When My Enemies Began to Regret

“Pardon?”

The hand he touched for a moment was clearly cold, so much to the point that it was like freezing. Carl belatedly recognized that Fanora was in a cold. So, thinking about what to do about this, he took off the coat he was wearing.

“Tell me if you’re cold! Now that I see it, your nose is red too. I’m sorry! Put this on for now.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“I-I brought Lady Fanora here because I wanted you to get better, but I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold…!”

A brown coat that was too shabby for a nobleman. But it was definitely warm as it wrapped around her shoulders. Fanora looked grateful and sorry for his kindness.

“But you’re going to feel cold.” Fanora looked at the man’s appearance, saying so. All Carl was wearing under his coat was a simple cotton shirt and leather pants. It didn’t snow, but it was still winter.

“I don’t get cold. I’m not saying this for no reason. Really, I mean it. Actually, I feel hot from earlier.”

Fanora looked suspicious for a moment, but Carl wasn’t really in the mood to lie. He even had a bead of sweat on his forehead.

“Lady Fanora, are you okay? Should we go back right away?”

Fanora stood there and looked at his eyes. Red gaze shining as vividly as a bonfire a few steps away. Kasius has long regarded the color red as a symbol of passion and violence. Still, the man in front of her had an extremely gentle appearance despite having that color.

“…I’m okay.”

She had lived only for revenge in this life. Fanora thought that there was nothing left but a moment of relief. However, she changed her mind now.

“Just look at that bonfire, Carl.”

Still, she thought there may have been at least one person who gained something from her regression. If she died, at least he would be sad. Thinking so gave her a sense of relief.  

“Gosh, it’s too crowded to get that close.”

“Isn’t it okay to hear the music?”

They soon stood in front of the bonfire after talking about it. It was possible to enjoy the end of the event even from a somewhat distant distance.

After returning the soup bowls to the priests, Fanora sighed and began to rhyme lightly.

The topic of conversation she brought up was Carl’s attire. “Anyway, you really don’t feel cold?”

“Yes.”

As if it were true that his body had a lot of heat, he even walked up the sleeves of his shirt. Fanora glanced at it and raised her gaze. Carl’s clothes strap was seen loosely undone.

“The strap around your neck came loose. Shall I fasten it properly?”

“No. This is intentional.”

Right, when she thought about it, he always seemed shabby. The biggest reason why Carl looked shabby was because of his wide-open collar. However, when Fanora suggested fastening it, Carl reacted with a somewhat flustered response.

“I really hate feeling constricted.”

“I see.”

“Thanks to that, I hate social events as well. Why are all nobles’ clothes decorated and troublesome to wear?”

“It takes a lot of work.”

Now, it felt like they were having a normal conversation. Fanora smiled grimly as she listened to his words. Because she herself had been dissatisfied with noble attire since she was young.

“I hate dressing up. So, when I was young, I took off the coat that was buttoned all the way around my neck because it was uncomfortable, and I heard the nagging so much because of it…”

They talked a lot until the festival was over. By the time Fanora smiled at Carl’s last words, the bonfire had already come to an end.

Actually, the festival itself was mediocre, but the conversation with Carl was so enjoyable that she didn’t notice the time passing.

Fanora said to him, looking much better, “Shall we go back now?”

“Yes, Lady Fanora!”

“Thank you for today, Carl.”

When Carl noticed that her expression brightened, he was happy about it, as if it were his own business.

Now that the two of them have to part ways, she has to return the borrowed coat…

“Ah! Wear it all the way to the mansion. It’s still cold. I plan to visit again the day after tomorrow, so please return it then.”

After a while, arriving at the stop for a hired carriage, Fanora tried to return the coat to him. However, Carl refused this.

“Really?”

As he said, it wouldn’t matter as they were going to meet again the day after tomorrow anyway.

Fanora nodded without much thought. Thus, they ended the meeting of the day, and the carriage carrying Fanora began to run in the direction of the Celsius mansion.

“

…”

Has it been about a minute since they parted? Fanora leaned against the back of the carriage and massaged her tired shoulders. These days, she was consumed by feelings of helplessness and didn’t move a single finger, so it seemed that her first outing was taking a toll on her. However…

“

!”

She felt a slight pain while trying to change her posture. It felt like she was sitting on something hard.

“What is this?”

She rustled and checked the chair cushion. Then, what was visible was the pocket of the coat.

From the feel of it, it was a fairly small item. Fanora belatedly checked what was in the outer pocket of the coat.

It was none other than a seal that came out of the pocket. She could see the seal of a lion roaring with its mouth wide open.

She wasn’t too surprised as she had seen it a few times before. But about three seconds later.

“Family seal?!”

She jumped and hit her head on the roof of the carriage. But the pain she was feeling right now wasn’t the problem. It was no less the seal of Andras. Rolling it in the pocket like that was risky, as it could accidentally stamp some document if she moved carelessly.

“Why is this here?” She muttered with a pale complexion.

He said it was okay to return the coat in two days, but would it be okay if he forgot his family seal was in the pocket? Other valuable items may have been fine, but a family seal was a big deal.

Fanora was embarrassed and stopped the carriage first. When the coachman hurriedly took the reins, she burst open the door and looked at the road.

“Isn’t it late?”

The distance from the square to the Andras mansion was not far away. Thanks to this, Carl was on his way back on foot.

“Are you getting off here? Lady?”

“Something urgent came up… T-this is the price for the carriage! Just keep the change!”

She was so bewildered that she couldn’t even think of a simple way to turn the carriage around and go to the Andras mansion first. Fanora just started running recklessly, thinking that Carl was still nearby. Fortunately, it hadn’t been long since they parted, so she thought she could easily catch him if she ran from now on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carl Andras, who was on his way home, didn’t look good. Because of parting away with Fanora? That was the right reason, but above all, his physical condition was the problem.

“That’s weird.”

The feeling he felt earlier hasn’t gone away. He kept getting cold sweat.

“

.”

He moved his steps, massaging his hand for no reason. He had been in the capital for a few months now, so he knew at least the shortcut to get home.

“…”

However, if he knew this would happen, he wouldn’t have walked around the alley when it was dark.

“…?”

It was a wild feeling. There were no footsteps, no signs of presence. But Carl thought someone was following him.

He stopped and stared at the entrance of the alley. He felt like someone was standing at that corner.

“…”

Carl agonized for a while about what was going on and took action without delay.

He dashed off the ground without warning. The distance between him and the corner of the alley narrowed in an instant, and the person who was following him finally responded when they heard the sound of him running.

“!”

A person in dark clothes pops out of the blind spot, holding a shiny sword. However, Carl rushed at him faster than the speed at which they swung the sword.

“

!”

It was clearly the first time the two had seen each other. But there was no way that Andras would look after the person who followed them. As soon as he found him, Carl kicked him in the solar plexus and wounded him. He took advantage of his opponent’s stumbling to close the distance and finally broke his arm that was holding the weapon.

“…!”

Even though the person had a broken arm, he escaped backward without making a sound. This was a strange situation. However,

“Huh? Only one person?”

Carl was more surprised that there was only one person on the corner of the alley. Because there was more than one gaze he felt.

“?!”

As if to prove Carl’s intuition, something flew into him soon after. It was an arrow shot by someone.

“This is the first time something like this has happened in the capital, not in our estate.”

“

!”

Carl caught the collar of the man close to him with a casual face and used him as a shield. After that, he identified exactly how many people were following him.

“Uh, three people.”

There is one person who was grabbed by the collar and became the target of arrows. One person is holding a crossbow. And the other with a large physique.

Carl confirmed the people who showed up and smiled vaguely. He didn’t really feel like fighting today, but he couldn’t help it if they prepared a meal like this.

Carl decided to knock out the person who used that crossbow first. Although he was outnumbered, he didn’t feel any tension.

“…?!”

However…

The moment he took a step forward, Carl felt his eyes spinning. He felt like his body was tilting against his will.

“…”

“…”

As he stumbled, the man with the crossbow and the large physique man next to him whispered in a small voice. However, he couldn’t understand what they were saying. First of all, it wasn’t Kasius’ language, and it was because Carl’s physical condition had changed drastically.

However, I couldn’t quite understand what they were saying. First of all, it was not Cassius, and it was because Carl’s body condition changed rapidly.

“

!”

Carl suddenly spat out blood as the veins on his forehead stood out. His body was shaking, and his mind was blurry. Although he couldn’t make an accurate judgment, he intuitively realized that he had been poisoned.

He thought hastily as he widened the distance. Of the two foods he had today, one of them was from Andras’s mansion, so there was only one thing he suspected.

There was nothing to poison him other than the soup he ate at the festival. Although the priests inspected it once, the pot containing the soup was always open to the public, so there was no way it couldn’t be poisoned if you wanted to.

When his thoughts reached that point, Carl opened his eyes wide.

He confronted the man with a large physique who rushed in, holding back the blood burning up his neck. Despite his Andras blood and the poison coursing through his veins, he managed to confront the three armed men for a brief moment. But that was all he could do.

The sensation of his limb gradually became dull. It was only at this time that Carl was able to understand why the effects of the poison appeared late. It had the characteristic of showing symptoms when the body temperature rose above a certain level by moving the body.

The sensation of the limbs gradually became dull.

It was not until then that Carl could see why the poison had appeared belatedly. It had the characteristic of showing symptoms when the body temperature rises above a certain level by moving the body.

“

!”

His head felt like it was going to explode with heat. Although it would have been impossible for an ordinary person to move, he clenched his fists with his red, bloodshot eyes flashing.

“You can’t just do it, so you’re going to use tricks…?”

He let out a rare, rough voice. The corners of his mouth twisted automatically. It was a laugh that appeared out of absurdity. In addition, it hurt Andras’ pride that he couldn’t overcome only one poison when he already trained for that.

There was no more time to think. Those who appeared rushed in unison, apparently waiting for this moment, aiming for when Carl’s movement became dull.

There were too many witnesses to escape by using holy relics, so even that was difficult. First, he decided to reduce the number and go into the alley.

Carl, who made that decision, gritted his teeth and faced them. He broke the neck of a stranger who was running towards him with just his grip strength.

“!”

But then. His ears were ringing. Amidst his swaying vision, Carl could vaguely sense it. While dealing with them, another person he had never seen appeared in the back of his head.