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Chapter 18: You must die!

Chapter 18: You must die!

The fire erupted almost instantly.

The sparks that shot from the magic stone were barely the size of a fingertip, but the moment they touched the curtains and the carpet, they transformed into flames nearly half a person’s height. They spread across wood, fabric, and even surfaces that shouldn’t have burned easily, at a speed that defied all common sense.

Lathel had barely reached the bed when he felt the heat surging from behind.

Black smoke quickly blanketed the ceiling.

He pulled the blanket over Leviana’s head, then ran to the door.

The handle was so hot that the skin of his palm stung the instant he touched it. Lathel still gritted his teeth and held on, twisted hard, then rammed his shoulder into the door.

Crash!

The door didn’t budge.

He tried again.

Crash!

No sound at all from the other side.

Lathel crouched down and looked at the gap beneath the door. A faint red glow was running along the wooden frame, like countless threads of mana woven together into an array.

The room had been sealed.

Not with a lock and key.

With magic.

The smoke grew thicker by the second.

Lathel immediately spun around.

Leviana was still lying on the bed.

She hadn’t woken.

He ran to the window.

The window handle wouldn’t open either.

A similar layer of mana covered the outside.

Lathel looked around, then grabbed the nearest chair and swung it at the glass with everything he had.

Crash!

The glass shook but didn’t break.

The fire behind him had already crawled up half the wall.

Smoke was sinking lower.

Lathel coughed dryly, his eyes stinging. He raised the chair again.

Crash!

A crack appeared.

The third time, Lathel threw nearly his entire body behind the chair as he drove it forward.

SMASH!

The glass finally shattered.

Night air rushed in at once, dragging a column of black smoke out through the window. The sharp shards of glass also sprayed back inward, embedding themselves in Lathel’s arms, shoulder, and side.

One piece nearly as long as a finger pierced through his right forearm.

Blood ran down immediately.

Lathel glanced at it, then pulled it out.

The pain made his body seize for an instant.

But he didn’t stop.

He used his elbow to knock away the remaining shards clinging to the frame. His skin was cut several more times, and blood quickly soaked his sleeve red.

Outside was the rear courtyard of the estate.

Second floor.

Not too high.

But for an ordinary person carrying someone else, the jump could still break a leg.

Lathel turned his head to look at Leviana.

There was no other choice.

He ran back to the bed, pulled the thick blanket around her from shoulders to feet, then tied off the remainder. Leviana was frighteningly light after all the years of lying motionless, but when Lathel bent down to lift her, his arms covered in cuts still trembled from the pain.

A tongue of flame suddenly dropped behind his back.

Lathel spun at once.

The flame grazed his shoulder and struck the floor.

The smell of burning fabric spread.

He slapped out the fire catching on his shirt, then held Leviana closer.

In her sleep, Leviana felt everything.

She knew the room was growing hot.

Knew Lathel had been hurt.

Knew he was holding her.

But her body was like a cage locking her soul inside.

She wanted to open her eyes.

Wanted to tell him to leave her behind and run.

Wanted to use her mana to freeze the entire room.

Nothing obeyed.

The more Leviana’s consciousness struggled, the deeper her body sank into the forced sleep.

’Lathel...’

She called out in her mind.

No one heard.

Lathel reached the window.

He looked down, then adjusted his hold so that most of Leviana’s body rested within his arms.

If the landing went wrong, he could take the impact with his back or legs.

At least she wouldn’t hit the ground.

Black smoke rolled toward him.

Lathel had no more time.

He stepped onto the window frame and jumped.

Cold wind lashed his face for less than a second.

Then—

CRACK!

A horrific pain shot from his left leg through his entire body.

Lathel collapsed.

He nearly lost consciousness on the spot.

But both arms still held Leviana tight.

His body twisted to one side on instinct, letting his shoulder and back slam into the ground in her place.

A strangled groan escaped his throat.

"Ngh..."

Lathel lay motionless for a few seconds.

His breathing came in ragged gasps.

His left leg was bent at an unnatural angle.

He looked down and knew at once it was broken.

The savage pain made his vision flicker, but only after confirming that Leviana was still lying safely in his arms did Lathel slowly let out a breath.

He tried to sit up.

Even that simple motion sent such agony through his broken leg that his entire body shook.

Lathel clenched his teeth.

He couldn’t scream. Only choked sounds caught deep in his throat.

"Ngh... ngh..."

Blood from his arm dripped onto the grass.

He braced one hand against the ground and used his good leg to drag his body away from the area beneath the burning window.

One step.

Then another.

Lathel was practically crawling.

Finally, he brought Leviana to a patch of ground far enough from the building, then gently set her down.

Just as Lathel was about to check whether she was hurt, a slow clapping echoed from the darkness.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Lathel raised his head.

A man stepped out from behind the trees.

Aldric.

He still had bandages wrapped around his chest and shoulder, his complexion slightly pale from wounds that hadn’t yet healed, but the smile on his face was identical to every time he stood before others.

Friendly.

Gentle.

A perfect young nobleman.

Only this time, Lathel already knew what lay behind that smile.

"You actually surprised me."

Aldric looked at the burning room on the second floor, then back at Lathel.

"I assumed someone like you would simply die inside."

Lathel frowned.

He immediately dragged his body to block Leviana.

Aldric watched the motion, and his smile grew wider.

"This again."

He walked forward slowly.

"Do you know what irritates me most about you, Lathel?"

Lathel didn’t answer.

"You’re clearly just a supporting character."

Aldric stopped a few paces away.

"An Extra with no purpose in the storyline, and yet you always insist on crawling into places you don’t belong."

Lathel’s expression shifted.

Storyline.

That word again.

The System had just told him Aldric was the male lead.

And here Aldric was, openly calling him a supporting character.

A few things Lathel hadn’t understood before began fitting together.

Aldric knew.

He knew this was a world inside a story.

Aldric watched Lathel’s expression and laughed.

"Don’t look at me like that. You don’t need to understand."

He glanced at Leviana behind him.

"The story is much simpler than you think."

Aldric spoke slowly, as though recounting something that had already happened.

"Lathel, the adopted son who was always jealous of his younger brother, discovered that Leviana still had feelings for her original betrothed and became resentful. In a moment of lost control, he set fire to the room intending to kill Leviana, then died in the blaze himself."

Aldric tilted his head slightly.

"Fortunately, I discovered it in time and rescued Leviana."

The corner of his mouth curled.

"Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?"

Lathel looked at him.

Then his hands began to move.

"Aldric."

"You want her magic veins?"

"You’re the one who started the fire."

"I won’t let you take her."

Aldric watched the fingers moving rapidly before him, then frowned.

He didn’t understand a single sign.

"This idiotic thing again."

Lathel kept signing.

He knew Aldric didn’t understand.

But right now Lathel had no other way to speak.

Aldric stepped forward.

"What I hate most is that look on your face."

A sudden kick drove straight into Lathel’s stomach.

Thud!

His body was sent rolling to one side.

The pain in his broken leg erupted violently, making Lathel’s entire body convulse.

"Ngh!"

A choked, muffled sound escaped his throat.

He clutched his stomach, but almost immediately braced his hand against the ground to crawl back in front of Leviana.

Aldric saw it.

The smile vanished.

"I already told you."

He walked over and planted his foot on Lathel’s right hand.

"Don’t perform that nonsense I can’t understand in front of me."

Lathel froze.

Aldric crouched down.

He seized Lathel’s index finger with one hand.

Then bent it backward.

CRACK!

The sound of bone snapping rang out with sickening clarity.

Lathel’s body curled inward at once.

"NGH—!"

He couldn’t scream.

The sound of pain only caught in his throat, twisting into a warped moan that barely resembled a human voice.

Cold sweat instantly coated his forehead.

Aldric still didn’t let go.

"You use these to talk, don’t you?"

He gripped the middle finger.

Lathel understood at once what he intended to do.

His left hand shot forward.

But Aldric kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flat on his back.

CRACK!

The second finger was snapped.

Lathel clenched his jaw.

His jaw trembled.

Two fingers twisted out of shape, nearly impossible to move anymore.

Tears from the sheer reflex of pain spilled from the corners of his eyes, but he still used his remaining arm to drag himself toward Leviana.

Just a little more.

He had to get in front of her.

Aldric watched the scene, his eyes showing a mix of bewilderment and disgust.

"Even now you still want to protect her?"

He leaned down to look at Lathel.

"You think she’ll be grateful?"

"You think anyone will remember a supporting character like you after you’re dead?"

Lathel didn’t answer.

He only kept crawling.

Inside the blanket behind him, two lines of tears slowly slid from the corners of Leviana’s eyes.

She had heard everything.

Every sound of bone breaking.

Every moan strangled in his throat.

Every word Aldric said.

She wanted to open her eyes so badly her consciousness was nearly going mad.

’Wake up.’

’Wake up!’

’Leviana, open your eyes!’

But her eyelids remained as heavy as if they’d been cast from iron.

All she could do was lie there, exactly like the last life.

Listening to Lathel being hurt because of her once again.

Unable to do a thing.

’Please...’

The tears flowed harder.

’Lathel, don’t.’

’Don’t protect me anymore.’

’Run.’

But Lathel kept crawling.

In the end, he once again managed to block the space in front of her.

A man with a broken leg.

Arms covered in blood.

Two fingers on his right hand bent and mangled.

And still he sat there.

Aldric looked at him for a while, then laughed.

"Fine."

"If you want to play the hero that badly, then die like one."

He waved his hand.

Two burly men immediately stepped out of the darkness.

Both were dressed as servants, but their auras were clearly nothing like the ordinary staff of the estate.

Aldric pointed at Lathel.

"Lathel set fire to Leviana’s room out of jealousy. I discovered he was trying to kill her and intervened."

One of the men asked: "And him?"

Aldric smiled.

"Resisted."

A single word.

Both men understood at once.

Someone who died while resisting the person who saved Leviana would make the story even more complete.

Lathel watched them approach.

He looked down at his right hand.

Two fingers no longer answered.

The staff lay far out of reach.

His left leg couldn’t stand.

He looked at Leviana again.

After a moment, Lathel used his left hand to pull the blanket higher, covering her head completely.

At the very least...

If there truly was no other way, she didn’t need to see.

Seeing that gesture, impatience crossed Aldric’s face.

"Kill him."

Both men advanced.

But right at that moment—

A current of cold killing intent suddenly blanketed the courtyard.

Both men stopped in their tracks.

Aldric flinched and spun around.

In the darkness beyond the tree line, two figures were slowly stepping forward.

The man in front wore a black cloak, his face expressionless, but the mana around him had already made the air feel crushingly heavy.

Beside him was a woman in a long dress of deep blue.

Her eyes weren’t looking at Aldric.

Weren’t looking at the fire.

From the very instant she appeared, she saw only her daughter lying on the ground and the blood-soaked young man still trying to shield her.

Aldric went rigid.

He recognized both of them.

Duke Cassian Avarenne.

Duchess Mirelle Avarenne.

Leviana’s parents.

And from the look in their eyes as they stared at him, Aldric understood one thing immediately.

They had heard far too much.