Chapter 87

A total of five people entered the drawing room. All of them wore black clothes and masks that only exposed their eyes, making their appearance far from that of guests.

‘To infiltrate the main Eclipse estate with five assassins.’

They must have prepared thoroughly to invade.

I tightened my grip on the longsword and closed the distance with Iris.

‘Should I scream?’

But before I could scream, my neck would likely be severed.

No matter how much I had learned some sword skills, the opponents were five skilled individuals who had infiltrated the main Eclipse estate. I knew better than anyone that my skills were no match for them. Cold sweat broke out from anxiety and tension.

Iris was trembling, tears welling up in her eyes. Even if she was mentally prepared for this kind of situation, facing it in reality was a different matter.

They could have afforded to be careless, facing two defenseless women, but unfortunately, they didn’t seem to be so sloppy. Even though they clearly knew we were no match for them despite holding weapons, they slowly tightened their encirclement, remaining wary.

Just then.

“Gasp!”

A sound of a sharp intake of breath was heard. My head and the intruders’ heads simultaneously turned toward the door. A familiar face was visible through the slightly opened door. It was Adel, standing stiffly with a shocked expression. He must have crept in stealthily, intending to surprise me as a prank, but rushed forward upon seeing the body by the door.

‘Of all times…!’

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Pale with terror, Adel let out a loud scream. Thanks to his screaming the scream we couldn’t utter, a glimmer of hope for reinforcements was born, but…

‘The problem is whether we can survive until the reinforcements arrive.’

The intruders heard Adel’s scream, exchanged signals with their eyes, and instantly rushed at us. One towards Adel, and the remaining four towards Iris and me.

‘They intend to finish this before reinforcements arrive!’

The way they drew out gleaming daggers from their clothes was swift and coordinated.

In that moment, a sudden thought popped into my head. 

‘Is this the moment I am supposed to die?’

The incident of assassins infiltrating the Eclipse Duchy to kill Iris was not in the original novel. But even so, it seemed unlikely that Iris, the protagonist of this world, or Adel, the protagonist’s family, would die meaninglessly here.

But what about me?

Unlike the two people next to me, I was an extra who could die at any moment. If the world’s fate was predetermined and there was a god who decided it, how much of an eyesore must I be for having twisted it? Wouldn’t they want to get rid of me, the ungrateful person who changed fate after being given a new life?

‘What if this moment is God’s design to kill the error that is me and return fate to its original track?’

My heart sank heavily.

But even with that thought, my body was moving backward, avoiding the intruder who was swinging a dagger at the front.

Clang!

I barely deflected the dagger of an intruder who suddenly appeared right behind me.

It was a moment when attacks could continuously follow. But I didn’t have the luxury to deal with him. The intruder’s blade was just about to reach Adel.

‘No!’

I took the dagger I had given to Iris and quickly threw it at the one charging toward Adel.

“Ugh!”

The dagger lodged in the head of the intruder, who hadn’t seen the attack coming from his blind spot.

Thud.

The sound of the heavy body collapsing spread, and a momentary silence fell in the drawing room.

“…”

Cold sweat dripped down. I barely managed to save Adel, but that was just luck. Such luck couldn’t continue.

The remaining intruders saw the one who had fallen and wasn’t moving and changed their demeanor. They had not been careless before, but now their vigilance seemed to have increased further. A faint blue light emanated from their swords.

My blood ran cold at the sight.

‘Aura…!’

Thinking about it, it was only natural. They were people who had successfully infiltrated deep into the Eclipse Castle. They wouldn’t have been able to penetrate the defenses of this ducal estate without being Aura users.

But for me, it was the worst-case scenario.

‘There’s no way I, who only learned a bit of self-defense, can take on an Aura user.’

I quickly glanced towards the door. Adel seemed to have lost strength in his legs next to the fallen intruder, collapsing and trembling. I wanted to rush over, hug, and comfort him right now, but naturally, the remaining four intruders wouldn’t clear the path.

A situation where I couldn’t let my guard down for a moment. I gripped the longsword even tighter, lest the sweat make me lose my grip.

‘How can I buy time?’

Just until the reinforcements arrive. I only needed to buy time until then…

But ignoring my thoughts, the intruders exchanged glances and charged towards me all at once.

There was no time to think further. The moment I raised my longsword to block, I realized that their target was not me.

The intruders instantly changed direction and rushed towards Iris. It was a palpable resolve to kill Iris at all costs, ignoring me and Adel.

“Kyaaaah!”

Perhaps terrified by the intruders rushing at her, Iris screamed as she collapsed onto the floor. With no means left to protect herself, all she could do was cover her head with both hands.

The intruders’ swords rushed toward the cowering Iris.

In that moment.

“Chacha!”

I instinctively lunged forward and covered Iris.

The thought that first came to mind the moment I heard Adel’s voice was, “Why did I do that?” Iris was the heroine, so she wouldn’t die here anyway. There was no need for me to step forward. I couldn’t tell if a sense of justice, hidden somewhere, had suddenly surged up, or if the god of the world was pulling strings to eliminate me, who had twisted the original plot.

Iris looked up at me with a surprised face. I couldn’t bring myself to smile at her, so I tightly closed my eyes, waiting for the blades to embed themselves in my body and the pain that would follow.

In a very brief moment, the faces of Nine, the people of the Eclipse estate, and the Blueberry Count family flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

And what else did I think?

‘Still, Nine’s happiness will remain.’

Chwaaa-ak!

I felt the sensation of a warm liquid splashing. But the expected pain did not come.

‘What is it?’

When I cautiously opened my eyes, a gruesome sight met my gaze.

The first thing I saw were the intruders lying dead with their eyes rolled back. The floor was completely red with their spilled blood.

Standing behind the fallen intruders was Nine. A drop of blood dripped from the tip of his sword.

“…”

The scene before my eyes unfolded incredibly slowly, like a dream.

Nine looked at us with a hurried and uneasy gaze. Beyond him, I could see Van holding and comforting Adel.

“Lady Chacha!”

“Are you alright?”

The sound of hurried footsteps flooded in all at once, and knights and servants entered the blood-soaked drawing room.

‘…Did I survive?’

Only then did I feel my body, which had been rigid with tension and fear, relax. But it still didn’t feel real. My mind was foggy. Instead of the tension and fear that had just overwhelmed me, my heart was filled with joy and emotion that Nine had saved me.

Looking up at Nine with a dazed head, I saw him giving me a fierce glare, as if he were staring daggers at me. I didn’t have the presence of mind to wonder why. Drawn by his eyes, which were brimming with worry and anger, I silently met Nine’s gaze for a long time.

“Ugh.”

Just then, Nine frowned and let out a groan.

“Nine!”

Seeing him clutch his head where he had been injured before, I was startled and barely stood up on my trembling legs.

My shaky legs barely supporting me, I approached him and stretched out my hand, which was spasming slightly.

Slap!

‘Ah.’

I had forgotten in my shock, but the amnesiac Nine had rejected my touch before.

However, this was different from before.

Nine’s eyes, which once again rejected my touch, were sharper than before. The hand that pushed me away was so rough that the back of my hand was turning red.

‘…Disgust, contempt, anger. …Why? Why?’

I froze at the emotions I read in his cold gaze.