It Turned Out She Wasn't a Favored Concubine - Episode 67

Grrrrrrr

A beast’s groan, like phlegm bubbling in its throat, began to echo from all directions. My hair stood on end. I slowly rolled my eyes left and right—and I saw it clearly. Yellow eyes gleamed in the dark forest.

Foolish. The wolf wasn’t alone. I had been so drunk on the joy of surviving that I’d forgotten that crucial fact.

“G-Giscal.”

Giscal, who had been staring into the dark forest, didn’t turn around. Instead, he lowered the hand that had been covering my mouth. That hand slid down my shoulder and wrapped around my waist, pulling me close.

“Don’t ever leave my side.”

It was a command, but also a desperate plea. I didn’t resist and stayed close to him. The wolves’ yellow eyes grew larger and brighter, and eventually, several of them revealed themselves under the moonlight.

“Ah!”

I let out a thin scream at the sight of the gray wolf in front of us. It was the same one. The wolf I’d encountered the moment I was teleported into the empty forest. It must have regained consciousness and tracked me here. Or perhaps it had summoned the rest of the pack.

“What’s wrong?”

“That gray wolf in front—I ran into it right after teleporting. Well, more like I fell on top of it…”

“Right after teleporting?”

“Yeah, but luckily I was unconscious, so I managed to escape. But now…”

I don’t think I can run.

I swallowed the rest of my words. The wolves crept closer, step by step. Giscal raised his icy blue blade once more.

Five wolves revealed under the moonlight. No matter how skilled Giscal was—known as the empire’s greatest swordsman—he couldn’t possibly handle all five alone.

“If other knights are nearby searching, shouldn’t we call for help?”

“No. There’s no one. It’ll only provoke the wolves.”

“No one? Didn’t you teleport here through Motus?”

“…No. Right now, it’s just us here.”

Giscal didn’t give a clear answer, but I had assumed he’d used the Motus embedded in the black goblet to teleport. That meant other knights could have followed through the same Motus.

No matter how notorious Arne was, I was still the emperor’s concubine. Erich, who pretended to favor me, wouldn’t miss the chance to put on a rescue act. Besides, I still had value. I couldn’t make sense of the situation.

My last hope shattered. I swallowed hard and stared at the wolves, ready to pounce.

“I’m sorry.”

Giscal’s raised sword trembled.

“I survived thanks to you, but now you’re going to die because of me.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I was really grateful earlier. I felt like I’d truly been saved. But one miracle is enough. So… run.”

Giscal whipped around. His red eyes blazed fiercely.

“Don’t say something so absurd.”

“I can’t make it. My legs have given out—I can’t even run properly. But you can. You could take down one or two. I’m just a burden.”

“Arne!”

Giscal called my—Arne’s—name firmly but briefly. I exhaled deeply and shook my head.

“No.”

I denied it clearly.

“I’m not your sister.”

Giscal’s eyes wavered, like flames flickering in a strong wind. He looked uncharacteristically lost.

I took advantage of that moment and stepped in front of him. I was terrified, but I had already made up my mind. I couldn’t let him die because of me.

And though it was a thought I’d conjured to justify my fear of death earlier—if dying meant returning to my original world, then maybe it was what I wanted.

Of course, death was terrifying, and the chance of returning was uncertain.

“I’m not your real sister. But you let me live well in the marquis’ household. I’ll repay that kindness. Thank you for treating me so well. So…”

Since it might be the end, I revealed everything. A double confession. That Arne wasn’t a child of the Edelheit family—and that the soul inside Arne’s body was mine.

Of course, Giscal would only understand the first part.

“Wh—!”

Giscal gasped. He always wore a composed, expressionless face, so I was curious how he’d look surprised. It was a shocking revelation, after all.

But his next words stunned me instead.

“I knew.”

He spoke in an eerily calm voice, as if he’d been waiting for this moment—even in the face of death.

My assumptions crumbled. Giscal had already known Arne’s secret.

“What? Then…”

Since when? Did Arne know he knew? Questions piled up. But the wolves didn’t wait.

The gray wolf lunged at me. Its wide-open jaws drooled white saliva between jagged teeth.

Suddenly, the massive wolf’s body tilted unnaturally to the side.

“Duck!”

Though he’d been behind me, Giscal had somehow struck the lunging wolf with his sword’s sheath. It flew to the ground, and Giscal drove his icy blade deep into the wolf’s belly. Dark red blood flowed down the blade. But the wolf didn’t die instantly.

It raised a claw in a final frenzy and slashed Giskal’s waist.

“Ugh!”

Giscal collapsed. Blood poured from his mouth. Even then, he clutched his sword tightly. The wolf, groaning in its death throes, finally died.

But the real problem came next. The surrounding wolves charged at us. In that moment of helpless terror, Giscal shielded me and swung his sword wide. One wolf’s snout split in two. But another wolf sank its teeth into Giscal’s leg.

“Grrgh!”

“Giscal!”

He swung his sword with all his strength, stabbing the black wolf’s left eye. It writhed in pain and released his leg. But in the struggle, Giscal dropped his sword. A wolf with a dangling jaw rushed over and crushed it underfoot. The once-sharp blade was buried in the mud.

Now we had no way to fight back or defend ourselves. All that remained was Giscal, bleeding and groaning in pain, and me—my torn dress exposing bare skin.

We were nothing more than helpless prey.

“Guh… cough…”

Giscal coughed up more blood. My remaining clothes soaked in his blood. His red eyes dimmed.

“Giscal! Giscal!”

No matter how I called his name, he didn’t respond. Blood from his leg formed a small pool. The wound was too severe. He’d been injured saving me. Even knowing I wasn’t his real sister.

Why? How could he?

How could someone prioritize a stranger over their own life?

Why did he…

Tears welled up. The questions stopped. The wolves around us leapt forward, competing to tear into their prey.

This was different from the earlier brush with death. That time, I had a sliver of hope—maybe death would be an escape.

But now, it wasn’t just me. Giscal lay with his head on my lap. For him, death wasn’t an escape. It was the end. I couldn’t let him die. Not because of me.

No. Absolutely not.

At that moment, a mysterious light enveloped my body. Was the moonlight illuminating our final path?

My tear-blurred vision was a blessing. I bent over to shield Giscal. Our foreheads touched.

The last time we’d been this close was at the Edelheit estate.

The garden, the stairs, the lobby we’d walked together. A place of peace, far from threats to life. I closed my eyes, picturing it clearly.

Suddenly, the air changed. I had been in a cold, dark forest—like a graveyard where even moonlight couldn’t reach.

But now, the air felt different. Still chilly, but no harsh wind battered my body.

And most of all—I hadn’t felt the wolves’ claws tear into my flesh.

I jerked my head up. Blinked in disbelief. Shut my eyes tight and opened them again—but the unbelievable scene remained.

“What is this…”

My tearful voice sounded strange. I knew where I was. But how—how was I here?

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