteriorated this badly was my inability to use the magical engineering weapons stored in the carriage.

The weapons I currently carried on my person were simply insufficient to overcome this situation.

Carter raised his sword high into the air and said,

“Time to die.”

I’d struggled so hard to escape the novel’s death route—yet it seemed I would still die by the hand of someone from the Karlua Empire, even if not Ascan.

In that brief instant, every memory of my life as Tanashia flashed before my eyes like a reel.

I unknowingly squeezed my eyes shut—

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Along with the sound of summoned flames, a deeply chilling voice reached my ears.

“Who dares try to kill my woman?”

The voice, radiating overwhelming killing intent, sounded familiar. I instinctively opened my eyes wide and looked toward the source.

There, impossibly, stood Ascan. Around him, seven flames flickered fiercely in midair.

Carter spat out his words bitterly.

“…Arrogant brat.”

Carter didn’t stop—he swung his sword directly toward me, but Ascan’s flames intercepted him, nullifying the attack.

The situation changed in the blink of an eye.

Ascan’s flames even located and eliminated the hidden ability-user.

As a result, the telekinetic force suspending me vanished—and I plummeted instantly toward the ground.

Ascan swiftly moved to catch me, sparing me the pain of a hard fall.

Seeing Ascan in this critical moment brought immense relief—but his expression turned icy cold when he noticed the wound on my arm.

Ascan glared at Carter, still masked, and said,

“Did you do this?”

“So what if I did?”

To Carter’s retort, Ascan replied in an even lower, colder voice,

“You must die.”