Chapter 114

Chapter: 114

Noah’s shoulders shook as she roughly gulped down a breath. It was her first time experiencing the sensation of her vision going completely white.
“What, is this? Uh…?”
Her vision swayed chaotically, and a rush of heightened emotions flooded her mind, reminding her of the days when she felt like she could do anything.
As memories of throwing off her clothes and even unwrapping bandages came rushing back, Noah let out a scream without realizing it.
“Ahhh!”
That high-pitched scream, one she would never normally let out, showed just how confused she was.
Rustle, swoosh!
Just as Noah’s scream echoed through the room, a shining white book jumped out from her bag.
[ What’s going on? What happened?! ]
Julianna, who usually only groaned when stabbed, was startled by Noah’s scream and popped out of the bag. She quickly rushed to Noah’s side.
[ Are you hurt? Is it a curse?! ]
Julianna began to seriously check on Noah’s condition. Her face was flushed, eyes teary, and she was trembling with confusion.
It was clear she wasn’t in her right mind. Julianna pressed her for answers with a serious tone.
[ What on earth happened?! ]
“I…”
[ What…? ]
“I did something with Lian… ugh…”
Noah couldn’t finish her sentence and buried her face in her hands as she collapsed onto the bed. Julianna, who had been serious, fell into a three-second silence, then her expression shifted to ‘Could it be?’
[ ‘Did something interesting happen last night that I don’t know about?’ ]
In an instant, Julianna’s expression turned mischievous.
[ Noah. ]
“Ugh…”
Still trapped in the memories of the previous night, Noah didn’t respond to Julianna’s voice. Julianna leaned closer and whispered.
[ …You used protection, right? ]
“Ahh! What are you talking about?!”
Like a button pressed, Noah bolted upright and yelled at Julianna, so startled that she even slipped into informal speech.
[ Come on… No way? Really? I can’t tell anyone, so just spill it. Okay? ]
“No, no! That’s not true! Lian and I—”
[ Just? ]
“…”
Noah could only open and close her mouth, breathing heavily. The blood was rushing to her head.
[ What did you do? If you don’t tell me, I’ll go to Lian— ]
“No, no! You absolutely can’t do that!”
[ Then just tell me what naughty stuff you did last night! Hurry up! ]
“Um, naughty stuff…”
As the scene of her chest pressing against Lian’s body replayed in her mind, Noah clamped her lips shut.
[ What? Why can’t you say it? Did you make the first move? ]
“…!”
[ Really? ]
When Noah went silent and hung her head, Julianna’s eyes glinted with amusement. Noah, who could endure any trial, was like a fragile chick in the face of ‘love’ challenges.
“J-Julianna… what am I supposed to do? I made a huge mistake with Lian…”
Noah began to spill her confusion to Julianna, who always had the answers.
As Julianna listened to Noah, she responded with [ Oh, wow… ] exclamations, even breaking into claps at the end.
[ If you sealed it with a kiss, that’s it! ]
When Noah mentioned kissing Lian, Julianna cheered enthusiastically. One could say her emotions were like, “My stocks just skyrocketed!”
[ So when should the wedding be? Spring? Summer? Oh, will the ceremony be in the Empire? ]
“M-marriage?”
Just as hearing the word ‘apple’ makes you think of an apple, the word ‘marriage’ led Noah to picture dating Lian, wedding bells, three kids, living happily ever after, growing old, and reminiscing, “Remember those days, dear?” while laughing.
In a flash, those scenes whirled in Noah’s mind, leaving her stammering and mumbling, eyes cast down as something dawned on her.
“Well… actually, my memory is a bit fuzzy. I think we kissed…? But maybe not…”
[ Really? Then I’ll just go ask Lian. ]
“No, no! You absolutely can’t do that!”
Their back-and-forth ended when an organization member brought in Noah’s meal.

The journey had begun again.
“…”
“…”
Between Noah and Lian, a sturdy wall of silence was growing. They couldn’t even meet each other’s eyes or share a word.
“Oppa, did you fight with the boss?”
“Huh? Oh, no way.”
“But you’re not talking and avoiding each other’s gaze.”
“It’s just a game we’re playing.”
“That’s a weird game.”
Even youngest Ribon caught on to the awkwardness. The two friends were starting to view each other as potential romantic partners. Noah blushed as she listened to Ribon and Lian’s conversation.
Thinking about why she couldn’t speak smoothly with Lian naturally dragged up those memories from that night. Bored during the long journey, Julianna floated nearby, grinning mischievously as she watched the two.
[ So cute. So cute. This is youth. ]
After about a week of awkward and cringy travel, Noah and Lian gradually started talking again, albeit a little. They encountered two ambushes along the way.
One involved a slaver caravan, and the other, a group of bandits made up of mercenaries. Both were dealt with by Noah and Lian.
“Whoa… Oppa, you were super cool!”
Ribon, seeing Lian truly fight for the first time, clung to his leg with shining eyes. Thanks to the warning he had given his demon sword to keep things low-key, Ribon’s eyes were filled exclusively with admiration.
[ More praise! More! ]
The demon sword, glowing from the rare compliment, shouted. Naturally, only Lian could hear its enthusiastic shout.
“Oppa! Oppa!”
“Huh?”
Clinging to Lian’s calf, Ribon beamed and exclaimed.
“Let’s get married!”
“Pffft!”
It was Noah who reacted first, rather than Lian.
“Cough, cough, choke!”
Noah coughed violently, tears streaming down her face as she gasped for air from her shock.
“Boss, are you okay?”
Startled, Ribon rushed over to Noah. Lian breathed a sigh of relief, grateful for the escape from that uncomfortable question.
‘Married, huh…’
Like Noah, Lian began envisioning having two kids, a dog, and enjoying a happy life together, growing old, reminiscing, “Remember those joyful days, dear?” before snapping back to reality.
Both Noah and Lian’s faces turned bright red.
“Boss, didn’t you see Lian oppa? He was all whoosh, whoosh! Just like a knight from a fairy tale!”
Meanwhile, beside an now calm Noah, Ribon was chattering excitedly. The mention of “knight” jolted a memory in Lian.
‘Speaking of knights, where’s the knight who saved Iris in the original story? I really want to escape with him if I can… but maybe that’s asking too much.’
Lian thought while rubbing his flushed cheeks.
‘Since he took Iris to the Duke’s house all by himself… I bet he’s doing fine.’

Two men in crisp white lab coats sat facing each other in a luxurious study, engrossed in conversation.
“Ugh… I thought at least one of them would show up.”
“We were initially expecting someone newly appointed as one of the Four Heavenly Kings to come.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but apparently a more urgent mission came up, and they had to go elsewhere.”
“Damn… They really have no clue how important our research is!”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“Tsk, if it weren’t for the intruder, we wouldn’t be sweating over this!”
The mustached researcher stood up, striding over to the window. Beyond it lay a sparkling clean research facility.
Inside the facility, a 2-meter-tall female spirit with black skin was bound by dozens of metal chains.
[ My baby… my baby… ]
The spirit wailed continuously for her child, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Crackle!
[ Aaaagh! ]
As the chains crackled darkly, the spirit shrieked. The man twirled his mustache and turned to the spectacled researcher who had come up beside him.
“Has the intruder not spoken yet?”
“No, but we’ve discovered something.”
“Oh… What did you find out?”
“It seems that he’s a knight from the Empire.”
“A knight?”
“Yes, several items typically exclusive to the Empire were found among his belongings. Plus, his habitual actions definitely stamp him as a knight.”
“A knight from the Empire…”
The man grinned widely, flashing a row of white teeth.
“He’ll make for a very useful test subject.”