Maiden villainess need heart too!!!

The Drake's voice still rang in our minds.

"When the sun rises—if any among you remain in our path… you shall be erased."

Its words echoed like a curse through every stone of the castle, through every tent and wounded breath in camp. Even the bravest knights had fallen into silence.

---

A King's Dilemma

By dawn, we gathered again in the central courtyard—those of us who could still stand.

The King of Airillesta sat at the front of the gathering in full armor. His face was not one of fear—but of unbearable weight. His once-blazing presence now dimmed with exhaustion and countless burdens.

Behind him stood the last royal guard.

The mages.

The chivalry.

The broken, the standing, the healed, the bleeding.

All waited for his word.

---

> "You all heard it," the king began, voice steady but heavy.

"That monster did not bark. It gave us a choice."

He stood, hand resting on his sword hilt.

> "I will not command cowards to fight. And I will not abandon those who still wish to live."

> "So I ask you—" he looked to each of us, one by one—

"Do we stand… or do we fall back? Do we defy fire… or beg mercy from it?"

---

The silence that followed was brutal.

Even I—who had survived blades, monsters, and war—felt as if I were drowning in that pause.

> A sunken ship doesn't sink in water.

It sinks in silence.

No one dared speak.

No one wanted to be first.

Not until—

---

The Letter Arrives

A sudden shuffle.

Heavy footsteps from the castle gate.

A soldier in battered armor—one of Duke Zuel's personal guards—stumbled into the courtyard.

> "A… letter—!" he gasped, barely standing.

"Urgent… from the refugee camp…"

He handed a sealed letter to my father and collapsed from exhaustion.

The king broke the wax and unrolled the message with one glance.

His eyes widened.

Then slowly, painfully, they turned toward me.

He said nothing.

Only handed me the page.

I read it.

And everything else disappeared.

---

> "Lady Seraphina Silva was attacked last night."

> "Poisoned by a wild Cockatrice."

> "She remains stable, but unconscious."

> "The poison… has no known cure outside divine intervention."

---

My hands trembled.

The page nearly slipped from my fingers.

All the weight of the war.

All the wounds.

All the training.

None of it mattered if she—

---

I staggered back.

The silence of the crowd was broken not by a horn…

Not by a monster…

But by the sound of my breath catching.

---

> She trusted me to survive.

And I promised to return.

But now…

She might not live long enough for me to keep that promise.

---

The sun was only halfway across the sky when the first scream echoed from the rearguard.

The evacuation caravan — once a slow-moving river of civilians, nobles, and refugees — came to a violent halt.

The path to Dragereth was supposed to be clear.

But nothing in this cursed war ever stayed as planned.

---

The Sky Darkens with Wings

It began with the sky.

Small dots circling above.

At first, the guards assumed they were scavengers — birds drawn to the scent of blood that still clung to Airillesta's people.

But those weren't birds.

Their wings were too leathery.

Their movements too sharp.

Their shadows… too large.

Monsters.

Harpies. Cockatrices. Wyverlings.

Dozens of them — spilling from the skies and breaking through the trees.

They descended not like beasts—but like assassins.

---

The Caravan in Chaos

Children screamed.

Mothers clutched their infants and ran.

Priests formed barrier circles. Mages raised shields. Swords were drawn.

And at the front of it all—

Duke Zuel Silva stood firm, cloak fluttering, staff in one hand and saber in the other.

> "Protect the children! Shield the carriages! Hold your ground!"

Beside him, 1st Prince Allcrine, his sword a glow with magic, carved through the first harpy to breach the line.

2nd Prince Nolliem stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the knights, his dual daggers flashing through the feathers and flesh.

And then—

Hyarus.

My third brother, always proud, always brash—

Took the front of my mother's carriage as his personal line of defense.

> "No monster touches her!" he roared, blood already spilling from his cheek.

---

The Cockatrice Comes

From the forest, with a shrill, horrid screech—

A massive Cockatrice burst out.

Bigger than most.

Its eyes glowing sickly green.

Fangs dripping with venom.

The beast lunged straight toward the queen's carriage.

A knight tried to intercept—was batted aside like a fly.

Hyarus stood firm.

He stabbed upward with his spear—

The Cockatrice shrieked and twisted, its claws slamming him backward into the mud.

The beast reared—

Claws raised.

---

> "HYA—!!"

He was about to be ripped in half—

When she appeared.

Seraphina Silva.

No hesitation.

No words.

Just movement.

She jumped between the monster and the prince.

Her crimson blade glowed with heat as it sliced across the Cockatrice's neck.

A screech. A spurt of poison blood.

But not before the beast's tail lashed around—

Its fangs sank into her side.

---

The Cockatrice died with a final croak, crumpling beside her.

She stood over Hyarus, swaying.

> "Get up, idiot prince," she whispered, blood running from her mouth.

"I didn't jump in to watch you die lying down."

Then she collapsed.

---

The Battle Ends, but the Poison Lingers

Duke Zuel reached her within seconds.

Priests scrambled. Spells chanted.

But the venom had already spread.

The healers froze when they saw it.

> "It's Cockatrice venom," one whispered.

"This isn't normal. This is... refined."

> "She needs divine magic—soon."

---

Allcrine clenched his fists.

Nolliem paced, sword trembling in hand.

Hyarus, still on one knee, stared at her with clenched teeth—his pride shattered by her selfless act.

My mother, pale and weeping inside her carriage, whispered only one thing:

> "Tell Alein…"

But the words never finished.

Because in that moment—

the letter was written.

And a lone guard took off through the forest on horseback—

Riding faster than death to reach the wall before the sun could fall.

---

Back on the wall…

I held that very letter in shaking hands.

---

And for the first time since I was reborn in this world—

I felt powerless.

---