novelraw Chapter 58 : Chapter 58
Chapter 58 : Chapter 58
Chapter 58: Discovered (1)
‘Why did I do that.’
That was the question that pierced through Ellen’s past week.
Why did she attack Cassion and not Harad?
Looking back, what came to mind was Harad’s face.
A face covered in blood. That face had forced her body to move.
‘Out of pity?’
That could be it.
Unlike Harad, who was a mess, Cassion wasn't in such a bad state.
As the heir to Serzila, she might have wanted to balance the scales.
Even as she thought it, Ellen knew it was bullshit.
‘What balance.’
What damned balance.
What was the point of achieving that.
If she had truly intended to do that, Elaine should have held a judgment after Harad recovered.
By making Cassion and Harad stand and fight again.
‘Because I couldn't accept it?’
That wasn't it.
Wasn't that the reason she was going to strike with the flat of her sword in the first place?
She had intended to mediate the situation by hitting Harad and then hearing them out.
‘Because I trusted him?’
That was the closest to the right answer.
At the time, Cassion hadn't manifested magic, but Elaine's heart had already leaned toward Harad.
The fact that he had touched him made it highly probable that Cassion was a Mage.
……It wasn't a very satisfying answer.
‘Why was I so irritated?’
Because the Grand Heir came to play with him, Harad was all smiles and played only with the Grand Heir, which irritated her.
Wasn't it a case of using the collateral branch and then, upon meeting the direct line, completely abandoning the collateral branch?
It ended with just irritation because she knew the man named Harad. If it had been anyone else, Ellen would have beaten him to a pulp.
‘It’s okay not to meet. But he should have at least pretended to look for me.’
That was what was insolent.
She was irritated because of that insolence.
……This, too, was not a satisfying answer.
If anything came to mind, it was Harad’s face.
A blood-covered face. A face that seemed perplexed, as if asking why she was angry.
Ellen was just as perplexed.
No matter how many times she thought about it, she couldn't come up with a clear and satisfying answer.
But what was certain was that, if she went back to that moment, she felt she would make the same choice.
She would choose Harad over Cassion, and she would be irritated that Harad didn't look for her.
The reason she was dreaming now must be because of that.
Because that face kept coming to mind.
-You have a fine appearance.
The Elaine in the dream said.
Judging by her tone, it was during her time as the Grand Duke.
-Of course. It must be so. As befits my, the Grand Duke's, Escort Knight.
It seemed Grand Duke Elaine had made Harad her Escort Knight.
‘No wonder he was by her side every day.’
It wasn't surprising.
Hadn't Cassion also pretended to be a knight?
There must be another similar method.
-I've always been this way.
Harad replied nonchalantly.
He was wearing a white formal uniform mixed with gold. A sword was tucked into his belt as if he were truly an Escort Knight. Looking closely, it was Patern.
-What are you doing here alone?
-There is nothing to do, now that the Coronation is over.
Coronation.
The Elaine in the dream seemed to have ascended to the position of Grand Duke today.
-Thanks to that Coronation, there's a festival going on. You should go and at least show your face.
-I don't want to. It's not fun.
Ellen immediately noticed it was a lie.
This was the North. A land she could not possibly find boring.
-That is why you have no friends.
-You alone are enough.
-Then you should at least find a woman to marry.
-At a festival?
Elaine chuckled.
But Ellen noticed that her eyes were not smiling.
-When did the North ever care about status?
-That is true, considering a Mage is my Escort Knight right now.
Elaine stared intently at Harad.
-I don't need one yet. I'm too busy playing with you.
At that moment, Harad’s face twisted horribly.
-I am not of that persuasion.
-Fortunately, neither am I.
Elaine smiled brightly.
-Moron.
-……What was that, all of a sudden?
-I was just testing you. You've gotten quite good at holding back now. Everyone says your manner of speaking has become completely refined.
-Isn't that because Your Highness forced me?
-It was not forcing, but correction.
Originally, Harad was like fire.
The Elaine in the dream seemed to have corrected that personality and way of speaking.
-But shouldn't a Northerner not be refined?
-Even so, you must be, as you are the only one who can control me. Enough of that, let's just drink.
Grand Duke Elaine took out a bottle of liquor.
Surprisingly, it was the same liquor Ellen had drunk earlier.
-Have some.
-You as well. Today is a happy day, is it not?
-Are you that happy to have been coronated? You once said it was only natural.
-Moron.
-……?
Elaine clicked her tongue and poured him a drink.
-This is Mannyeonsol. A liquor only Serzila can drink. Only Serzila.
Elaine emphasized Serzila.
-It must be expensive.
-I am specially giving this only to you. Consider it an honor.
Harad looked down at the filled glass.
He enjoyed the color, then enjoyed the scent.
Elaine quietly watched Harad do so.
-This is the liquor I love the most.
-I get it, so you can stop showing off.
-……You really are a moron.
Elaine glared at Harad, who was gulping down the liquor, as if she could kill him.
It was by no means a gaze that could be directed at a friend.
Harad, who had snatched the bottle and was pouring it into his own glass, didn't seem to notice, but Ellen could see it.
……Even if it was just a dream.
“What the fuck……”
Ellen was convinced that this dream, at least, was truly a nonsensical one.
A dream she could not tell Harad.
* * *
Though Innate Strength was said to have been bestowed only upon Elaine, even without it, the Serzila line had been strong-boned for generations.
Mannyeonsol, as a liquor beloved by such a family, had an incredible alcohol content.
‘In my past life, it was just delicious.’
Mannyeonsol was the liquor I had thought was the most delicious in my past life. Back then, there was no hangover either.
Not now.
“I’m going to die.”
It was because I was still only a 3rd Rank.
Rank and alcohol tolerance were closely related. It was the same principle as a Sword Master being strong against alcohol.
I pressed down on my throbbing head and left the annex.
I headed straight for Kubel's annex, but for some reason, it was noisy. When I entered, there was a warm smell. Ellen was sitting at the table, waiting for food.
“What are you doing?”
Cassion was prostrating before Ellen, his head on the floor.
“I am atoning.”
Cassion answered proudly for someone in his position.
“Ah. Patern.”
“……”
Cassion was a Mage.
So Ellen had to give up Patern.
Though it was a bet made on a whim by Harad and Ellen, Cassion seemed to feel an immense sense of responsibility.
Because it meant Ellen had trusted him enough to wager an heirloom sword.
“……I didn't make him do it.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“You did with your eyes.”
“You’re mistaken.”
Ellen avoided my gaze.
It didn't seem to be because of a misunderstanding.
If it were, she would have glared, not looked away.
“Did something happen?”
“No. Nothing happened.”
“I see.”
“……”
At that, Ellen glared.
I didn't know why, but it seemed I was the cause. In times like these, I knew very well what I had to do.
“Let’s eat first.”
Usually, filling one’s stomach makes displeasure fade.
The Elaine of my past life was like that, and Ellen couldn't be any different. The corners of her eyes softened slightly as she looked at the food Kubel had just brought.
“More.”
“Yes.”
Kubel went into the kitchen and came out immediately.
Steam rose from the bowls in both his hands; it seemed he had prepared a large quantity from the start.
“Now I can live.”
The spicy stew, hot bread, and meat pushed down the hangover that had risen to my esophagus.
The bread and meat were so tender they mashed with just a touch of the tongue, and the stew had very hearty ingredients.
They were ingredients unfamiliar to me, who had lived alone in the annex in my past life. They were vegetables that were rare in the North.
It wasn't that Kubel was special, but that Shura was.
There were no Northerners who disliked children. The Inner Fortress of Serzila was no different. They loved Shura.
“I want to eat too.”
“This is too spicy for you… shall we have this?”
“Yes!”
Ellen loved Shura so much she would even give her the meat.
“You eat too.”
I looked at Cassion and pointed to an empty chair.
It was a chair Kubel had newly brought in for Elaine, who had been visiting almost daily recently.
When Elaine came, Ellen didn't, and when Ellen came, Elaine didn't, but Kubel felt nothing strange at all.
That was a normal reaction.
“I’m fine.”
“If I tell you to eat, eat, Cassion.”
“Yes.”
Cassion sat in the chair.
“Lady Ellen, if you need more, you can have mine.”
“Do you see me as a pig?”
“I am the pig.”
Cassion put the bread and meat into his mouth in one bite.
In that state, he opened his mouth and poured in all of the stew as well.
“Chew a hundred times before swallowing.”
“Yeph.”
Cassion chewed with a serious face.
The more he chewed, the wider his eyes became.
“……This is insane.”
Cassion, who had chewed a hundred times and swallowed, looked down at his empty plate and then whipped his head toward Kubel.
“Is this magic?”
“Aish.”
Ellen, who was about to throw her fork, glanced at Shura and lowered her arm. Cassion glanced at Ellen.
“You know?”
The Inner Flesh Proprietor of the Flower District was a Mage.
Ellen was a regular there.
Cassion seemed to know that fact.
“News of Lady Ellen travels often.”
“Why?”
“Because you are very popular, among the knights.”
My eyes widened.
“It’s only natural. I’m a collateral member far from the line of succession.”
It meant she looked like a tree the knights could climb.
“If you weren’t from a collateral branch, it would have been even more so.”
Cassion flattered her.
“I know.”
Ellen said in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone.
It was a natural confidence, if anything.
Ellen was beautiful to anyone's eyes.
I had never seen a woman more beautiful than her. It's just that the Grand Heir was inside that body.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“Because it’s not something to boast about.”
Ellen put the whole piece of meat into her mouth without cutting it.
Even that was beautiful. It wasn't a romantic feeling, but a gaze as if looking at a piece of art.
At least, that's how it was for me.
“Shura, what do you think of this person?”
I asked, pointing at Cassion with my knife.
If she said he wasn't okay, I was thinking of finding someone else.
“I think he’ll be fine.”
Shura spoke quite well now.
That didn't mean she wasn't shy around strangers.
That mature little girl was very good at distinguishing between friend and foe.
“Really?”
Ellen, who was once treated as an invisible person by Shura, was surprised.
“That's a relief, I was thinking of calling Gullen or Derrick if necessary.”
“I was going to ask Sir Mores.”
Ellen said, hiding her disappointed expression.
“It probably won’t take more than two days.”
That was the estimated Boundary exploration time.
This time, I was thinking of taking Kubel.
During that time, Cassion had to look after Shura.
“If something goes wrong, you’re really dead this time.”
I laid down a threat to Cassion.
It was also the truth. If something happened to Shura, Ellen would probably kill Cassion.
“That won’t happen.”
Cassion answered confidently.
The North cherishes children.
Even that Grand Duke Aratus.
Cassion had been influenced by such a North.
He cherished children as much as any Northerner.
“Even if something happens to me, nothing will happen to the child.”
There was a clear warmth in Cassion’s eyes as he looked at Shura.
It was the warmth of the North he had come to love.
* * *
Kubel’s nervousness was palpable.
It was because his footsteps were heading toward his first-ever Boundary.
It was also because of the burden of possibly having to kill people again.
Magical Beasts were one thing, but Otherworld Mages were ultimately people too. Cassion was proof of that.
“Aren’t you afraid of Magical Beasts?”
Listening quietly, I tilted my head.
“Aren’t they just animals in the end?”
“What was the biggest animal you’ve caught so far?”
“It was a bear.”
Kubel described the bear.
He stretched his arms up high; it was a bear twice as big as the already large Kubel.
“How did you catch it?”
“I strangled it to death from behind.”
He said his weapon broke while fighting, so he killed it with his bare hands.
“What about magic?”
“My hunter friend was watching.”
Still, a bear with his bare hands?
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Weren’t you scared?”
“I was taught not to be scared of hunting.”
Hunting, by nature, is when a strong animal catches and eats a weaker one, Kubel added.
It was true.
But it wasn't something that should come out of the mouth of the timid Kubel. He had a surprisingly bold side.
“You consider yourself a strong animal.”
“Humans are animals too.”
Kubel was, by anyone's standards, a strong animal.
Even without magic, his physique was like that. There wasn't a knight in Serzila bigger than Kubel.
“If what you say is true, there’s no reason to be scared of killing people.”
“Pardon?”
“They’re all animals, aren’t they. Other humans, Mages too.”
Kubel’s mouth fell slightly open.
“In my eyes, you’re getting scared before you even try. Probably because the animal called 'human' is still unfamiliar to you. Because you’ve only hunted once.”
“……”
“It’s not as difficult as you think. For a Mage, it’s even more so.”
On the contrary, it would be a relief if he didn't get addicted to hunting.
I smiled bitterly, remembering the Kubel of my past life. Back then, Kubel was called the Heart Addict.
“You’re going to be greater than you think.”
In his past life, he had become great in a bad way.
It was because Shura had died. That wouldn't happen in this life.
Kubel, though puzzled, nodded gravely.
Perhaps because he was a Mage, Kubel was easy to talk to. He was quick to understand.
“Keep in mind……”
“Wait.”
It was when Kubel was about to thank him for the advice.
I suddenly reached out my hand and blocked his path.
There was another hand.
Ellen had also reached out her hand like me.
We were on our way down to the tavern’s basement.
Towards the entrance of the tunnel leading to the Second Stage Boundary.
Ellen and I looked down at our feet.
We both said at the same time.
“Someone’s here.”
“Someone’s here.”
That is, in front of the tunnel.
“I think I should sit this one out.”
That someone was one person.
“What? Why?”
“I can’t go down secretly. Because I’m the sun.”
Due to my innate Origin, I couldn't hide my presence.
My body was incapable of a surprise attack.
“This friend won’t do either.”
Kubel was too big to move stealthily.
“I’m the easy one, right?”
Ellen, realizing she was the only one left, scowled.
She liked to fight, but surprise attacks were not her hobby.
“You’re not the easy one, you’re the one I trust the most. Perhaps more than I trust myself.”
I knew it was bullshit, but for some reason, my chest felt ticklish.
“I’m counting on you, Ellen.”
“……”
Before she knew it, Ellen was descending the stairs alone.
And with her sword drawn.