Chapter 37
“Wife!”
Kylian jumped on his nearby horse and pulled the reins to chase Anais’s horse.
“Yah!”
He kicked the black horse to urge it forward and pulled its reins and ran in the direction that Anais disappeared to.
“Wife!”
“…Ah.”
His wife as he saw her was somehow unstable. Though she lost her memory, he thought that if her body remembered, she would be able to ride a horse.
But he consciously erased the thought, only hoping that she could somehow regain her memories so that she can be safe on her own. If Anais were to leave his side again— if she were to get injured beyond recovery… He would not be able to live
“Wife!”
“Kylian…”
Anais couldn’t even hold the horse’s reins properly and held them sloppily in her hands. She turned to Kylian anxiously. She was clearly crying, but her expression seemed to be forced somehow.
Kylian began to speed up to keep close to her horse. Anais’ horse ran through the sand without any control.
Even inside the indoor riding area, the interior was very spacious. It was often a place where jousting competitions were held, the place was so big that a horse could not easily reach the end even if it ran for a long time.
“Wife! Hold the reins properly!”
She tried to get the reins right, as he said.
“Tighten your thighs and keep pulling the reins!”
Anais wept and seemed to pull the reins, but the horse still did not slow down. Kylian felt a strong sense of alienation once again. She had great skill that’s comparable to his, and she kept her body in shape, but she couldn’t do anything as if she was unfamiliar with the motions. Her motor nerves should have been there, but it looked as if she was someone who didn’t know how to use them at all.
“Wife!”
“I’m, I’m scared…!”
As Kylian’s horse galloped at full speed, he pressed close to her. Anais looked at Kylian, who was within reach, and bit her lip.
“I will go over there.”
“What?”
When he said that, he got off his horse and climbed onto Anais’ horse.
“Kyaaak!”
The moment he got on, he slipped for a moment, and Anais stumbled as well. Her horse went limping too, like it was about to fall. However despite this, the horse did not buckle and continued to run only at reduced speed. The black horse that Kylian was riding collided with the white horse.
“Kylian!”
“Ugh!”
Kylian tried to position himself behind Anais, ignoring the sharp blow his leg sustained after getting sandwiched between the bodies of the two horses. He clutched the reins she was holding tightly and pulled them, then clamped his thighs around the horse’s midsection.
Then the horse, understanding the command, gradually slowed down and eventually stopped.
“Are you all right, Wife?”
“Kylian…”
He was worried about his wife, who was trembling in his arms, and his heart skipped a beat. His wife, who he had been waiting for her eyes to open, barely got up, and he was worried that something had gone wrong. So even after the horse stopped, he didn’t get off right away and held her.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
“…….”
“I am so glad.”
It was hard for Kylian to think, perhaps because of the fact that Anais might have gotten seriously injured. Then he calmed himself and cleared his mind. It didn’t matter if his wife couldn’t find her memories. Because just waking up was a miracle in itself.
Kylian pondered once again. That her memories don’t matter. If she couldn’t remember, he just needed to remember it all for her.
“I was afraid that something would go wrong with you.”
“…Kylian.”
Kylian leaned his head on her shoulder as if collapsing. Anais let go of the horse’s reins and stroked Kylian’s hair.
“I should try not to get hurt.”
“…….”
“Right, Kylian?”
Her words made him come to his senses for a moment and he raised his head. Then, what was reflected in his sun-like eyes was the smile of a strange woman smiling as if she was having fun. She was smiling as if everything she had just been afraid of was a lie. Her face is definitely the Anais he knows.
“Why am I being dragged away again?”
“…….”
“I passed out and had just woken up.”
Anais, who was still lost in Lilith’s body and woke up, looked miserable as she was being dragged away by the guards again. They had dragged her before, but she wondered where they were trying to take her away for this time.
“Can we go a little slower? I’m sick….”
The muttering Anais seemed a little uneasy, so the guards who were dragging her slowed their pace. Anais was really sick in this situation because her head was spinning and she felt like she had been beaten up.
However, the captain of the imperial guard, who was looking at the situation with a blunt face, told the knights,
“His Majesty said it was urgent.”
The guards had slowed down because they felt a bit of pity for her, but they walked briskly again and followed the captain who was leading the way.
Anais struggled to hold back the sigh. If she could look at Kylian, it would be better. There is a possibility of clearing up the misunderstanding by seeing him.
Anais stopped her thoughts and struggled to think as positively as possible. Because the last time was enough to drag her. She’s not even a sinner, but being dragged around like one doesn’t suit her character.
“Let go.”
“…….”
“I will walk on my own.”
At that, the captain turned around.
“Let her go.”
As Anais spoke with a commanding tone, the captain hesitated for a moment before telling the guards to let go. Anais began to walk, holding her chin up and standing upright, even though she was in pain. She wanted to walk on her own.
Anais had no memory of the time she was dead. Life may end just like falling asleep at some point. If so, she wanted to walk even when she was sick, and keep her eyes on the outside even when it was difficult.
When one dies, they either go to paradise or hell. She’s not allowed anywhere, so that’s why she had fallen asleep. Besides, she was lucky. Now she could see Kylian again.
“Why are you stopping? Let’s go.”
Anais straightened her shoulders and walked first. The captain was taken aback by the fact that she looked a little different from the saintess of Goddess Julias that he knew, but soon regained his composure.
It wasn’t the first time Lilith pretended to be Anais.
“If you’re going to act, do it right.”
“…….”
“Just don’t go against His Majesty’s wishes like last time, “ he warned Anais.
She was about to ask what he meant by that, but she stopped herself. The captain was Kylian’s retainer, and it was him who opened the gates of the imperial palace on the day of the coup. He wasn’t the kind of person who she would trust anyway, no matter what he said.
“Don’t sneak medicine to His Majesty.”
“…….”
“There’s no way you wouldn’t know that the painkillers from the Temple of Morphis have hallucinatory side effects.”
“…You are the one who recommended it. Did you forget?”
Anais also had to face up to the fact that no matter what she said, she would only lose.
“Really…”
“…….”
“You really are still stupid.”
Anais had to follow him with a wry smile.
The captain did not say another word the whole time they walked, but he did glance at her a few times. He tried to ignore the fact that his sense of knighthood was sending him signals that she wasn’t the Saintess Lilith that he knew.
It didn’t matter if that was real or not. The important thing is for Kylian to find stability and return to his original self.
The captain had no doubts that Kylian would become a competent monarch. That’s why he was convinced that if Kylian could reverse his unbearable loss which was the empress’ death, he would go down in history as an ideal emperor like he was now.
“What happened to Lewarren? I heard that His Majesty took him.”
“I am under no obligation to tell you.”
“He’s fine, right?”
“I am under no obligation to tell you.”
“Did he ever say anything about me?”
“I am under no obligation to tell you.”
The captain coldly continued walking without looking back at her. After a long walk, they arrived at Kylian’s room. Anais was so accustomed to this place that she didn’t even have to look to see where it was.
“If you’re going to use my divine energy anyway, you don’t need a living sacrifice, Your Majesty.”
In the room were women dressed as priests of death just like her, as well as men who must have been priests.
“I’m afraid you’ll run out of energy.”
Kylian glared at her, holding back his scorn.
“If you can’t heal my wife because you’re not strong enough, you’ll be held accountable.”
“As you know, I have a lot of energy. I don’t need other people’s energy.”
Anais smiled and looked at him. It was sheer bravado. Because she was barely standing upright.
She couldn’t help but feel guilty when she saw people kneeling on top of the magic circle. They were all innocent people. Even so, they were the ones who had been brought here to save her, and the fellow paladins were slaughtered mercilessly.
All of this happened because she didn’t behave properly as a villainess. It happened because of the desire to change the original novel and provoke Kylian.
“Then try it. If you don’t pass out until you’re healing my wife, I’ll send them back to the basement.”
“…….”
“If that’s not the case, I have no choice but to draw energy out by force.”
“Your Majesty.”
“…….”
“Why did you change like this?”
Anais looked at him with a blank face. But he couldn’t see her expression, perhaps because he thought that his wife had almost died just a moment ago. Just in front of him, there was only her who had deceived and humiliated him all this time. Only Lilith Isadora was standing there.
“Keep this in mind. If you fail, you will go on to drain their energy until they die.”
He said it as if he was trying to put the blame on her. Even so, he held his unconscious wife tightly in anxiety.
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