Chapter 7

“W-Wait a second!”

Prina hurriedly stepped in front of Hugo, blocking his path. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

On the ground, the workers corrupted by the dark energy gasped roughly for breath.

Is this man trying to kill them right now? Why?

“Move aside.”

Hugo adjusted his grip on the sword hanging low at his side and smiled coldly.

“I have no intention of harming a lady, so don’t worry.”

“No, that’s obviously not the issue! Why would you kill innocent workers—”

“Ah. Has the decree not been officially announced yet?”

A decree? What decree?

“It’s an order from the Imperial Family. Anyone corrupted by demonic energy is to be executed immediately.”

What?

Those consumed by demonic energy inevitably met death. But the true tragedy began after their breathing stopped.

Sometimes the demonic energy seized the corpse left behind and transformed it into a monster.

“Even if we leave them alone, they’ll die anyway. But if they die while still corrupted, the aftermath becomes far more troublesome.”

Hugo’s face remained perfectly cold.

A completely unfamiliar voice came from that familiar face.

“So move. It’s already too late to call a priest.”

Priests who possessed divine power were capable of purifying demonic energy.

And it truly was too late to fetch one. The sun would soon set, and by then the workers would already be dead from corruption.

His dry crimson eyes turned toward Prina.

After hesitating beneath that chilling gaze for a long moment, she finally spoke.

“What if there is a way?”

One of his eyebrows lifted slightly.

“I possess divine power. I can heal them.”

Interest flickered in Hugo’s eyes.

“And besides, you said that decree hasn’t been officially proclaimed yet. Until then, it has no legal authority. If you kill them now, you wouldn’t be acting under Imperial orders—you’d just be murdering people.”

Violating procedure was not the same thing as obeying the Imperial Family.

Prina stared directly at the cold blade in his hand and firmly added,

“So put the sword down.”

Flash—

The light flowing from her palm touched the worker’s chest, and black mist-like energy began to rise.

The smell of demonic energy leaving the body resembled burning ash.

“…Hah.”

Once Prina convinced him she possessed divine power, Hugo obediently sheathed his sword.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be some crazed murderer.

The image of him killing people in front of her was still vividly burned into her mind, and she had feared he might suddenly change his mind and kill both her and the workers too.

But Hugo never once threatened them.

Was what he said about self-defense… true?

Prina cautiously glanced at the man standing beside her.

At that exact moment, her gaze met his crimson eyes.

“So the lady came here alone because she knew the forest well.”

“……”

“But it’s not just the geography you know.”

Hugo muttered quietly while watching her purify the workers.

Does he think I lied to him?

She had intentionally hidden it, but it wasn’t as though she needed to reveal every detail about herself to him.

Prina tried to avoid letting others see her using divine power whenever possible.

When she was younger, it was because the amount she possessed was pitifully small and embarrassing.

As she grew older, there were other reasons.

…I signed that agreement when I left the family.

Prina was the illegitimate daughter of a great noble house.

That family, which had produced divine-power bloodlines for generations, hated the thought of their “noble” power spreading beyond their control.

So even after leaving the family, she never openly revealed her abilities.

The same had been true during her relationship with Hugo.

I never showed him while we were dating, and now I’m showing it to someone who’s become a complete stranger.

But if she didn’t use her power now, people would die.

…If the family finds out I used divine power, I’m finished.

Still, before losing his memories, Hugo had only known her as an ordinary commoner, so it should be fine.

And while divine power users were rare, they weren’t unheard of. What was happening here wasn’t particularly strange.

“It’s true that I came because I know the area well. No one except me has ever been in this forest.”

“Then why did you come to the Black Forest before?”

“When I was little, I came a few times with my mother…”

“This doesn’t seem like the kind of place a child follows her mother to.”

Suspicion briefly colored Hugo’s voice.

But it was the truth.

Long ago, Prina’s mother, who had been a herbalist, once saved a nobleman who had collapsed in the mountains.

Because of that incident, she became his concubine and eventually gave birth to Prina.

But for someone who had lived breathing the scent of earth and grass, life in a grand mansion felt suffocating.

Whenever her mother could no longer bear it, she would take her young daughter and escape to the forest.

Even this bleak Black Forest had once been one of those refuges.

Though they weren’t especially warm memories for Prina.

“The demonic energy only spread through this forest within the last ten years. Long ago, plenty of people used to come here.”

Anyone from the area would know that.

Apparently, Hugo wasn’t from around here.

“So you came for pleasant strolls with your mother, I see.”

“…Something like that.”

For a moment, Prina remembered something that had happened when she was seven years old.

“Prina, isn’t life difficult? Shall we die here together?”

…Yeah. No matter how she thought about it, it wasn’t a good memory.

“Would you consider working under me?”

The sudden proposal caused the divine power flowing from Prina’s hand to cut off abruptly. Her concentration had shattered.

What is this man even talking about?

“…My current workplace is very satisfactory.”

“I can pay you more than they do.”

…Was Hugo rich?

“If you look around, there are plenty of divine power users, and many people better at purification than me. Um… assuming you really do have money.”

It was an unmistakable rejection.

Like hell I would.

It hadn’t even been a few hours since she watched him kill someone. She’d rather work under her landlord.

Fortunately, Hugo didn’t press further.

“Mmm…”

She had just finished the purification and was waiting for the workers to wake up when one of them groaned faintly, as though regaining consciousness.

Prina quickly checked on him.

“Are you awake?”

“W-Water…”

“Uh… I don’t have any water. I think you’ll just have to get up.”

The worker slowly closed his eyes again.

No, she said get up.

After all the effort she’d put into purifying him, he’d gone right back to sleep. She briefly considered slapping him awake.

“I should get going now.”

Hugo rose from where he’d been sitting on a nearby rock.

…Was he leaving?

Prina looked at him hopefully, preparing to say goodbye.

“Come to think of it, what’s your name, Lady?”

…Why was he suddenly asking for her name?

The man who had forgotten both her name and the fact that she had once been his lover waited calmly for her answer.

“I’m… R-Renia.”

Perhaps it was instinctively because she no longer wanted to become involved with Hugo.

The lie slipped out before she even realized it.

What are you going to do if Hugo gets his memories back?!

But it was already too late.

“Renia?”

It was an extremely common name. If someone shouted it on the street, three out of ten women would probably turn around.

“Your surname?”

“F-Felt.”

“Renia Felt.”

Renia Felt…

Hugo rolled the fake name around on his tongue several times.

Then suddenly, an odd expression crossed his face. Like he had swallowed something that didn’t suit his taste.

But it only lasted a moment.

Soon, he smiled brightly.

“Let’s meet again sometime, Miss Renia.”

Again…?

But Hugo offered no explanation. He simply turned around and disappeared.

Left alone beside the unconscious workers, Prina was left with nothing but an unsettling feeling.

It felt as though invisible chills were crawling across her entire body.

But it was a familiar sensation.

The same thing had happened while they were dating too..