Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 313

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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313. Pretty?

Married? What does your wife’s face look like? Is she pretty?

It was a rude question that only a guide who had thoroughly searched the garden and perfectly conquered the 5th Floor would ask.

Both the content of the question and the person asking it were so unexpected that not only Serena and Sesi, but even Count Alpha, who had been tormented by the Ghostly Voice, doubted his ears.

“What? Is this also a trick of the Ghostly Voice?”

“I asked if your wife is pretty.”

“Please open the door!”

Outside the mountain hut, the Ghostly Voice was still shaking the Imperial Knight’s mind, but the flustered Count Alpha’s attention was focused on Ying.

“Do you love your wife?”

“Wh-what exactly is the intention behind asking such questions?”

“How did you two meet? What’s the age difference? Same age? Older? Younger? How many months old was the child when you left the Empire? Do you prefer sons or daughters? Have you ever thought twins might be born?”

“Th-this is completely…!”

A beautiful woman with elegant lines like an ancient sculpture threw out questions that Olive might ask with an expressionless face.

The disparity between the information entering through his eyes and ears was tremendous.

“Honey! Please save me!”

Bang bang!

The effect of Ying’s full course of rude questions was incredible!

Count Alpha paid no attention at all even when the Ghostly Voice knocked on the door outside the mountain hut and wailed in his wife’s voice.

‘So there was a method like this!’

There was a way for a faithful servant of darkness to save someone bewitched by a Ghostly Voice without using sacred power.

Ying closed her lips as if this was enough and gave eye signals to Serena and Sesi.

It meant she had shown them enough of an example, so she was leaving the rest to them.

“I’m confident!”

Sesi’s eyes, which had been heavy-lidded from randomly pressing acupoints, sparkled brightly. Sesi happily asked Count Alpha a question.

“Is your wife pretty, or are you pretty, Knight?”

It was exactly twice as rude a question as asking if his wife was pretty.

‘I need to give her some etiquette education.’

Having focused on common sense education because of Neet’s situation, now manners were the problem again. As the saying goes, educating children is a hundred-year plan – it was truly difficult.

Anyway, Count Alpha, who had been flustered and unable to give proper answers to Sesi’s twice-as-rude question, finally opened his mouth.

“Sesi. Beauty has no absolute or objective standard. Beauty is extremely personal and-“

“The Countess is right here.”

“Ahem! Depending on the observer, some might consider Prince more beautiful than the Countess.”

“Aha! I understand!”

If she had only seen Philia, Count Alpha’s persuasion would have lost its power. Thanks to Sesi having seen Seraph, she understood Count Alpha’s explanation – truly, the broader one’s experience, the better.

“So? Who’s prettier?”

“Hmm. To me, my wife is the most beautiful in the world.”

“To your wife, you would be the most beautiful in the world. So who’s more beautiful?”

With Ying having set the stage, Sesi boldly continued her questions. Serena rescued the Imperial Knight while correcting Sesi’s rudeness.

“Sesi. Such questions are too rude.”

“It’s so cold!”

“Ugh!”

“You said it was a love marriage? How did you two meet? What was the reason you started dating?”

As soon as Serena rescued Count Alpha from the rude questions, the Ghostly Voice’s influence grew stronger. Serena immediately switched tactics.

‘Sorry, Count Alpha. But it’s better to be a little embarrassed and return to your wife and child than to die.’

Count Alpha seemed to have the same thought, as he blushed and answered the question.

“Our first meeting, I don’t remember it well. That’s why Lord Willow often teases me about it.”

“Oh my. So your wife was aware of you, but you didn’t notice her?”

“It’s not that, but those who were after my body. Ahem.”

“It’s cold! The child is cold too!”

When Count Alpha, who was only an adult on paper but clearly a minor to anyone’s eyes, couldn’t answer truthfully out of concern for Sesi, the Ghostly Voice immediately shook the knight’s mind like a ghost.

‘It is a ghost, actually. A fake ghost, though.’

Eventually, Count Alpha squeezed his eyes shut and answered whatever came to mind.

“I thought she was one of the group after my body.”

The Imperial Knight’s body was indeed desirable. Serena recalled what Prince Willow had said about his friend.

‘The man most difficult to undress in Imperial high society.’

And the woman who conquered that man.

Her curiosity about Lady Alpha, which she had been trying to suppress because she didn’t want to set up death flags, grew like lettuce in May.

“What was the catalyst that made you recognize your wife?”

‘This is absolutely not because I find it interesting. It’s to save Count Alpha!’

She was truly curious about what method Lady Alpha had used to form a bond with a knight whose face and personality were complete opposites.

Serena’s single eye sparkled brightly like Sesi’s.

“Actually, both Sophie and my wife were indeed after my body.”

“So Lady Alpha’s name is Sophie. After your body? What does that mean?”

‘Don’t tell me they accidentally slept together and he married her out of responsibility?’

That would be interesting in its own way, but as a princess curious about the process of how Ms. Sophie conquered a knight who didn’t even recognize her, the disappointment was great.

‘You said it was a love marriage! There should be romance! Give me a bumbling romantic comedy!’

Since her sibling and the Pink-Haired Girl’s romance seemed to have failed, the Princess pinned her hopes on the Imperial Knight’s romance that had already ended happily.

Fortunately, Ms. Sophie didn’t disappoint the Princess’s expectations.

“Sophie was interested in strength training. After clearing up the misunderstanding that she wasn’t after my body in that way, I began helping Sophie with her workouts. Through that, I came to respect Sophie’s character and values, and fell in love.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t marriage first then love, but the content was somehow strange.

Serena looked at the knight’s muscles that asserted their presence even through thick winter clothing.

“…May I see your wife’s portrait?”

“Here it is.”

Serena finally got to see Lady Alpha’s portrait, which she had been curious about but couldn’t look at because Count Alpha seemed like he might die.

Sesi, also curious about Lady Alpha’s appearance, stuck close to the Princess’s side. Serena slowly opened the locket the knight handed her.

Ms. Sophie in the picture was an extremely alluring and glamorous beauty. Her deep brown skin was smooth, and her slightly lighter brown hair was thickly curled as if untouched.

She had thick eyebrows, and below her slightly upturned eye corners was a beauty mark.

Judging by her face alone, Ms. Sophie was an alluring beauty who could seduce people with a single eye-smile or hand gesture.

‘Judging by her face alone, that is.’

Serena’s single eye moved from the portrait figure’s face to her upper body. Serena was inwardly amazed.

‘Wow, her figure.’

Serena was genuinely amazed by Ms. Sophie’s firm neck and shoulders, and broad chest. If she buried her face in that chest, she felt like she’d suffocate in a different way than with her own chest.

Sesi, who had been leaning in to get a better look at the portrait, also exclaimed aloud in admiration.

“I could sit on those shoulders!”

Count Alpha smiled contentedly as he boasted about his wife’s strength.

“She could lift someone like Sesi with one arm. She could probably seat one person on each shoulder.”

Serena, who had imagined either a small, delicate, innocent-looking beauty contrasting with the large Count Alpha, or an ordinary-looking but spirited woman, was frustrated by her own lack of imagination.

At the same time, she realized she had been deceived.

‘No! When Prince Willow said a pregnant wife was waiting, I unconsciously imagined a fragile and delicate expectant mother!’

All this time, she had been imagining a woman who was newly married and pregnant, sending her husband off to a foreign country and shedding lonely tears.

But reality was the complete opposite of her imagination.

Ms. Sophie in the portrait looked like she would heartily, or alluringly, laugh while working on strength training to punish her husband for returning late.

‘Oh wait, no. Muscle and childbirth risks are separate things.’

Ms. Sophie in the picture looked so robust that she seemed like she could shake off any illness or worry with sheer willpower, making her thoughts grow lax.

Serena quickly corrected her thinking.

“Your wife’s physique is so excellent it seems a waste to only train as a hobby.”

“Yes, she’s a knight in the monster subjugation unit like me. She’s currently on leave and resting.”

“Your wife is also a knight? That’s cool!”

“I see. Your wife’s martial prowess must be remarkable.”

“His attacks are among the fiercest in the unit. He greatly respects Count Carly, the Giant of Heuji-. My apologies.”

“It’s fine. Count Carly is a knight who is still respected even after death. Count Carly would be pleased to know his reputation has spread even to the Empire.”

“Who is Count Carly?”

“A knight of exceptional martial prowess who served as captain of Heuji’s Royal Knights despite being a woman. She wielded a sword larger than Sesi’s with complete mastery, earning her the nickname ‘Giant.'”

“Wow! How did such a knight die? Did she fight some terrifying monster?”

Serena taught Sesi the etiquette that must be observed only in Heuji.

“Sesi. Listen carefully. In Heuji, when discussing famous or promising people, if the conversation suddenly stops and people give awkward smiles, that person died during Heuji’s tragedy.”

Sesi belatedly realized why Count Alpha had apologized upon seeing the Princess’s awkward smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

Serena gradually wanted to move away from this topic. Just then, the Ghostly Voice cried out persistently.

“It’s cold! Save me, darling!”

Serena began to doubt whether the Ghostly Voice’s lines truly reflected the real person’s character.

‘Sophie seems like she’d threaten to break down the door if it wasn’t opened?’

If not, perhaps Sophie’s personality was delicate, unlike the appearance conveyed in her portrait?

As Serena kept glancing toward the door, Count Alpha noticed the Princess’s curiosity and answered on his own.

“She’s weak against cold.”

“Her manner of speaking must be quite different.”

“Yes. I know my wife would never speak like that, but since I already answered and the voice sounds exactly the same, my heart keeps wavering.”

His mental strength severely depleted, Count Alpha roughly rubbed his delicately handsome face.

When the conversation stopped, drowsiness returned, but Serena and Sesi weren’t frightened.

Because now they knew how to deal with it!

“How many months along is the baby?”

“Five months when we left the Empire.”

“Do you prefer a son or daughter. Hmm. This question is too obvious and boring. Have you ever considered the possibility of twins?”

“Twins. As long as both my wife and child are healthy, either would be fine.”

“What about quadruplets?”

“I should think of more names in preparation for quadruplets.”

Count Alpha, a nobleman from a distinguished family, showed no concern about raising quadruplets.

“If Your Highness the Grand Princess would name the child, our family would receive it as a great honor.”

At the same time, befitting his noble origins, he tried to establish a connection with Serena. Though it was an honorable request from Serena’s perspective, she politely declined.

“I don’t wish to earn Prince Willow’s resentment.”

Count Alpha looked disappointed but didn’t press further.

Thus, the three of them engaged in lively conversation about Count Alpha’s romance.

Who confessed first, how their first date went, whether there was family opposition to their love marriage, and so on.

Rather than discussing labyrinth stories where one mistake could mean life or death, or politics and diplomacy, talking about a romance with a happy ending kept them wide awake and was incredibly entertaining. Even the cold was no match for it.

Count Alpha seemed uncomfortable speaking except when bragging about his wife, but Serena and Sesi ignored the knight’s feelings.

‘To make this story truly end happily, I need to keep Count Alpha alive. This isn’t because I’m enjoying myself, but to save a life.’

To have entertaining stories while also saving someone’s life. Nothing could be more admirable.

As Serena and Sesi’s faces filled with color and Count Alpha’s finely crafted beautiful face filled with embarrassment, Ying, who had been silent, suddenly stood up.

“Ying? What’s wrong- Ack! Grab him!”

Ying stood up abruptly, eyes closed, staggering toward the door.

‘He dozed off!’

After earnestly warning the party not to fall asleep, he himself had fallen asleep while not participating in the conversation!

Count Alpha grabbed the archer. The archer shook off the knight with surprising strength.

“Hold him! He mustn’t open the door!”

Serena quickly cast mage magic, surrounding Ying with it. Ying grabbed and severed the magic threads with his bandaged hands.

Serena’s jaw dropped.

‘How is that possible? This isn’t the time to be surprised!’

Serena and her companions bound the archer with the nylon(?) rope that even magical beasts couldn’t break. Ying, eyes still closed, twitched his eyebrows and again grabbed the rope with his bandaged hands.

Black fire ignited on the symbol of modern civilization that had remained unaffected even when magical beasts went berserk.

Black flames she’d never seen in two lifetimes. As the flames spread along the rope, goosebumps rose all over Serena’s body. It was a warning sent not by her flesh, but by her soul.

“That fire is dangerous! Release the rope!”

Count Alpha and Sesi, also instinctively sensing danger, dropped the rope as soon as the Princess’s command fell.

Fortunately, the black fire couldn’t burn the rope and only traveled along it before quickly extinguishing.

But without the restraining force, the rope was useless. Ying staggered toward the door.

“Ying! Wake up! The Darkness must have commanded you to awaken!”

Serena risked divine punishment by speaking of the Heavenly Darkness, but Ying didn’t open his eyes.

Sesi blocked the door with the Labyrinth Rat Leader’s body, but even the leader rat was merely prey to an experienced labyrinth adventurer.

‘Even if he dozed off! Wasn’t your mental defense supposed to be strong?’

It was too late to protest that Ying, who had resistance to most mental attacks, had fallen so completely.

Serena slowly contemplated methods of death.

‘How do you die when caught by a ghost? Can I regress even if my soul is extracted? Would it be better to die before that?’

Since she couldn’t use Zero Express, she’d have to ask someone else or do it herself.

The archer had already placed his hand on the door handle. Just as Serena drew the dagger from her chest.

BOOOOOOM-!

An explosion and vibration echoed from outside the mountain hut.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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