My Ruin to You - Chapter 71

Every person the child’s gaze landed on was an Awakener.

Just as the knights exchanged wary glances—

“You—!”

Roseline stepped out from Valen’s shadow and strode toward the child. It was the same child she had saved that fateful night.

“You’re safe. Thank goodness.”

They weren’t lifelong acquaintances, just strangers briefly connected by chance. Yet her stiff expression softened instinctively with relief.

“Who.”

Valen seized Roseline’s arm as she passed him, jerking her back. Off-balance, she stumbled against him as he tilted his chin toward the child.

“That child from the road that day.”

“The Awakener saved me! She healed me with magic and made a huge barrier like this!”

The innocent child enthusiastically mimicked the barrier’s shape, raising both arms high.

“Rudy!”

A woman beside the child—likely his mother—grabbed his arms and pulled them down, scolding him sharply. The boy immediately shrank back, and the woman bowed deeply toward Valen. But Valen didn’t spare them a single glance.

“How reckless can you be?”

“……”

“Is it only me you’re so heartless with?”

The bitterness in his voice was unmistakable. His grip on her arm tightened. Roseline glanced at her stinging wrist and sighed before leaning in to whisper.

“If I were truly heartless, I would’ve bitten your tongue last night when you kissed me.”

Valen let out a disbelieving laugh. Tonight, then. The added murmur was for her ears alone.

“What does my generous-hearted lady think? How should I handle them?”

All eyes turned to Roseline. Desperation and hope burned in every gaze. Some pressed their hands together in prayer when they met her eyes; others clasped them pleadingly. The child, oblivious, simply beamed.

It was a difficult decision. Leaving the trading overseer to his fate might be kinder—but the child, the pregnant woman, the others… they deserved a chance. Yet more people meant slower travel, and reaching the city gates by nightfall would become impossible.

“Please, show mercy! My wife is with child…!”

A gaunt young man dropped to his knees. His wife—the woman who had scolded Rudy—was visibly pregnant.

Roseline didn’t need to deliberate further.

“It’s impossible, Your Highness. The risk is too great to take them all. We should prioritize the women and children, and leave the rest to another unit of knights.”

The guild master intervened. It was a perfectly reasonable decision, and the survivors seemed ready to accept it without protest.

“And you?”

Valen turned to Roseline for her opinion.

“Perhaps we should assign the women and children to another unit and keep only the men in Your Highness’s escort group?”

“Why?”

“Bringing women and children will slow us down. We might not make it past the city gates by nightfall. Your safety is the priority—we can’t endanger you just to save them.”

“Ah, how noble.”

The corner of his mouth curled up in a smirk. Though his words sounded approving, the look in his eyes was unmistakable—You’re scheming.

“But what do you think will happen to those women and children if the knights arrive late?”

“……”

“I don’t care, but you worry about such things, don’t you?”

Don’t take the bait. This was exactly his game. Just yesterday, after exchanging signals, another unit of knights had arrived at the smithy not long after.

Assigning the women and children to a separate group while keeping the men in theirs was the most practical solution. Before leaving the territory—or even after—she had planned to give the overseer some warning about the situation. Whether he chose to flee or comply, at least this earnest-looking man would have a chance to decide his own fate.

“Then why not leave just a few men behind?”

“We could leave the overseer.”

Damn it.

She had tried to stay composed, but now that he’d seen through her, there was no point. Valen’s smile deepened. He looked like a mischievous boy plotting a prank—or a demon ensnaring a warrior with sweet temptations. Neither was a good sign.

“My thinking was shortsighted. Your Highness should decide.”