ERTHMB Chapter 176

My Regressor

Helena woke up more refreshed than expected. Through the window, she could see the sky still tinged with red clouds.

It seemed not much time had passed since she lost consciousness. Unless it was the next evening.

As her mind cleared to that point, it finally came back to her.

‘Natasha!’

She bolted upright, but instead of the hard, damp stone floor, she felt soft bedding. Her sniffling nose wasn’t cold but warm. There were no chains binding her neck.

The place she was in was the room she had used during her time as the Grand Duchess of Evergale.

‘Why am I here?’

The moment she realized this, a familiar voice came from behind her.

“To get you out of the basement, I had to make them believe you were in critical condition. Fortunately, they were easier to convince than I thought. Well, looking at your state, I would have believed it too.”

It was Natasha, dressed as a maid. She removed her cap, letting her long blonde hair fall as she spoke.

“Ah, I only convinced the guards Eugene posted to watch you. Eugene isn’t here right now.”

Natasha moved naturally through the space, touching various decorations as if it were her own room. Helena silently followed her movements with her eyes, listening to what came next.

“What was a bit tricky was timing Eugene’s absence from the mansion, but the old maid and the stubborn physician helped out for once, so it worked out well.”

“Madam Tara and Dr. Hector…?”

“You don’t need to thank me. They didn’t do it willingly.”

Natasha, who had been looking at the painting above the fireplace, turned around with a bright smile.

Helena clutched the soft blanket and asked.

“What are you trying to do now?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? A bed is better than a filthy cell. And your fiancé’s embrace would be better than here.”

“Am I supposed to believe you came back to free me?”

Instead of answering, Natasha merely shrugged. She began looking around the room again and approached the wardrobe, opening it.

Humming a tune as she rummaged through the clothes, she found something suitable and began removing the maid’s outfit she was wearing.

“As you can see, I’m not in an honorable situation either. I’ve left the back door open, so while the old maid keeps watch, you’d better hurry and leave.”

As pieces of clothing fell to the floor, Natasha’s original outfit was revealed. Now she looked exactly like a gardener pulling weeds.

Her upper body was still bare, showing her shoulders, and Helena noticed a quite deep scar below her shoulder. It was a mark carved quite deeply by a sharp weapon.

Perhaps sensing the persistent gaze even from behind, Natasha hastily thrust her arms into the sleeves.

After even putting on a crude hat she found in the wardrobe, she moved to the window.

Helena stopped her as she stuck her head out slightly to look around.

“What’s your scheme, Natasha? You’re not someone who moves without reason.”

Natasha, turned around, stepped back to create some distance before answering.

“I told you. I don’t dislike you. I just… want to monopolize the Duke entirely. If you’re by his side, he’ll continue to be yours.”

“……”

Still, Helena didn’t lower her suspicious gaze.

Finally, Natasha raised both hands.

“Fine. Let’s just say I need some chaos.”

Before Helena could question further, she spoke as if she had almost let it slip.

“Oh, I found this in your belongings. It seemed important.”

Natasha pulled something from her vest pocket and tossed it.

Helena caught it reflexively, and a faint color spread across her face. It was the thorn tree brooch that Eugene had confiscated, saying he would erase all traces of Ian.

Helena caressed the brooch with a joyful expression. Seeing her face, Natasha spoke with a somewhat bitter tone.

“I’m envious, honestly. Having a place to return to means having someone you miss there. And likewise, someone who misses you is waiting. …For me, the ground I stand on is everything.”

The last words were so quiet they didn’t quite reach Helena’s ears.

Natasha quickly placed her foot on the windowsill, as if Helena might grab her again.

“I’ll go ahead. Good luck to you too.”

****

The first thing to greet Eugene upon his return was the empty basement. In the brief moment he had looked away, Helena had vanished without a trace.

Eugene grabbed the collar of the soldier standing stiffly and pulled him up. Before he could ask what happened, the soldier trembled and confessed.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Grace! Lady Helena looked so critically ill…! I only meant to check her condition briefly and put her back. Th-this will never happen again!”

At the soldier’s repeated denials, Eugene pulled him closer and growled lowly.

“Never happen again—what do you mean by that?”

When he released his grip, the weakened soldier collapsed to the floor. Eugene immediately reached for the waist of another soldier watching nearby.

The sound of the blade sliding from its sheath rang sharply, followed by an even sharper cutting sound.

“Helen has already disappeared.”

The soldier couldn’t even let out a single scream before collapsing. The soldiers covered in their comrade’s gruesome remains all maintained silence as if they had lost their voices. A terrible stillness strangled the space.

Within it, Eugene, dyed redder than anyone, commanded the remaining soldiers.

“Bring her back. Right now.”

****

“Huff, hah…!”

Helena ran frantically. She didn’t even notice the stinging on her arms and legs scraped by the undergrowth as she moved her legs.

From the moment she left the mansion, she had run hidden in the forest, but Eugene’s decision was faster than her escape. The sound of hoofbeats was drawing closer.

There were also several other footsteps running ahead of them. When Helena glanced back reflexively, her vision went dark with despair.

It wasn’t just Evergale’s soldiers. Four men dressed entirely in black. Eugene had apparently even hired assassins now.

Her vision blurred from the breath that had risen to her chin and from tension. Helena quickly changed direction. The dense undergrowth helped her escape from their view.

However, the momentary relief was short-lived. Two arms suddenly burst from the bushes and pulled Helena in.

“—!”

A firm hand covered her mouth, swallowing even the reflexive scream. The stealthy attacking movement was definitely that of an assassin.

As Helena struggled and tried to bite her captor’s hand, he whispered in her ear.

“Shh.”

Helena realized the voice was familiar and looked up.

‘Elai!’

Loosening his grip on her mouth slightly, Elai gave a leisurely eye greeting.

Before she could wonder how he was here, his gleaming red pupils caught her attention first.

Helena felt a strange sense of incongruity. This was an urgent situation with over a dozen pursuers hot on their trail. Yet his appearance, excited like a child deeply absorbed in a delightful game, seemed somehow off.

Blinking those mysterious eyes, Elai nodded. Understanding his intent to stay quiet, Helena nodded as well.

The sound of hoofbeats circled nearby before gradually fading. The soldiers seemed to have decided on a different fork as their search route.

Only then did Elai release his hand from her mouth. Just as she was relieved, thinking she could catch her breath—

Swoosh!

An assassin leaped down from the terrain above the bushes where they were hiding, bringing down his blade.

This time Helena did scream. Instinctively, she fumbled for anything that could be a weapon.

In that brief moment, Elai rose at an unbelievable speed. What was even more unbelievable was that what he held in his hand was a tree branch.

Nevertheless, what Helena could believe was, as strange as the aura he was now emanating in earnest—

“Acting so despicably, just like your master. How many people are ganging up on one person?”

—the intuition that he would never lose.

Elai deflected the blade with his shoe, then fluidly turned his body to thrust the branch into the assassin’s vital point. The flow was so swift it was hard to follow with human dynamic vision.

Unfortunately, however, there wasn’t just one enemy. The black-masked men who had closed the distance simultaneously rushed in.

And Helena heard Elai’s long sigh. A sigh that sounded languid and even lazy, as if time had stretched out in an instant.

Thud. Dull impact sounds came from here and there. With Elai’s peculiar action, all the assassins collapsed unconscious.

Their apparent leader still had some consciousness remaining, but suddenly his body floated into the air, then fell back to the ground with a cracking sound.

It was certainly not the work of a human. Helena now felt a vague terror beyond mere strangeness.

Elai, who had ended the situation simply by standing still, turned around.

“Oh dear.”

He lamented while brushing back his curly blonde hair. Helena thought her frozen gaze had definitely met his.

She blinked tightly a few times, but nothing changed. Above his head protruded two black horns.

“You probably won’t forget this, will you?”

Under the brightly risen full moon, he spoke with blazing crimson eyes.

“I forgot that my ability doesn’t work on my regressor.”

His piercing gaze burned like hellfire. Beneath it, Helena swallowed her breath. She was frightened—not for herself, but worried about Ian.

If Elai was in Instantia, Ian should be here too. But why was only Elai here? She felt dizzy wondering if he had done something to Ian.

“What about Ian?”

“You nearly died and came back to life, and that’s what you say? You’re quite ruthless too.”

Still sitting, pushing herself back with her arms, Helena stammered.

“Are you… really Elai?”

“Then who else would I be? This isn’t even our first meeting.”

Not just from his manner of speech, but already from his appearance alone, she realized he wasn’t Elai. He looked closer to a demon described in various ancient texts than a human.

A demon. That’s where Helena’s fear hit the brakes.

‘He just said “my regressor.” Which means…’

Only then did reason, buried in emotion, rise to the surface. Helena gasped out what she had realized.

“You’re the demon who made a contract with Eugene.”