1. Even Pretty Shoes Can Become Weapons (part 2)

“Your Majesty?”

Lord Digory looked puzzled at the Emperor who had suddenly stopped and followed his gaze.

When he also began looking at her following the Emperor, Marcella was startled. Arthur Digory’s face looked demonic for a moment.

Had she done something wrong? Was it because she kept making eye contact with the Emperor?

“Brother-in-law, do you know His Majesty?”

“His Majesty? I greet him every year, but I don’t know if he remembers my name.”

“Then why does it seem like he’s coming this way?”

Teon looked around and grabbed Marcella’s arm, moving her aside.

“Duke Digory is behind us. He must have business with him. It’s okay, sister-in-law. Just stay still.”

When Teon reassured Marcella, she nodded and exhaled.

When their eyes met, she was surprised, but it was probably just her imagination that their eyes met at all.

The Emperor had made eye contact with Duke Digory, and she, who happened to be in between, had nothing to do with it.

Marcella stepped aside as Teon instructed so as not to block the Emperor’s path to Duke Digory.

But the person who should have passed by didn’t, and the Emperor stopped. So he did have business with brother-in-law.

Marcella moved her feet to get farther from Teon. Then the Emperor’s gaze followed Marcella.

When Marcella moved two more steps to the side, the Emperor actually moved his feet and stood in front of her. By this point, sweat began to form on Marcella’s forehead.

“Marcella.”

The Emperor called Marcella’s name.

Marcella, who never expected her name to come from his lips, was so surprised that she choked even though she hadn’t eaten anything.

When her dry cough wouldn’t stop, Teon patted her back. The Emperor quietly looked down at her until her coughing stopped.

“I seem to have been mistaken about something.”

When the Emperor spoke again to Marcella, who had barely stopped coughing, she began to cough lightly again. What? What exactly had he been mistaken about?

Marcella fell into deeper confusion at his words, which lacked an object.

“Why do you look so surprised?”

Because you’re talking to me and you know my name.

Marcella couldn’t voice her true thoughts and glanced at the Emperor who was tilting his head. He didn’t seem angry, but he didn’t look pleased either.

Meanwhile, Lord Digory behind the Emperor was busy moving his eyes back and forth between the Emperor and Marcella with a serious expression.

“Weren’t you the one who told me to wait at the imperial palace?”

“What?”

Marcella, who had been trying to keep her mouth shut and listen to what he was saying, let out a sound without realizing it. I did that? That’s impossible. I met you for the first time today.

“Since you made a promise, I should keep it.”

“A promise…?”

Marcella still didn’t understand what he was saying. A promise. When did I ever make a ‘promise’ with the Emperor?

“I’m sorry, but might you be mistaking me for someone else…”

“Marcella Morris, you’re correct.”

The Emperor was certain.

Marcella frantically searched her memory, trying to recall any promise she had made in the past.

“Ah!”

When Marcella suddenly remembered something from three years ago and cried out, the Emperor tilted his head.

“It looks like the weather won’t be good today.”

Though the maid said so, it was a bright day without a single drop of rain.

Marcella walked, swinging her basket back and forth.

She had already been walking for twenty minutes since leaving Morris Castle, and though the pace was quite fast and should have been tiring, Marcella was in a good mood. She hummed and even spun around by herself.

There were many edible mushrooms to be found at this time. For her, who loved mushrooms, this was truly a golden time.

As soon as she entered the mountain entrance, she saw many mushrooms as expected.

They were paralysis mushrooms that would numb your tongue if eaten, and in severe cases, paralyze your arms and legs for three days. It was truly vicious how such dangerous mushrooms grew in such visible places.

Marcella shuddered as she recalled the memory of accidentally eating those mushrooms. How much she had suffered then. It was a memory she didn’t want to recall.

Marcella left the paralysis mushrooms behind and went deeper in search of edible mushrooms.

They should be around here somewhere. Recalling her memory, Marcella gradually strayed from the path people usually took.

“Found them!”

After wandering around for a while, Marcella discovered a colony of lemon mushrooms that were popular for their fresh lemon scent when grilled. Seeing so many, she could eat lemon mushrooms to her heart’s content for a while.

She excitedly hummed and began picking mushrooms.

“Mushrooms taste good. Lemon-scented mushrooms taste good. Which mushroom should I pick first?”

Marcella picked the largest mushroom and held it up to the sunlight, smacking her lips. Even though it wasn’t grilled yet, her mouth was already watering.

Just as Marcella carefully placed the mushroom deep in her basket and reached for another lemon mushroom, she heard a strange sound.

Marcella raised her head and looked around.

“Must be my imagination.”

Though puzzled, when she turned her attention back to the mushrooms, this time she clearly heard a sound.

—Aaaaah!

It was a man’s scream.

Marcella flinched in surprise. Thud, something fell to the ground.

Sweat began to form on Marcella’s forehead as she hesitated. She felt like the blood in her arms and legs was drying up instantly.

The man’s desperate screams continued.

Marcella’s legs moved toward where the sound was coming from.

What should I do? Did someone fall down? Can I help? What if it’s a demon beast?

When her thoughts reached that point, Marcella’s running legs hesitated.

Ten years ago, how many people had Morris lost trying to defeat the demon beast that appeared in the mountains? Too many to count by hand.

Would it be any use for her to go help against the demon beast they had barely killed after such great sacrifice?

She might just lose her life without being any help at all.

Marcella’s legs trembled.

‘Marcella, Morris is our land, so we Morris people must protect it.’

Even her always strong and wonderful sister’s words didn’t provide much comfort now.

As someone born in Morris, as a Morris person, it was her duty to protect this land and its people. But with what power?

Marcella bit her lips hard and struggled to move her unwilling legs.

—Uwaaaah!

The man’s scream was heard again.

Marcella groaned and barely moved her legs. Once she started moving, her legs didn’t stop running.

There hadn’t been even a shadow of a demon beast in Morris territory since that one ten years ago.

“So it’s probably not a demon beast. No.”

Marcella muttered. But what if it really was a demon beast?

She was only fourteen, and didn’t have the strength to escape from a demon beast with a man. Though she had magic power, she was just an Inferior, too embarrassing to even call herself a mage.

The only magic she was good at was lighting candles!

Still, Marcella didn’t stop running. She couldn’t stop.

Though fear made her hands and feet feel cold, she was Marcella Morris, the proud younger sister of Count Morris who ruled this place.

So…

Marcella’s legs, stretched with all her might to shake off fear, caught on a tree root and she fell.

“Ahh…!”

As Marcella rolled on the ground in pain, something landed in front of her with a thud.

Even without raising her head, she could tell. This wasn’t a sound a human would make. It wasn’t an aura a human could emit.

Marcella’s jaw trembled with fear. A beast’s growl was directed at her.

All the courage Marcella could muster was to raise her head.

A lion. At first glance, it resembled the lions she had seen in books. But Marcella knew this was definitely not an ordinary lion. An ordinary lion wouldn’t be surrounded by magic power.

Its large, sharp teeth were stained with blood, and its claws gripping the ground looked ready to tear her apart at any moment.

The beast’s flashing purple eyes glared at Marcella, then glared behind her.

“Isn’t it time to stop now?”

Marcella was surprised by a man’s voice pushing through the bushes behind her and turned her head. It was a boy who appeared to be her age.

The boy, who was brushing leaves off his black hair, discovered Marcella fallen on the ground and quietly looked down at her for a moment.

—Shut up! You’re just a human!

When the demon beast shouted, the boy’s eyes moved from Marcella to the demon beast.

He moved his steps toward the demon beast without hesitation, and with each step, vivid blood dripped from the sword he was holding.

Marcella felt her heart grow colder than when she had seen the demon beast. To think that a human was more frightening than a demon beast.

Marcella couldn’t fathom the boy’s identity.

Her sister was an excellent mage. She was so strong that Marcella, an Inferior, couldn’t even dream of reaching her level. But this person was different from even her sister.

Faced with such an overwhelming difference in power, Marcella’s whole body trembled.

A large shadow fell over Marcella as she trembled in fear. When her eyes slowly confirmed the being that cast the shadow, a scream burst from her mouth.

“Kyaaaaa…! Ahh…”

But before that scream could finish, the boy’s sword cut off the demon beast’s front paw.

Marcella was so surprised that no more sound came out. It was difficult to understand exactly what was happening before her eyes.

Every time the boy swung his sword, the wind he created made her hair whip around as if caught in a gale.

—Uwaaaah!

Only then did Marcella realize that the screams she had heard were from the demon beast, not a human. It wasn’t a human, a villager being attacked by a demon beast.

Marcella was relieved that it wasn’t the worst situation she had imagined. But at this rate, she might get caught up in it too.

Gradually regaining her senses and reason, Marcella thought the boy was a demon beast hunter. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be fighting the demon beast so unhesitatingly.

Not wanting to die by getting caught up in a fight between a demon beast and a demon beast hunter, Marcella staggered to her feet to survive.

Due to the wind created by the boy and the demon beast, Marcella could barely keep her eyes open.

When she barely squinted and checked, her guilt about trying to abandon the boy and run away disappeared.

Seeing blood dripping from the demon beast’s mane made it look pitiful. It felt like a lie that she had felt fear toward the demon beast until just moments ago.

‘Poor thing.’ The moment she thought that, the beast’s eyes turned to Marcella. Thinking her thoughts had come out of her mouth for a moment, Marcella gasped, and the demon beast charged at her.

Marcella panicked and fell down again.

She instinctively covered her head with her arms and squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of dying.