Too Lazy to be a Villainess - Chapter 319

Chapter 319: The Night They Awakened a Monster
[Lavinia’s POV — March to the Eastern Region—Evening]

After distributing the rations and stabilizing the village, we left Black Wall without wasting another breath. The sky was painted in shades of dying pink—sun dipping low, streaking blood-red trails behind the clouds.

Our march was silent. Focused. Icy.

The plan was simple: End the Meren King. Take the throne. End this war before it swallows anything else I care about.

To reach the capital, we needed to break through five fortresses. Black Wall was already ours—fallen in a night.

Four remained.

Next was the Eastern Region’s heart: Red Wall Castle.

A monster of a fortress. The spine of Meren. The place that fed their soldiers and supplied their metal.

“If we keep riding,” I murmured, watching the dimming horizon, “we reach Red Wall by dawn.”

Haldor nodded sharply. “We should prepare a night assault—before they expect us.”

I opened my mouth to answer—

WHOOOOOOOOOSH—!!!

A blast of wind tore through the column. Marshi snarled, claws digging into the ground.

“Your Highness!” Sir Haldor’s voice cut sharp through the chaos as he galloped toward me. “Incoming—RIGHT SIDE!”

Before I could speak—BOOM!!!

The ground erupted. A shockwave slammed through the road, dirt and flame exploding into the sky.

Sera screamed, “Ahhhh…”

Rey shielded her with his entire body, saying, “It’s okay…”

“GET DOWN—!!” Arwin roared.

Another explosion—WHISHHH—BOOOOM!!!

Not arrows. Not magic.

Bombs. Crude, unstable, but deadly enough to rip a wagon in half. The kind rebels use during city riots.

“What—? They’re using riot bombs?” I growled.

Osric’s voice rang out across the field—deep, commanding: “EVERYONE—DEFENSE FORMATION!!! SHIELDS UP!”

Shields snapped upward in a wave. Marshi roared—a divine, furious sound that shook the frozen ground. The air around us vibrated with the raw force of his anger. Solena hissed, wings spreading wide, ready to slice through shadows.

A second bomb streaked across the sky—WHISTLING—glowing—fast.

I drew my sword, eyes narrowing into a razor’s edge. “Everyone—PROTECT YOURSELVES!” I shouted.

Soldiers scattered into defensive positions, ducking behind tree trunks, overturned carts, boulders—anything that could shield them from the explosiveness raining down. The air crackled, hot and sharp.

“Damn it,” I hissed, “they attacked us before we even—”

“YOUR HIGHNESS!!!” Sir Haldor’s voice—raw, terrified—cut through everything.

I looked up—Just in time to see a bomb, hissing with sparks, hurtling straight at me. I moved— or tried to. But he reached me first.

In a blur of steel and instinct—Haldor grabbed me, threw his cloak around my body, and leapt, taking the full force of the blast’s shockwave onto his back.

BOOOOOOM—!!!

The explosion tore the earth open behind us as we rolled—once—twice—before slamming into a tree trunk. His arms locked around me, shielding every part of me beneath him, his cloak wrapped around my shoulders like armor.

Dust rained down.

Smoke curled around us.

For a moment—there was only the frantic sound of his breath over mine.

“Your Highness…” Haldor whispered, voice tight with fear.

I blinked—vision swimming—and found myself cradled against him.

His arms were around me completely. My head rested against his chest. His cloak cocooned me, warm and protective, as if he’d thrown his very life over mine.

His face hovered just above mine—too close—eyes wide, breath trembling.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, voice low, shaken. “Are you alright, Your Highness?”

I stared up at him—his hair falling over his forehead, his cheeks smudged with soot, his heartbeat pounding against my ear.

He looked like a man who had nearly lost everything. I swallowed. “Haldor… I—”

He exhaled hard—relief and panic tangled together—and he pulled me closer into a tight hug, as if reassuring himself that I was real. Alive.

“I thought…” His voice cracked. “I thought I was too late.”

My fingers tightened unconsciously into his cloak.

“You weren’t,” I whispered.

His eyes softened—just a breath—just enough to betray everything he couldn’t say. Then another explosion ripped through the distance—but his grip didn’t falter.

Not until I moved.

“Haldor…” I murmured, breath brushing his throat. “Let me up.”

He swallowed hard… then gently, reluctantly, he loosened his hold—but not fully.

His hands lingered at my waist as if parting from me physically caused him pain. Even when he finally pulled away, he moved only far enough to sit up—never exposing me, never turning his back to the danger.

His sword hand was already steady. His body was tense, coiled, and ready to spring. Eyes scanning the smoke-filled field like a predator starved and furious.

“Stay behind me,” he said quietly, voice low and cold. “I won’t let anything touch you.”

It wasn’t a command. It was a promise carved from bone. I opened my mouth—to say Haldor, I can protect myself—but the words died in my throat.

Because the way he looked at me…Like the thought of losing me had ripped something raw inside him.

I couldn’t speak.

Not yet.

He reached out suddenly—grabbing my hand, firm but careful—and stood, pulling me with him.

“Your Highness,” he murmured, voice stiff with adrenaline, “come with me.”

I didn’t argue.

I couldn’t.

I simply let him lead me, our hands still tangled, his thumb pressed protectively against my knuckles as he guided me deeper behind the trees, away from the open kill zone. When we reached safety, he positioned me behind him again, cloak spread out, body angled like a shield.

“They’ll stop firing once they exhaust their explosives,” he said. “We stay here until then.”

I nodded silently. My other hand rested on my sword. But I didn’t pull away from him.

Not even once.

From where I stood, I could see the battlefield—Rey shielding Sera with his entire body, Marshi roaring in defiance, our soldiers forming defensive lines, and the smoke curling into the dying sun.

Chaos.

But in the middle of that chaos… Haldor’s fingers never left mine. Not even for a heartbeat.

“Your Highness—!” Sera rushed toward me the moment the smoke thinned. Her eyes were wet, breath shaky.

“Are you alright, Sera?” I asked.

“I… I was terrified,” she admitted, clutching her chest. “But now that I see you—alive—I’m not scared anymore.”

I nodded. “Good.”

Rey approached next, dust and soot staining his uniform.

“It looks like,” Rey said grimly, “someone sent bandits or hired rogues to ambush us. And if I had to guess—this reeks of the Meren prince’s schemes.”

Before I could respond—Another voice answered.

Sharp. Harsh. Overflowing with fury that barely fit inside a human throat. “I will kill every one of them.”

Sir Haldor.

His grip tightened around my hand until I felt the tremor of rage vibrating through his palm.

“They dared to attack Her Highness,” he spat. “From the shadows. Like cowards.” His jaw clenched so hard the muscle twitched. “I will hunt them down. Every single one. Not one will be left breathing.”

Rey blinked, caught off guard. Sera stared at our joined hands— her eyes widening slightly at how tightly he held me, how he positioned himself between me and anyone who approached—how he radiated a killing intent so fierce the air trembled.

I blinked too.

Because this wasn’t disciplined, Captain Haldor. This was a man on the edge of snapping. A man who would set the entire forest on fire if even one spark dared to land on me.

“Haldor…” I murmured carefully.

He turned to me instantly, eyes wild, anger still burning beneath the worry. His breath softened—only for me.

“I promise, Your Highness,” he said lowly. “As long as I am here… no explosion, no blade, no trap will ever reach you.”

Rey raised a brow and smirked, mumbling, “Finally.”

The smoke slowly thinned. The sky darkened into bruised purples. And at last—the explosions stopped.

Footsteps thundered through the trees. General Arwin and Osric rushed toward us, panic sharp on their faces.

Osric’s hand shot out instinctively—landing on mine and Haldor’s… only to freeze when he saw our fingers still locked.

His jaw tightened. But before he could speak— General Arwin bowed deeply. “Your Highness, the explosions have ceased. What are your orders?”

I stepped forward, voice cold as steel. “Catch every bastard who attacked us like cowards, Arwin. Drag them before me.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Before he could turn, Haldor spoke—his voice nothing like the calm captain he used to be.

It was colder. Harder. More dangerous.

“I will catch them all,” he said, stepping forward. “Every one of them. Because of them… we almost lost you.”

Osric’s eyes widened sharply. “What do you mean lost?!”

I sighed. “It was nothing. I was about to move—”

“NO, Your Highness.”

Haldor’s voice cut through the air like a blade. He turned to me, eyes blazing—not with anger at me, but at the world.

“At the exact moment the bomb reached you…” His breath shook with the fury he was trying to hold back. “…if I was a second late—just one second—you would have been harmed.”

His hands clenched until his knuckles went white.

“I… will not forget that.”

Then Haldor’s voice dropped even lower. A vow. A threat. A promise of execution.

“I WILL NOT SPARE ANY ONE OF THEM.”

It wasn’t a shout.It was quiet.

Quiet enough to terrify.

Because Haldor—the disciplined soldier, the calm captain, the man who rarely raised his voice…looked ready to tear the entire Eastern forest apart with his bare hands.

He turned to the soldiers, expression cold, eyes glowing with murderous intent.

“Find them,” he commanded. “Every last one. I don’t care where they run. I don’t care who sent them. I don’t care if they hide in caves, forests, or under the earth itself.”

His voice was a death sentence.

“If they intended to harm Her Highness…I will make sure they regret breathing.”

No one dared breathe.

Sera leaned close to me and whispered, voice trembling: “I guess… we’re about to see a new side of Sir Haldor, Your Highness.”

I didn’t answer.

Because the truth was clear—The night Meren chose to ambush us…they didn’t awaken fear. They awakened a monster.

A monster who already serves me.