Free Web NovelUnder Adolf’s arrangement, the swiftly moving convoy halted for a brief rest.
Muen exchanged a few polite words with the knight commander — a border count named Aelle Campo.
“Thank you for your help this time, Count Aelle.”
“No, the honor of serving you is mine.”
Though Aelle bore a noble title, every gesture revealed a soldier’s sharp discipline.
“This matter — the Campbell family will not forget it,” Muen said with a smile.
A flicker of excitement and fervor lit Aelle’s eyes, and his back straightened even more.
After some brief conversation, Muen went straight to the carriage where Liya was resting.
“Ahem, I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Adolf coughed meaningfully a few times, then swiftly pulled along a robed mage companion and departed.
In the spacious carriage, only Muen and Liya remained.
“What’s that old coot imagining now...”
Muen couldn’t help rolling his eyes.
He’d felt all along that Adolf had completely misunderstood something.
He and Liya’s relationship was pure!
“Besides, what’s there to ‘talk about’ like this? Am I supposed to monologue?”
His gaze swept across the dim interior, and he sighed quietly.
In the half-dark space, the girl lay silent as though in slumber — gone was her usual cuteness and shy liveliness.
The face that so often flushed pink now had no trace of color — so pale it was almost pitiful.
Muen sat down across from her.
Wisps of faint blue smoke drifted through the carriage, carrying a gentle fragrance — likely some herb for calming the nerves.
Through the haze, Muen looked at the girl’s delicate face.
And suddenly found himself with nothing to do.
He’d come to visit — but with her still unconscious, all he could really do was sit and look.
So his thoughts returned to that moment.
The girl who, even facing a Calamity, refused to retreat — fragile as a flower about to be torn apart by the storm, yet blooming with her own final beauty.
For someone timid by nature — how much courage and resolve did it take to stand against despair, knowing it was useless?
“Come to think of it...”
Muen propped his chin on one hand and muttered:
“I’d only planned to make you owe me a favor — so I could have you dissuade Ariel for me when the time came.
But who’d have thought... in the end, I’d be the one owing you more and more.”
What Liya had gone through — such suffering and danger — couldn’t be repaid by mere hundreds of thousands.
The thought made Muen smile bitterly.
“So then... how am I supposed to make it up to you?”
“Mm...”
“Hm?”
The soft sound made him instinctively turn toward her.
But Liya had not woken.
Instead—
“Mm... no... I didn’t... I’m not like that...”
Her eyes stayed shut, her small body shifting under the thin blanket — sometimes tracing a startlingly graceful curve.
“Liya... isn’t that kind of girl... mm... Goddess... please... please believe Liya...”
“Talking in her sleep, huh.”
Muen blinked, face twisting oddly.
What kind of dream made her say that?
Had the ever-devout girl done something in a dream that made her feel guilty before her Goddess?
Muen felt a surge of curiosity.
Unfortunately, this world had no such thing as succubi — there was no way to peek into a maiden’s dreams.
Still...
“If she’s talking in her sleep, then she’s probably fine.”
Seeing the faint blush return to her face, Muen finally let out a long breath of relief.
“Rest well, Liya.”
He reached out to pull the blanket snug around her shoulders and turned to leave.
“Muen...”
His name suddenly emerged amid the string of sleep-talking murmurs — and Muen froze mid-step.
The world seemed to go still.
He turned his head, watching her cherry-like lips, soft and pink, waiting.
“I...”
But Liya’s lips only moved — and after that single syllable, no sound followed. freēwebnovel.com
Muen stood there like a wooden statue for a long time. Even after the girl’s furrowed brows relaxed back into peaceful stillness, no further words came.
“Miss Liya...”
Muen grimaced.
“You’re just like those damn hack authors who love ending chapters mid-sentence.”
Something swelled in his chest with nowhere to vent; he could only scratch his head roughly.
He couldn’t exactly shake her awake to ask what she’d wanted to say.
And even if he did, she probably wouldn’t remember anyway.
That’s what dreams were — infuriating little things.
“Ahh, if only I had a power to peek into a cute girl’s dreams...”
Not for indecent reasons, of course — just to teach a lesson to all those cursed cliffhangers!
Muen groaned in exaggerated despair.
Just then, the carriage gave a small jolt. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Regardless of the fact that he was currently alone with a defenseless beauty — with no effort at all he could... — the convoy resumed its swift pace.
“That old man...”
He didn’t have to think to know who had given the order.
Helpless, Muen sank back into his seat.
Bored, his gaze wandered again — and inevitably settled back on the girl’s face.
This wasn’t one of the Duke’s custom carriages, so it rattled and creaked.
Yet in that dim, cramped space, watching the face that seemed to brighten everything around it, Muen felt a calm steal over him.
“Really... she’s so cute.”
Round little face, long fluttering lashes, lips fresh and dewy like jelly.
Especially when she puffed her cheeks in anger — like a little pufferfish holding its breath — the level of cuteness was just...
“......”
Muen blinked, stopping his pointless murmuring, and quickly turned his eyes toward the window.
Through a gap in the curtain, scenery flew past in a blur.
“At this speed... we should be nearing the Holy City soon,” he whispered.
That would be the end of this road.
The future Saintess, rising to the throne with her childhood friend’s aid — and the Duke’s son destined to cling to princesses and seniors, living off scraps — their paths were never meant to cross.
Muen rested his chin on his hand, watching the ever-stranger landscape roll by.
He started feeling drowsy.
So he closed his eyes for a nap.
But suddenly, he opened them again — scanning around sharply, brows # Nоvеlight # knitting.
“Strange... even though all this is almost behind me... why do I feel like...
I’ve forgotten something?”
He rubbed his chin in thought.
“What did I forget?”
...
“Th—the Calamity!”
In the pitch-black space, Ariel hugged her arms tight, shivering hard.
“Wh-why? Why did the Calamity awaken?”
“I don’t know.”
Her teacher’s grave voice echoed beside her.
“But it shouldn’t have been after us.”
“That’s true...”
When the Calamity appeared nearby, Ariel had nearly died of fright. Even from several kilometers away, she’d felt that just a flick of its tail could erase her utterly.
Fortunately...
“Lucky for us, we found this cave to hide in.”
Ariel conjured a light spell and looked around.
The dark cave lacked the usual serpents and insects found in this forest — the silence was suffocating.
“Huh?”
Ariel gasped, startled.
“This cave... shows signs of being man-made!”
“It does not look natural.”
Her teacher’s senses spread out as well.
“And I feel faint traces of magical lines... this place isn’t ordinary.”
“Really?”
Ariel’s mind raced.
A man-made cave here, in a forest occupied by a Calamity — that couldn’t be simple.
She pressed deeper inside.
After passing through a narrow passage, the space ahead opened wide.
“This is...”
Light illuminated the interior. In the vast chamber stood a bronze gate carved with ancient runes and murals.
“An ancient ruin?”
Ariel’s eyes shone.
“It truly is an ancient ruin!”
Even her teacher’s voice betrayed excitement.
“Judging by the inscriptions and murals, this must be a relic left behind by a civilization or nation destroyed by a Calamity — containing their final legacy!”
Those words made Ariel’s breath hitch.
A civilization’s last inheritance... how priceless could that be?
But...
Ariel’s gaze flickered.
No — she had to...
“Wait.”
Her teacher’s voice came again.
“This gate... it’s been opened before.”
“What?”
Ariel froze.
Someone had beaten her to it?
Instinctively, she laid her hand on the bronze gate, senses spreading out—
“Hm?”
Her eyes went wide — as if in disbelief.
“This aura... it’s Liya! Yes, absolutely Liya!”
Her heart began to pound.
“Then Liya... was the one who opened it?”
“There are no other traces — likely so. And the timing matches as well.”
“So Liya entered this ancient ruin?”
“Almost certainly. Considering she was being hunted, entering and escaping through another exit would’ve been the wisest choice.”
Her teacher analyzed calmly.
“But that little girl Liya... I’m surprised. She managed to open this gate alone?”
“And I just happened to stumble upon it?”
Ariel clenched her fists, excitement lighting her face.
“See — there is an invisible bond between Liya and me!”
With her teacher’s help, she pushed the bronze gate open.
Beyond lay deep darkness — and her excitement turned to worry once more.
“Master... this place must be dangerous.”
“Of course. It’s an ancient ruin.”
“Then Liya...”
Ariel closed her eyes — picturing Liya, just out of one deadly chase only to end up alone and trembling in this terrifying ruin, helpless and pitiful.
At such a moment, what a girl longs for...
Is surely the arrival of a hero!
Handsome, brave, strong — one who can stand before her and block every storm!
“Wait for me, Liya!”
Ariel’s eyes snapped open, burning with fierce resolve. Without hesitation, she stepped into the boundless dark.
“I’m coming— to save you!”
