Chapter 269: The Fall of the Border 5

Liliana and her companions reached the deepest depths of the dungeon. It was conspicuously dark here, save for the rhythmic dripping of water echoing through the chill air. A rather large rat scurried past their feet.

As the magical flame illuminated the scene before them, Gild scowled and Riley knitted his brows. Liliana's face hardened slightly as well.

"...Sasha," Riley whispered softly.

Calling her name to soothe her, Riley gently took Liliana's right hand in his. The reassuring warmth radiating from his palm allowed the tension to drain from her shoulders.

The sight that met their eyes was nothing short of horrific. Had they witnessed it under the harsh light of the sun, the impression would have been all the more devastating. While the magical light was adequate for navigating the corridors, it was not bright enough to illuminate every shadowed corner of the dungeon.

"Are they still alive?" Gild asked grimly.

"Hard to say," Riley replied in a tight voice. "At the very least... there's no mistaking they're familiar faces."

Gild let out a bitter murmur, and Riley answered in an equally grim tone.

The cell at the deepest recess of the dungeon was the largest of them all, and strewn across its floor were young boys lying deathly still. Some were slumped against the cold stone walls, while others lay sprawled face-down upon the ground. Every single one of them reeked of blood.

"Let's get this open first," Riley muttered.

Reaching into his pocket, Riley withdrew a thin piece of wire and swiftly dismantled the latch bar securing the small door in the blink of an eye. His practiced dexterity left even Liliana and Gild staring in utter disbelief.

"...Are you seriously the crown prince?" Gild muttered in disbelief.

"A bona fide crown prince through and through," Riley answered breezily. "This is merely a hobby of mine."

Offering that nonchalant reply without further explanation, Riley swung the door open. Listening to their exchange, Liliana found herself nodding internally in understanding. Riley had always been remarkably deft with his hands, not to mention a tireless worker.

Having survived countless assassin ambushes and even being abducted alongside Liliana via a teleportation circle, he had dedicated himself to mastering various skills and knowledge so he could handle any worst-case scenario on his own. Most of his training was conducted in absolute secrecy, and Liliana was privy to only a fraction of it. Even so, she realized that picking locks—a skill wholly unbecoming of royalty—was undoubtedly part of that repertoire.

Right now, however, the motionless boys inside the dungeon took precedence over Riley's unexpected bag of tricks.

Insisting that this was his job, Gild took the lead and stepped inside the cell to check on their condition. At first glance, they looked entirely lifeless. A suffocating tension gripped the air.

"They're all breathin' for now, but..."

Gild spoke up after a moment, his voice heavy with dread.

It meant they had virtually no time left. Riley had already deduced as much from the overwhelming stench of blood, while Liliana had suspected it from her knowledge of the otome game in her past life.

"If necessary, I had considered having you and the boys escape first, Sasha... but,"

Riley knitted his brows, murmuring in anguish.

Had their injuries been minor, he likely planned for Liliana to teleport them all to a safe location where they could receive medical attention. Liliana, however, shook her head.

"I am afraid that will not be possible," Liliana said softly.

In the otome game, by the time the Calvert Knights and Riley's group breached the fort, the apprentice knights had already perished. The agonizing regret that they could have saved the boys had they arrived just one night earlier had tormented Riley and Austin. Austin in particular had lost a boy he had known since childhood.

The void left in Austin's heart had been immense, and filling that hollow had been the role of the heroine, Emilia. Yet before that wound could truly heal, Riley and Austin had been driven into dire straits, growing stronger in a positive sense—but in a harsher light, callously carving away the kindness from their hearts.

Austin had grown unyielding and stubborn, while Riley had become completely devoid of hesitation when making ruthless, cold-blooded decisions.

That hardening of their hearts was almost certainly one of the catalysts that paved the way for the downfall of the villainess, Liliana Alexandra Clark.

"Teleporting them is out of the question, but we cannot simply leave them to die," Liliana stated firmly.

At Liliana's words, both Gild and Riley turned their attention toward her. Ducking her head, Liliana stepped into the cell.

Even if she attempted to evacuate the apprentice knights via teleportation, their condition was far too critical. Teleportation placed a heavy toll on the body and mind. The fragile boys would almost certainly perish mid-transit.

Besides, Liliana and her companions still had duties left to perform in this fortress.

"Sasha?" Riley called out.

Riley asked what she planned to do, though his expression suggested he had already gleaned her intentions. Gild, on the other hand, had yet to grasp the situation and was staring at her in bewilderment.

Stepping inside the cell, Liliana swept her gaze across the motionless boys.

Though initially overwhelmed by the gruesome sight, she managed to steel her nerves. After all, she had slain her own biological father—compared to that, balking at the sight of dying strangers was laughable.

Under normal circumstances—such as in the medical field of her past life—this was a textbook situation requiring triage. There were numerous casualties, and Liliana was the sole practitioner capable of administering aid. To save as many lives as possible, treatment priorities had to be established. In such an event, priority would be given to those with a realistic chance of survival through treatment, while those beyond hope of recovery would be abandoned.

By those standards, the smallest boy lying face-down on the floor should have been left behind. He was unconscious, his breathing ragged and labored, and mottled spots had begun to appear across his skin. When she placed a gentle hand against his neck, his body was chillingly cold and his pulse faint.

(...His time is near.)

His life would likely flicker out in a matter of hours. Conventional treatment stood no chance of saving him; he had lost far too much blood.

Even knowing this, Liliana held her hand over the boy and channeled mana into her palm.

From the corner of her eye, she caught Gild's eyes widening. It seemed he had finally realized what Liliana intended to do. Holding his breath, Gild stared fixedly at her hands—or more precisely, at the boy's wounds closing at visible speed.

"Healing magic...?" Gild gasped.

Stunned into silence, Gild finally exhaled deeply from the pit of his stomach as Liliana pulled her hand away from the boy's body. He had apparently forgotten to breathe.

Liliana did not reply. After verifying that the boy was breathing steadily, she moved on to the next. One after another, Liliana administered her healing spells. Upon finishing the treatment of the third apprentice knight, she rose to her feet.

The stench of death that had hung over the dungeon was now replaced by the soft, steady breathing of sleeping boys.

"Sasha, how are you feeling?" Riley asked.

Riley had likely refrained from speaking mid-treatment to avoid breaking her concentration. His face was slightly pale, and his voice held an unprecedented tightness.

Liliana was secretly surprised to realize she had caused Riley genuine worry. His concern, however, was entirely justified.

Much like holy magic, sorcerers capable of wielding healing magic were exceptionally rare. Furthermore, because it consumed colossal amounts of mana, treating even one or two individuals at a time was typically one's limit, depending on the severity of the illness or injury. The wounds of the boys Liliana had just treated were all fatal—injuries ordinary sorcerers could not have healed at all. Despite that, Liliana had single-handedly healed three people.

Liliana raised her eyes to look at Riley. His hands gripped the iron bars of the cell so tightly that his knuckles had turned stark white. He had been clutching them hard enough to cut off his circulation.

Liliana offered him a reassuring smile.

"I am perfectly fine," Liliana assured him.

Though she felt a slight sense of languor, she still sensed she had as much mana remaining as an ordinary sorcerer possessed in total. She had answered accordingly, but Riley pressed further.

"What about your mana?" he asked.

"I still have some to spare," she replied.

Waiting outside the bars, Riley still did not look convinced.

"Sasha, come over here," Riley said gently.

Instructed to step out of the cell, Liliana complied obediently. The moment she did, Riley grasped her by the shoulders and peered intently into her face. Taken aback by his close scrutiny, Liliana blinked in surprise, but Riley soon released her with a sigh of relief.

When Liliana tilted her head in question, Riley managed a wry smile.

"Thank goodness. You really are all right. Your complexion hasn't changed at all. If it looked like you were running out of mana halfway through, I was planning to pull you away."

"Your mana reserves truly are incredible, Sasha," Riley murmured admiringly, to which Liliana could only offer a wry smile.

"You already knew my mana capacity had increased, did you not?" she pointed out.

"Well, yes, I understood it in theory, but still," Riley admitted. "I can't tell just by looking how much mana you actually possess, so I can't help but worry."

"Oh, goodness..." Liliana murmured, caught off guard.

At a loss for words, Liliana gave an evasive murmur. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to change the subject.

"By the way... regarding those apprentice knights, what shall we do with them?"

"Indeed," Riley replied. "I think the best course of action would be to take them with us via teleportation."

It seemed Riley was eager to move Liliana to safety as quickly as possible, but she did not agree.

"If we teleport them out, the enemy will realize someone from the Calvert Knights has infiltrated the fortress," Liliana reasoned.

"I doubt they pay much mind to dying prisoners," Riley countered.

Liliana hesitated for a moment. It was true that the apprentice knights had been in terrible shape. In their state, the enemy occupying the fort would never suspect the prisoners of plotting an escape. Even so, there was always the risk of the unexpected.

Since individuals who had never appeared in the otome game now occupied pivotal roles, there was a strong chance the story had already diverged significantly from her memories. Even so, Liliana felt it was best not to alter the course of events on a battlefield where life and death hung in the balance.

"You may be right," Liliana conceded gently. "However, one cannot rule out unforeseen complications. Furthermore, when it comes to teleportation circles, I believe I have the upper hand in experience."

"I like to think I possess a fair bit of knowledge on the subject myself," Riley muttered with a wry grin.

Though Riley pushed back against Liliana's understated yet firm assertion, he recognized the logic in her words and did not press his objection strongly.

"Speakin' of that," Gild chimed in.

Having quietly listened to their exchange, Gild cut into the conversation. As Riley and Liliana turned to face him, the mercenary stepped out of the cell and jerked his thumb back toward the sleeping apprentice knights behind him.

"Looks like these runts are just sleepin' now. Think I can put 'em to work tomorrow?"

"Put them to work?" Riley echoed with a tilted head.

"Damn right," Gild gave a firm nod.

"I'm spendin' the night here alone anyway. At first I figured one guy was enough, but causin' chaos is a lot easier with more hands."

"Good point," Riley agreed with a deepened smile. "In that case, I will gladly leave it in your capable hands."

Riley nodded in amusement before turning back to Liliana.

"If that is the plan, Sasha, I will accompany you until we locate the teleportation circle. After that, the two of us will evacuate the fort. However, please promise me you will not overexert yourself—especially right after healing six people."

"Understood," Liliana replied demurely.

Liliana nodded obediently, though she had little intention of keeping that promise. This was a battlefield where conditions shifted by the second. If the need arose, she would not hesitate in the slightest to wield her magic.

"Ideally, we would wait for them to wake and leave them instructions," Riley mused. "But it will likely be some time before they regain consciousness, and we cannot afford the risk."

With that, Riley looked back at Gild. The mercenary crouched down in silence, picking up the latch bar that lay on the ground. Riley gave a nod.

Still silent, Gild reattached the latch bar to the cell door, leaving it deliberately unfastened. Anyone reaching out from inside could easily dislodge it with a slight rattle. So long as it appeared barred to any passing enemy, that would suffice.

"Let us go," Riley said. "Lingering here is foolish."

Liliana and Gild nodded in agreement.

The longer they remained in enemy territory, the higher the chance of discovery. Above all else, they needed to find the teleportation circle undoubtedly concealed somewhere within the fortress.

—-

Toc