Chapter 52: Life or Death

Zhe Zilin walked down the stairs, the corners of his mouth lifting unconsciously as he shrugged his shoulders.

When he passed the second floor, the doorway to Osha’s room stood empty. 

Every single member of her personal guard had left the city without exception.

By now they had probably already caught up with the half-orcs.

The royal guard personally selected by the king possessed strength and discipline that ordinary soldiers could not match. 

The time it would take Northern soldiers to catch the half-orcs would be halved when measured against the personal guard.

Osha was most likely already on her way back to the city.

Zhe Zilin had his own matters to attend to. 

He was just about to head toward the rear kitchen when, while passing through the front courtyard, Tana rode into the castle alone. 

From the looks of it she had traveled a great distance outside the city. 

A thin layer of snow still rested on her shoulders.

Airigo, who had been standing guard at the main gate, immediately followed behind her the moment he saw her return, not leaving her side by even half a step.

Tana patted the accumulated snow from her body and pulled a wrapped object from the horseback. 

It was dripping with blood. 

One could tell at a glance that what lay inside was a piece of flesh and blood.

She carried it in one hand as she walked toward the castle, yet after only two steps she suddenly stopped.

Right before her eyes, Zhe Zilin was standing at the castle entrance, waiting for her.

Tana paused. 

Beside her, Airigo stepped forward and reminded her in a low voice, “The man the princess brought back together with the half-orcs.”

A smile suddenly appeared on her face as she walked toward Zhe Zilin.

“Were you waiting for me?”

Zhe Zilin turned slightly to the side, making way for Tana and Airigo.

“No. I simply came downstairs quietly and happened to see Lord Leon…”

Zhe Zilin deliberately directed both his gaze and the conversation toward the package in Tana’s hand.

“Carrying a piece of meat?”

Tana openly lifted the blood-stained package before her eyes and smiled. 

“I specially hunted a deer for the princess. This is the most essence portion of its body. I have ordered the best cooks of the Northern Territory to prepare it and invite the princess to taste it.”

As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward the second floor. 

The personal guards who had originally been stationed there were nowhere to be seen. 

Suddenly, an ominous premonition rose in Tana’s heart.

Zhe Zilin said, “The princess left at noon to pursue the half-orcs. It is unknown when she will return. Lord Leon just happened to be outside the city at that time, so you were unaware.”

Tana sharply turned her head to look at Airigo. 

After the other party nodded in confirmation, her expression changed again and again.

In the end she forced a smile that did not reach her eyes. 

“Why would the princess personally lead people out of the city? Such a matter could simply have been left to me.”

Tana’s gaze swept across Zhe Zilin as she proposed, “Once this essence meat is cut off, if it is not put into the pot immediately the fragrance will be reduced by more than half. Since the princess is not present, why don’t we taste it together?”

Zhe Zilin knew perfectly well that what the other party held was the flesh and blood of the Ice Demon. 

Tana had left the city specifically for this item. She was determined to make him eat it.

Seeing that Zhe Zilin continued to give no response, as though deep in thought, Tana took two steps forward and leaned close to his ear.

“Leibang Ed, we can talk.”

Zhe Zilin turned his head and met Tana’s eyes.

Tana had originally expected shock to appear in the other party’s gaze, yet she never imagined that Zhe Zilin’s face would remain completely calm, as though he had long anticipated everything.

He leaned close to Tana’s ear and said softly, “Miss Tana, what do you wish to talk about?”

This time Tana was truly caught off guard. Her pupils contracted as her eyes repeatedly assessed the Zhe Zilin before her.

She had believed that aside from the Ice Demon, no one knew her true identity. 

Yet the moment they met she had already been exposed. Moreover, she was certain this was the first time she had ever met the person in front of her.

Shock and astonishment churned repeatedly in her heart. Her expression was no longer relaxed. Her face sank.

“You…”

Tana opened her mouth wanting to speak, yet every word stuck in her throat. She did not know what to say.

In the end she only managed to force out a single sentence. 

“I am the future King of the North, Gareth Leon…”

Zhe Zilin took half a step back, glanced at Airigo, then returned his gaze to Tana.

The other party was reminding him that even if he knew her true identity, what of it? 

The face she currently wore was Leon’s. 

Before making a move against her, he had best carefully weigh whether he could withstand the soldiers of the entire Northern Territory.

“Where does Lord Leon wish to talk?”

Tana hesitated, then walked past Zhe Zilin toward the kitchen.

Airigo tactfully remained guarding the doorway, leaving the room for Tana and Zhe Zilin to converse alone.

Tana, who had originally believed she held every initiative, now felt utterly passive.

She lowered her voice. “What do you want?”

Zhe Zilin smiled. 

“I know you are being threatened. I know you are doing this for your child. But selling your life to the Ice Demon will not end well. Do you want your child to be without a mother? He has already lost his father. Do not let him lose every relative as well.”

Tana’s gradually steadying breath once again grew disordered. 

Her chest heaved violently. Her entire back was already soaked with sweat.

A complete stranger, upon meeting her for the first time, had spoken aloud the secret she most wanted to hide. 

No one in the world could have remained calm under such circumstances.

Tana’s brows tightly furrowed. The confidence in her voice was gone.

“I can only do this.”

“From what I know, your child is not in the Northern Territory. There is no need for you to risk your life working for the Ice Demon at all.”

Tana drew a deep breath, tightly closed her eyes, and remained silent for a long while.

“I am a mixed-blood of half-orc and human. I was born carrying a curse. At certain fixed periods I will transform into a neither-human-nor-beast monster. Those periods grow longer and longer… and my child has also been afflicted by the curse.”

Though she called it a curse, Zhe Zilin felt it was more like a hereditary disease. 

The bloodline itself caused physical deformity and possessed the ability to be inherited.

“So the Ice Demon promised you that he would lift the curse on both you and your child.”

Tana lowered her head and let out a hoarse “mm.”

Zhe Zilin did not know whether the curse could truly be removed, nor whether the Ice Demon was deceiving Tana.

However, he had Ailia and Osha—two great mages. Extracting a curse should be an easy matter for them.

No matter how one looked at it, they were certainly stronger than the Ice Demon.

“Lure the Ice Demon to the vicinity of North City. I promise you that either Osha or Ailia will remove the curse for you.”

“Since you know my identity, you must also know my relationship with Osha and Ailia. Can the strength of a divine envoy and the World-Ender Witch not convince you?”

Tana hesitated, carefully weighing Zhe Zilin’s words.

It was not that she did not believe in the abilities of the witch and the princess. Rather, she had to carefully discern which choice was the safest.

Zhe Zilin did not wish to give Tana too much time to think. 

His hand rested on the hilt of Dragon Slayer as he threatened, “If you refuse, I will certainly not allow someone who threatens me to continue living by my side.”

The sound of Dragon Slayer leaving its scabbard was like a countdown. 

The moment the blade completely left the sheath, Zhe Zilin would consider that Tana had already made her choice.

Silence was also a form of choice.

Tana stared blankly as she retreated. 

“I am currently Leon. If you kill me, Airigo will gather the soldiers of North City to surround and kill you.”

Zhe Zilin advanced step by step, his expression calm. “Once the face is torn off, are you still Leon?”

Time passed in the blink of an eye. Dragon Slayer fully left its sheath.

“It seems you intend to walk this path to the very end.”

Zhe Zilin took a step forward and thrust with his sword.

Tana’s legs went soft. 

She collapsed to the ground and narrowly avoided the strike. She hurriedly rolled over and ran toward the kitchen, shouting at the top of her lungs, “Airigo!”

At the kitchen doorway, Airigo charged in with his sword raised and timely flicked away the Dragon Slayer that had been about to pierce the back of Tana’s head.

Knight—a title recognized throughout the world as belonging to the strong. 

Airigo had been conferred the title of knight during the campaigns he fought alongside the King of the North. His swordsmanship was excellent.

Ordinarily, in the very first exchange, Airigo could roughly predict an enemy’s strength.

Yet now he was supporting Tana as he retreated step by step. 

Every muscle in his body was taut, his spirit highly concentrated.

Tana shouted at the top of her lungs, “He is Leibang Ed, nothing more than a pretty face! Attack, knight!”

A pretty face?

Airigo did not dare relax his vigilance. 

The person before him was different from their first meeting.

Rich combat experience told him that the swordsmanship he took such pride in would not last even ten exchanges against the other party.

Just as swords were drawn and bows were taut, a series of hoofbeats suddenly rang out inside the castle. 

Osha, leading her personal guard and dragging the half-orcs along, had returned to the city.