I let out a shaky breath, steadying myself.
"A bug, huh?" I muttered, voice low. "Guess I should thank you, then. You're the first knight I've met who looks so proud after struggling against an insect."
Aleck didn't flinch.
But I saw it—the slight twitch in his gauntlet. A pause. Like I'd struck a nerve.
Good.
He wanted to throw jabs? I could return the favor.
"Or maybe," I continued, stepping forward with a lopsided grin, "you're not as untouchable as you like to pretend. You've been guarding this position like some immovable wall, but here I am… and you're bleeding."
His hand reflexively moved to his side, where a thin crack in the armor glinted faintly under the torchlight. Not deep. Not fatal.
But it was there.
And it was mine.
Aleck slowly raised his blade again, the tension rising between us like a taut wire.
"…You talk too much."
"And you underestimate too often."
Another gust of wind whipped across the courtyard, blowing snow between us in swirls. For a moment, it almost felt like we were the only two people in the world—just a knight and a so-called bug, fighting under a sky heavy with dusk.
But then Aleck did something I didn't expect.
He laughed.
A dry, low chuckle that echoed inside his helmet like metal on stone.
"Interesting," he said. "You're not the same boy who left the north."
He tilted his head.
"That one begged for my signature. This one threatens me with a smile."
I said nothing.
Because he was right.
I wasn't the same.
I wasn't bluffing, either.
Even with my mana fading, even with my knees ready to give out—I had one card left. One move I hadn't shown yet.
And I could see it in his stance: he knew it, too.
"Fine," Aleck said. "Show me how much you've changed."
He dropped into a stance I hadn't seen before—low, grounded, body taut like a coiled spring.
A duelist's posture.
A finisher's stance.
And just before he lunged, I whispered back, "Gladly."
But right as I shifted my weight forward, a tingling sensation crept up the back of my neck.
Mana drain.
It was subtle, like static on the skin—but I knew what it meant. My mana was leaking fast. A few more seconds, and this skill would flicker out. I'd be on the ground, gasping for breath, helpless.
I didn't have time.
No choice but to take a gamble.
I clenched my jaw and rushed him head-on.
Aleck blinked. "What?!"
Caught off guard. But only for a moment—he quickly raised his sword, ready to meet me.
Too late.
Instead of swinging a blade, I pulled something from my belt. A short, nondescript rod. Harmless to look at.
[Echo Rod]
A relic.
The moment the rod tapped against the side of his helmet, it pulsed with mana. A deep thrum rippled through the air as the enchantment activated.
If he was a master of swordplay, I had to counter with something outside the script.
Magic over muscle.
The impact wasn't explosive—but precise. Focused.
First, the visor snapped open with a metallic click.
Then the leather chin strap loosened. His helmet tipped slightly... then fell, landing in the snow with a soft thunk.
And there she was.
Silver hair tumbled down past her shoulders, catching the faint glow of the torches.
Her crimson Eyes wide, stunned.
"Uh?"
"Uh?!"
We spoke at the same time.
I stared. My brain refused to make sense of what I was seeing.
"…Lady Alice?!"
Why—why was she wearing Aleck's armor?
[Emergency Quest Complete]
[Reward Granted]
[Meeting Condition with 'Alice Draken' Satisfied]
A blue notification blinked across my vision.
That was the reward?! Meeting her?!
My favorite character, standing in front of me, looking just as confused as I felt.
Before I could even process the surge of thoughts or ask a single question—
Snowflakes drifted between us.
She blinked once.
And then…
She smiled.
Not out of amusement. Not in mockery.
It was small, tired—and just a little impressed.
"You really are different," she said softly. "Not bad… for a bug."
I was too stunned to even be offended.
Then everything went white as the remaining mana drained out of my body like a broken dam.
I collapsed to my knees.
And before the ground could rise up to meet me—
Warm hands caught me mid-fall.
But just before the world dimmed and I blacked out, the system's voice echoed clearly in my head—cold, emotionless, final.
[New Binding Established: Exclusive Attendant Role Activated.]
[Your objective is to support Key Character 'Alice Draken' until she safely arrives at the Academy.]
[Warning: If 'Alice Draken' perishes, you will perish as well.]
[The status window will now track 'Alice Draken's Doom Trajectory.']
I swallowed hard as the words faded.
"This… is seriously bad news."
----
Alice POV
Julies collapsed.
I caught him before his head hit the ground, his body slack and cold with exhaustion. Mana exhaustion, most likely. I could feel the emptiness in him, the way his presence wavered like a snuffed-out flame.
For a long moment, I just stood there, holding him.
Snow whispered around us in soft spirals, and the last traces of battle faded into silence. The courtyard felt... still. Like the world itself was waiting for me to speak, to move, to decide what came next.
This boy—Julies.
The same one who'd once stood in front of me trembling , asking for a permit just to leave the castle when I was acting like Aleck. The same one who barely made eye contact. The one who was so easy to ignore.
But now?
Now he'd disarmed me.
No—not physically. I still had my sword. My armor—well, most of it—was intact.
But something in his voice, his eyes, that unshakable grin even when the odds were against him…
He is crazy for sure.
I looked down at him.
His face was flushed from mana strain, lips parted slightly as he struggled to breathe. But even unconscious, there was something steady about him.
Like he wasn't afraid of me anymore.
"…A bug, huh?" I murmured, echoing my own insult from earlier. "Seems I was wrong."
I reached up and brushed a few snowflakes from his hair.
There were footsteps behind me—my guards, no doubt rushing over now that the duel was done. I didn't need to look to know they were tense, worried, probably itching to scold him for daring to push me this far.
But I raised one hand, halting them.
"Prepare a carriage," I said quietly. "And summon the physician."
There was a pause.
"My lady?" one of them asked, uncertain.
I looked up, eyes colder than the frost biting the air.
"He won."
They didn't argue.
I turned back to Julies, letting out a slow breath.
"You passed, bug," I said, softer this time. "Now rest. You've got a long road ahead…"