The Holy Knight Embraces the Imprinted Succubus - Chapter 9

“How is the wound from the poison?”

Rosanna hadn’t even realized the man was standing there.

Frozen for a moment, Rosanna blinked. She had braced herself to meet those deep blue eyes, but their gazes didn’t meet.

‘…Where is he looking?’

His eyes were directed not at her face but elsewhere. She instinctively followed his gaze.

Rosanna’s face turned crimson.

“T-this, I was just checking the wound…!”

She yanked her skirt back down hastily without even checking it properly.

She had forgotten to fix her clothes after inspecting her injury. Her face flushed hotly all the way to her ears.

‘Did he see everything?’

The interior of the tent, covered with thick, dark cloth, was dimly lit.

And the man still stood by the entrance, arms crossed. With a noble, composed expression. Like an emotionless statue, he stared at her.

His demeanor was so calm, and somehow… it didn’t feel pleasant…

“Why did you do it?” Raphael asked. The light seeping through the entrance stretched his shadow long.

The shadow that completely enveloped her looked like a crouching predator.

Her heart sank. Intimidated, Rosanna hesitated for a long time before glancing up at his face.

His expression hadn’t changed, but she realized that the answer he sought lay elsewhere.

“…Because Aril is younger than me.”

“……”

“I just thought maybe… I could handle it better.”

Her voice gradually faded, losing confidence. But at that moment, that truly had been her reasoning.

Raphael, arms still folded, slowly closed his eyes. He tapped his forearm with his palm as if keeping rhythm.

“Handle it, huh…”

His low voice, murmuring that single word, held a trace of laughter. A slight twist at the corner of his mouth revealed deep skepticism.

That summed up his impression of her actions. Reckless and utterly foolish.

A girl barely able to protect herself had stepped in front of a monster to save someone only a few years younger.

What had she been thinking?

“Did you want to end up paralyzed?”

“……”

“Or did your life seem that worthless?”

Rosanna’s breath trembled, coming out in short gasps.

“Did you really believe you were any more capable than that girl?”

His cold blue eyes pierced through the dark, stating nothing but fact.

Rosanna flinched and averted her gaze.

‘No, I…’

She didn’t want to die. Not for a moment had she wished for death. All she’d wanted, desperately, was to survive to the end.

She just wanted to save Aril…

“But I survived, so…”

“No.”

A heavy step echoed from the shadows. As it drew closer, sweat formed at the back of her neck.

She hadn’t saved herself.

“That wasn’t survival. You were just lucky. You didn’t survive on your own.”

She had lived. But it wasn’t survival—it was a mere coincidence. As he said, just luck. Because that man had been there.

Only now did the weight of her recklessness sink in. If he hadn’t shown up, she would have been torn apart and killed by the beast.

And everything would have ended just like that.

His every word pierced her naive sense of relief.

Raphael grabbed her chin and lifted it. “Only now do you understand what you did?”

Even if she had chosen to throw away her life and had died as a result, it would’ve had nothing to do with him.

Even if he had arrived to find her bloody corpse, he wouldn’t have batted an eye.

That was why this was simply a warning.

“If you truly want to survive, the next time something like that happens, run without looking back.”

“……”

“A powerless human only gets in the way.”

Advice for the pitiful, foolish woman who had narrowly escaped death twice thanks to him.

Her purple eyes twisted as if wounded. Her wide eyes shimmered, ready to spill tears.

But while she met his gaze, she never cried.

Raphael released her chin.

“Ah…”

Only now, realizing she had nearly died, she wrapped her trembling arms around herself.

The bandages tightly wrapped around her leg shifted the shape of her skirt. Her head dipped slightly in reluctant acknowledgment.

“I… understand what you mean.”

“Good to hear.”

A crooked smile formed on Raphael’s lips. His eyes briefly lingered on her tightly shut mouth before he turned and left the tent.

***

After completing the final sweep of the Black Forest, the knights gathered together.

“Lord Raphael personally healed Miss Rosanna…!”

The only way to treat a leg half-rotted from poison was through holy power.

If left untreated, the wound might have required amputation to stop the spread.

But with Raphael Caissen’s holy power, things were different.

“I didn’t know I needed your permission.”

At the calm response, Alix couldn’t hide his surprise and studied his superior’s expression.

Even the Emperor of the Empire would not dare demand such a thing from Raphael.

Caissen, the one blessed with the most radiant glory from God.

All across the Black Forest, the remains of slaughtered demonic beasts were scattered.

More than half of them had fallen to the sword of that noble man.

Yet Raphael himself did not seem to find any particular meaning in using his holy power.

At that point, Alix clicked his tongue and glanced around. “Hm… still, His Highness the Crown Prince is truly cold-hearted.”

“In what sense?”

“He sent only this many troops and ordered a dangerous Black Forest sweep, that’s what.”

Indeed, the actual Imperial forces dispatched by the Emperor amounted to no more than a couple of platoons.

And they weren’t even holy knights with holy power. The number of effective soldiers in the Black Forest was even smaller.

If not for the Holy Knights under Duke Caissen, the operation wouldn’t have even been possible.

“His Highness really ought to leave the capital once in a while.”

In short, he needed to understand the real world. From the standpoint of a knight shoved into such danger, Alix grumbled with reason.

Of course, given that the Duke blessed most by God was present, the outcome had never been in doubt.

At any rate, the good news was that today marked the end of this grueling campaign.

At dawn tomorrow, Duke Caissen’s Holy Knights and the Imperial Army would return to the capital, Calven.

They would pass through the port city of Luperne along the way.

After watching Raphael for a moment, Alix carefully broached the topic. “Lord Raphael. Lately, a certain rumor has been circulating.”

A glorious lineage that had inherited the brightest blessings over thousands of years of history.

Even the imperial family, who claimed themselves as sons of God and openly wielded authority, and the Pope, were aware.

That the only reason this Empire still stood was because of Caissen.

A noble bloodline that protected the Empire by its very existence and proved the existence of God.

There was a time when that seemingly eternal Caissen was struck by a blood-soaked tragedy.

At the end of the thirty-year Human-Demon War.

The head of the Caissen family, who led the battlefield, and his heir were brutally murdered.

By a demon with silver eyes.

“The wraith from a hundred years ago… the rumor says it has returned.”

***

Dinner time arrived. Though there were many people, there weren’t enough tables to seat everyone outdoors.

The soldiers who gave up the tables to the Black Forest victims sat scattered on tree stumps around a central campfire, continuing their meal.

Rosanna, who had injured her leg, also sat awkwardly in front of a table.

She had just managed to take a spoonful of the soup she received—

“Ro-Rosanna…? Rosanna…!”

Someone came running toward Rosanna, who was sitting at the end of the table. At the familiar voice, she set down her spoon and turned her head.

“Are you… are you feeling better?”

“A-Aril?”

At that moment, Rosanna nearly tipped over her chair from leaning back.

“I, hhic… was really worried. But they said I couldn’t see you yet…”

Aril, who threw herself onto Rosanna, had tears streaming down her face.

“I-I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I heard… I heard you nearly lost your leg forever…!”

“……”

“You’re not… not really unable to walk again, are you…? I’m sorry. I’m sorry. How could I…”

Rosanna, mouth slightly open, looked down at Aril as she dampened her chest with tears.

The spoon in her hand had long since fallen to the floor.

Right after the injury to her leg, Rosanna stayed for several days in the medical tent until she could walk on her own again.

There was a separate tent for injured soldiers, but since Rosanna was a woman, she had been isolated and treated alone.

Naturally, during that time, she hadn’t been able to see Aril or the other women.

‘That’s probably why it came to this…’

While Rosanna briefly reflected, Aril’s face turned pale by the second.

“Ah… no way, really! You really can’t walk anymore?!”

Whatever thought had crossed her mind, Aril’s face went pale as she fell backward.

Shaking her head, crawling a few steps on the floor, Aril burst into loud sobs.

“H-hhuuuu… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry… It’s all because of me…”

As Aril cried out, everyone nearby turned their attention to Rosanna and Aril.