I Kidnapped the Hero's Women-Chapter 199: Guilt and such (16)

The afternoon at the Vermont estate seemed no different from any other day.

The maids went about their tasks.

The stablemen tended to the stables.

The chef prepared meals, as life carried on in the usual rhythm.

"What should we do? Aslan and Sylvia haven’t returned yet...!"

"Ugh! They said they’d be back soon!"

Charlotte and Yulia were pacing, not knowing what to do.

They had been asked to make it seem like everything was normal, that the master had just gone out for a short while.

But now that he had truly left, they couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of unease.

If they had just gone to the dangerous wasteland, maybe they wouldn’t be so anxious.

The fact that they didn’t even know how dangerous the place was only amplified their anxiety.

Would they return safely?

No. Was it even possible for them to return at all?

There was nothing certain.

‘Why would they willingly put themselves in such an uncertain, dangerous situation...?’

Yulia muttered under her breath, her lips tightly pressed together in frustration.

Why had Aslan thrown himself into such a perilous situation?

The answer was simple.

It was for Sylvia.

‘He acted like he didn’t care, but actually, he cherished her deeply...’

He would reprimand her every day.

He was curt with her.

And they would fight at every opportunity, so Yulia had always thought they had a strained relationship.

But when it came to Sylvia’s injury, he would risk his life to fix it...

Surely, he wasn’t so attached to Sylvia that he’d risk his life just because losing her would mean more paperwork.

Yulia felt a tiny bit envious of how much Aslan cared for Sylvia.

"Girls. Calm down."

At that moment, Yulia, Charlotte, and Yulia froze as a voice whispered softly to them.

Oh, that’s right! Yuria was here!

Before Aslan left, he had given Yuria all the instructions for how to handle things while he was gone.

As long as they listened to Yuria, everything should be fine.

Since Yuria was calm, there was no need for them to panic, right?

"P-Please... calm down... h-huh? Calm down..."

"..."

"..."

Yulia’s limbs were shaking uncontrollably, and her voice was full of emotion.

She seemed to be suffering from more anxiety than Charlotte and Yulia combined.

"Should I deliver this paper to Irene now...?"

"No, how long has it been since the master left?"

"A full... a full hour! We haven’t heard anything in an hour!"

"..."

"..."

Yulia was pacing and couldn’t seem to calm down.

Looking at her, Charlotte and Yulia both felt their anxiety gradually subside.

They hadn’t realized that Yulia was trembling with more anxiety than they were.

Now, they had to pull themselves together, and that thought helped them calm down.

"Aslan said to deliver it if he didn’t come back in a year..."

"How can we wait for a whole year? I don’t have the patience for that!"

"Let’s not worry about it. Let’s eat and stay calm..."

"He’s back! I heard the carriage! Aslan Vermon’s back!"

"...!?"

Yulia’s ears perked up.

In an instant, she dashed toward the front gate.

Charlotte and Yulia followed, hopeful.

"Uh?"

But when they saw the carriage stopped in front of the gate, they froze.

The brilliant carriage door opened, and out stepped none other than Princess Vanessa.

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"Your Majesty!? What’s going on here?"

"That’s what I want to ask. It looks like something unusual has happened, so I came to check."

Vanessa looked around the Vermont estate, tilting her head in confusion.

Through the Spirit King’s eyes, a massive space-time distortion had been detected near the Vermont estate, so she rushed over. But to her surprise, the estate looked completely normal, as if nothing had happened.

"Well... the truth is..."

Charlotte, Yulia, and Yuria all exchanged glances, hesitating.

They had been told not to speak about the incident to outsiders, but now that the Emperor herself was here asking, they couldn’t lie.

Finally, they admitted that Sylvia had torn the fabric of time and space, and that she had gone through the crack with Aslan.

"Huh... To the past... Is that what you’re saying...?"

Vanessa removed her sunglasses and smiled meaningfully.

She was glad she had brought something with her.

She reached into her pocket, and began fiddling with something in her hand.

"I’m not sure they’ve properly arrived yet..."

"Ugh, I’m so worried..."

"Don’t worry. They’re probably just a bit lost, but Count Vermont has definitely arrived in the past."

"Really!?"

The children’s faces brightened at Vanessa’s answer.

Vanessa cracked a grin and gritted her teeth.

She had so many things she wanted to say when he returned, it would take her a while to pick the right words.

"Hero candidate number three, Sylvia. I’m starting the mission now."

Sylvia, as a child, muttered something to the air, stepping forward without a care.

She was completely indifferent to the enormous mana storm approaching.

From behind the rock, Sylvia’s pupils started to shake violently.

"Sylvia. Just to be sure, did you know back then that that was a mana storm? That if you went in, your body would be torn apart and you would die?"

"Ah, no... I didn’t know at all..."

For a brief moment, Sylvia had been exposed to the storm and the side effect made her body grow younger and unable to sense mana.

But now, thinking of the storm as just a normal one, if she entered it...

She would meet a horrible death, her body torn apart, and they wouldn’t even be able to find her corpse.

Unaware of this, the young Sylvia continued to march toward the storm.

Unable to hold back any longer, Aslan tried to stand up but was grabbed by Sylvia’s wrist, pulling him back down.

"What are you doing? Are you just going to let the past you die? This isn’t some alternate world. If she dies, you die too."

"We don’t need to interfere. Someone stopped me back then."

"Who?"

"A man with the Vermont crest and a hired swordsman..."

Aslan and Sylvia’s eyes met, and she stopped, her words trailing off.

The description of the man with the Vermont crest and the hired swordsman fit perfectly with the figures in her memories—figures that were uncomfortably similar to her and Aslan.

"That was us, Sylvia."

"Ah, no, that’s not right. The man who knocked me down and marked me for the Vermont family was the Vermont Count back then, he was after my strength as one of the candidates..."

"Look around, Sylvia. There’s no one else here. No one is coming. The one who saved you from the past was none other than yourself. Accept it."

"..."

Aslan grabbed both of Sylvia’s cheeks, forcing her to face him.

Her lips slowly parted as she finally understood.

If they interfered with the past, the present would change drastically.

That’s what she had been afraid of.

She had been avoiding intervention because she feared that her bond with Aslan and everything she had built with him might collapse with one mistake.

But now, here she was, having to stop the past version of herself.

Only she could stop her past self.

She had to act now.

Facing this truth, Sylvia met Aslan’s gaze.

Slowly, her trembling hands stopped shaking.

"Understood. Let’s stop her."

Sylvia caught her breath and stood up.

Aslan, smiling, followed suit.

Then, Sylvia suddenly flinched, turning around in alarm.

"You! Who are you!? Reveal your identity!"

"Does he have eyes on the back of his head?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Let’s stay calm. Try to talk to her first."

Sylvia, clearly tense, placed her hand on her sword and lowered her stance.

With a mask on her face, Sylvia and Aslan emerged from behind the rock.

"The mission is canceled, weapon... Weapon... What number was it?"

"Number three."

"Right, number three. Go back to the fortress city now. Then go to Vermont and request a position as a bodyguard. That’s your next mission."

"I will confirm the order code. Please give me the order code."

"..."

"I wasn’t your commander. Are you an enemy?"

"...Damn."

Sylvia’s eyes narrowed with hostility, drawing her sword.

Sylvia seemed ready to clash, but Aslan stood his ground and took a step forward.

"Your last mission was to kill you! If you complete the mission, you will die!"

"I won’t fall for the enemy’s deception!"

"It’s not deception! That’s a mana storm! If you go in, your body will be torn apart and you’ll die!"

"Even if that’s true, I don’t care! My priority is completing the mission!"

"It’s not getting through..."

With a swift motion, Sylvia took a large step back, preparing to charge.

Aslan squinted his eyes and stepped back.

She was completely stubborn.

Not even willing to listen, but so combative...

At this point, Aslan had no choice but to overpower her.

Just as Sylvia was about to pull her sword, Aslan placed his hand over her mouth.

"Ugh...!"

"Huh? Ah?"

The sword’s handle barely slipped out of her grip and became stuck somewhere.

Sylvia pulled hard, but the sword wouldn’t budge.

"Those who interfere with the mission must be punished!"

"Aaaa! This is insane!"

In the meantime, Sylvia charged at Aslan.

With tears welling in her eyes, she couldn’t understand why this was happening now!