---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team ‌‌and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 95
I gazed at the Fairy before me with ‌‌‌an expressionless face.
Chains of divine condemnation, imbued with sacred power, ‌‌‌‌sprawled haphazardly throughout the chamber.
The Fairy bound by these chains hung limp and motionless, like a butterfly ensnared in ‌a spider's web.
Over the luminous white chains, hair the color of deep ‌‌‌‌forest green cascaded in long, disheveled waves.
I lingered ‌‌for a long moment, studying the ‌‌‌Fairy's hair caught within the chains.
The memory of my first encounter with my wife in the ‌Black Forest surfaced unbidden.
She too had worn her hair long and unbound like this.
Foolish ‌‌‌gossips often prattled on about how Count Basilian had chanced upon his wife in the Black Forest and fallen for her at first sight.
But the truth of our first meeting bore no resemblance to their romantic fantasies.
For someone born with my suspicious nature—one incapable of trusting others—to harbor affection for another from the outset was an impossibility.
Yet in that singular ‌‌moment of our ‌‌‌first encounter.
There ‌‌‌‌was undeniably a tremor in my heart.
The Black Forest was a place where even the gleaming eyes of monsters ‌‌‌remained obscured ‌‌‌‌by endless darkness.
In that realm of absolute shadow, I beheld a color that ‌‌should not exist.
A radiance as brilliant as the sun itself—golden and luminous.
For an instant, I thought I was experiencing a hallucination.
Those who lingered long in the Black Forest often fell prey to illusions or heard phantom voices.
A woman of breathtaking beauty lay ‌‌asleep like a painting, her hair scattered across tangled black grass, leaves, and thorny brambles.
Her golden hair shone brilliantly against the forest's darkness.
Those who traversed the Black Forest adhered strictly to the designated paths.
The forest's oppressive aura stirred instinctive dread, and none dared to deviate from their course.
All obeyed the established order with meek compliance.
As if they understood that transgression meant death.
Yet there, in the heart of the Black Forest, I encountered someone who did not belong to ‌Basilian.
A woman of slender frame, one who appeared never to have wielded a sword properly.
I narrowed my eyes and observed ‌‌‌‌her carefully for a moment.
Perhaps a new species of monster had been born.
Since the Black Forest had persisted for centuries, it was not unreasonable that something ‌‌‌‌new might emerge.
Yet I sensed no aura emanating from her whatsoever.
She was truly an ordinary human.
Which made her all the more suspicious.
A human woman, dressed in fluttering garments, collapsed in the very heart of the Black Forest—a place teeming with monsters—defied all logic.
I deliberately made noise to announce my presence.
Crunch. ‌‌‌
Dry leaves crumbled beneath my feet.
At the sound, her eyelashes trembled faintly.
She, who had been in deep slumber, slowly opened her eyes.
Without thinking, I held my breath and gazed at her intently.
As her eyelids rose gradually, eyes of flower-pink hue were revealed.
The woman stirred, pushing herself ‌‌upright ‌‌‌with a rustling sound, her eyes blinking slowly and without purpose.
Her expression was vacant, as though her mind had abandoned her body entirely.
Kieran approached her.
He bent his legs and settled before her, and only then did she deign to look at ‌‌him.
Her hollow gaze now held his reflection.
The hazy fog in her eyes gradually sharpened into focus.
The moment clarity fully returned, she parted her lips.
"Where am I?"
I thought her voice resembled birdsong—crystalline and pure—as ‌‌I answered her.
"The Black Forest."
"The Black Forest...?" ‌
"It is a perilous place. How did you come ‌‌‌to venture into such a location?"
Kieran smiled thinly as he posed the question.
All the while preparing the magic that would sever her neck in a single stroke.
The woman murmured, ‌‌her expression clouded with confusion.
"...I don't know."
As though her head ached, she furrowed her brow slightly before whispering again.
"I don't know ‌‌‌‌anything."
"Not even how you ‌‌arrived here?" ‌
Kieran extended ‌‌his hand to ‌‌‌the ‌‌‌side.
Crimson light erupted outward, slicing through the monsters that had been creeping closer from all directions.
Terrible screams pierced the air as black blood sprayed across the forest floor.
"This is no ‌‌‌‌place for humans to tread."
His scarlet magic massacred the creatures with brutal efficiency. ‌
To ensure she witnessed the spectacle fully, I wielded my power with deliberate slowness and cruelty.
Once the ground had become slick with blood, ‌‌I spoke again.
"I suggest you abandon your nonsense and speak truthfully. Otherwise..."
Kieran drew his finger lightly across the woman's throat.
He traced a long horizontal line while offering a sinister smile.
"I may be forced to do something regrettable."
It was an unmistakable threat.
He had expected her to cower and shrink away, yet instead her expression hardened into a glare.
She fixed him with a hostile stare.
"You're the one who should stop talking nonsense and be honest. You ‌kidnapped me and dumped me here, didn't you?"
"..."
Suddenly accused of abduction, Kieran let out a hollow laugh.
Meanwhile, the woman surveyed the Black Forest and shuddered with visible disgust.
"I hate this place! There's no way I came here of my own accord. Absolutely ‌‌‌‌not."
Upon seeing the thick blood oozing from the corpses of the slain monsters, her already pale face drained of all remaining ‌‌color.
"Ugh, I can't take this. This place is absolutely revolting..."
The woman suddenly jolted to her feet.
Kieran rose as well, caught off guard by her abrupt movement.
Her slender frame swayed precariously before she collapsed.
Golden hair scattered through the air.
I caught her as she fell.
Even for Kieran, that moment brought a flicker of surprise.
From the body that tumbled into my arms wafted an exquisite floral fragrance.
It was a vivid scent of flowers, unmistakable ‌‌‌‌even amidst the metallic stench of the Black Forest.
"Why won't my legs move?"
The woman in my arms looked bewildered.
She gripped my shoulders and attempted to move each leg in turn.
Yet there seemed to be no strength in them.
Unable to stand properly, she wobbled like a newborn fawn, ‌‌‌‌‌unsteady with each attempt.
After struggling alone for some time, she looked up at me with a pitiful expression.
"Um... could you take me somewhere with flowers and grass?"
I, who had inadvertently served as her support, regarded her with an incredulous gaze.
The woman's expression shifted to one of alarm at my look. ‌
She asked carefully, ‌‌‌her face uncertain.
"Is it... because you're not strong enough to carry me...?"
"It's not that I can't..."
I trailed off, pressing my ‌‌‌lips together.
I couldn't determine where to begin correcting this misunderstanding.
From her demeanor, it appeared she had lost her memory.
Given the suspicious circumstances, it seemed prudent to bring her to the Castle of Serpents for interrogation.
Clear judgment was difficult in this place.
Having spent so long in the Black Forest, my mind felt somewhat clouded.
Only by leaving this place could I think rationally.
I looked down at the woman clinging to my forearm.
"I will take you to a place with flowers."
Did the Castle of Serpents even have flowers?
Perhaps there were some weeds...
With such hollow thoughts, I lifted ‌‌‌‌‌the woman into my arms.
Startled by the ‌‌‌sudden motion, she pressed herself against me.
Supporting her soft form, I walked forward without expression and pondered.
Perhaps those targeting Count Basilian and the Master of the Underworld had created this woman and sent her to me.
The ‌‌‌‌honeypot ‌‌‌scheme was common enough, but abandoning her in the Black Forest was rather novel.
In any case, bringing her to the Castle of Serpents for proper interrogation would reveal the truth.
That was how our first meeting came to be.
"..."
I wish I had been gentler then.
Kieran recalled his past self, the one who had coerced her, and smiled bitterly.
Yet regretting an unchangeable past altered nothing—the future remained unmoved by regret.
He erased the faint sneer from his lips. ‌‌
Kieran gazed at the Fairy before him and snapped ‌‌‌‌‌his fingers together with a sharp click.
The crisp sound pierced through the chains of condemnation binding the Fairy's consciousness, rousing her.
"...!"
The Fairy startled, lifting her head.
Kieran smiled, meeting the gaze of her trembling eyes.
He approached her with deliberate, measured steps.
A ‌‌‌‌sinister ‌gleam danced across his crimson irises.
He was about to weave mental domination around her. ‌‌‌
The Fairy spoke first.
"Why...."
Struggling beneath the weight of holy power, the Fairy drew breath in ‌‌‌‌gasps before continuing in a strained voice.
"Why does a human have the Queen?"

---------------
Brought to you by ‌Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------