(Image to be updated)
While Kyle searches for her, Tara faces off against John Hutt.
This chapter is dedicated to Kelz! Thank you for your generous support!
This chapter gets rough content-wise so please note the below trigger warning if you feel like you may need it.
Trigger Warning (click arrow)
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Episode 216. About 10 months (93)
I wanted to slice his forehead open with my axe. But my body was trapped by his and I couldn't move.
He was breathing heavily.
"Hahaha. Do you enjoy speaking so informally? As expected of a commoner," he said creepily.
"You're crazy– you're crazy, aren't you?"
His gleaming eyes flickered.
With my own head now more free to move, I tried to hit him with all my might, aiming for his chin, but the bastard quickly pulled his head out of range and shoved my upper body against the wall.
My head spun. This guy said he was about to become a Knight Commander. I never expected he would do something like this.
I never thought that any vassal, even a somewhat disreputable knight, would ever do something like this to a guest. I had miscalculated by assuming that a knight would stay true to his honour as a vassal of Reese Castle.
That was my first mistake.
Click.
"...!"
I turned my gaze towards the sound and saw that the perverted bastard had pulled out the key to my room. And...
Creak.
He slowly opened my door and pulled me in.
And quickly locked the door.
When he momentarily let go of me to lock the door I tried to hit him with my elbow, but I failed to make contact and he threw me onto the bed.
Oh my god!
The momentary shock made my head pound.
Shit. This was insane. Why did Writer Kim have to write such realistic bad guys into her story...?
But how could I possibly blame someone else for this? I had already lived here for two years, but I clearly hadn't come to terms with it.
I had been complacent... Too damned complacent!
Was that why this was happening?
My second mistake was believing that my room would be safe.
I kept forgetting that this was the Empire, not Korea.
I'd show him. If I got my axe out, he would never dare to ever do something like this again.
I quickly grabbed my skirt.
However, my third mistake was failing to consider my borrowed dress.
The uniform I wore at the Palace and my own dresses were specially made by Givenchy, and had a snap button that allowed easy access to the axe I wore on my thigh.
However, with this dress, I had to hitch the skirt up past my thigh in order to grab it. And of course, that took time. However, right now, I was trapped by his body and was being pushed into the bed, making it even more difficult to take out my axe.
Shit! I should have just stayed at the banquet hall.
But there was no point regretting my decisions now.
It had already happened. But there was no way in hell I would just do what this bastard wanted me to.
Deliberately, I held completely still. Then, thinking I had given up, he relaxed his body.
Just like Bernard had told me.
'Your best defense is your enemy's carelessness. Yes, I've been waiting for this moment, asshole!'
Ha!
I quickly grabbed the hem of my skirt where I kept my axe and yanked it free.
The axe hilt felt familiar in my hand as I pulled it out.
John seemed dumbfounded at the rapid change in situation.
It looked like he didn't quite believe the axe in my hand was real.
"What is that?"
Whish!
"What? Is this your first time seeing an axe?"
Moving quickly, I slashed a long line across John Hutt's thigh with the blade of my axe.
"Ugh!"
I didn't hesitate.
No, if I paused for even a moment I would suffer the consequences. If I had hesitated or chosen to merely threaten him, he could’ve easily wrenched the axe away from me using his superior strength.
It happened in the blink of an eye. John Hutt appeared stunned. The tension and strength drained from his body.
I took full advantage, twisting myself to the side to slash twice at his right side. The well-honed blade cut through him as easily as a knife through a piece of paper.
"Argh!"
Even after learning how to wield an axe from Bernard, I never actually thought that I would have to use it to hurt someone.
But now I swung the blade without pause. My heart was pounding violently, but my thoughts had gone frigid as if my mind had been doused in ice water.
This was the only way I could protect myself right now.
Bernard always told me.
'... When you meet an enemy who’s much heavier than you, never give them an opening. You have to hit hard and get away quickly. So don't hesitate.'
That time was now. I couldn't afford to get flustered, I had to attack now. If I panicked I might not be able to respond in time.
John rolled off the side of the bed, clutching his injured thigh and side.
He stared at his wounds incredulously.
I quickly pulled myself off the bed and landed on the floor.
I spread my legs apart, slightly bent my knees, and held my axe handle with the blade facing forwards. The basic offensive combat stance.
Seeing it, he grabbed the wound on his side and slumped over to the bedside vanity chair, widening the distance between us. Perhaps it was one of the instincts he'd developed as part of his knight training.
"Hah... Hah... An axe? Who are you…?"
He glanced between his wounds and the axe in my hand as if still in disbelief. Blood had spurted out of his wound and his blue suit and white shirt revealed a growing stain of crimson.
"You... You... Ha... Are you crazy?"
I held my stance and breathed in deeply.
"Haha... I'm crazy? Me? You're the one who has no idea what's going on. Today, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life you psycho bastard!"
"This… This is ridiculous."
"I was taught not to use an axe against ordinary people. But you're a knight and a scummy son of a bitch, so it's okay."
"What... You crazy bitch, haa..."
He finally seemed to have grasped the absurd situation, because he grabbed an iron cosmetic container from the dressing table behind him and threw it at my face.
His aim needed a bit of help. I dodged with a slight tilt of my neck.
"You fucking bitch! Do you think you'll be safe after this? How dare you assault me, a Knight Commander! As a commoner as well!"
"Knight Commander? Nobility? Don't make me laugh. You're a crazy bastard. Men like you deserve to be beaten into the dirt every day of the year.”
"You little...!"
When he stood up and tried to lunge at me, I moved to the left where there was plenty of space, but he noticed my movement and dashed quickly to intercept. He roughly grabbed me by the shoulder. I immediately hooked my left arm back and punched him in the chest. I shoved at him, hard, but he didn't budge.
"Keuuk."
Within a matter of seconds he savagely held my neck and started tightening his grip.
I couldn't breathe. I didn't want to die like this.
He quickly tightened his hands around my neck, I could feel my lungs shrinking.
Thunk.
As my axe fell to the floor and my mind began to go blank, a single line of thought still lanced through my mind.
'Am I really going to die in vain like this? How did it get to this point? I'm not the kind of person who would just give up like this!'
I summoned my last ounce of strength and jammed my hand into the wound on his side as hard as I could.
"Argh!"
He screamed and relaxed his grip. As soon as he did, I quickly stepped away.
"Heuk... Heuk... Hah..."
I drew in ragged breaths and leaned against the wall.
Bursting with rage, he wildly swung his arm towards me. His powerful right fist grazed my shoulder heading for my neck, but I acted at the same moment and pulled my left elbow up to block it.*
I quickly ducked my upper body out of the way. Then I picked up my recently fallen axe slamming it down the top of his foot with a 'Thwack!'.
"Ugh!"
Immediately afterwards, I took my axe and quickly stepped back. He clutched at his foot and screamed furiously.
"Ouch. You stupid bitch!"
When he tried to move to catch me, I held my axe in front of me in warning.
"Ha... Ha... You'd better think carefully before you move. The more you ignore me, the more you try to do, the more you'll get hurt."
I was bluffing and I knew it. The moment he came to his senses and attacked again I would be the one to suffer.
Just as I expected, John Hutt's eyes widened with rage, and a blood-thirsty aura emanated from his body.
I took a step back under the pressure of that bloodlust.
Now was the best time to run away.
Did I have a chance of making it out alive if I made it to the door?
If I ran at full speed, maybe I could outrun him.
He seemed to have noticed that I glanced at the door, because he inched closer to it.
I had cut his side and the top of the foot, but that didn't seem to hinder him at all.
"You're just going to let yourself be beaten like this, Lord John Hutt? I dare you! I'll do it!"**
He took one step closer.
I also took one step closer to the door, but then he made a big move towards the door as well, blocking my path.
Damn it...
"Come on, I'll show you what a knight can truly do."
I gulped and gripped the handle of my axe again.
Okay. I needed to fight. Just like I learned from Bernard.
In my head, I quickly calculated the most efficient way to make my move.
Then he unexpectedly lunged towards me with his arms wide open, as if he was aware of what I was planning.
Bang! BANG!
Without warning, the door to my room crashed open. And I could immediately sense a second terrifying aura.
I was suddenly out of breath.
When I turned my head, he was standing there with the most terrifying expression I'd ever seen.
***
Kyle couldn't even think properly past the anger that seemed to crackle all over his body.
"Uh, hey, you're just in time. Th–this common bitch doesn't know her place...!”
The piece of trash was spewing his nonsense with absolutely no awareness of the situation.
Kyle cleared the distance between him and the man in only two strides and then pressed his fingers into his neck at the vulnerable center just above his collarbone. His grip tightened in an instant and his fingers wrapped around his neck.
"What… What… Heuuk... Keuk..."
John Hutt's face immediately turned a bizarre ghastly white colour.
"Hah… Uh…"
He’d noticed Tara’s appearance at a glance. Her hair was a tangled mess falling over her shoulders, and her makeup was streaked and mottled.
Her choker necklace had only a single ring attached to the front after the pendant had been torn off, and her dress was crumpled and ragged.
"I'm sorry... I'm late."
His voice was painfully hoarse.
"…"
Even though he was still gripping the piece of shit's neck, Tara kept trying to shove the bastard into the dressing table with all of her strength. And she kept trembling every few seconds.
"Tara. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So stop it, this is a mess. I'll clean it up for you."
—-
Editor’s Notes -
This was a rough chapter and it was a challenge to interpret in places. I cannot even articulate how angry this asshole makes me. I am damn proud of Tara for standing up to him the way she did. But Holy Crap…
* Some of the action here was very difficult to interpret (as in whose elbows or fists were doing what) so take it with a grain of salt.
** This section was garbled and vague I didn't know who was speaking. I'm a bit uncertain of this interpretation.
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