TMLHGCFTV 23

Chapter 23

The monsters had finally been completely wiped out by the time dawn began to break. Kael blinked his stiff, tired eyes and turned his head.

At some point, he’d simply stopped having the energy to worry about Rosanna. Just keeping the exhausted knights moving and encouraging them onward had been difficult enough.

All that remained at the battlefield was an eerie silence.

Kael couldn’t help wondering if some of the blood pooling on the ground belonged to Rosanna. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Fortunately, none of the knights had suffered any serious injuries. They were all exhausted, but they were still standing firmly on their own two feet.

That alone was enough to call tonight a success.

Millers approached and reported,

“Your Highness, we’ve assessed the casualties. There are only a few lightly injured. No one was killed.”

“Good work.”

Kael answered briefly before turning his gaze back toward Rosanna.

The moment he turned completely around—

“It’s over, Your Highness. We won, right?”

Rosanna broke into a radiant smile.

It was brighter than the rising sun.

Kael frowned slightly. His eyes almost seemed to sting from looking at her. Bathed in the first light of dawn, Rosanna herself seemed to be glowing.

“I protected your back, Your Highness.”

Rosanna spoke proudly.

There were scratches on her face that Kael hadn’t noticed before, and her arms and legs were covered in small cuts.

Yet despite being covered in dirt and wounds, Rosanna was standing behind him.

While he had charged forward without stopping, she had run alongside him, protecting his back the entire time.

Almost as if it had become a habit, Kael’s stern expression softened.

“Yes. You did.”

Kael ran a hand through his hair.

He didn’t know what this strange feeling blooming inside his chest was.

But one thing was certain.

He was looking at her with completely different eyes now, and the feelings stirring within him were unlike anything he’d felt before.

They were hot, passionate, and dazzling.

While the battle continued, the camp was far quieter than usual.

Most of the knights had followed Kael and Rosanna into the forest, leaving behind only the elderly and infirm, the clergy, cooks, maids, and children.

The remaining knights guarded the tent where the children had been gathered. The priests stayed nearby as well, while Vanessa spent the entire night wide awake, looking after Lilia and the other children.

Before Rosanna had left, she’d repeatedly reminded her of one thing.

‘If anything happens, please take good care of the children.’

Those words kept echoing in Vanessa’s ears.

She wanted to believe nothing would happen, but for some reason, she couldn’t shake the uneasiness in her chest.

‘Why are you asking me to look after the children when there’s nothing I can do, Lady Rosanna?!’

‘From now on, call me Rosanna, Vanessa. And you’re capable of much more than you think. Unlike before, you can even hold a sword now.’

Vanessa had been completely swayed by those words.

Yes.

She had been completely swayed by them…

Rosanna was a strange person.

Even when she did nothing at all, she somehow drew people toward her. Whenever Vanessa was around her, she sometimes felt as though everything would work out exactly as Rosanna said it would.

It was almost like being under a spell.

Yes. Everything will be fine here.

That was what Vanessa had been telling herself when—

Crack.

The sound of a tree breaking came from somewhere nearby.

Her heart dropped.

“I heard something strange.”

One of the children spoke in a frightened voice.

Vanessa hurried toward the entrance of the tent and looked outside.

And then she saw it.

Her breath caught in her throat.

A dark-red body, as though it had swallowed the moonlight itself, gleamed in the darkness.

Eight eyes were fixed directly on where Lilia stood.

Vanessa sucked in a sharp breath.

Why is that thing here?

Weren’t they supposed to be kept away from the camp?

“We have to protect the Saint!”

Vanessa wasn’t the only one who had seen it.

One of the priests cried out in a shrill voice, but his body had already frozen in terror.

Everyone was the same.

Vanessa was trembling as well when a small hand suddenly grabbed the hem of her clothes.

“Vanessa.”

It was Lilia.

Her face was filled with fear, but her eyes remained clear and focused.

Seeing her like that suddenly reminded Vanessa of Rosanna.

If it were Rosanna, she would never run away at a moment like this.

She would stand her ground and fight.

But Vanessa wasn’t Rosanna.

If she couldn’t fight, then she had to find something else she could do.

That was all.

She simply had to do what she was capable of.

Vanessa clenched her trembling hand into a fist.

The children immediately covered their mouths and lowered themselves.

Not a single child screamed.

Not one ran outside.

Thankfully, they understood Vanessa’s signal.

Think, Vanessa.

You’re the only one who can lead them right now.

She looked around.

There wasn’t a single person here who could properly fight.

The commotion had started near the outskirts of the camp, so the remaining knights and soldiers had already rushed there.

The one thing in their favor was that, following Kael’s orders, most of the noncombatants who had remained in the camp had gathered inside this tent.

Vanessa took a deep breath.

The adults would have to take care of themselves.

Her only job was to protect the children.

Crack!

The sound of canvas being torn apart came from outside.

Vanessa carefully lifted the edge of the tent and peered out.

The sight before her sent a chill down her spine.

There was no way a single layer of canvas could stop that enormous foreleg.

Vanessa raised two fingers toward the children.

Left.

The children’s eyes widened.

But not one of them questioned her.

Vanessa moved toward the back of the tent and carefully lifted the canvas.

A tall boy crawled out first. He looked around behind the tent, then gave them a signal that it was safe.

The children lowered themselves and began slipping out in pairs.

“You should go with the children, too. Or stay here if you want.”

The people remaining inside the tent exchanged nervous glances before cautiously making their way outside.

Vanessa was the last one to leave.

Together, they crawled toward the supply area, where rows of carts had been lined up.

“Everyone, gather here. Don’t make a sound.”

At Vanessa’s whisper, the children squeezed themselves beneath the carts.

Then a low voice came from behind them.

“Hey, you need to get farther inside. Come on, kids. Hide deeper.”

Vanessa spun around in surprise.

It was an elderly cook.

He was holding a large kitchen knife in his hand, apparently having brought it out as his weapon.

Several maids, along with some coachmen and porters, stood awkwardly behind him.

They must have been unable to sleep because of the commotion and had come outside to see what was happening.

“What… what should we do? All the knights went into the forest…”

“They’ll probably be gone for quite a while.”

The cook swallowed nervously.

Another sound of tearing canvas echoed from somewhere in the distance.

“That thing seems to be looking for something. It isn’t just smashing things. It’s searching through them, too.”

The cook narrowed his eyes as he muttered.

“What about running? If we take the children into the forest…”

“Look at those legs. That thing’s probably twice as fast as we are. If we turn our backs and run, won’t it just catch us and eat us?”

Vanessa’s face turned pale.

They couldn’t run.

They couldn’t hide.

Then there was only one option left.

“…Do we have to fight?”

The words had barely left her mouth when Vanessa immediately covered it with both hands.

Had Rosanna’s influence rubbed off on her?

She was actually suggesting that they fight.

Was that even remotely possible?

But no one laughed at her.

Vanessa hurriedly looked around.

Think, Vanessa.

Think about what Rosanna would do.

She gritted her teeth.

The pressure of having to reach a conclusion in such a short amount of time weighed heavily on her.

Then, suddenly, she remembered something Rosanna had told her.

‘If nothing else works, set it on fire, Vanessa. No matter how much of a monster it is, it’ll still burn.’

The voice from her memory felt almost as though it were handing her the answer.

Vanessa spoke in a trembling voice.

“T-There… The space between those carts is narrow. If we lure it in there, it won’t be able to spread its legs properly. Then we could pour oil over it and… set it on fire?”

Vanessa herself was startled by the idea she’d just come up with.

The cook broke into a grin and nodded.

“That’s a good idea.”