The Holy Knight Embraces the Imprinted Succubus - Chapter 8

‘If I run away like this…’

Over Aril’s tear-streaked young face, Rosanna saw her own image from a few days ago completely overlap.

If she ran away now, Aril would surely not make it out alive.

But… she had no power. What could she do when she hadn’t even awakened her pheromones?

“R-Rosanna…!”

Aril’s tearful voice rang from behind, echoing in Rosanna’s ears. She tightly shut her eyes.

“Get… get away!”

Before she knew it, she had spread her arms wide and stepped in front of the beast charging at Aril.

Even she couldn’t understand why she was acting like this.

Her fingertips trembled. Her legs felt like they would collapse beneath her at any moment.

But she knew for certain: if she ran away now, Aril would be sacrificed.

That was why. That was the only reason.

“Don’t come any closer…! There’s nothing here for you to eat!!”

She didn’t want to see Aril, the girl who had kindly spoken to her, lying bloody on the ground.

The wolf-like beast flinched momentarily at Rosanna’s sudden appearance.

With its animal instincts, it sensed something different in her from Aril, a pure human.

‘Is it because I’m a half-blood…?’

She couldn’t be sure, but something told her that was likely.

Rosanna kept her eyes on the monster and forced her voice to steady.

“I’ll hold it off here, so Aril, run when you see an opening!”

“Rosanna… sob… but if you do that… ugh…”

She tried to sound strong, but her legs trembled as if they might shatter at any moment.

Rosanna quickly looked around and grabbed a fallen tree branch.

“We don’t have time. Go! Just bring back a knight, anyone! I-I’ll hold on somehow here…!”

Rosanna shouted with all her strength. If they stayed here, they’d both die a meaningless death.

Her mind went blank in the face of impending death.

‘Yes, this is right.’

Maybe she could move a little faster than Aril… and maybe she could last a little longer.

At last, Aril nodded and crawled to her feet. She realized she would only be a burden if she stayed.

“Sniff… okay. Just wait a little…”

Tears streaming down her face, Aril choked back her sobs and ran in the opposite direction.

What if the beast changed its target and attacked Aril instead? Rosanna feared that—but the monster focused only on her.

Seeing that, Rosanna sighed in relief.

‘It’s fine. As long as I stay alert… I can stall for a bit…’

But could she really do it?

The beast’s unfocused pupils staring her down filled her with dread.

Without warning, the monster lunged.

Just as Rosanna tightened her grip on the branch, the beast charged at her.

“H-hah… ahh!”

She survived. Barely throwing herself in the opposite direction, Rosanna panted heavily.

Her knee scraped roughly against the ground, leaving a deep wound, but she felt no pain.

‘I’m scared.’

The sight of those ravenous eyes made her body freeze in terror.

‘If Aril’s even a little late…’

She might have to give up her life in Aril’s place.

Perhaps surprised by Rosanna’s nimble reaction, the snorting beast lunged again.

Rosanna rolled in the opposite direction in a hurry. But this time, she wasn’t as lucky.

“Ah… ugh…!”

The sharp fangs grazed her thigh deeply.

Her vision turned white, and a blinding pain surged like lightning in her mind. A scream almost tore from her throat.

It felt like her skin had caught fire. Rosanna clutched her leg and rolled on the ground.

‘It hurts. It hurts so much.’

It hurt so badly that tears streamed from her eyes. She couldn’t think at all.

She might die like this. Her blood pooled beneath her thigh like a small well.

‘It’s over.’

That thought came naturally. There seemed to be no other choice but to accept her helplessness.

But unexpectedly, the beast didn’t pounce immediately.

‘What is it doing…?’

The wolf monster buried its snout in the blood on the ground instead of attacking.

It seemed frenzied, burying its face and digging into the dirt wildly.

A chill ran through her. But instinctively, she knew this was her only chance.

‘I have to escape now.’

Through the pain, Rosanna dragged her injured leg across the ground.

One chance to escape. A single chance granted to her.

But had there been poison in the monster’s fangs?

‘No, I can’t lose consciousness…’

Her vision blurred. She tried to move her arms and legs desperately, but her strength faded.

Suddenly, like a flash of light, a memory passed through her mind.

‘I wonder if Aril got away safely…’

Even if she had escaped from here, returning safely to the Demon Realm would have been nearly impossible. In that case, saving Aril might have been the right choice after all.

But it hurt so much, and she was terrified. She wanted to live. She didn’t want to die a painful death in a place like this.

At the end of that thought, the image of a man not present here briefly crossed her mind. Hoping for the same miracle as before might be asking too much, but still…

Rosanna’s eyes slowly closed. A growl echoed nearby. It was the last moment of her consciousness.

“Grrr… grrrrrrr…”

The beast that had been inching closer collapsed in her blurry vision.

Barely able to move her eyes, Rosanna’s lips parted soundlessly.

Like a mirage, that man’s figure appeared before her.

It was him again.

***

A burning pain, spreading like poison from her thigh, engulfed her body.

A searing, brutally vivid pain gnawed at Rosanna’s consciousness. Her body had long been drenched in sweat.

“It hurts… it’s hot.”

It hurt. It hurt. It hurt so much…

In her dream, Rosanna struggled against the pain.

—Quietly accept it as yours. Then everything will become peaceful.

A voice echoed from somewhere. When she came to her senses, her father, the count, was gripping her twitching arm and speaking to her.

‘Is this a dream? Or reality…?’

She couldn’t tell if what was happening was a dream or not.

‘Did this ever really happen to me?’

In the dream, Rosanna, her face filled with fear, violently shook her head and parted her lips.

“Father, that can’t be…”

No. There’s no way. It hurts too much. Please, stop already…

The dream-version of herself kept crying out. That was all she did—just scream.

The count forced the gag in her mouth tighter. The experiment didn’t stop.

“You’re sweating a lot. Stay still.”

At his words, Rosanna thrashed her limbs in resistance. A groan of pain escaped her mouth without her realizing it.

“It hurts. It hurts… so much…”

It was a complaint no one would listen to. Rosanna didn’t usually whine. She knew no one would accept it.

Her father prioritized protecting his half-blood daughter from the outside world.

In that process, her own needs were never considered.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her flailing body and pinned her down. A cold hand touched her burning leg.

“Everything will be all right now.”

A low voice that made resistance impossible. Even in her dream, Rosanna froze at the sound, as if she had realized who it was.

But she couldn’t stop the tears streaming from her eyes.

“But… it hurts so much.”

Flushed from the fever, Rosanna cried as she pleaded. She shouldn’t have been acting spoiled.

Her father locking her in the attic was all for her sake.

If the world found out about her half-blood identity, not only she but the entire house would be endangered.

But why, then…?

It was too hard to contain her overflowing emotions. Her bottled-up fears exploded in one burst and spun out of control.

“I… I was wrong… please save me… please… please.”

Silence fell. Maybe he was furious at her pathetic state.

“I just…”

Suddenly, her vision blurred. A calloused, cold palm firmly cradled her cheek.

“Relax your body.”

As the low voice whispered, an unknown warmth spread through her veins.

The temperature quickly turned to unbearable heat. A far worse pain than when the monster bit her overwhelmed her.

Rosanna gasped and let out a groan filled with agony, as if impaled.

It felt like her body would burn up and turn to ashes. Her heart boiled.

Even as she twisted uncontrollably from the pain, the hand didn’t let go.

Finally, when peace returned to her body, Rosanna came to.

“Where is this…”

With blurry eyes, Rosanna looked around.

It resembled the place she’d fallen to in the human world a few days ago.

A dim space like a medical tent, completely shut off from outside light. It felt a little different in structure, but the thought didn’t last long.

“Haa…”

Her chest tightened for no reason, and she let out a hot sigh.

Rosanna sat up and pulled back the blanket. Without thinking, she lifted the hem of her skirt.

“……”

Her mouth fell open at what she saw.

It was completely unexpected.

‘I definitely felt the monster’s fangs sink deep into my flesh…’

But the wound on her leg was far smaller than she had expected.

“The wound…”

It couldn’t be called minor, but it was already healing. There was no more bleeding.

As if what happened that day had been a dream…

‘Was it really… just a dream?’

If that had truly happened, the injury wouldn’t be this small. And wasn’t the monster’s bite supposed to be venomous? Her leg should’ve been rotting away.

“What… happened…?”

In a daze, Rosanna examined the wound.

“You’re awake.”

A man stood at the entrance of the tent, facing her.