Chapter 8

I hurriedly retreated.

Then I pushed the palm that was trying to erase my memory.

But there was a blue spark flashing as soon as my finger touched his palm.

“Ahh!”

I let out a short scream.

“W-what’s this..”

I alternately glanced at my fingers and the man’s palm before moving my gaze to him.

‘Huh..?’

And what I saw was a very unexpected expression.

Clear agitation was on his face.

Alongside that was a look of shock and bewilderment.

‘Is he very surprised?’

I was curious, but it wasn’t the time to be curious now.

If I didn’t want my memories to be forcibly erased, I had to run away..

I was about to pull my finger back slowly, but the man grabbed my hand at lightning speed.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

There was no time to refuse.

I couldn’t say anything at the sudden contact.

The texture of the skin I touched was too strange.

‘It feels weird.’

But what’s even weirder is that I didn’t feel bad about holding hands with someone I didn’t know.

I looked at the hand that grabbed mine.

And soon, I witnessed something surprising.

A blue liquid flowed from me, and it began to be sucked into the man as we held hands.

‘What?’

I glanced at the man.

“Haa..”

He closed his eyes in content, as if savoring something.

His eyelashes trembled slightly.

Even after it stopped, he did not let go of my hand for a long time.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like it. But..

The feeling of holding hands with a man was very strange.

Because it was the first time, I felt this way.

After waiting for a long time, I finally couldn’t stand it and called him.

“Excuse me.”

Only then did the man open his eyes.

“Can you let go of my hand?”

“Oh.”

Then he let go of my hand.

Very slowly, as if he didn’t want to let go.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,”

I quickly hid my free hand under my cloak and replied generously.

So that he didn’t notice that it was my first time holding hands with a man and that I was embarrassed.

However, my calm facade didn’t last long.

It was because he looked at me without saying a word.

I asked him, feeling my face getting hotter,

“Is there something on my face?”

However, it wasn’t an answer that I got.

“Now I know.”

“What..”

When I was surprised, the man briefly smiled.

Soon, he opened his mouth.

“You were the target.”

The answer I heard was something I had never dreamed of.

Target? Me?

“Who was trying to kill me?”

Of course, I knew that Carinne was after me.

But how did this man, that I saw for the first time, know that I was under a threat?

In response to my reaction, he murmured, narrowing his forehead,

“You don’t know anything, do you?”

He clicked his tongue and asked me back,

“Then do you know that you are an epure?”

I widened my eyes.

“How do you know that?”

He asked questions instead of answering again.

“How long have you awakened?”

“I found out yesterday, so it was a day or so.”

“That’s understandable.”

When I saw that man’s eyes looking at me as if I was pathetic, I choked up.

To the point where I forgot that I was afraid of that man a while ago.

It was only my second day after possession.

I was struggling to survive, with no time to fully understand this world.

In a situation where it was impossible to distinguish my enemy or allies, I did not trust people and was repeatedly suspicious of them.

You wouldn’t know how sad and unfair it felt if you haven’t experienced it.

Because I was frustrated, I said to him,

“Can’t you kindly explain it to me?”

“Is there anything wrong with my words?”

“Isn’t it obvious? How could I understand when you didn’t even answer my questions?”

“..”

He shut his mouth. At the same time, the atmosphere subsided.

It was only then that I remembered he was a man who relentlessly sliced a mysterious creature.

‘I’m crazy.’

I couldn’t believe I even dared to argue with him.

Sensing the awkward situation, I grabbed the soft flesh inside my mouth.

‘Will he get angry..?’

However, his red eyes were calm.

When I looked at him, anxious about his reaction, an unexpected apology came instead.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“My explanation was lacking. I apologize for being rude to you.”

‘When a strong opponent reaches out for reconciliation first, I should hold it before it’s too late.’

I blinked and nodded quickly. Then he greeted me with polite manners.

“My name is Lennox Kravant.”

“What?”

“I’m the head of the Kravant family.”

In an instant, my eyes darkened, and a cold sweat ran down my back.

“No way..”

The man smiled elegantly.

It was definitely a soft smile, but it didn’t seem like a real smile to me.

“Th-the Duke of Kravant?”

I could feel my eyes twitching.

And, as always, my ominous premonition was right.

“Thank you for recognizing me.”

“Gasp!”

I hurriedly blocked the sudden scream with both hands.

I just realized it.

This was why he showed an arrogant attitude the whole time.

Lennox Kravant.

He was an extra who appeared briefly in the novel, but I knew exactly who this man was. This was because he was a very impressive person.

The head of the Kravant family. Kravant was a family that saved the empire when it was in danger of destruction in the past and contributed greatly to its revival.

‘Thanks to that, unlike other nobles, he said he enjoyed a privilege comparable to that of the imperial family.’

In short, there is no one in this land for Duke Kravant to bow down to.

‘..Even the emperor couldn’t do anything against the duke.’

I gulped and shook my head.

In conclusion, the situation did not favor me.

In the Balkan Empire, where status was important, he would definitely win.

I later regretted getting mad at him.

It was obvious that if the duke had any resentment towards me, my life would be hard. When I thought of his swordsmanship skills, my body stiffened.

‘I should’ve held it in.’

‘I’m crazy.’

“I think that is enough to introduce myself. Now I want to hear your name.”

In the midst of all this, an unnecessarily good voice entered my ears.

‘It’s no use pretending not to hear, right?’

I glanced at my back. After roughly estimating the distance of the escape route, I gave up. Judging from my previous movements, I was sure to be caught before I could even take a few steps.

‘Then...’

In times like these, what was needed was a quick change of attitude.

I barely pulled up the tips of my quivering lips and smiled.

I didn’t forget to change the tone of my voice.

“Nice to meet you, Duke Kravant. I’m Olivia Brienne, the second daughter of the Brienne family.”

Fortunately, the duke was a man of common sense, and thanks to this, there was no tragedy in which my head was cut off for blasphemy.

‘Once the crisis is over..’

I had to investigate a lot of things.

Also, about me being the ‘target’, as Lennox said.

‘If Lennox knew that the person who was aiming for me was Carinne..’

But I couldn’t trust him.

It was at the very end of the novel that Carinne got rid of Olivia in a bizarre way, and it was revealed that she was the main character.

It was also the last chapter.

But at this point, if there was someone who knew about Carinne’s plans..

‘..An accomplice?’

Of course, there was a second possibility.

Besides Carinne, there was someone else targeting me.

If that were the case, things would get even more complicated.

The number of enemies I had to deal with was increasing.

I slowly gathered my thoughts and opened my mouth.

“I want to ask you something.”

Then Lennox flicked his finger lightly.

At the same time, a transparent film in the form of a dome with five colors of light was created.

It looked like a round bubble was cut in half and placed on the ground.

‘It’s the barrier of Kravant.’

I could tell naturally.

In the original, it was information that was overlooked, but I remembered it vividly for some reason.

‘The most overwhelming power of the Kravant’s head.’

As if hypnotized, I got up and walked to the edge of the barrier.

‘It’s consistent with the description in the original.’