CHAPTER 129: SOUL BIND

All I saw in her eyes was pure fury—no confusion, no fear. Just unfiltered rage.

It made no damn sense.

According to the guy I stole this carriage from, he said he was fleeing from bandits. He was supposed to deliver gifts to Lord Allen.

Which, in hindsight, already sounded sketchy. Who the hell heads toward the mountains while running from bandits?

Wait a second.

Was that guy... the bandit?

Then...

Wait.

WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE?!

Those guards at the city gate. They recognized the insignia on this damn carriage. And they let me through. That means—

"No... Fuck no."

My stomach twisted. I could feel the blood drain from my face.

I slowly, carefully undid the gag from the girl’s mouth. Maybe I could talk to her, explain things, figure out what was going on—

"HELP!!!" she screamed the moment her mouth was free.

"Shit!"

I reacted instinctively, smacking her with the hilt of my sword. Her eyes rolled back, and her head lolled to the side as she slumped unconscious.

I let out a slow breath and looked her over again. She was thin—too thin. Her cheeks were hollow, her collarbones protruding just slightly beneath her dress. It was like she hadn’t eaten in days.

"...Well, whatever," I muttered, rubbing my temples.

This world has slaves. It wouldn’t be strange for me to say she’s mine. That would at least explain her presence, maybe even buy me some time.

But then again...

"She’s way too good-looking to pass off as a slave," I groaned.

Her skin was smooth and radiant. Her face? Definitely not slave material. And no slave symbol anywhere on her body. I couldn’t even lie about it if I tried.

This was a major problem.

I glanced at the unconscious girl and sighed.

Could I just ditch her here?

Hm...

NO. Bad idea. I’ve got this gut feeling that if I leave her behind, it’ll come back to bite me in the ass. Plus... I might be tossing away a golden opportunity.

Yeah. Opportunity.

I think I know who she is.

It’s obvious now. Those guards were talking about the Lady of Leveria. Probably some noble’s daughter. Leveria... not sure if it’s a county or a dukedom, but whatever.

She’s gotta be the one they were looking for.

I looked around the area. The carriage sat silently in the clearing, surrounded by broken branches and the crushed remains of forest grass. The path we’d taken to get here was barely visible now.

So what the hell was I supposed to do?

I opened the carriage doors and climbed into the main compartment. My eyes scanned the interior.

"Huh. There really are gifts in here."

Boxes and packages filled the space, tied with twine and stamped with wax seals. Some were small, others oddly shaped.

I wasn’t really interested in most of it. According to Maria, I already had more than enough money stored in my spatial ring to last three years comfortably. And I wasn’t even going to be in this world for more than a month.

Still.

"Let me just check, in case."

Never hurts to snoop.

Honestly, it’d be way easier if they’d just stuffed all this crap into spatial rings—but nobles. Gotta make a show out of everything. Maybe delivering gifts without a physical carriage is seen as disrespectful.

Crazy-ass nobles.

I began unwrapping the packages one by one.

I opened the first package.

A... vase?

It looked expensive. Ceramic. Fancy.

Shatters!

Yeah, I smashed it. Because why not?

Next package.

"Huh?"

Some kind of drink? Wine, maybe?

I tossed it into my spatial ring. Could be useful.

I moved onto the next, and the next after that, starting a spree of what could only be described as impromptu treasure hunting. I smashed anything that looked useless and kept the stuff that seemed valuable.

And then I found something.

A small box, wrapped in a silky cloth. There was a folded letter attached to it, sealed with red wax.

I opened it and began to read.

"I hoped we could be together forever. But my father has other plans—he wants to marry me off to the Third Prince."

I blinked, frowning.

Third prince?

"I would rather die than let that happen, so I came up with a plan. This way, Father will have no choice but to accept you. I can’t write too much. Just know there’s a potion attached to this letter. It’s part of a soul ritual. I’ve already bound myself with the Herlis Curse. The potion will complete the connection."

My eyes darted to the inside of the box.

I pulled out the small vial. Pale liquid. Shimmering slightly.

Soul bind?

Herlis’ Curse?

I didn’t know the specifics, but I was starting to get the picture.

"The entrance exams for noble children will begin soon. You won’t be able to attend since you’re from a lower noble house. That means we won’t be able to see each other for a while. But I convinced my father to let me travel through your county on the way to the Teleric Relic in Micaso. That way, I could drop this off with you. All you have to do is drink the potion. The soul bind will be complete. Don’t worry—it won’t hurt you. It’ll just ensure my father can never separate us. If he tries, the Herlis Curse will activate."

I slowly put the letter down.

Well, well.

Looks like I stumbled onto some tragic romance bullshit.

Still...

Herlis curse?

I have noo idea what that is, however I do know what a soul bind is.

Haah.

I am nowhere strong enough to fight off high-level swordsmen who would definitely track me for her.

However, I think I might just be able to save myself with this soul bind.

Should bind ensures that, if I die, she dies.

I really don’t see a downside to this.

It might as well just be my only ticket out of this shit.

I held up the potion.

Gulp.

"Fuck it."

And I downed it.