Imprinted with the Obsessive Male Lead - Chapter 43

It was a night filled with storm clouds. The full moon that had brightly illuminated everything until yesterday was completely hidden behind the clouds. As the carriage came to a stop, the sound of raindrops falling outside the window could be heard clearly. It hadn’t started raining yet at the Grand Duke’s castle, but here, a thin drizzle had begun to fall.

“Lady Nita!”

The moment I stepped down from the carriage, pulling the hood of my robe over my head, Logan ran toward me.

“My apologies for calling you out so suddenly at this late hour!”

I shook my head. Then I turned my gaze and stared at the land beneath the mountain range.

Without a doubt, it was the very place where the mana storm I had been waiting for would occur. The old garden beneath the mountains. Now, it was no different from an empty lot covered in dirt.

Darker than a rainy night, it was a perfect darkness where not even an inch ahead could be seen, spreading and swallowing the surroundings without end. Like a massive mountain.

Even when I tilted my head all the way back to look up, I couldn’t tell where the end of that darkness was.

I looked around. Other knights stood at a distance around the site, setting up a barrier. That was a tool embedded with magic stones, meant to prevent mana from spreading beyond a designated area. Mages used such things to contain mana within boxes for research.

But it’s useless now. This mana will soon turn into a massive storm, and something like that won’t be able to stop it. And that storm will swallow all the nearby villages.

“Where is the Grand Duke?”

“He’s inside.”

“…Inside?”

I thought I had misheard and asked again, but Logan pointed with his fingertip toward the mana covering the garden.

“Yes. Inside that.”

I stared at the darkness with wide eyes.

“H-he went in there?”

Even if he was someone unaffected by mana, going into that… why? As I stood there, stunned and confused, Logan answered calmly.

“It’s something that happens often. We’ve been watching and guarding that land recently, but since no one knows when mana will appear, there’s always a chance someone could get caught in it.”

Good heavens. Still, isn’t it frightening? I blankly stared at that pitch-black darkness. It looked terrifying. Of course, I would have to approach it as well to purify the mana, but I’d be fine since there would be light with me. And I knew the mana would soon disappear. But Chase wasn’t the same.

Even if his body wasn’t affected by mana, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel fear. And he had done this every time? For the sake of people who might have been caught in it…?

At that moment, a faint, small light appeared within the darkness. Chase stepped out from the pitch-black void, as if cutting through the night sky itself. Holding a sword in one hand, he walked forward with long strides, unhurried and composed.

The raindrops grew heavier, falling with a sharp pattering sound. After surveying the mana a little more, Chase finally came to stand before me.

There wasn’t the slightest disturbance on his face, even after going in and out of that darkness. I looked at the pitch-black mana behind him. He had gone in there alone and come back out, yet he wasn’t afraid at all. Just how strong is his resolve?

“Nita.”

His voice was gentle. Chase handed the small lantern he had been holding to Logan. I looked at his cold blue eyes, glinting under the yellow light. He moved his head slightly, gesturing toward the mana with his chin.

“Can you do it?”

Neither excessive nor lacking. His words were calm and simple. For some reason, the gaze with which he asked felt steady.

“I can.”

Thinking he might assume I was hesitating or had gotten scared at the last moment, I answered without delay.

The scale of the mana was like a massive wall. Even when I looked up at the sky, I couldn’t gauge where it ended. Its size was larger than I had expected, which was startling, but this wasn’t a matter of whether I could or couldn’t do it. I had to do it. And for some reason, I felt like I could.

After all, I wouldn’t die because of mana. Even in the original story, the reason Nita died was due to the pain from the body Michael had ruined, not because mana had been forced into her. With mana this strong, my body might suffer and hurt afterward, but it wouldn’t threaten my life.