Chapter 95: I feel so safe with you

*Two days earlier… Depths of the Catacombs… First Level.*

While Kristian was trying to bring Katelyn back to the Sword Clan as quickly as possible, Siegfried Dragonslay was progressing rapidly through the narrow corridors, with Lady Victoria on his shoulder.

Suddenly, a growl tore through the silence.

Immediately, three silhouettes emerged from the transversal intersection.

The first Daugr opened a gaping maw from which escaped a putrid rattle, its fingers ending in black claws. It lunged forward while limping. The other two followed it, one of them crawling on the walls.

Siegfried had no intention of lingering in a frontal fight while carrying Lady Drigan. But he also knew that he would not be able to outdistance them without neutralizing them.

He activated his

Instantly, the world slowed: the flows of corrupted Chi in the Daugrs appeared, and their potential trajectories drew themselves as red lines in his mind.

His heterochromatic eyes shone briefly in the gloom, capturing every detail: the weakness of the large Daugr’s tendon, the tension in the climber’s shoulder, the desynchronization of the runner’s movements.

He set Victoria down against the wall, propping her between two stone pillars. Then, in one fluid motion, he drew Gram.

Gram’s blade whistled and severed the tendons of its ankles with precision. The corpse collapsed, its clawed hands trying to cling to the ground to get up again, but its legs no longer responded. A rough howl of frustration escaped from its throat.

Siegfried was already pivoting, barely avoiding the attack of the Daugr that was crawling on the ceiling. The black claws tore through the air a few centimeters from his face.

The imperial prince retaliated without a moment’s hesitation: with a backhand slash, he cut off the creature’s outstretched arm. The limb was amputated, while the Daugr crashed heavily to the ground, its black and viscous blood splattering his face.

The third Daugr, the runner, was already on him, its mouth open to bite. Siegfried felt the fetid smell of its putrid breath.

“Shitty Shit, you stink so much from the mouth!”

He did not have time to parry. He dove to the side, feeling the claws lacerate the fabric of his coat at the shoulder, tearing the cloth but only grazing the skin underneath. He rolled on the slippery ground, avoiding a second assault, then rose again in the same motion.

“You are tough, filthy scavengers,” he growled.

The Daugrs, though mutilated, were trying to straighten up.

Siegfried saw an opportunity.

“Finishing them off would take me far too much time and energy.”

He struck the ground with the tip of Gram. A burst of pure Chi erupted, raising a cloud of dust and debris that disoriented the creatures. Taking advantage of this brief immobilization, the prince pivoted on his left support, seized Victoria in his arms, and projected himself forward with a speed that swept the debris aside in his path.

He knew that the immobilization of the Daugrs would last only a few minutes. But those precious minutes were enough to distance the horde and get closer to the exit.

For about twenty minutes, Siegfried navigated the labyrinth, avoiding direct confrontations thanks to his detection ability.

Finally, he spotted a natural light at the end of a long straight tunnel: the East Gate of the Catacombs.

Crossing the threshold, he was greeted by the cool breeze of the Artucus forest.

“*Cough* finally back…”

The scent of damp moss and dead leaves filled his nostrils. He carefully set Victoria down on the ground. He crouched beside her.

After a few seconds…

Victoria opened her eyes with difficulty. She saw Siegfried leaning over her, his face worried despite his fatigue. The dark circles under his heterochromatic eyes betrayed the exhaustion, but he was smiling weakly.

“Are you okay?” the prince asked in a soft voice, trying to steady his own breathing.

Victoria swept the surroundings with her gaze, her black irises slowly adjusting to the brightness of the forest. “We are no longer in the Catacombs?” she inquired.

“Inside, it was becoming more and more dangerous…” Siegfried explained as he sat down beside her.

“And since you were unconscious after protecting us, I made the decision to carry you outside to guarantee your safety. Three Daugrs attacked me, but I managed to neutralize them temporarily and get away.”

Before he could finish his explanation, Victoria suddenly straightened up and embraced him, which left him completely disconcerted.

The prince, whose relations with women were generally limited to clandestine observations recorded in his notebook, froze. He felt the young woman’s silky hair brush against his cheek, and his heart gave an erratic leap.

“Thank you, Your Majesty…” she said with emotion.

“I am infinitely grateful to you for having protected me at the risk of your life… You risked your life for me.”

Siegfried, a little embarrassed by this sudden proximity, cleared his throat and finally timidly placed a hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

“Well, Lady Drigan… it is not much… besides, do not forget that you also saved us at the last moment with your technique. Without you, we would have been crushed under tons of stone…”

Victoria rose slowly, her long cyan hair falling in a cascade over her shoulders. She pressed her lips together, a glint of bitterness crossing her gaze.

“Where is Daemon?” she asked abruptly. “You can see that not everyone would sacrifice themselves for me… It seems I wasted my time chasing after a man who does not give a damn whether I survive or not.”

“That is not the case, Lady Drigan,” Siegfried tried to temper as he stood up in turn.

“Daemon went to rescue the heir of the Sword Clan who was in a bad position against the Spear Clan. It is not that he does not care about you, but he had to assume his responsibilities as Dagon.”

Victoria remained silent for a few minutes, observing the dense foliage that masked the entrance to the Catacombs. Her fingers played distractedly with a lock of her hair. She then turned back toward him, staring straight into his eyes with an intensity that made him uneasy.

“Why are you defending him when you have only known him for a few hours? Do you really think you know the true Daemon?”

“What do you mean?” Siegfried asked, intrigued by this change of tone.

“You saw it too, did you not?” Victoria insisted as she approached him.

“Even when we were engaged in the past, he always had that strange look… he could show an unpredictable violence.”

“He already hit you!?” Siegfried exclaimed.

Victoria turned her head to the side, letting a tear flow delicately down her pale cheek.

“He got engaged only so that my father would use his abilities to unseal his Chi Core… And when he realized that it was not possible immediately, he flew into a mad rage and… Then he canceled the engagement without the slightest remorse.”

Siegfried remained mute and silent.

He suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed earlier: Daemon violently squeezing Victoria’s wrist. He also remembered the inhuman brutality with which Daemon had torn out Conrad Nikmar’s heart, revealing his monster claws. For the imperial prince, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit perfectly; Daemon was an unstable being and no doubt capable of being violent with his fiancée.

“But today… when he threatened to kill me in the Catacombs… I… I was truly afraid for my life…” Victoria sobbed as she let herself lean against Siegfried’s chest. Her shoulders shook under her sobs, and her fingers clutched the prince’s tunic.

Seeing Lady Drigan so broken, the prince could not help but embrace her in turn to console her. He felt the young woman’s tears soak into the fabric of his shirt.

“Lady Drigan… I am sincerely sorry for what you had to endure in this toxic relationship…” Siegfried murmured as he tightened his arms around her.

Victoria was crying delicately on his shoulder, her fingers gripping the fabric of his tunic. “Sometimes… I am afraid… so afraid of remaining alone with him nearby… He can switch so quickly… one word out of place, and his eyes darken.”

“Do not worry, Lady Drigan, as long as I am here, he will not even be able to approach you and still less harm you,” Siegfried affirmed. “I make you the promise on the name of the Dragonslay.”

Against the prince’s shoulder, Victoria could not help but sketch a slight smile.

‘Men are decidedly so easy to manipulate… the damsel in distress card works systematically, and this prince is no exception to the rule…’ she thought.

“I feel so safe with you, Your Majesty…” she said aloud as she pulled away slightly, her face flushed.

She lowered her eyes, “If I had met you a little earlier, perhaps that… Please excuse me, Prince, I was thinking out loud.” She turned her head away, feigning embarrassment, and her cheeks took on a pink tint.

Siegfried seemed surprised then let out a somewhat silly laugh, flattered by these words. A foolish smile stretched his lips, and he ran a hand through his hair. “I am relieved that Lady Drigan sees me in that light…”

‘This new target is far more useful to me than Daemon who is not even the heir of the Sword Clan anymore,’ Victoria analyzed inwardly.

‘This prince even seems too easy to manipulate, this fool has already fallen for my irresistible charm… With him as my dog, I will be able to access the power of the empire, far beyond what the House of Water could have offered me.’

She turned her gaze toward Siegfried once more, addressing him with a radiant smile that perfectly masked her true ambitions.