The Bookmark: Posthumous Publication

The carriage rocked violently, outside, the air filled with the clash of steel and the harrowing screams of men, pierced the night. The scent of blood thickened in the air.

A desperate voice rang out, shaken, but trying to stay firm. "Madam! Stay in the carriage! We're under attac-". Then silence that didn't last long before, a heavy bang against the door.

A voice, sharp and demanding:

"Open up, or we'll break it down!"

Inside, the maid, Ruby, moved swiftly. She pushed Sushila, who was holding me in her arms behind her, hand reaching for the dagger strapped against her thigh.

"Get behind me, Madam. I'll protect you and the young master."

Another bang, then another. The wood cracked. A final, brutal slam, shattering the door into splinters.

A soldier lunged inside, blade drawn. Ruby moved first.

Her dagger flashed. A sharp inhale, then a gurgling exhale. The man staggered back, eyes wide as blood spurted from his throat. He collapsed.

Another attacker followed. Ruby ducked, spun, and drove her blade upward, straight through his ribs. His body convulsed before she tore the weapon free.

Three more men swarmed in, she blocked the first strike with her dagger, twisting her body to avoid the second. Her blade slashed across one attacker's wrist, severing his tendons, before she plunged it into his chest.

The fluidity of her movements was mesmerizing, each step calculated with lethal precision. Her dagger shimmered in the dim light, its blade glowing faintly with an ethereal brilliance as it sliced through the air. It was a display of skill and power that seemed almost unreal, like something plucked from the most extravagant scenes of a high-budget shounen anime.

But there were too many.

A sword sliced across her arm. She gasped, staggering. A brutal kick to her stomach sent her crashing into the carriage wall.

She tried to stand, dagger trembling in her grasp, when a hooded figure stepped forward.

A mage, dark incantations ready on his lips.

"στιγμιαίο θάνατο."

he chanted, a malevolent force emanating from his wand as it glowed ominously, dark energy crackling around it.

Ruby's eyes widened in horror as the spell hit her, a chill ran through her veins.

Her breath hitched, her vision blurred, it was a death spell.

Her body…refused to move.

Blood trickled from her lips.

She turned her head, just enough to see Sushila, trembling, clutching me to her chest.

Her grip on the dagger loosened.

"I'm sorry…madam," she whispered. "I couldn't…keep my promise…"

Her body collapsed, lifeless.

Sushila's scream shattered the night.

"Ruby!"

Her cries were drowned by cruel laughter that came from the hooded mage.

"Hand over the child," one of the knights sneered, advancing with the mage. "And your death will be painless."

Sushila clutched onto me tighter, her body shaking.

She tried to back away, but the carriage wall stopped her retreat.

"You…you're knights of the Wolfhards! Why are you doing this?!" She pleaded

The knight sighed, as if pitying her.

"You're one of the lord's wives. I don't want to hurt you." He took a slow step forward. "But if you don't comply…"

His fingers tightened on his sword.

"You can kill me, but please don't hurt my child." she begged, her voice trembling.

A flicker of hesitation crossed the knight's face. Then, without warning, he struck.

The blade cut through the air as the knight lunged, his sword aimed at the me.

Sushila turned, shielding me with her body.

A sharp pain, then warm blood gushed from her lips, splattering onto me.

the blade had pierced her back, her vision darkened. Her limbs trembled, but still, she held onto me.

"No!" Sushila's anguished scream filled the air. As a cruel hand wrenched, yanking me from her arms, holding me by one leg.

She screamed.

"I know, I'm the one who had written about the future Demon Lord, but I never imagined I would witness it firsthand. This was just....beyond cruel, isn't there a law against this? Something related to child abuse, perhaps?" I thought as my cries filled the air as I dangled upside down, gripped harshly by my tiny leg.

"Kid, I'm sorry," the knight exhaled, staring as he handed me over to the mage.

More screams erupted outside, followed by a chilling voice. "Kill the kid fast!"

As a chilling presence filled the air.

Blood splattered across the carriage walls.

Then, silence.

The knight and the mage holding me tensed. He turned his head, only to see a lifeless body slump to the ground outside, throat sliced clean through.

Heavy footsteps, slow, unhurried.

Then, he entered.

A handsome man, tall, composed, with piercing golden eyes that held no warmth. He had a vision of deadly grace, his presence commanding the room.

Arthur, no, I recognized him instantly

Grey van Wolfhard.

The patriarch of the Wolfhard family. This body's father.

The knight froze as though fear had seized control of his every muscle.

"If you take another step," he rasped, pressing his blade closer to my throat, "I'll—"

Grey walked forward, unbothered.

He did not care.

The knight trembled. "D-Do it!" he shouted at the mage. "Now!"

The mage began another incantation, darkness, erupted from his wand, thickening the very air with the stench of death

"καρδιακό νόση—"

but his incantation was cut short as a flash of silver appeared, his hands fell to the floor, the wand followed clattering to the floor. Before the cry of pain could leave his lips, his head followed. Blood splattered across the carriage. The mage's body convulsed before crumpling.

I slipped from his grasp, but before I could hit the floor, Grey moved like lightning, gently catching me.

His grip was strong, unshaken.

He barely spared me a glance, his golden eyes locked onto the knight.

"Which one was it?" Grey asked, voice unreadable.

The knight paled. "M-My lord, I—I don't—"

A flash of silver.

The knight collapsed, his arms and legs severed in a single instant.

He screamed, blood pooling beneath him.

Grey stepped closer.

"Was it the first?" His voice was calm. Too calm. "The second or the third?"

The knight, writhing in pain, confessed,

"My lord…I cannot....she said… if I was caught…if I exposed her…she'd kill my family!"

Grey exhaled. "I respect that."

Then, one final slash.

The knight's head hit the floor.

Grey flicked the blood off his blade.

"But you still couldn't keep them safe, the wrath they will face from me is far worse."

sheathing it before turning and kneeling beside Sushila.

"Sushila."

She coughed weakly, her fingers reaching for him. "Arthur…is he…?"

Grey lifted me slightly. "He's here."

Relief softened her expression. "I told you not to hold him like a pet…"

Grey didn't respond.

She exhaled. "Grey…"

"...Yes."

He didn't strike me as a man of many words. Maybe, it's because I had written him that way."

"If I don't make it…" her voice faltered. "Take care of him."

Her body slumped.

Grey clenched his jaw.

A different woman wearing a maid attire and a man wearing a butler attire rushed in. The maid took me away from him without a single word as if she knew what needed to be done, she drew out the wand from her pockets and whispered an incantation.

"Therapeúō."

A green light flickered to life, resembling a traffic signal through the haze of rain and in that moment, without warning, the searing pain that had lingered in my chest caused by the dark mage's spell simply vanished, as though it had never existed."

She hesitated. Then shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir."

Grey's gaze darkened.

"I see....now Sushila"

The maid turned to Sushila.

"Therapeúō."

The wound on her back closed, only remained the bloody remnants of torn cloth.

Sushila gasped, waking.

She looked up, smiling weakly. "Thanks, Zora. Is my baby okay?" Her eyes flicked to me, cradled in Grey's arm.

Grey remained silent.

A terrible feeling settled in my chest, somehow, I already knew, that something was very wrong.

"What about Ruby?" asked Sushila, her voice trembling with a mix of worry and desperation. Without a word, the maid moved toward Ruby, her eyes steely with intent.

"Therapeúō."

"Therapeúō."

"Therapeúō."

Each whispered invocation came with a quiet desperation, a rhythm that echoed in the stillness of the room. But no matter how many times she tried, the words hung in the air, impotent and hollow. The silence between them thickened, oppressive, as if even the universe itself refused to respond.

The maid shook her head slowly, a mournful gesture that spoke volumes. "Tears fell from Sushila's eyes," she whispered, her voice trembling as if the weight of the moment threatened to crack it. She paused then, folding her hands together in a quiet prayer. It was soft, intimate, perhaps a final goodbye to Ruby.

With an effort that seemed too great for her body, she tried to rise, but her legs betrayed her. She faltered, collapsing back to the floor, her face pale with exertion.

"Grey...I can't feel my legs," she said, the words a mere breath, lost in the stillness of the room.