Chapter 73

“Move this first, quickly!”

“Clear the area! Make sure nothing falls!”

Inside, it was total chaos.

Those who had experience with childbirth tried to stay close to the mother, but the mother kept waving her hands frantically, clearly not wanting anyone near her.

The mother screamed in pain while others—presumably family—tried to hold people back from approaching her.

Some were feeding logs into the brazier to keep the house warm, while others fanned it to prevent ash from spreading.

It was pure mayhem.

“Please step aside!”

Rodella squeezed her way through the commotion.

“Who are you?”

She held up the bundle of cloth to the person beside the mother.

“I’m a maid from the Azure Order. I was told to lay these around the mother first…”

“Stay back!”

Apparently, the woman outside wasn’t the only one suspicious of her.

This woman, even more sensitive than the frantic mother, harshly pushed Rodella away from the bedside.

“But I need to change the sheets…!”

The doctor had said that in unsanitary conditions, both the mother and baby were at high risk of dying.

And the bed—the sheet was stained with who-knew-what. It clearly hadn’t been changed in a while.

“I said stay back!”

“I’m telling you, I need to change the sheets!”

But the woman pushing her away was relentless.

“Hey, take some logs out of the brazier!”

Someone shouted from the back, complaining about the excessive heat. Meanwhile, Rodella was being shoved away from the bed, caught between the chaos.

“Why the hell…!”

All I want to do is change the sheet!

She understood that the slums distrusted outsiders, but even so—this reaction to someone helping was extreme.

Was it the knight uniform? Maybe I should’ve just worn a plain blouse?

Even with all the accessories removed, the shiny uniform probably didn’t sit well with the people here.

“Out of the way!”

That’s when someone pushed through the crowd from behind with force.

Rodella, shoved aside, suddenly felt dizzy.

“Ah.”

She staggered, trying to regain her balance.

Then, a bitter smell hit her senses.

“…?”

Right after that—

Rodella felt her body refusing to move properly.

It was like her legs received commands from her brain with a delay.

Naturally, she lost her balance and stumbled heavily.

Even as she tried to reach for the falling bundle of cloth, her hand moved sluggishly.

In that short time, Rodella collapsed to the ground.

“……!”

—Thud!

But she wasn’t the only one collapsing.

“Huh?”

The women nearby also began to lose their balance and fell here and there.

Rodella tried to widen her eyes, but even her eyelids refused to cooperate.

What was rising up her throat now… was drowsiness?

“What is this…”

What’s going on?

Before she could fully grasp the situation, her eyes shut.

And in the narrowing vision and dimming consciousness, a voice pierced through.

“Clean this up quickly.”

What?

“Why so late? They even sent someone from the knights!”

The woman pretending to be the mother suddenly stood up and snapped angrily.

At her words, men burst into the house and started yelling.

“What? Where?”

“Is it this one?”

As a dusty boot approached her field of vision, Rodella’s consciousness was almost gone.

“What do we do with her? Leave her?”

“What if she wakes up? Just take her! We’re using her as a sacrifice anyway!”

“For the glory of Lord Valkarion!”

Valkarion…? Oh.

“There’s a cult going around claiming to summon some god named ‘Valki’-something…”

Latine’s words resurfaced in Rodella’s fading mind—not without reason.

Was it that cult?

Before she could be sure, her consciousness went dark.

Meanwhile…

Rodin, Royden’s escort knight and Rodella’s personal attendant, was watching the house from under a nearby tree.

That cramped place, barely large enough for anyone to move—was a nightmare to protect someone in.

And Rodella’s purpose there was to help with the childbirth.

Of course, as a man, going inside with her would’ve gotten her kicked out too.

So stepping back was the right call.

However—

“…Master?”

Rodin scowled at the word.

“You’ll be assigned as Rodella Syveric’s personal attendant from now on.”

“Syveric?”

Even if she was engaged to the Duke, she wasn’t even someone with an R-name—just an outsider.

A personal attendant to an outsider?

That had never happened in Royden’s long history.

Royden’s personal attendants were highly trained, effectively unofficial military assets.

If that ever became public, it would raise serious questions—like the Duke raising secret troops without informing the imperial family.

That’s why past heads of the family had hidden them thoroughly.

But Duke Aivert Royden was treating this still-technically-outsider woman as though she were already one of them.

Many were uneasy about it.

But those same people also trusted in the Duke’s extraordinary ability to revive Royden’s near-dead network in such a short time.

He likely wasn’t making a mistake.

Still, as the person now serving this outsider, Rodin didn’t like it.

He would obey—but did she really intend to become part of Royden?

He narrowed his eyes.

—Rustle.

He sensed a suspicious presence approaching the house.

Oh?

Rodin moved quickly, springing from the shadows.

“……!”

Before the startled figure could scream, Rodin clamped his hand over their throat and pinned them.

“Who are you?”

“……!”

Just as Rodin loosened his grip enough for the person to speak—

—Whack!

They struck his arm at the perfect moment and leapt back.

That bastard!

Rodin lunged, his blade flashing. The figure narrowly dodged and bolted.

“……!”

He chased them briefly—

But then realized he had strayed too far from the house.

He had someone to protect.

Rodin sheathed his sword and turned back—just as—

“Huh?”

In the brief moment his attention had slipped, the noise from the house had gone silent.

He sprinted toward the house.

He no longer cared about orders not to enter. He burst through the door.

—Clatter!

As soon as he opened it—

“……!”

Rodin instinctively covered his nose.

A sleeping agent.

It wouldn’t affect him—he had resistance—but for anyone inside, it would’ve been overpowering.

“This is the house that requested aid? Where’s the mother?!”

The Azure Order doctor who had just arrived approached the door—

“Oh—ah…”

He staggered, overwhelmed by the scent.

Rodin caught the collapsing doctor without thinking, his own head spinning.

He wanted to collapse too.

But he couldn’t afford to.

Rodella, the person he was supposed to protect—was nowhere to be found.

She had been kidnapped.

“What?”

—Crack!

The table under Aivert’s hand split.

He’d just received word of Rodella’s abduction.

Though the table was made of metal, it cracked under his grip like dry wood.

Sharp metallic splinters flew off, and everyone around him held their breath.

“S-So, Lady Rodella…”

Rodin, who had ridden back nonstop to report, went pale.

He hadn’t even repeated the word kidnapped yet, but his throat closed up.

It was the sheer pressure Aivert exuded—like a noose tightening around his neck.

“……”

Aivert felt a flood of thoughts trying to surge up his throat.

But no words came out.

The place where reason should’ve ruled his mind had gone completely white.

Kidnapped?

In this Empire, there were so many who might want to target Rodella.

“…Tell me everything.”

If she’d been harmed, the report wouldn’t have said kidnapped.

That alone was enough to keep his reason from snapping completely.

“Well…”

Rodin explained everything that had happened.

That the aid request had come, that Rodella had entered alone due to the circumstances—and that he’d let his guard down and failed to realize it was a trap.

“I am truly sorry. I have no excuse.”