I Wasn't Trying to Seduce with the Male Lead - Episode 102

“Things are really starting to go downhill.”

That was Sky’s observation as he watched the battle in the square through his lens.

Blaine, standing next to him, nodded in agreement and added, “I don’t think they’ll last another 30 minutes.”

Eleanor’s face was pale; she wasn’t accustomed to battle. The scene on the screen wasn’t a movie—it was real. There was no editing, and it was brutally raw. She couldn’t bear to watch and turned her head away. Sky placed a hand on her shoulder.

“This isn’t your fault.”

The quick-witted man preempted the words she was desperately trying not to think. While she knew it was true, a nagging sense of unease still lingered in her heart.

“It’s horrible,” she said.

“It is. And if we lose this fight, it’ll get even worse.”

Sky was right. As the two talked, Blaine shifted the lens to get a better view and said, “The reinforcements haven’t gotten through the city yet. It looks like everything will be over before they arrive.”

Despite the grim situation, the three of them didn’t look completely dejected.

“If we win inside the palace, we can turn everything around at once,” Sky muttered, adjusting the lens. He had gotten skilled at the controls and quickly found the scene he wanted. “There he is.”

At his quiet voice, Eleanor involuntarily swallowed. She brought her gaze to the lens, and soon, a close-up of Rian’s face appeared. He was expressionless as ever, but anyone who knew him well would have realized he was furious. In stark contrast to his dry lips, a fierce emotion blazed in his purple eyes.

“He looks like he’s about to kill someone,” Blaine, who knew Lian well, commented.

“Based on the ground, it looks like he’s already taken down quite a few.”

“He probably just knocked most of them out. They’re not particularly guilty.”

It went without saying that subduing so many people without killing them was far more difficult than simply taking their lives. As they watched Rian’s surroundings, they flinched at a carriage that appeared with terrifying speed.

“It’s here.”

It was clearly the princess’s carriage that had fled the square. The rage in Lian’s eyes seemed to be directed at her. The carriage, having spotted Lian belatedly, immediately turned and began to speed away. The guards escorting the carriage surrounded Lian to distract him from the chase.

“He can’t let her get away.”

“I don’t think he will,” Blaine immediately countered Eleanor’s anxious voice.

Losing the princess here would make everything incredibly difficult. However, the guards seemed to have lost their momentum, intimidated by the slaughter unfolding before their eyes. Their movements were passive, and coupled with the overwhelming skill gap, they couldn’t hold out. The guards fell like autumn leaves, moving at a speed that was barely visible to the naked eye. Still, there were quite a few of them, so the distance between Lian and the carriage widened.

“Where’s the Count’s horse?”

“He’s probably sent it somewhere nearby to avoid the battle.”

The princess was fleeing at almost full speed, and it looked as though she would disappear from sight by the time Rian found and mounted his horse, no matter how close it was.

“Though he probably won’t get on it right now,” Blaine added, as if reading her mind.

He won’t get on his horse? Eleanor’s question was short-lived. A stunning sight unfolded before her.

“A-are all knights like that?”

“Please don’t call that monster a knight.”

Even Blaine, who was relatively familiar with Rian’s abilities, sounded weary. He’d had a few opportunities to feel that Lian’s movements were out of the ordinary, but this was still shocking. With a single leap, Lian crossed half the garden. The next moment, he seemed to vanish, only to reappear beside the carriage. He had covered hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.

However, catching up didn’t immediately solve the problem.

“How is he going to stop that carriage?”

The special carriage, made to protect the princess, was large enough to hold over ten people, and its exterior looked incredibly strong. In contrast, Lian only had a thin, slender sword. His sword would likely break if it even touched the carriage, let alone tried to destroy it. Having seen such a feat, she didn’t think it was impossible, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it could be done.

“Ah!”

A gasp escaped her lips as she flinched at the thrilling scene. The fast-moving carriage lost its momentum with two swings of Lian’s sword.

Screeeech!

A fierce grinding sound echoed as a thick cloud of dust rose around the carriage. Soon, the ropes connected to the carriage had been severed neatly, and the axles had been sliced off.

The three of them held their breath, watching Lian’s next move. He calmly sheathed his sword, walked towards the carriage, and said, “Step out, Count.”

Eleanor swallowed. Count Zeppelin. He was the man who had arranged her meeting with Rian. His troubled expression from their meeting, when he had looked back at her several times, came back to her. At the time, she thought he was just overly cautious, but looking back now, it didn’t feel like he was just worried about failure. Perhaps he had foreseen a part of this situation.

“What is this, Sir Knight Commander? Attacking the carriage carrying Her Highness the Princess?” Zeppelin’s voice boomed through the device.

His protest was quickly met with a reply.

“Did you not see the Imperial family drawing their swords on the people?”

Though far from the square, Lian, with his highly developed senses, couldn’t have missed the battle. This was the man who had said he would cut out his own tongue without hesitation for the safety of the Imperial citizens instead of allowing power to go to Beatrix. The emotions he must be feeling in this situation were obvious.

“When you take someone’s life, you must be willing to risk your own. Every human being is like that.”

Lian, who had been lowering his sword, now raised it and aimed it at the carriage. His voice, filled with a burning fury, slipped through his teeth.

“I don’t want to have to drag you out. Please come out on your own.”

His purple eyes looked past Zeppelin and directly at the person inside the carriage. Just raising his sword was more chilling than any threat he could have made by swinging it.

Watching the scene, Blaine muttered nervously, “He remembers he’s not supposed to kill her, right?”

If the princess were to die, Sky, who was bound by the Oath of Subjugation, would also die. Rian’s bloodlust was so intense that it made Blaine wonder if he had forgotten that.

“He might be thinking of sending both of us annoying people off at once.”

“…That includes you, by the way,” Blaine said, shaking his head at Sky, who was speaking as if it were someone else’s problem. “That’s not a joke, he looks truly dangerous. You should have provoked him a little less.”

“Having seen the Count’s infuriated face, I’ll have no regrets in the next life.”

As the two talked, Eleanor, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the lens, spoke up. “The princess is getting out of the carriage.”

The princess’s shiny pink hair glistened as it caught the light. Someone inside seemed to try to stop her, but she pushed them away and slowly descended from the carriage. Her face was pale, as always, and her clothes, disheveled from the bumpy ride, made her look even more pathetic.

“Count…how, how could you turn your sword on me?” A deep sense of resentment was palpable in the princess’s voice. The genuine hatred in her tone was bone-chilling. In her mind, she was still the victim.

“There were several opportunities for us to back down,” Rian said, his voice unwavering, without lowering his sword. “I made my position clear, but it seems it never reached you.”

“I made my position clear, too! From the moment we met, I loved you, I never hid that feeling, and it never changed, not once!” The princess didn’t retreat from the sword out of fear; instead, she stepped forward, the words spilling out of her. “You were my destiny, and there was no one better for you than me. But you never even tried to listen to me! Did you have to make me so miserable? Look at this situation! Is this what you wanted, Count?”

Her shrill voice echoed, hurting their ears.

“All I did was love you! If that is truly my sin, then stab me with that sword! Go on, do it!” The princess tried to throw herself onto the sword. Her movement was dramatic and sorrowful, but it also felt like an exaggerated, calculated performance.

Lian took a small step back and frowned.

“If I could do that, I would have done it a long time ago,” he muttered under his breath.

The princess, who hadn’t seemed to hear him, asked, “What did you say?”

Instead of replying, Rian raised his sword. The princess flinched and took a step back.

Piiik!

With a tearing sound that sliced through the air, a huge arrow flew between the two of them. The three people, whose view had been too narrow to notice anyone approaching, were thrown into a panic. The arrow seemed to be aimed at Rian, but fortunately, it missed. More accurately, Lian, who wasn’t even looking in that direction, simply dodged it.

“Who is it?”

They quickly turned the lens and their eyes widened. A knight on a large, lavishly decorated golden carriage was aiming a crossbow. The owner of the carriage was obvious.

“How did the Emperor get here so fast?”

“Did he notice that Count Calabria was coming here?”

The door opened, and the Emperor stepped out of the carriage. He, along with the knights who had blocked their path, approached.

“Your Majesty!” The princess took advantage of the moment to run to the Emperor.

Lian didn’t seem to care that she was joining him; he didn’t move. He didn’t look surprised by the Emperor’s sudden appearance, either. Just like Lian, the Emperor was staring intently only at him.

“You’re a more serious monster than I ever expected. To think you would actually draw a sword on the Imperial family.” The Emperor’s voice was hoarse. “I should have never allowed you to be born.”

“Perhaps,” Lian agreed lightly before speaking. “Did you know of all the wrongs she committed?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“I’m deciding your punishment.”

At the arrogant words, the Emperor’s face contorted. How could a single man standing alone before the Emperor, who held the power of the world, be so confident? The unreal part was that his words didn’t sound ridiculous. The entire knight order seemed intimidated by the one man holding a sword.

“Even if the princess has committed a wrong, it is all because I misjudged you. I gave her this painful experience. I will not let her stand alone and face the people’s criticism.” The Emperor’s voice was resolute and firm.

“In that case, you must take responsibility.”

Confirming the unyielding light in the Emperor’s eyes, Lian didn’t speak further. As he raised his sword, the guards quickly surrounded the Emperor to protect him. However, the next thing they saw was only a flash of light created by the sword reflecting the sunlight.

“Aaaah! Your Majesty!” The princess’s scream echoed everywhere.

And very, very slowly, the Emperor’s body fell to the ground.

Support