Mally led Artesia through the forest, the line of paladins picking their way through. There were paladins in the front and back in a single file line, and Artesia was looking all around at the forest around them, her eyes full of wonder. Yeah, a trail ride was always nice, especially when you were cooped up in a tower all the time. She was probably enjoying every second of this.

“We’re nearly there,” Mally murmured as Tuna pricked up, her ears on alert. “Please stay close to me, Your Holiness.”

“I don’t think there’s any danger. She left, didn’t she?” Artesia asked, and Mally twitched.

“She could come back,” Mally replied. “Please proceed with caution. Tuna is uneasy.”

Tuna was probably uneasy because they were so close to the location she nearly died, and so close to contamination, but Mally wasn’t worried about it. They reached the clearing outside the cave, and Mally waited for one of the paladins to lift Artesia down before they swung off and slid down.

“It’s this way,” they said and headed for the ivy-covered cave, peeling aside the hanging ivy and peering into the darkness. “You can probably do it from here. There’s no need to venture into the cave.”

“Alright!” Artesia said and stepped forward, happy as could be to be outside, and pressed her hands together as she bowed her head.

White, yellow-tinted mist spread out from under her robes, spilling towards the cave. Light began to spread from no discernable source, and the black mist was beat back in waves, fighting against the white mist and failing miserably. The mist had a warm quality to it, feeling a bit like steam, and Mally felt all the aches and pains of riding be washed away in the aftermath of it. It was warm and cozy, like a fireplace during winter, and they tilted their head back and breathed in deeply.

It was calming, and the mist continued to roll out in waves as she cleansed the cave thoroughly. Mally could feel it through their spores, sinking into every nook and cranny and spreading into the deep cavern, and it was nice and warm. They leaned against the cave wall as they waited, keeping the vines out of the way for her, and she kept her eyes shut as she continued to pray under her breath.

She was just rambling, Mally thought in amusement, telling the Goddess of her ride here, her time at the temple, talking to her like she was on FaceTime with an old friend. It was cute. That was not the proper way to pray, but the Goddess had chosen her for a reason, so Mally supposed she liked it.

Artesia opened her eyes and inhaled slowly.

“Okay. I can’t sense any more contamination,” she said, and then she glanced in the cave. “I’d like to explore, but…”

“There’s a lot of dead bunnies in there, Your Holiness,” Mally said wryly, and she paled.

“Maybe not,” she said, and Mally pushed off the cave wall and walked back over to Rat.

“Shall we head back?”

“Aw, can’t we have lunch? We packed a picnic,” Artesia said, and Mally hesitated.

“Not this close to the cave,” they said firmly. “There’s another clearing just ahead---”

There was a crack in the forest, and Mally whirled around. Slowly, a shape emerged from the trees, and it was… the woman. Her hair was still in that messy bun, and she was still in that green dress. Her pale skin shone in the light, and a slow smile spread across her lips.

“Hello, Saint. I’m glad you came to my tea time,” she said. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

Artesia paled, and the paladins immediately formed a circle around her.

“It’s you,” Mally said, and slowly backed up towards Rat. They needed to protect Artesia. She needed to get out of here, immediately. Swords were drawn with rasps, and the woman slowly rolled out her head, cracking her neck.

“Let’s get started,” she purred, and then, suddenly, shadows leapt from her shadow and charged directly towards Artesia with sharpened points. Mally dropped to their knees and buried their fingers in the dirt just as a paladin flung himself in front of Artesia, stabbed four times in the chest, and Artesia screamed as Mally stretched their magic to the breaking point.

The ground rumbled, and then it burst open. Golems sailed up to the sky, formed out of mycelium, rapidly becoming the fruit of the mushrooms, and Mally bolted, grabbing Artesia and practically throwing her onto the horse as they desperately tried to poison the woman, just to be sure, but she showed no sign of stopping. Just as they suspected, she had grown a poison resistance. They would make no progress that way.

“NO!” Artesia screamed. “I CAN SAVE HIM!”

One of the mushroom monsters backhanded the woman, and she went tumbling head over heels, carving a line in the earth. Mally swung astride Rat just behind Artesia, grabbed the reins, and snapped them as the woman screamed in rage and sent shadows shooting after them, hardened to vicious points, and Mally choked as they were stabbed through. Pain flared, visceral and horrible, and they felt their mycelium panic at the sudden deep injury. The shadows pierced Artesia’s back, and she screamed in pain, but it was a shallow wound. Mally spurred Rat on, and he broke out into a gallop as Tuna ran alongside them.

“NO! I NEED TO SAVE THEM!” Artesia screamed as Rat galloped into the forest, shadows snaking after them, and Mally tightened his grip on her waist.

“Let them do their jobs so you can do yours!” Mally said, and she screeched and tried to throw herself off the horse, but Mally grabbed her and kept her upright.

“WE NEED TO GO BACK!” Artesia screamed, and Mally nearly snapped at her.

“I can’t fight her,” Mally said.

“I CAN!” Artesia screamed, and Mally held onto her tight as they thundered through the forest.

“You haven’t been trained in combat holy arts,” Mally snapped, because they knew at this point, she had learned none of it. She only knew how to cleanse, and that was it. She didn’t know what she was doing. She barely knew how to heal and give blessings. “They are.”

“I can help!” Artesia cried, and Mally tightened their grip.

“You will just be underfoot,” they said, and Artesia broke into a wail as her blood soaked the front of their shirt.

“I can’t do this!” she scream-cried. “I can’t do this!”

Mally said nothing, because he had no idea what the hell she was talking about, and she hit their hands wrapped tight around her middle.

“I can’t fucking do this!” she screeched, and Mally buried their head between her shoulder blades as Rat thundered down the trail, guiding himself along the narrow game trail and not directed by Mally in the slightest, because they needed to keep a hand on Artesia.

“This is---!” she screamed, and Mally wondered when she was going to get to the point. “This is wrong! I don’t want people to die for me! I never asked for this!”

Oh…

Oh.

She was… real, Mally realized in a way they had never realized before. Of course, they were somewhat aware that this was all real. They were aware, but it had never been so blatant before, so poignant. It had never hit them in the face that Hye-Su was a real, living person being put in a position no normal person should ever be put in. It was typically a choice in the real world for people to decide to put themselves in positions where their bodyguards were willing to die for them. It was typically a choice. Here, Hye-Su was born into it, and didn’t have a choice. She did not have a choice, and now she was grappling with the reality of her situation. Someone had just died in front of her, and she was realizing that all of this was real.

This had never happened in the manhwa. This had never happened. It was like the plot was adapting to the reality that this was now closer to a shounen, and Mally realized it was their choices that had put them here. The plot was becoming warped based on their decisions, and Mally…

Mally was responsible for this, they realized.

This was their fault.

Oh.

Oh, gods.

The plot was changing because of their choices. That was the only explanation for this. That was the only explanation, and Mally was out of their depth here as Artesia wept wildly in their arms. It was hard. It was so, so hard to comfort her, because a man she knew had just died. This man had died for her, and here she was, running away as their screams of pain and death echoed around the clearing.

It was horrific.

Mally held her a little tighter, because that was all they could offer to her. They could only hold her a little tighter.

“I can help…” Artesia sobbed. “I can help.”

What would this change? Mally didn’t know. They did not know, and it was terrifying. It was entirely terrifying. What choices would Artesia make, and how would that affect them? What would Artesia do differently to grapple with the survivor’s guilt? What would she change? And how was Mally going to be involved?

They realized it now. There was no escaping the plot. For some reason or another, they would be involved in it. There was no getting away with it. Their choices had led them to this point, and they had enough genre awareness to be aware that they were fucked, to put it lightly.

They were doomed by the narrative.

There was no getting away.

Rat continued to thunder down the road, and Mally slowed him to a canter, because Artesia was not good enough to manage in a dead sprint for that long. Mally looked over their shoulder, and good, she couldn’t reach them all the way over here with her magic. There had to be a limit on it. They could still sense their golems, and they were full of holes and fighting with all their might. The holes weren’t a problem, and they were regenerating quickly, but they could only be maintained for about three hours.

That was enough time to get back to the capital. Barely.

Artesia was sobbing softly, and Mally’s heart twisted. They were all probably going to die. They were probably all going to die, and Artesia would have to live with that. No, Hye-Su would have to live with that. They could feel each sob like a gut punch, and she was bleeding sluggishly.

“Stay still,” Mally commanded, and leaned back to press their hand to Artesia’s back. Mycelium spread out, latching onto her wounds and sealing them to stem the bleeding. It was a temporary fix, but a priest could heal her later. Casting healing spells on yourself was typically harder to do, and she was too distraught for that right now.

It was then that Artesia stiffened up and turned back to them.

“Your wounds---” she said, and then stopped when she realized Mally wasn’t bleeding. “Where---”

“I already closed them up,” Mally said as they tried to think of a quick lie. “I’ve replaced most of my body with a mushroom complex, so…”

Artesia stared at them in silence.

“Why?” she finally asked, and they hesitated.

“Well, I typically don’t have a cleric to heal me,” they said, a bit awkwardly. “So, it’s easier this way.”

“Oh,” she said softly. “Oh, I wish you weren’t so alone…”

Mally was quiet, cursing themself for the look on her face, and they forced a smile.

“It’s okay,” they said. “I like being alone.”

Artesia faced forward again, color in her cheeks, and Mally wondered what that was about.

“We’re going to ride at a canter until we reach the city,” they said. “Can you handle that?”

“Yes,” she said softly, and Mally nodded and got the reins back from Rat. He was a good horse. He knew exactly what to do in that situation.

“Alright,” Mally said. “Those golems should last about three hours, and we should make it back to the capital in two hours. They’ll slow her down, even if she has a horse.”

“I just---” Artesia cut herself off and shuddered horribly, clinging to her own arms as she looked down at the ground. “I just wish I could…”

“I imagine you have a lot of reading to do when you get back to the temple,” Mally said, and she looked back at them, blinking.

“What?” she asked faintly, and Mally tilted his head.

“Well, you want to fight next time? Those paladins are not going to be able to kill her,” Mally said, and Artesia’s eyes widened.

“You mean… They’re all dead?” she asked in a hushed voice, and Mally internally winced. Way to stick their foot in their mouth.

“Yes. They’re probably all dead, Your Holiness. My golems can live for a long time, but they’re probably the only thing slowing her down at this point,” they explained, because they didn’t believe in sugar coating the harsh reality of this world. Artesia had only been here a year, and she needed to learn. She needed to learn.

Artesia let out a little choked sob and pressed her hands over her mouth as fresh tears welled, and Mally pursed their lips.

“This is what they signed up for,” they said softly. “They knew the risks.”

“I didn’t,” she said, and Mally’s heart hurt for her. “I didn’t… I didn’t sign up for this.”

“I know,” Mally said as they stroked their thumb over her stomach, one hand on the reins. “And I’m sorry. The world is cruel.”

“Why does that woman want me dead?” Artesia asked with a little tremor in her voice, and Mally was silent.

“I don’t know,” they murmured, because they… didn’t know. They truly didn’t know.

It didn’t sit well with them. It didn’t sit well with them at all.

 

A/N: I desperately wanted to post this chapter so have two updates. I love this chapter so much, y'all don't even know. Artesia's realization that people are killing for her vs her realization that people are dying for her is my favorite thing. I could write a whole essay. Anyways. Thanks for 6k views.