My Ruin to You - Chapter 53

The ranks have changed.

Three knights, including the plain-spoken one, were selected and departed as scouts, and a new knight took the vacant seat beside Roseline. He was a very blunt knight with tanned skin and brown hair.

“Hey, Sir.”

“No.”

“……If you don’t mind, I have a question.”

“I do mind.”

“Then, can I bother you just once?”

“No.”

“I even shared my magical power with you.”

“Thank you.”

The conversation was cut short. When Roseline let out a sullen sigh, the knight glanced at her and changed his tone.

“I’ll answer two questions.”

His expression remained stoic, but Roseline didn’t miss the opportunity.

“How’s the capital?”

“Unharmed.”

“How far has the plague spread?”

“Don’t know.”

“When did the knight order enter the territory?”

“Questions are over. Keep your eyes forward.”

“Yes.”

Thank you. At her whispered addition, the knight shrugged in response. From now on, it was up to Roselin. Holding her breath, she walked through the desolate streets, piecing together the scattered clues one by one.

Sixth day since the incident began. If it took three days by carriage from the capital to the territory, the knights—with their superior mobility—would have taken about two days. Passing through the outer walls wouldn’t have been easy either. That meant, at best, they would have arrived at the inner walls around yesterday. Yet, they seemed to know more than Roseline, who had kept watch for five full days. They knew the infected drank animal blood, reacted to magical energy—hence the prepared magic barrier stones—and even the entire knight order was composed of manifestors.

No, even the assumption that they arrived yesterday was strange. It would mean they descended as soon as the plague broke out. How did they know? Why?

“…….”

Roseline’s gaze lingered on Valen’s back. Part of her wanted to push through the knights and interrogate him thoroughly. But this wasn’t the time or place for that. Still, once they reached a safe location, a conversation about the Marquis was necessary, one way or another. It would’ve been better if she hadn’t encountered the knight order at all, but now that she had—and was surrounded with no means of escape—her only option was to come clean.

◇◇◇

The base was quite close to the Marquis’s mansion.

It was an upscale inn, the same one where Roseline had stayed for the past two weeks. Whether it was coincidence or a location chosen specifically for her sake, she couldn’t tell—but either way, it was odd.

“Your Highness, I have something to tell you.”

The moment they stepped into the lobby, lined with a long red carpet, Roseline clung to Valen’s back as if to stop him.

“Follow me.”

Without even turning his head, Valen ascended the stairs. Merrick, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, bowed his head in silent greeting, and Roseline gave a small nod in return before following Valen.

Merrick, who had been walking between Valen and Roseline, suddenly overtook them and opened a door to one of the rooms on the second floor. It was right next to Roseline’s room, separated only by a wall.

Is this also a coincidence?

Her moment of tilting her head in thought was brief. Merrick, holding the door, gave her a look as if asking why she wasn’t going in. Without a word, Roseline stepped inside. The door closed behind her.

“Speak.”

Valen, unfastening the buckle of his pauldron, merely raised an eyebrow. Though it wasn’t a conversation to have standing, she couldn’t sit until His Highness offered her a seat.

“The room right next to this is where I’ve been staying.”

“And?”

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’ve been assisting at Marquis Brun’s healing center.”

“Skip the detours. Get to the point.”

Valen tossed his pauldron carelessly onto the table and began loosening the straps of his arm guards. Whether it was the cumbersome armor or Roseline herself, everything seemed like a nuisance to him, making her shrink back involuntarily. Roseline scraped her palm lightly with her blunt nails, forcing a strained smile.

“I think this plague is connected to the Marquis. There’s a possibility he conducted experiments. I saw vampire bats.”

“You saw them? Where?”

Finally, he showed interest.

“In the healing center’s basement. He took me there and showed me that day.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. He had warned me not to go near the basement at all, but since I kept asking questions, he might have wanted to show me just a little.”

Valen tossed aside one of his arm guards and suddenly looked up.

“Ah, so the plague broke out on the same day the young lady learned of the bats’ existence.”

“…That’s true, but…”

“Quite the coincidence.”

A cold smirk and a flat stare. In other words, he found Roseline suspicious.

“I truly know nothing, Your Highness. I only saw them once before the outbreak. And even then, they were caged, so I couldn’t get a proper look. But I could sense magical energy, so I knew something was off. And their symptoms are similar to those of vampire bats.”

“Of course they are. That was the point of the painstaking experiments.”

Roseline’s pupils trembled.

“You knew?”