Melinda's face darkened after hearing Nigel's filthy words. A flicker of murderous intent flashed in her scarlet eyes, making Carl nearby feel a little creeped out. He didn't completely expect it from an ordinary girl.

"Her murderous intention is quite strong… It seems she's also a kind of murder," Carl murmured, rubbing his chin as he assessed Melinda's reaction. Indeed, for someone her age to have such bloodlust, she must have gone through harsh training and countless life-and-death battles.

"I guess I shouldn't judge people by their appearance," he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Jordan roared in rage and drew his sword.

"You insolent fool! How dare you spit out such vile words? I'm gonna cut out your disrespectful tongue!"

Carl sighed and ignored Nigel's provocation and quickly assessed the surroundings and the enemies encircling them. He noticed a passage at the far end of the temple — if they ran there, they might be able to escape. Of course, that was only if no one chased after them.

Right now, they needed someone to stay behind and cover the others' retreat.

Carl blinked a few times and glanced at Jordan.

"There's an exit over there. I'll stay back and cover you guys. Just run for your lives."

Jordan frowned at Carl's words. Honestly, he hadn't expected Carl to act like that. But given the situation, there seemed to be no other choice — someone had to make a sacrifice.

Still, abandoning a comrade felt cruel, and hesitation clouded his eyes.

Carl smirked as seeing those. Jordan truly possessed a heroic character, despite being stupid.

"Don't feel guilty about it. It's my choice. Besides, all this mess is my problem. You guys just got dragged into it — nothing more, nothing less."

Jordan grimaced, clenching his teeth. He tried to convince himself to believe those words. After a few seconds, he turned to Melinda, who had remained silent all this time.

For the first time, a little change appeared in her actions, Melinda revealed her true nature. Her red lips curled up slightly as she spoke.

"Lord Carl… You're truly a good person. But I suppose it's too late for me to escape. This place has a mana barrier. However, its effectiveness is rather low compared to a normal one. Because of that, we just need to hold them off for ten minutes before retreating."

Carl was startled and immediately triggered his [Dragon Sense] skill to check the area. Damn it. Melinda was right. Now he understood why Cibbs had led them here — those bastards had set a trap.

Yeah, Carl had actually been suspicious of Cibbs's actions, but curiosity got the better of him. He followed along on purpose but now, judging by the situation, it seemed less smart. He'd also expected to meet Marsh's subordinates… However, this situation was far from what he imagined.

[2:30]

…

[2:28]

"Damn it! Those fools have turned this place into a cemetery for everyone here."

What truly made Carl's head ache was the cursed Goblins. He gritted his teeth in irritation. For some reason, he wanted to charge forward and tear the enemies apart right then and there.

"What will you do now, my betrothed~~?"

Carl looked at the enemies ahead and shrugged lightly… but his expression twitched the moment Melinda's words — "my betrothed" — echoed in his head.

Slowly, he turned his gaze toward her. Melinda's form began to shift — no, more precisely, her skin started to form dragon scales, which then gradually faded away, revealing fresh skin and a completely new appearance.

With long green hair and crimson eyes, the ordinary woman was replaced by a stunning young girl. Carl swallowed hard and stammered,

"W-Who are you?"

The girl smiled softly.

"Sorry for showing up so suddenly… I meant to meet you after the dungeon, but it seems trouble found us first."

She cast a cold, dead glance at Cibbs and Nigel a couple of times, who were just as stunned by her transformation. Then she turned and bowed gracefully and spoke,

"Allow me to introduce myself properly and in the highest manner. My name is Wynne Walsh."

She barely said enough to show her true character and wish, no mention to her background as a politeness. However, it would've been hard for Carl to realize it if she hadn't spoken… Yet, as he rethought it, memories started to resurface. Indeed, he did have a betrothed in the past. His parents had arranged a marriage for him — if he awakened a high-ranked dragon soul, his fate and hers were destined to be intertwined as husband and wife.

However, his destiny took a dark turn.

Awakening a one-star dragon soul had destroyed everything.

"Y-You're my betrothed… no, my former betrothed."

Immediately, Carl froze. He had just spoken to her—meaning the system's penalty would soon activate.

"Damn it! Why did I forget that?"

…

Moments later, Carl's expression shifted in confusion as he noticed there was barely any trace of pain or thorned vines on his body. He didn't expect this, but it was a good sign. Maybe it had something to do with this dungeon, or with why his wife didn't respond when he called out to her…

He could do whatever he wanted now—

No, he couldn't. He had to make sure his wife would question him about everything that happened here. Still, talking with another girl a bit wasn't that big of a deal, right? He'd just add a few curses into every sentence… Maybe that would calm his wife's future rage a little.

"What's wrong with you? Am I so beautiful that you're shocked, huh?"

Wynne played with her hair, lowering her head shyly.

Carl quickly shook his head and snapped out of it. He glared at her coldly.

"You bitch. I'm not your betrothed. Moreover, You canceled the engagement. And more importantly, I already have a WIFE."

Jordan's fury ignited again at such disrespect toward his lady. But before he could speak, Wynne held him back and replied calmly — barely showing a hint of anger.

"Honestly, you're right. But that was a marriage arranged by our families, and besides, I had never even met you before. So, I canceled it the moment I got the chance."

Carl chuckled and crossed his arms.

"So now, after finally meeting me, what do you see? A crippled heir of the Ryan family, or something worse?"

Silence.

Wynne slowly placed a hand over her chest, feeling her herself heart pounding wildly. Her face flushed as she spoke.

"Y-You're a mysterious man… I-I fell for you for no reason the moment I met you."

Carl's face twisted, and he instinctively stepped back. For some reason, when he heard her words—and saw her red face—he felt she was telling the truth… but still—

"N-Not good…"

[1:20]

...

[0:40]

"Fuck, this isn't the time for chatting." Carl grimaced, glancing at the system screen.

"But at least, we've bought some time before those cursed goblins appear."

He barked a quick order.

"Get ready. Something dangerous is coming this way."

Wynne nodded and drew her sword as well.

"You can feel it too? Something stronger than those bastards earlier? I suppose it's a horde of high-ranked monsters… Luckily, our little date bought us some time. They'll keep the Marsh's underlings busy."

"S-Short date?" Carl's eyelid twitched. He didn't expect her to notice it too—he had needed the system's warning just to realize it.

He frowned, checking her stats.

[All-Seeing Eye Skill activated]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Age]: 15

[Class]: Mysterious

[Rank]: E

[Soul Rank]: ★★★★★★★

Skill: Aura of Suppression: Rank S / Echo Mirage: Rank E /Phantom Veil: Rank E/ Mirage Step: Rank E/ Swordsmanship: Rank A …

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Holy shit... in terms of power, she nearly looked like my little sister."

He was really shocked after seeing those stats. She was strong... even had very high potential. Carl was mostly speechless. If his eyes weren't spoiled, he'd judge she was the strongest individual in this dungeon.

Moreover, she even belonged to the Mysterious class. With all the unique skills of that class, he was sure she could solo, even one-on-one against his little sister.

She even was a daughter of the Walsh Family, a family as strong as his. Maybe his soul dragon had been in a trash state for a long time and he felt a bit unconfident.

"Snap out of it. Stop thinking about meaningless stuff. So what if it's a seven-star dragon soul... even a ten-star."

***

Cibbs was terrified after learning the true identity of the girl who'd been near him earlier. Hard to believe he'd accidentally started a fight with her.

"S-she's gonna kill me after we clear the dungeon," Cibbs shivered.

Indeed, someone from a big family—an ordinary person could never handle that. Nigel's face darkened, but he didn't panic like Cibbs. He shouted to the others, who were shaken when they saw the girl's identity.

"Everyone!... Now we're all in the same boat. We must kill them and erase any trace. If they get out of here, it's the end for us."

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