CWITB c100

Click, click—

The sound of Derivis’s shoes echoed on the cold stone floor. His footsteps grew closer to Nine, who was sitting helplessly, each step feeling like fear and despair themselves were approaching her.

“Do you remember what I said last time?”

“Don’t you dare come close!”

“I warned you—if you lay a hand on the Duchess, I would kill you.”

Nine’s eyes shifted to the sword in Derivis’s hand, his voice as cold and sharp as the blade he held. The sword was sturdy, keen, and deadly.

“So you’re going to come and kill me now?”

Nine lifted her head defiantly, though the bravado was forced. She knew why Derivis, despite his fury, hadn’t killed her yet.

“All this time, I’ve held back because of the former Empress and His Majesty. And now…”

The tip of Derivis’s sword touched Nine’s delicate neck; a single movement could end her life.

“Crown Prince…!”

“If I have no more reasons to let you live, so why would I keep you alive?”

Derivis pressed the blade closer. Nine felt the cold steel biting into her skin and the warmth of her own blood trickling down. He was serious—Nine felt a surge of panic.

‘He’s serious! If… if I die now…’

Nine realized that transferring her soul to Radinis required her to be alive. This newfound understanding drove her to act.

“Rondun! He used the magic lab he shared with his mentor for the important experiments!”

She quickly clutched at her throat when she felt the pressure on her neck lessen.

“I don’t know the exact location. That’s all I know, I swear it.”

“…Nathan.”

“What, is that all?”

“We’ll go and check it out first. If it’s not true, then I’ll be back to finish what I started. It’s simple enough.”

Derivis’s gaze lingered on Nine, who shivered as if she could still feel the blade against her skin and knew that her life now rested in his hands.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

In the damp, oppressive darkness that clung to her like a second skin, Rosalie struggled to force her eyes open.

‘How many days has it been? Five? Six?’

Without a window to mark the passage of time, it was hard to tell. She could only guess based on how often he took a little of her blood and hair since she’d been captured.

“Oh, you’re awake! Actually, I’ve done plenty of experiments involving taking parts of the body before, so I’m preparing something different this time.”

Rondun waved his hand, and Rosalie’s body floated into the air. She tried to resist, but she couldn’t resist his power when she hadn’t eaten or slept properly.

“Come on, follow me~.”

Rondun led her to a large room. A massive magic circle, big enough to cover more than half the floor, was drawn there, surrounded by enormous life stones.

“It’s my first time trying this spell, but I’m going to separate your soul from your body.”

Rondun placed Rosalie in the center of the circle.

“Don’t worry. The circle will hold onto your soul.”

At his gesture, the circle began to glow, sparks flying from its edges.

“It might hurt a bit, but bear with it~.”

Rosalie convulsed as a bone-crushing pain radiated from the circle. She had endured pain before, but nothing like this—it was agony beyond anything she had ever experienced.

“Ugh.”

After what felt like an eternity, the light of the circle faded, and with it, the pain subsided.

“Wow, not a single scream. Impressive~.”

“Shut… up.”

Rosalie spat, blood tinging her saliva from clenching her teeth too hard to suppress her screams.

“Oh no, now I’ll have to redraw the circle. Well… I suppose it can’t be helped. Back to your cell for now.”

At Rondun’s command, Rosalie’s body was forced to rise. The renewed pain made her grit her teeth again, refusing to cry out.

Humming to himself, Rondun twirled as he approached her.

“You’re not hoping someone will come rescue you, are you?”

“Shut up. Don’t talk to me.”

Rosalie deliberately spat on the magic circle again. Rondun sighed, grumbling about how difficult she was as a test subject.

Back in her cell, Rosalie curled into a ball, still wracked with lingering pain. To distract herself, she muttered curses under her breath.

“De…rivis…”

In a moment of weakness, she found herself whispering the name of the one person who kept lingering in her thoughts.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

Tehard was in his lab as usual, poring over books for his research. He was beginning to seriously worry that his face might soon develop permanent frown lines from the constant stress.

“Please… just stop. I’m looking into it.”

Tehard was clearly exasperated. The three men had barged into his lab, demanding that he find information about the lab Rondun and his mentor used.

“Tehard, this is urgent.”

Erudit’s voice was filled with desperation. Tehard nodded, gesturing for him to calm down.

“Magician… please.”

Nathan said, bowing his head. Tehard widened his eyes in surprise. He hadn’t expected the man who had always approached him with hostility to bow his head.

“Please, Tehard.”

Erudit also bowed deeply. Seeing his friend bow made Tehard waver.

“I’ve sent a magical bird to the Tower. We should get a reply soon, but… the magicians there don’t exactly respond quickly…”

“Then keep sending them until they do.”

Derivis demanded, his tone authoritative.

Tehard shot Derivis a look that said, ‘Is this guy serious?’ It seemed like he assumed that everyone could unleash auror like a monster, just as he did. It was both infuriating and exasperating.

‘I’m just a normal magician, not some mana powerhouse! Sending repeated messages like that will drain my mana dry!’

But Tehard could tell that Derivis, clearly not in his right mind, wouldn’t care about such concerns. Given his current state, Derivis might very well storm the Tower if Tehard refused, sparking a conflict between the Misha Empire and the Tower—a disaster Tehard wanted to avoid.

“Haa… Erudit, please call my mentor if I collapse from mana exhaustion.”

He had no choice but to comply, feeling the weight of three pairs of eyes on him. He began drawing on his mana, feeling as if he were wringing out his very soul. If he died from this, he’d be the laughingstock of the Tower.

Please don’t let that happen, he prayed.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

“Ugh, why isn’t this working?”

Rondun muttered as he rubbed his chin, looking down at Rosalie, who lay collapsed within the magic circle. The circle had seemed perfect, but the results were far from satisfying.

“There must be something wrong. Is it because of this restraint?”

He tapped the bracelet around Rosalie’s wrist. She remained motionless despite his touch, seemingly completely drained.

“Let’s try taking it off, just in case. She doesn’t seem to have the strength to resist anymore.”

With that, Rondun grasped the bracelet. A glow emanated from his hand, and with a clink, the bracelet fell away from Rosalie’s pale wrist.

“Hey, Duchess… Ugh!”

It happened in an instant. As Rondun bent closer, Rosalie suddenly drove her fist into his chin. The impact was so strong that he bit down hard on his tongue, making him stagger back while clutching his mouth.

As he hurriedly cast a healing spell on his injured tongue, Rosalie seized the opportunity and bolted.

‘I don’t have the strength to fight, and I don’t even have a weapon.’

Rosalie pushed herself to the limit, sprinting down the labyrinthine corridors. Then, she skidded to a stop.

‘I can’t head straight for the door. He’ll be guarding it.’

She slipped into a random room and quickly scanned her surroundings. Through a window, she saw the night sky.

Unlike the place where she’d been held, this room had a window. She rushed to it and peered down.

“About five stories high…”

She quickly pulled her head back in and searched the room. There was no rope, but…

‘This will have to do.’

Rosalie tied together every curtain, sheet, and piece of fabric she could find. Then, she secured the long makeshift rope to the heavy bedpost.

“Thank goodness for all that rappel training.”

She grabbed the makeshift rope tightly and threw herself out the window, descending rapidly until her feet touched the ground.

Then, without hesitation, she ran again. But her body, already at its limits, began to betray her—her breath came in ragged gasps, and her vision blurred.

‘…Damn it, just a little further! Come on!’

“Ugh!”

She stumbled and looked down at her foot. It had been scratched by debris on the ground—not a deep wound, but enough to draw blood.

“I was completely fooled. You’re quite the actress, Duchess!”

Rosalie’s head snapped up to find Rondun standing before her.

“But you shouldn’t have done that. Now, I’m really angry. Even without a leg, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem for the experiment, right?”

Rondun’s killing intent and mana radiated out, and Rosalie responded with her own auror. However, she knew her strength was nearly gone—her body was at its breaking point.

Rondun, noticing her fading auror, hummed a taunting tune as he slowly approached.

Rosalie clenched her teeth, watching him draw closer.

“The moment you try to take my leg, I’ll break your neck.”

“Haha, I’m truly sorry it has come to this, but… Aagh!”

Just as Rondun reached out, his arm was severed in one swift motion. He screamed in pain, clutching the stump where his arm had been.

Then, Rosalie felt a familiar arm wrap around her shoulders.

“Derivis…”

Derivis lowered his head as he shook the blood off his sword, his other hand still resting on Rosalie’s shoulder.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“…I’ve been waiting.”

“Rosalie~ I’m here too.”

Nathan appeared, waving his hand as he stepped in front of them. Rosalie let out a small, relieved laugh and nodded.