The man swept back his sky blue hair and loosened his shoulders by rolling them and cracking his neck.

“I was worried about driving a carriage since it was my first time but it was surprisingly easy.”

There was no reply, but the man continued.

“Serina Melford. That’s a pretty name.”

How did he know my name?

Since when did this man start driving my carriage instead of the coachman?

Numerous questions raced through my mind.

“What did you do to my coachman?”

“Well… What did I do? I can’t remember.”

I looked at him with cold eyes.

There was a high probability that the horseman was not safe.

“What do you want from me?”

What were my chances of fighting and winning if I attacked the man here?

Slim to none.

I’d only seen his skills once but I remembered him using magic.

He had used teleportation spells effortlessly.

His skills were a level higher than mine.

“Take it.”

The man took a dagger from his chest pocket and threw it.

The dagger swirled around in the air, shining in the moonlight and sprinkling light in all directions.

With a thunk, the dagger fell at my feet.

I stared at it, befuddled.

Not knowing the man’s intentions, I frowned and raised my head to peer at him.

“There’s no device, so you can relax.”

“Why are you handing me this?”

“Cut off your arm with it.”

“What······?”

The man smiled brightly and announced,

“If you do, I will grant you your life. If you don’t, I’m thinking of turning you into a stuffed doll.”

If I cut off my arm, I could die of excessive bleeding. If I was lucky, I could live. I searched inward and clicked my tongue.

It was truly a luckless day.

As I bent down to pluck the dagger from the ground, the man spoke excitedly, like an audience looking forward to an upcoming show.

“For such a long time, I’ve been curious about Melford’s special bloodline.”

Special.

Mana was deeply entrenched in our blood.

The Melford house had a long history of birthing wizards, and it was whispered that amongst wizards we were even more exceptional.

It seems that this man heard that my blood was the best among the Melford’s.

Ah, come to think of it, Mikhail only took my blood once and used it for an experiment.

“Serina.”

While looking at me he eerily beckoned me kindly.

“I want your blood, your bones, and your skin.”

I held the dagger and straightened my back.

I imbued the dagger with the strongest magical power I could muster and threw it at the man.

It flew at the speed of black light. It was hard to see a sword with the human eye.

A strange ecstasy rose to my lips.

Until the man lightly plucked the dagger from the air.

“Did you refuse my offer after all?”

The man used his finger to spin the dagger.

“May I ask why you’re making such a regrettable decision?”

I slowly slipped off my shoes.

The soft texture of the soil touched my feet.

I was pricked by a fallen branch and it stung, as the leaves of grass rustled under my feet and tickled me.

I put one foot back and sprinted.

While running as fast as I could towards the man, I manifested a sword made out of mana.

My uninjured hand gripped the sword hard.

When I reached the man’s nose, I opened my mouth:

“Because-“

I fixed the hand holding the sword and turned it towards the man.

“—I’m going to kill you here.”

I swung my sword.

At that moment, the figure of the man disappeared from my sight.

“That’s never going to happen.”

Suddenly, the man appeared and moved behind me whispered in my ear.

I swiveled around and slashed my sword at his neck.

The sword drew a round circle and sharply aimed towards him.

The man tilted his head, dodging my blade and then stepped back.

His feet rubbed against the soil, leaving long marks on the dirt floor.

The man who had retreated speedily rushed towards me.

I tried to swing my sword at him again but my hand was blocked by the air.

It was abruptly hard to move my body as if I was submerged in water.

This was expert magic done by a master.

The man was weighing down the surrounding air with mana.

I frowned at a more difficult situation, and the man stepped right in front of me.

“Hello?”

The man greeted lightly clenched his fist.

Blood before he swings his fist at me.

I need to avoid him before he swings his fist at me, but I can’t move.

I just tremble.

I clench at my teeth, as a faint thought occurs to me.

You have to move.

Otherwise, you may die.

Please. Please. Please. I desperately shouted and gathered up my magic.

Failure here meant death.

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

As soon as the man swung his clenched fists, I succeeded in dismantling his expert-level magic.

I moved my body to evade the fist rushing towards me.

Crack!

The tree behind me was punched by the man instead of me.

Unable to withstand the force of his strike, the tree crumbled and split into numerous pieces, and fell.

I couldn’t believe how powerful he was. If I had been struck instead I would have died.

The man looked at me, dusting off the tree powder from his fist.

I got chilly goosebumps when I saw him smile.

“I almost made a stupid mistake. My fist went out of habit. I shouldn’t damage the stuffed doll…”

The man looked at me with worried eyes.

When he confirmed that I was fine, he sighed in relief.

Seeing that, I made a twisted decision.

If I lose to this man, let’s destroy this face brutally.

There was no way I was going to be the beautiful doll he wanted.

I rushed at him without giving the man a chance to relax.

As I sprinted forward, the wind slapped me against the face.

My blade aimed towards his neck. Just as the tip was about to reach him the man skillfully evaded me—as I expected.

I didn’t miss my chance and kicked him hard— infused with magic —as he tried to pass me.

The hem of my skirt flipped gracefully.

“Cough—spit—cough….”

The man grabbed his beaten abdomen and twirled it, barely holding onto a tree to support his body that was about to collapse.

The pain must be considerable because I had gathered my mana to the utmost.

Ba-dump.

Hot sweat ran down my cheeks.

A harsh breath escaped my mouth.

My stamina was lower than before because I had hardly moved recently.

“…….A surprise attack is such a nasty stunt.”

“A kidnapping is nastier than a surprise attack.”

I was getting more and more exhausted, but I rushed in without a break. Now was the chance to tear down this man’s body.

The man leaped back to circumvent me as I wielded a blade.

I didn’t stop but released as much mana as possible in time for the man to stop.

Bang!

When a man stepped on the ground, an explosion occurred as if he had stepped on a mine.

The man, who was beaten dizzy, stumbled without being able to find his balance.

The man frowned as if he were confused, trying to grasp the situation.

Then, white magic, thin and piercing like a needle, poured down like rain on the man’s head.

After a series of attacks, the man’s body staggered and fell over.

I had knocked down the man.

When I confirmed that the man had collapsed, I let out a hot breath.

My beating heart could not be calmed easily.

I wiped my sweat off with the back of my hand so that the salty water running down my forehead would not get into my eyes.

My mana consumption was severe because I had used high-level magic against him.

I spied the fallen man with wary eyes.

Instinct did not let go of my sense of unease. I had knocked him out, but I felt uncomfortable.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

Something is strange.

It’s going to be this easy?

It was solved too easily.

My sense of incongruity was coming from these thoughts…

I slowly pulled myself away from him.

One step, two steps back.

Something rough touched my back.

It was a tree.

I tried to get past the tree.

The moment I turned my body, a crackling sound was heard from the tree.

The branches moved wildly, struggling to reach me.

‘What the—?’

I struggled to suppress my fright and reflexively backed away from the tree attacking me.

The soles of my feet were scratched against the rough dirt floor, stabbing me.

Maybe after all this, my feet will be covered in scars.

The branches could no longer come close to me because of the limitations of their length.

I sighed in relief.

“Ek······!”

Behind me, tree branches encircled my body.

When I turned my head to look, the tree behind me— no, all the trees nearby were moving.

‘What the hell is this…’

I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.

The branches pulled me hard.

“Ugh!”

My body felt like it was flying.

The branches pulled me hastily and my back hit the tree.

It embraced me deeper into its arms.

Branches bound my arms and limbs.

As it tightened more and more, I gasped, pain erupting all over my body due to the pressure.

In particular, my wounds from my injuries in the banquet hall were throbbing.

Ah. Damn it.

It looks like the wound has reopened.

I looked straight ahead to check my predicament—I was in disbelief doubting the scene in front of me.

The man I knocked out…

No, the man I thought I had knocked out stood up.

He looked at me and smiled.