Translator: Wawaa

Editor: WilsonWilson

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Demian was looking at Lara. Lara was looking for Demian. Before long, their eyes met. There was no need for words, for he had always been looking at her.

Lara moved her lips.

‘Table.’

Demian nodded and moved quickly. Lara’s gaze, body language, and the direction as to where her body was pointing at, everything was pointing to one place. It was the table where the saintess candidates were sitting until a while ago─the table at the top right in the center of the banquet hall. Lara moved to get the saintesses out of this place and Demian read her intentions.

Stopping Sonnet’s steps, moving with Sonnet, suddenly causing a fight to pull one fake saintess aside, and thus moving another fake saintess.

She’s such an interesting woman. Having been standing still among the guardian knights, Demian suddenly sprinted towards Lara. Seeing him, the rest of the knights moved along with tension all over their bodies. The disturbance caused by Lara was so intense that no one blocked Demian’s movement.

“Look at that!”

A guardian knight shouted. Black smoke was flowing from under the table where the fake saintesses were sitting. After having been hidden by the tablecloth, the black smoke leaked out little by little.

“Everyone, run away.”

“Get back!”

The table split in half with a crackling sound. A violent earthquake-like vibration began under the table and shook the banquet hall. And then, it exploded.

Boom-!

Everything happened in an instant. There was no way to escape. People near the table were swept away by the aftermath of the explosion. They were either blown away some distance or fell to the floor and were covered in wounds. The same went for the royal guardian knights.

It was much more powerful magic than expected. It was not an assassination, but a massacre. Lara did not know if this was what Prince Sidhar intended. However, the black sorcerer who planned this must have not only tried to kill the saintess but also everyone around her.

“What? What’s going on?”

“Get out of my way!”

The nobles began to scream. Some people ran away screaming, and others pushed or stepped on others to get away from the explosion.

When the table split, Demian hid his body behind the pillar, then lowered his position and began looking for the black sorcerer as soon as the explosion occurred. It was pre-prepared magic, so the sorcerer must be watching from a distance.

A place where one could see the explosion best in the banquet hall, and where one could quickly pull out in case of emergency.

“Found him.”

Demian started running. No-one stopped him because he was wearing the same armor as the guardian knights. Demian ran across the chaotic banquet hall and into the hallway where the anteroom was. He smiled violently as he saw the back of the black sorcerer running away.

The panicked black sorcerer turned around the pillar and went inside the anteroom. He quickly started chanting and fired several magic spells at Demian. It was a magic arrow made of black smoke. But Demian blocked the arrow with his bare hand. An ordinary person would writhe in pain and die with just one shot, but Demian struck it down with his palm, just like chasing a fly.

“What? What the hell? Who the hell…are you?”

The black sorcerer gnashed his teeth. He chanted and conjured another spell. This time, a beast of black smoke appeared and pounced at Demian.

“Tsk.”

Demian found the beast irksome. He grabbed its mouth and tore it to both sides. Then, he threw it right on the floor. The black smoke scattered and the magic faded away in vain.

“Who are you? Who the hell are you?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“So you’re that guy? The one that magic doesn’t…”

Demian did not listen to him until the end. He threw himself at the black sorcerer who tried to run away in a hurry. Then he grabbed his neck with one hand so that he could no longer chant spells and whispered slowly.

“I will kill you if you try to commit suicide.”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

There were many people injured. People were bleeding and falling all over the place, calling for help. The aftermath of the explosion made it difficult to see the surroundings. The hazy smoke and acrid smell clouded everyone’s attention.

“Princess, where’s the Princess?”

Her ears felt numb. Lara went through the smoke and searched for Princess Sonnet. She could not hear the Princess’ answer because of people’s screams.

On one side, the black-haired lady-in-waiting who was Prince Sidhar’s follower appeared through the smoke and was looking for the Princess with her voice raised.

“Princess! Princess, where are you? Answer me!”

Lara got chills on her back. Demian clearly said it. If he were Prince Sidhar, he would never miss this opportunity. Even if he failed to kill all the saintesses all at once, he would at the very least not let Sonnet live.

“Princess!”

The lady-in-waiting found the Princess. Sonnet was crouching on the floor and the lady-in-waiting ran toward her and hugged her as if to protect her.

Lara flung her body. There was a fluttering sound from her red velvet dress. Lara pushed the lady-in-waiting away with her body and quickly hugged Sonnet.

“Lara, what’s wrong?”

Eunice and Ximena came running. The guardian knights who discovered Sonnet also pulled out their weapons to protect them.

“My lady-in-waiting… My lady lady-in-waiting…”

Sonnet trembled.

The lady-in-waiting who fell down after being pushed by Lara held a knife in one hand. It was a sharp blue-edge dagger. Red blood dripped from the blade.

“Princess! Are you okay?”

“It’s not me…”

It was Lara who was stabbed.

“Lara!”

“Bish, hold yourself together!”

Eunice and Ximena screamed in tears. They shouted for help, asking people to get a doctor.

Being stabbed was painful enough that it was impossible to say that she was okay even as a lie. She felt like her stomach was burning. She felt extremely dizzy after pouring blood all at once. But Lara could not lose her consciousness. She whispered to Sonnet while pressing down on the wound with one hand.

“I’m fine.”

“Lara!”

“Hurry… We need to go somewhere alone. Princess, come on.”

“B-but, your treatment!”

“I’m fine, really. I will explain everything to you later. Just bring me to your room without telling anyone… Hurry.”

Tears dripped from Sonnet’s big eyes. The Princess was surprised and confused, but she nodded in tears.

The banquet hall was a mess. There were almost no casualties but many were injured. Fortunately, none of the fake saintesses died. The farmer’s wife was crying on the floor with her head wrapped in her hands. The daughter of the nobleman stood in a daze with her hair scattered while looking at the table she was sitting at.

“Attention to the royal guardian knights! Close the gate! Don’t let anyone go outside until you find the criminal!”

The angry King’s orders rang out in the banquet hall. Before long, all the gates in the royal palace were closed.

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