Falling from the Sky
A single Cullen that had been lying flat among its blood-soaked kin, pretending to be dead, finally made its move. It waited for the right moment, then began crawling forward at terrifying speed, stabbing its hooked forelimbs into the ground between its wings.
“Kyakyakyakya!”
“My lord!”
The knights who spotted it immediately surrounded the creature from the front and sides, swinging their swords. But even as blood poured from its body, the Cullen ignored everything else and charged straight ahead like a mad beast. The knight swinging his blade in front of it was trampled underfoot; his face was badly injured and several ribs shattered. Another knight who rushed to block its path had his head severed by a single swipe of the creature’s forelimb.
Finally reaching its target, the monster snatched Donghee by the shoulder and shot into the sky in the blink of an eye. It all happened in an instant.
“Kyaa!”
Before she could even think of dodging, her body was lifted into the air.
The sudden change in altitude startled her for only a moment. Then Donghee screamed as pain tore through her shoulder like it was being ripped apart. She had never experienced anything this agonizing in her entire life. It felt as if her shoulder was about to be torn clean off. The ground below was rapidly shrinking away.
Am I going to die here? Like this? Grabbed by a damn bat?
Slingshot recharging.
Unable to use slingshot. Target and user’s body are in direct contact.
“What kind of bullshit is that!” Donghee hurled the slingshot in frustration. It vanished into her inventory.
It was unbearably unfair. Her body was already too far from the ground.
Even if she somehow survived the fall, there was no way she’d live after smashing into the earth. She’d probably be crushed beyond recognition. The horrific images of the corpses near the wooden fence flashed through her mind.
That was when the Cullen’s grip on her shoulder tightened. Its claws dug even deeper into her flesh.
“Aaaagh!”
It seemed determined to tear her apart. Dying without doing anything at all felt far too unjust—even after death.
With an arm that barely obeyed her, Donghee reached into her coat and pulled out the dagger. It was the one Smith had made from a Cullen’s fang. The blade caught the sunlight and gleamed with a pearly white luster.
“I never thought I’d be using this blade at the very end.”
Donghee gripped the dagger tightly with her gloved hand. Her shoulder burned so fiercely that she doubted she’d be able to move it much longer. With every ounce of strength she had left, she drove the dagger into the Cullen’s toe.
“Let go! You stupid bat bastard!”
“Kwaaaaaagh!”
For a brief moment, Donghee felt like she had turned into the Hulk. She was bitterly disappointed that she couldn’t record this scene. If she had, the Avengers definitely would have come to recruit her.
Facing death made everything suddenly feel unreal, and a strange calm settled over her. The pain faded away. Donghee clenched her gloved hand, drove the dagger deeper into the claw, and twisted with all her might.
“I’ll give you a cuticle removal treatment!”
She shoved the blade in as far as it would go and used it like a lever to pry the claw upward. It was all possible thanks to the gloves she had bought from the hidden shop.
The Cullen’s agonized shriek tore at her eardrums. The claw now dangled loosely, barely attached by a thread of flesh.
Donghee grabbed the tip of the claw and shoved it away with all her strength.
“Kyaaaaagh!”
The sight of blood gushing from its foot felt incredibly satisfying.
Startled by its prey’s unexpected counterattack, the Cullen stopped flapping its wings. It began shaking its foot, trying to fling her off.
Donghee held on until the very end, then seized the nearly severed claw in a death grip.
Finally, the claw tore free completely, and Donghee began plummeting toward the ground.
The screams of people watching from below reached her faintly. Clutching the ripped-out claw tightly to her chest, she fell and fell.
It had been a short but good life. The fall would be over in an instant, yet the faces of so many people she had come to know flashed before her eyes.
I hope Delma doesn’t cry too much.
I hope Patrasche doesn’t ruin Grace Territory…
Her brown hair fluttered like it was growing right before her eyes as the blue sky receded. Everyone… goodbye.
Donghee closed her eyes. And then—
“How annoying. Tsk!”
A silver-haired man—Taichang—suddenly appeared, effortlessly catching her in his arms with a click of his tongue.
Everything around her flashed white, and the speed of her fall slowed dramatically. His hair, gleaming like the scales of a silver anchovy, shot upward in the wind.
“You… Taichang.”
She didn’t ask how he had appeared so suddenly. Taichang himself was an impossible existence, so it wasn’t surprising that he would show up right before she smashed into the ground.
“Yeah. I’m the Taichang you gave that pathetic name to.”
Taichang stared at her with unfathomable gray eyes, then gently covered them with his hand.
“I want to keep my eyes open.”
“Just close them.”
Taichang stubbornly covered her eyes again as she tried to open them. A moment later, Donghee landed with a dull thud on a thick patch of unburned fireweed.
“Ugh!”
It felt like getting hit by a car. There wasn’t a single part of her body that didn’t hurt.
Damn it, if you’re going to catch me, catch me all the way. This hurts like hell.
It seemed that cheapskate had dropped her from just high enough that she wouldn’t die.
Still, the fact that she could even curse meant her head was fine, which was a relief. Donghee forced her heavy eyelids open and looked around. Taichang had lowered his silver hair like a curtain and was staring at her intently.
“Cheapskate, but ridiculously handsome.”
Those were her last words before she lost consciousness.
“My lord, my lord. Can you hear me?”
Donghee opened her eyes, feeling as if her entire body had been pounded with hammers. Every inch of her hurt so badly she couldn’t tell where the pain was coming from. But when she saw the familiar ceiling and the faces around her, she let out a faint, relieved smile.
“I’m alive.”
Delma looked down at her with swollen eyes, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Delma?”
“Yes! It’s me, Delma. Oh dear god. Thank you, thank you so much!”
Delma’s trembling hands grasped the lord’s and pressed them to her forehead. The maid’s skin felt burning hot. Donghee’s weary eyes widened slightly.
“Delma, are you sick?”
“What? You’re the one who’s hurt! Where does it hurt? Ohhh, it would be strange if nothing hurt. There isn’t a single uninjured spot on you.”
Delma burst into another round of tears. Donghee gently patted the back of the maid’s thick hand and forced a smile.
“Not me. You, Delma.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Your forehead is burning up.”
Even now, Delma stared at Chloe with moist eyes, overwhelmed that the girl was worrying about her fever in this state.
“I’m not hurting at all. Now that you’ve opened your eyes, my lord, I don’t feel any pain whatsoever.”
Delma knew her own body felt like it was on fire. But she truly didn’t feel any pain. If anything, she felt like dancing with joy.
When the carriage had returned to Grace Castle and she saw Chloe looking like a broken corpse, it felt as if the sky had collapsed.
From that day until today, when Chloe finally woke up, every single one of the seven days had been hell for Delma. She had thought over and over how much better it would have been if she had died instead, if she had been the one left in that mangled state.
She didn’t even want to hear people praising the lord for protecting Morta Village from the Cullens.
“Yeah. Don’t be in pain, Delma. It hurts me too much when you’re hurting.”
Donghee let out a weak chuckle and fell back asleep. Her breathing was far steadier and more stable than before.
Delma wiped away her streaming tears and bowed deeply to the doctor who had stayed by Chloe’s side day and night for the entire week.
“Thank you so much. Truly, thank you. I will never forget this kindness.”
“We are truly grateful. You are the savior of our territory, Doctor.”
Both Delma and Scrooge offered their heartfelt thanks. Scrooge’s eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion. He hadn’t slept properly either, and his condition was just as bad as Delma’s.
The knight sent to fetch a priest because of the severity of the lord’s injuries had still not arrived. When they received word that he had been delayed after encountering a band of thieves, it felt like the sky was falling once again. The people of Grace, who had been anxiously waiting for the priest’s arrival, were left in despair; not a single person remained dry-eyed.
It was then that Gallen appeared out of nowhere. He was the very doctor who had made the medicine Chloe had taken during her previous severe illness. After confirming that the lord had recovered, he had been about to leave but decided to stay a few more days because he liked the warm atmosphere of Grace Territory. Seeing the lord return in such a horrific state had been a shock to him as well.
She had more than a few broken bones. The wound on her shoulder was so deep that it was uncertain whether she would ever regain full use of her arm. Worst of all, it would likely leave a massive scar. For a young noble lady who had not yet married, such a large scar was a serious matter. Moreover, the rumors Gallen had heard about the Grace lord had all been terrible. Yet the lord he had met here was completely different from those rumors.
She wasn’t unconditionally gentle, but she never mistreated the servants. Instead, she looked after their well-being and took care of them quietly from behind the scenes. Though younger than his own daughter back home, she was far more mature and possessed great generosity.
“Now that she has regained consciousness, if she takes her medicine properly and rests well, she will surely recover. So please don’t worry too much.”
After speaking, Gallen took a small black pill from the pouch at his waist and offered it to Delma. Although he had given her medicine several times already, she had stubbornly refused, saying she was fine. It seemed she was so focused on the lord that she hadn’t even realized how sick she herself was.
“The lord was very worried about you. Take this and drink plenty of hot water. After a good night’s sleep, you’ll feel much better by tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.”
Delma accepted the pill with a bow. Gallen patted her shoulder gently with both hands and smiled warmly. Then he turned his head, sensing a gaze from somewhere. There, the financial officer who had just been thanking him repeatedly was now glaring at him with narrowed eyes.