I Became the Substitute for the Runaway Heroine - Chapter 63

‘Someone definitely silenced the Count by staging his death as a suicide.’

Could it have been Marquis Lansford, the Crown Princess’s father?

In the original story, the latter part turned into a palace intrigue drama, and now Odette regretted having skimmed through it with half-closed eyes.

Even so, she remembered Lansford’s name clearly because as they neared Demuna, his family crest—a white wolf—was stamped everywhere.

On horse flanks, on carriages, on the awnings of shops selling food, even on the shoulders of the guards standing watch.

“Lady Odette, I’ve sent off the luggage.”

As usual, Jacques had dispatched more bags to disperse Odette’s divine power.

He also brought information that Odette and Emma hadn’t heard.

“They say the Count’s funeral is already over. They didn’t even investigate whether it was suicide or murder—just buried the body immediately. But there’s something even more disturbing.”

“What is it?”

At Odette’s question, Jacques wet his lips before replying.

“Eric Anderson has gone missing—due to a landslide.”

“…What?”

Eric—a landslide? How? Where?

The plot had gone completely off the rails, and Odette couldn’t imagine how it would end.

But more absurd than anything was the fact that Caesar had been appearing in her dreams every single night.

“You’re going to Demuna?”

Caesar spoke as he snapped a twig into the campfire.

Odette, chewing on a perfectly grilled skewer, lifted her head.

‘What…?’

Why was she sitting beside a campfire with Caesar?

She tossed the half-eaten skewer aside and sprang to her feet.

Only the area around the fire was lit—beyond the glow, nothing but darkness.

“Where is this?”

“My estate.”

“Why do you keep showing up in my dreams? I finally escaped, and now this?”

All she wanted was to live without ever seeing him again. And yet, every night he appeared—in all sorts of situations.

Last night, they had even danced together at a party.

“I didn’t pull you in. You came on your own.”

“No way! I haven’t thought about you for even one second!”

Crack! The twig in Caesar’s hand snapped with force.

“I think of you every moment—your scent, your voice, the softness of your cheek…”

His gaze slid across her face, resting on her cheek.

That naked desire in his eyes made Odette uneasy.

“I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

“…Demuna is dangerous.”

“Seriously? What does it matter where I go? And how do you even know I’m heading to Demuna?”

“We see the same things now. We’ve become one—you can’t separate from me.”

If that were true, there’d be no point in running anymore.

As she glared at him, breathing heavily, Caesar smiled.

“Want to break the bond? Then kill me.”

Always with the terrifying lines!

She narrowed her eyes to glare at him—but he vanished without a trace.

“Wha—? Where’d he go?”

Inside the carriage to Demuna, Odette abruptly jerked upright.

“Gasp!”

“Nightmare?”

Emma looked up from her embroidery, startled by Odette’s muttering.

“Yeah… Even if I moved to a warm southern country, with three puppies and a handsome man—I don’t think I’d be happy.”

“Why not?”

Because a certain man would still be living inside her head.

Groaning, Odette clutched her head.

Maybe if she obtained the Saint’s Staff, she could force Caesar out of her mind.

She prayed it would work.

“Miss, please step back from the window.”

Jacques, riding beside the carriage, rode up to Odette’s side and warned her.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“When we borrowed this carriage and horses from the village, they warned us that bandits often appear in this forest. They said if the bandits’ spies spot someone wealthy, they send up smoke signals. Look over there.”

Jacques pointed to a thin white smoke trail, rising unnaturally from the trees.

“That does look suspicious.”

“If we’re ambushed, I’ve already told the driver not to stop—just ride hard. I’ll take care of anyone who follows us, so don’t worry.”

“…Jacques, I can fight too. I’m not some helpless girl.”

“But if you use divine power… it’ll leave a trace.”

“…Right.”

“Crushing cliffs to slow them down may buy us time, but if anyone looks at a map, they’ll easily trace Lady Odette’s path.”

From Hoan District to Demuna, their route overlapped perfectly on the map. The same image formed clearly in Odette’s mind.

“You’re right. I should keep a low—Wait! Jacques!”

The moment her instincts screamed danger, Odette shoved Jacques aside and thrust her hand out.

Swish! Thud!

An arrow grazed Jacques’s cheek and slammed into the carriage window frame—just as a surge of divine power exploded from Odette’s fingertips.

CRACK!

A brilliant flash lit the forest like lightning, and a roaring wind erupted.

For an instant, time seemed to freeze.

Then—something impossible happened. Arrows in mid-flight twisted violently, redirecting their deadly paths.

“Argh!”

“Ugh!”

The arrows flew backward, sinking into the very archers who had loosed them. Bandits perched in trees dropped like autumn leaves, pierced by their own weapons.

‘What… what did I just do?’

Odette stared, stunned, as chaos unfolded.

“Hyah! Hyah!”

The coachman lashed the reins, forcing the horses to charge forward.

But a scream ripped through the wind.

“There’s a trap ahead! Hold tight—Argh!”

Between two trees, a steel wire stretched taut, ready to trip the horses and send the carriage crashing.

“Damn it!”

Odette thrust her hand out the window again. A surge of divine energy pulsed outward.

The wire snapped violently backward, stretched to its limit—POP!—then shattered into fragments like brittle glass.

As she glanced behind, the forest was eerily silent.

“Jacques… the bandits—they’re gone.”

“What? You’re right. They’ve all vanished! They must’ve run away. My lady, that was… incredible. Wait—look over there!”

BOOM! One of the trees exploded in a blast of flame, engulfed in fire.

‘Did I… set that on fire… with divine power?’

Odette stared at her trembling hands, disbelief written across her face. Her gaze flicked between her palms as if seeing them for the first time.

She didn’t know that, from atop a distant hill, Caesar was watching everything—eyes locked on her, unwavering.

“My lord, what shall we do with the remaining bandits?”

“Kill them.”

“Yes, sir.”

To prevent the bandits from pursuing Odette’s carriage, Caesar’s knights felled trees and set fires along the path.

Driven into confusion and panic, the bandits were herded toward a cliff. Aden charged in, blade drawn.

“Leave none alive! Kill them all!”

Meanwhile, Caesar turned his horse toward the village Odette had left behind.

Her destination: Demuna.

He could sense what she was after.

And if she succeeded in claiming it… it would mean she had accepted her fate.

‘Didn’t you say you wanted to escape this Empire? Or do you have no idea what that Saint’s Staff really is?’

The woman who might have the answer—Odette—was slipping further from his reach.

“I won’t let you go.”

With a sharp command, Caesar drove his heels into the horse’s flank and surged forward.

Late that night, the air stirred faintly—like a butterfly’s wing brushing against the terrace.

The movement was so subtle, even Jacques, with his honed senses, didn’t notice.

The door creaked open without a sound. A tall figure slipped through, his presence blending into the darkness.

‘Odette… I’m here.’

Bathed in moonlight, the man’s silhouette was dark and still as a shadow.

It was Caesar.

The sky was overcast, the moon faint—but Odette’s body glowed faintly with ethereal light, her divine power intensifying in the still of night.

Silently, Caesar approached her slumbering form, draping a cloak over her.

She had likely dozed off wearing it, but in sleep, she must have kicked it off.

‘She really does toss and turn…’

He had come to hold her—to draw from her divine energy.

But as he gazed upon her, peaceful and vulnerable in deep sleep, a different impulse took over.

His instincts screamed danger.

He wanted to hold her.

He wanted to possess her.

Suppressing the fiery urge to touch her, feel her warmth—it suffocated him. His chest tightened.

Breathing became difficult. The temptation to give in and pull her closer, it clawed at him with merciless force.

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