IQBSA 11

Chapter 11

It was Hazel.

“Thank you for helping me earlier!”

Hazel, who seemed to have run out in a hurry, caught her breath and continued.

“My mother is ill, and I only have young siblings at home. I’m the sole breadwinner for my family. If I hadn’t received my salary, I don’t know how we would have survived…”

Hazel bowed her head deeply and expressed her gratitude once more. Meanwhile, having suddenly been made privy to Hazel’s difficult circumstances, I felt at a loss for how to respond.

I had only acted because seeing her reminded me of my own difficult past and made me feel uneasy—I hadn’t done it to receive thanks, so I felt incredibly awkward.

After a moment’s hesitation, I spoke.

“I didn’t do it to help you. I really bought that dress because I liked it, so you don’t need to thank me so much.”

“Ah…”

Perhaps feeling embarrassed by my words, Hazel’s face flushed. She seemed to be the type whose emotions showed easily, given how often she turned red.

“Still… thank you!”

Despite my protests, Hazel bowed her head once more.

As expected, doing good deeds just didn’t suit my nature. Having done something so out of character, I felt embarrassed and had no idea how to handle the situation.

“You’ve thanked me enough, so you should head back inside. I have somewhere to be in a hurry, so… I’ll be going.”

Leaving a bewildered Hazel behind, I fled the scene and ducked into a shop across the street.

[Taste of Heaven.]

“Welcome! This is Taste of Heaven!”

I’d said I had somewhere urgent to be, and it turned out to be just a dessert shop.

If Hazel had seen me, what would she think… It would be awkward to run into her again, so I decided I’d have to find another dress shop.

‘Wow, that delicious smell.’

But I couldn’t just leave—the fragrant butter aroma filling the dessert shop was too tempting. Even though I’d already eaten, I felt a sudden pang of hunger.

“Might as well buy some treats since I’m here.”

The display case was lined with all kinds of desserts. Among them, the cakes decorated with an artisan’s touch especially caught my eye.

I was drawn to the display case and began carefully deliberating over which cake to buy.

They all looked so appetizing that I couldn’t decide easily. Just then, a clerk noticed me and approached.

“What would you like, customer?”

“Hmm…”

Just as I’d finally struggled to make a decision, a cake in the corner of the display case caught my eye. It looked like a lemon cake, with neat lemon slices arranged on top of the cream coating.

I never thought I’d say this in a dessert shop, but…

“Please wrap up everything from here to there.”

They all looked so delicious that I couldn’t pick just a few. So I decided to buy them all.

I could stock up at home and enjoy one whenever I needed a sugar fix—pure happiness.

“Oh, yes! I’ll wrap them up right away!”

The clerk, looking somewhat surprised, quickly began packaging the cakes with nimble hands. I gathered up the boxes of cake as they came out and left the dessert shop.

I’d bought new clothes and had my hands full of desserts. Now it finally felt like a real vacation.

‘Which flavor should I try first? Cheese? Chocolate?’

Lost in happy contemplation, I was cheerfully walking home when—

My earring hummed, vibrating against my ear.

‘…What’s this?’

Sensing something was wrong, I stopped walking and focused all my attention on the sensation coming from my ear.

I hadn’t run away alone, powerless as I was, without any preparation.

The earrings I was wearing weren’t ordinary accessories—they were artifacts that warned me of approaching malice.

If this artifact, which had a low sensitivity threshold and wouldn’t react to most threats, rang loudly enough to make my ears ring…

‘Strong killing intent.’

From what I’d read, that was the level required.

Who on earth was approaching me with such strong killing intent? My mind went blank. Then something whizzed past my shoulder at high speed and embedded itself in a tree right in front of me.

*Thunk—*

I stared wide-eyed at the sharp object lodged in the tree.

“…A knife?”

A chill ran down my spine. I quickly spun around, but the forest was silent, with no sign of anyone. Only the sound of birds fluttering through the dense trees could be heard.

As I held my breath and scanned my surroundings, a glinting object flew in from the distance again.

‘Again?’

Where did this reflexes come from? The moment I spotted the flying knife, I hurled the cake box I was holding in one hand.

*Thunk!* The sharp dagger pierced the center of the cake box, and the mutilated remains of the cake scattered everywhere.

‘Nice!’

I hadn’t expected it to work, so I inwardly cheered.

Thank goodness the cake was packed tightly in a thick box… Realizing this wasn’t the time to be celebrating, I kept my eyes forward and began slowly retreating.

Who was trying to kill me, and why? Only one person came to mind.

‘The Empress.’

When there were no further signs of attack for a while, I threw down the cake boxes I was carrying and grabbed the hem of my dress.

Then I quickly turned around and ran with all my might toward home.

“…!”

The long, trailing hem of the dress was incredibly cumbersome. On top of that, my tied-up hair came loose, and strands whipped wildly in the wind, obstructing my vision.

I couldn’t even tell if I was running in the right direction, but I didn’t stop.

After running for what felt like ages, I saw my house appear like a small dot in the distance, visible through the thick thicket.

‘Has my house always been this far?’

Today of all days, my house felt impossibly far away.

To be honest, until now, the fact that I’d been possessed hadn’t felt real. But now it hit me physically—my heart was pounding like crazy.

I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, then sprinted again at full speed.

Even as I ran, I kept checking behind me, worried another knife might fly at me. Then, suddenly, I collided with something as solid as a wall.

“Ah!”

I let out a short shriek as my legs gave way and I lost my balance. But just as I was about to fall backward, someone’s arm caught me with strong force and pulled me into their embrace.

At first, thinking it was an assassin, I struggled desperately, but then I heard a familiar low voice and stopped resisting.

“Serpine, it’s me.”

A warm body heat and a refreshing scent enveloped me. It was the cool, autumn-night-air-like scent that always came from the Magic Tower Master.

“…Roachin?”

Feeling strangely reassured, I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes.

Light filtering through the dense leaves illuminated Roachin’s face. His eyes, looking down at me quietly, were filled with clear bewilderment.

“Why did you suddenly pop out like that! You scared me.”

“Sorry. I was in a hurry to grab you.”

I sighed in relief and lowered my fist, only to freeze when I realized my hand had landed on Roachin’s chest.

“……”

Come to think of it, I was completely cradled in Roachin’s arms, close enough to feel each other’s breath.

With our bodies pressed tightly together and our eyes locked, I felt my face grow hot. I quickly turned my head and spoke in a shrinking voice.

“…Um, I think you can let me go now.”

“Ah.”

With a short hum, the arm firmly wrapped around my back loosened its strength and released me.

I quickly pulled away from Roachin’s embrace and stood on my own two feet. In the suddenly awkward atmosphere, I cleared my throat and asked.

“But Tower Master, what are you doing here?”

At my question, Roachin made a face that looked troubled.

“I happened to be in the area for work and… well, I was worried about a woman living alone, and also as a matter of supervising my subordinate? Just a quick visit?”

Roachin rambled uncharacteristically, gauging my reaction. I stared at him suspiciously with flounder-like eyes.

‘Work, my foot…’

What business could the Magic Tower Master possibly have in Erden Village? He’d clearly made up an excuse because he was embarrassed about coming back less than a day later.

Normally, I would’ve chided him for his lack of patience, but this time, I didn’t want to.

No matter how much of a mad dog of a boss he was, at this moment, having him by my side was incredibly reassuring.

“More importantly, why were you running here crying?”

Suddenly changing the subject, Roachin tilted his head to meet my eye level and asked.

“I wasn’t crying.”

“Wipe your tears before you talk.”

Roachin chuckled wryly and brushed his thumb across my eye. He held up his finger, and there was moisture on it, as if to say ‘See?’

‘Huh. He’s right.’

I’d thought he was exaggerating, but apparently, I’d shed a few tears without realizing it. Embarrassed, I sniffled and straightened my disheveled hair and clothes.

“Are you not going to tell me what happened?”

“Ah, well, the Empress…”

I started to tell Roachin all about the Empress’s atrocities, but then I trailed off and clamped my mouth shut.

Because I suddenly realized something didn’t add up.

‘Wait. The Empress sent an assassin after me?’

…Why?

I hadn’t done anything.

I’d fled before even properly seeing the request letter. Why would the Empress suddenly want to eliminate me?

No matter how much I thought about it, I had no grounds to conclusively pin the blame on the Empress. So I decided not to mention her prematurely and spoke again.

“I ran into an assassin.”

“…What?”

“I’m not sure who sent them yet, but on my way back from a short outing, a knife suddenly flew at me from behind…”

I pointed in the direction the knife had come from and roughly explained the situation. Roachin’s face gradually hardened, and he spoke in a heavy, low voice.

“Show me exactly where it happened.”

I retraced the path I’d taken while fleeing the assassin. And Roachin followed closely behind me.