ERTHMB Chapter 135

Grace in Enemy Territory

Even the seat where they had placed her, praising her as today’s protagonist, was vile.

The center of the long table, directly across from Christine. They had left only that seat empty—one where everyone could easily stare and throw words at her—waiting for Helena to walk into this hellhole of her own accord.

But today’s Helena was different from before.

Her shoulders and back, always hunched and cowering, were straight. Her eyes, revealed as she lifted her long eyelashes, were as clear as a winter sky. There wasn’t even a trace of her usual habit of reading others’ expressions. She seemed like a completely different person.

Finding this both irritating and annoying, the young ladies spat out even more blatant words than usual.

“Well, even though it’s been quite some time since political marriages disappeared, maintaining a harmonious household is no easy task either.”

“Oh, speaking of which, something comes to mind. Do you remember my cousin?”

“Lady Jenia’s cousin… you mean the child who came up from the countryside with difficulty and married to live in the capital?”

“Yes, that unremarkable child. But you know what? She’s been having troubles for the past few months, and just recently she finally got divorced. How heartbreaking it was. I told her not to try to catch a man between her legs, but that foolish thing was too immature…”

At that moment, Helena let out a small laugh. Though the sound was quiet, it was shocking enough to cut off the continuing words.

Everyone seated at the table simultaneously turned their gaze to Helena.

Helena seemed to enjoy those stares, laughing even more delightedly. The tent fell silent as if cold water had been poured over it. The only sound rolling across the table was Helena’s laughter.

Without losing her faint smile, Helena set down her wine glass in a flowing motion and parted her lips.

“Lady Jenia.”

Suddenly, a crushing pressure descended as if the air filling the space had vanished in an instant.

Helena continued in a cheerful voice that completely contradicted that weight.

“This is the first time I’ve heard that your cousin’s name is Helena Evergale. Have I been mistaken?”

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Look around you, Lady. There’s so much to eat, see, and enjoy here. Yet why is everyone so desperate to chew on just one thing? I find it quite difficult to understand.”

“I was merely—”

“Evergale doesn’t seem to be the right size to be chewed in your mouths. Or are you saying you want to tell me that your eyes are so dim that you’d attack without knowing your place?”

Helena’s gaze left the red-faced Lady Jenia and looked straight ahead. There was another woman whose complexion was gradually reddening like roasted tomatoes on a plate.

From the moment she first sat in this seat, or perhaps from the very beginning of all the past encounters when she had appeared before her eyes—the woman who was desperate to steal the very air she breathed.

Those eyes that always incited and cleverly manipulated people, pushing her countless times to the precipice and laughing at that pain.

“Since you love Evergale most of all, mother-in-law would know better than anyone. Isn’t that right?”

Helena faced those eyes directly without avoiding them.

Christine stopped breathing as if returning to Helena all the breath she had stolen until now. Soon, such rage that she couldn’t even realize she wasn’t breathing overwhelmed her.

She couldn’t accept the fact that she had been crushed by Helena’s presence, even for a moment. She felt as if she had rolled down into an endless abyss and been pulled back up. It was the emptiness she felt during that single moment when she was captured by those deep blue eyes.

Christine rubbed her arms, trying to calm her crawling skin.

‘How disgusting. Acting so arrogant just because Eugene’s attitude changed. This is your true nature after all.’

Christine rubbed her arms until they turned as red as her face, but her churning insides wouldn’t settle easily. She became even more anxious because it was all too clear who Eugene would stand behind when he returned soon.

The divorce rumors spread throughout society and the gossip that Eugene had taken a mistress because he was tired of Helena would all die down depending on Eugene’s actions.

And she would return as the Grand Duchess of Evergale. With her head held high in triumph, no longer intending to bow down.

Christine was determined not to let that happen. She had to dig into every possible gap at every moment and paint the same despair on Helena’s face as before.

No matter how much that thing struggled, she was nothing but an empty can. She had nothing except Eugene’s love, which could evaporate again at any time. Helena was ultimately a woman abandoned even by her own family.

When she had given Viscount Owen two choices—money and his daughter—there was no hesitation before the answer came.

‘So, my dear. If you continue to refuse to bow like this, I’ll leave you completely alone after making you suffer thoroughly. It’s all your own doing.’

Christine stood up from her seat, intending to strip away Helena’s arrogant smile.

As she did so, she naturally pulled at the corner of the tablecloth, causing the wine glass in front of Helena to spill. Helena’s dress hem was stained with colorless champagne, leaving dark marks.

At that same moment, suddenly a loud shriek tore through the sky.

Everyone except Christine simultaneously raised their heads toward the sky. The massive shadow cast by an object in the air threw dark shade over the tent.

The sound of flapping wings cutting through the wind split the frozen silence. The moment Helena saw the skeletal wings with protruding blood vessels, she realized what it was.

It was a wyvern, a magical beasts in the form of a monstrous bird.

“Kyaaaah!”

Sharp screams erupted from various places. Dishes clashed against each other and crashed to the floor under the table, breaking. The wyvern’s eyes moved down, detecting the sound waves.

While wyverns weren’t particularly high-risk monsters, they were quite troublesome to capture due to their ability to fly.

“Everyone, stand back!”

Knights rushed from both ends of the tent, hastily drawing their swords. Sensing the threat, the wyvern let out an even more raucous cry.

While the knights reflexively covered their ears, the wyvern began diving straight toward the table. The sharp screams of terror also reached their peak.

“Kyaaah! Move! Get out of the way!”

“They said there was a barrier here so magical beasts couldn’t even come near, so what’s going on!”

The tent instantly became chaos. The loudest screamer happened to be Lady Jenia. The curved talons came down vertically toward her.

Everyone who witnessed the scene covered their mouths and expected that Lady Jenia would be torn to shreds along with the blue dress she had been proud of today.

But the wyvern suddenly changed direction midway.

Toward Helena, who stood still without even letting out a brief groan.

The knights who had been trying to protect Lady Jenia from the belated target change hurriedly changed direction and rushed over.

However, there was woefully insufficient time to block it in time given the distance.

Nevertheless, Helena remained in place, making herself the target. She had an excellent teacher. She had taught her not how to avoid, but how to confront.

[Remember this well. See that small groove between where the wings and body connect? Even if you just stick a dull branch in there, the wyvern is finished. The central nervous system responsible for flight is concentrated in that part, so if you sever the nerve bundle, it falls immediately. Then we just need to catch this guy who’s become a ground mole. How’s that, simple?]

That wasn’t just a simple hunting method. It was also a way to maintain dignity even when dropped in the middle of enemy territory.

Thanks to the woman who jokingly said everyone had traded their education for drinking capacity, Helena could maintain her elegance even in such situations.

‘Thank you always, Gelda.’

Helena drew the dagger Gelda had given her from the holster on her leg. The motion of spinning it lightly once before gripping it was very natural.

A composure that didn’t match the urgent situation, a leisure that suggested she was in control of this situation, enveloped Helena.

As soon as the wyvern entered range, Helena swung her arm.

Thwack!

The blade that shot out straight struck precisely at the wyvern’s vital point. The wyvern let out a tearing scream, then staggered in mid-air with flailing wings before plummeting to the ground.

The knights who had gathered around immediately thrust their swords in to end the wyvern’s life.

Several of them approached Helena with disbelieving eyes to check on her condition.

“Are you alright, Your Grace? Are you injured anywhere?”

Instead of accepting their helping hands, Helena approached the wyvern’s corpse. The ladies standing far away all frowned with faces pale as sheets. Among them, Helena extended her hand.

“Just return my knife.”

The knight answered in bewilderment and pulled the dagger from the wyvern’s vital point to hand it over. In his confusion, he hadn’t wiped off the bodily fluids, so black chunks fell from the blade with a thud. Retching sounds could be heard intermittently from among the spectators.

“I’m sorry…!”

The knight who realized this belatedly tried to hastily pull at his clothes to clean it, but Helena was faster.

“It’s fine.”

Helena took the blackened sword and returned to the tent. A piece of blue fabric hung on the corner of the chair where she had been sitting. It was a torn piece of Lady Jenia’s dress from when she had panicked.

Helena wiped the blade clean with it before sheathing the sword and said:

“When a woman harbors resentment, she becomes sharper than a master craftsman’s blade. So shouldn’t all of you be carrying at least one sword in your bosom instead of tears?”

While everyone held their breath, Helena searched the table for a new wine glass. As if nothing had happened, as if she were going to continue the interrupted meal.

In front of her were spectators still unable to recover from shock. Their expressions all looked as if they were facing an unwelcome intruder, making Helena smile faintly.

“You must wonder why I bother showing my face when the Grand Duke’s cherished mistress is brazenly walking around and rumors of my divorce are spreading.”

Helena tilted a champagne bottle into an empty wine glass without even glancing straight ahead. Over the sound of clear liquid flowing through the narrow opening, Helena’s voice also fell.

“Unfortunately, I am still the lady of Evergale. This position that you’re all desperate to enjoy is my duty and responsibility.”