Shadows of people could be seen flickering beyond the windows. They were cutting out the glass with stealthy, silent movements.
And it wasn't just one person. Shadows were visible at every window in the bedroom.
Saak-
Eventually, the glass came loose from the window frame.
"--!"
Rose bit her lip to keep from making a sound. Watching someone sneak into the bedroom, her heart hammered like crazy.
And Dane was hiding right beside that very window. Her palms were slick with sweat.
Seuk.
Someone who had silently pried the glass free climbed through the window. It was an assassin with a mask pulled over his face.
The moment he landed silently on the floor,
Kwang!
Dane's fist slammed into his solar plexus.
'He punched him, so why did it sound like an explosion?'
Despite the dire situation, Rose couldn't help but question it for a moment.
"Keugh..."
The assassin, caught off guard by the sudden ambush, was shoved straight out the window. Flailing his arms with a startled grunt, the assassin's body vanished from view.
Kung!
Then came the thud of something heavy hitting the ground outside.
As if that were a signal,
Jjaengeurang!
Jjaenggang!
Assassins shattered the windows and stormed into the bedroom. Having been discovered, they abandoned any pretense of a quiet infiltration.
"Die!"
"Dane Schmaichel!"
Voices thick with killing intent echoed through the bedroom.
At the same time,
Tangtangtangtang!
A bell rang frantically. It was distinctly different from the usual pull of the cord—clearly signaling an emergency.
Beolkeong!
The bedroom door flew open the moment the bell rang, and
"Your Excellency!"
Fully armed guards rushed in. What followed was complete chaos.
"Focus on the target!"
The assassins charged relentlessly at Dane.
"Block them!"
"This way!"
The guards threw themselves in front of the assassins, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Kkaeng!
Kkagagak!
Multiple fighters tangled in a chaotic melee. Blades clashed against blades, limbs were severed, and blood sprayed.
"······!"
The grisly scene she was witnessing for the first time in her life made her dizzy. The moment she saw blood spurting like a fountain, a wave of nausea surged up.
"Urk."
Rose trembled as she clamped a hand over her mouth. Even so, her eyes never left Dane.
Tadak!
Dane's movements were astonishing.
It was hard to believe that such a massive man could move like the wind. He was so agile he appeared to have no weight at all.
"Keugh..."
Several assassins had already fallen to his sword.
His attacks were ruthlessly accurate and frighteningly fast. He sought maximum efficiency with minimal movement. He was like a fighting machine born to kill.
Even though killing was supposed to be the assassins' area of expertise.
'Just how many people...'
Did cutting down that many people bring someone to such a level? Rose watched Dane fight as if he had transcended something, and found herself wondering.
Peok!
Having just struck down an assassin, Dane kicked the collapsing body aside. Then he moved toward the bed.
Seeing him approach, Rose asked reflexively.
"Y-Your Excellency. Are you all ri—"
"Cover your ears."
"Pardon?"
Dane reached out a bloodstained hand and grabbed the bed curtain.
"Cover your ears and stay under the blankets."
"······."
"Don't come out until I return."
"Your Excellency!"
He offered no further response and pulled the cord that tied the curtains.
Chwarak!
Dane disappeared through the gap as the curtains unfurled.
In the last moment, what Rose saw was another assassin lunging at him.
Kkagang!
The metallic clash that followed told her Dane had engaged that assassin.
"Keugh, Schmaichel!"
A fierce battle was raging right beside the bed.
'Oh no, what do I do. What should I do.'
Rose's hands and feet quaked violently, and cold sweat streamed down her entire body. She couldn't even bring herself to approach the curtains—she was frozen in place.
Kung!
Then someone's body slammed against the bed curtains.
"-!"
Just as Rose was seized by mortal terror,
Uuung-
A blue barrier formed in the air. Thanks to that, no one's body crashed into the bed.
'Th-This is...'
Rose crawled toward it and touched the barrier.
It was a barrier with a clear blue radiance, possessing definite physical force.
It was preventing anything from entering the bed.
'A defensive Magical Device!'
It was one of the combat Magical Devices developed by the peerless genius Andersen Lind.
Before he developed this, all combat Magical Devices had been focused on offense. That was to maximize efficiency with minimal mana.
But with a tremendous amount of mana, a powerful barrier could be formed at will.
Just like now.
'My god. Just how much mana did he pour into this?'
A wall of mana swirled around the entire bed, enveloping it completely.
To break through it, one would need to strike it with even more mana or deconstruct its formula.
An impregnable fortress that mere assassins could never breach had been created.
'Huh? This mana... it feels somehow...'
It wasn't unfamiliar. A powerful mana so intensely blue it almost appeared white.
'Don't tell me...'
A shiver ran through her as a realization struck Rose.
'Was this what he was doing at the headboard earlier?'
It didn't take long to realize that this mana was Dane's. And that he had been pouring mana into this Magical Device.
'Ah...'
Dane was clearly outside the bed, yet she felt as though he was right there with her.
Kung!
Someone's body occasionally crashed against the curtains, but the mana barrier blocked everything perfectly.
No killing intent, no weapon, no person could breach this bed.
"Kuaaagh!"
"Keugh!"
Horrific sounds continued to filter in from beyond the bed.
Screams and shouts, the clash of sword against sword, the sound of flesh being sliced and bodies being pierced.
Listening to it all, her mind grew foggy. There were too many sounds, and her ears ached.
She understood why Dane had told her to cover her ears.
Sabak.
Rose pulled the blankets over herself as Dane had instructed, and
Kkuyuk.
pressed both hands over her ears. Once she buried herself under the thick blankets, the many sounds tormenting her grew distant.
Humans instinctively want to see the danger bearing down on them with their own eyes. But Rose did the opposite—she covered her eyes as well.
'It's safe here.'
Because Dane was protecting her. Because he was someone who would never allow any attack through.
'This is for the best.'
If she went out there, she would only become a target for the enemies. Dane knew that too, which was why he had tucked her in here.
The only way Rose could help Dane right now was to stay hidden, out of the assassins' sight.
"Huu..."
Rose struggled to breathe evenly. She counted silently in her head and waited.
Until the now-distant noise subsided, until someone called for her.
How much time had passed?
Hwaek!
Someone pulled back the blanket covering Rose.
"-!"
She startled and looked up,
"Madam."
Dane stood there, drenched in blood from head to toe.
"Ah."
Rose let out a gasp as she looked at Dane.
Dane always wore red-toned robes in the bedroom. She had thought such a passionate color didn't suit him.
But now she could perfectly understand why he wore robes of this color. The crimson robe soaked through with blood had simply become a shade darker than before.
"······."
Rose, frozen in place,
"Madam?"
could only move after Dane called her name once more—as if a spell had been broken.
"Y-Y-Your Excellency."
She could barely move her lips. Even that didn't come easily, and she stammered.
The assassins' bodies were strewn across the floor. Shattered furniture, bloodstained floors and walls.
And before it all stood Dane, without a single scratch, his expression cold and ruthless.
For a moment, he looked like the grim reaper. A flawless, alien being who felt no emotion even after slaughtering countless lives.
That was why Rose couldn't bring herself to move.
"Are you alright?"
But the moment Dane asked.
From somewhere within his perpetually indifferent voice, she could feel tenderness. She could tell he was worried about her.
"Euheuk."
She couldn't hold back the tears.
'It's because he keeps doing this...'
Her heart wavered.
She had resolved never to love him again. But it was so difficult. She felt foolish and pathetic.
"Are you... crying?"
"Heu, heuk."
Rose could only sniffle instead of answering.
"My."
Dane swept a hand through his hair as if troubled, then approached Rose. Even as the blood-soaked sleeve of his robe drew near, Rose couldn't move an inch.
"Excuse me."
Then Dane lifted Rose into his arms with both hands. He looked down at Rose in his embrace and said,
"You have far too many tears, Madam."
"I-I—"
"Just wipe your tears and speak."
Dane, still holding Rose, stepped down onto the floor. Rose rubbed her eyes and glanced to the side,
'Hik!'
and gasped, startled.
"······."
Many guards were staring at her. Their faces were etched with horror and shock.
Then the guards suddenly looked above Rose, and
"Ahem."
"Khm."
quickly started pretending to look away. As if they hadn't seen anything just now.
"You all seem to have quite a lot of free time."
Dane's icy voice descended from above Rose's head.
"Enough time to slack off, even."
"No, sir!"
"We'll correct this immediately!"
The guards, momentarily flustered, scrambled into action. In no time, the broken furniture and fixtures were carried out, and the assassins' corpses were dragged away.
Servants poured in as well to help. Most of them cleared the furniture in silence, as if such scenes were already routine.
Among them, Sonya stood out—trembling and stumbling as she worked.