Chapter 57

Chapter 57 – Substitute

“Hiic. Hiiicc…”

“Did I make you wait too long?”

“No. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m glad you’re safe…”

Jiwoo shook her head. As she rubbed her face against his chest, the sweet smell of fruit mixed with the smell of the forest.

Jiwoo, intoxicated by the scent, suddenly raised her head.

“Ears, show me your ears…!”

“What?”

Before Tevon could say anything, Jiwoo checked his ear.

The Crown Prince put his sword to it, wanting to cut it off before. There were no major wounds, but the blood scabs were already dry.

She was relieved, but also very sorry. If it wasn’t for her, this scar wouldn’t have existed in the first place. No, should she be thankful just for being alive? Jiwoo let out a sigh of relief.

“…Seo Jiwoo.”

Tevon said in a low voice. For someone who sneaked into the mansion after running through the night, his face was clearly blushing.

“I… didn’t come here for that today, so if you seduce me like this, it’s troublesome.”

“T-That’s not what I meant.”

Jiwoo hurriedly removed her hands from his ears. Tevon grabbed Jiwoo’s shoulder with both hands. It was a subdued and serious voice unlike him.

“I’m sorry Seo Jiwoo, but listen carefully. I can’t get you out of here today. I barely managed to come see you myself.”

Jiwoo didn’t expect to be able to get out of here either. It was nice just to see his face.

“Yes… Is everyone okay? Lanceil? Callan? Enci?”

Tevon said calmly as he gently stroked Jiwoo’s back, who seemed emotionally unstable.

“Don’t worry. Everyone is fine. Rather, we were all worried about you.”

She was glad he said that. However, Jiwoo was thinking about them as well as what they thought was most important.

“Then what about Helka?”

“Not yet. He hasn’t come back yet… Seo Jiwoo.”

Tevon shook Jiwoo’s shoulder, who kept asking for the safety of the children of Elandos.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes… Yes”

She was really okay, but perhaps Tevon was seeing her differently. Well, no matter how hospitably they treated her here, Jiwoo thinned up a lot in the last few days. She might have looked unstable as she asked urgently because it was a relief to see him and she has a lot to ask.

“How did you find me? How did you know I was here?”

“On the day we got separated, I followed the scent that I had told you where the group could go find you.”

Jiwoo reflexively touched the back of her neck, which Tevon had pressed down after he had bled on it that day.

“Does it last that long?”

“Close enough.”

Tevon grinned.

“More than that…”

“Huh?”

“I heard on the way, but the situation is more chaotic than before, and rumors are spreading throughout the capital that a new Akarna will appear.”

“The Crown Prince said the temple are summoning another Akarna.”

“I see… Then…”

Tevon’s expression turned very cold, seemingly lost in thought.

“Tevon?”

It was disturbing. The temple was able to artificially summon a new Akarna. In the first place, the temple was such a place.

The summoning took as much strong will and vitality as the original Akarna used to cross dimensions.

To replace it usually required a war or catastrophe with a high number of deaths. The empire and the temple were forced to go to war whenever a new Akarna was needed.

There have been accidents where many people have died in some places on the outer wall. There was no justification for war, and there was no guarantee that the accident was truly an accident.

The truth of the disaster created in this way was hidden, saying that God sent a new Akarna because of that disaster. If they tried to summon a new Akarna now, it was obvious to whom the arrow would go this time.

“I’m sorry, Seo Jiwoo. Everyone is safe for now, but our situation isn’t that good.”

“…I think I know what’s going on.”

Jiwoo wasn’t a fool. She had seen with her own eyes how much the empire despised them and how the Crown Prince treated them.

Ever since she became an Akarna, she always thought that Akarna’s duties were too heavy.

She wanted to get out. But it wasn’t like this. Even if a new Akarna were to come out, she couldn’t welcome it comfortably.

She couldn’t accept favorably of a war without justification, in which ordinary people were dying, or an artificially created disaster, if it happened because of her. Even more so, if the people who had to die this time were the children of Elandos. She hated it even more. She’d rather die together.

“I-I’ll just go with you… Tevon take me… with you.”

Tevon shook his head resolutely.

“It’s even more dangerous when you’re with us. I… I came here because I was worried that you would continue to cry.”

Reluctantly, he forcibly removed Jiwoo who kept hugging her. Tevon sighed and said,

“I don’t like it very much to say this… but you’re probably the safest here right now.”

“Tevon… please.”

“No. Seo Jiwoo. You have to be safe. We also know that you need to be safe to live, right? Dammit, don’t cry.”

When Jiwoo started to cry, Tevon panicked and somehow wiped away the tears, but the tears leaked out faster. Even though he kept wiping away her tears, there was no sign of stopping, so Tevon just hugged Jiwoo tightly.

He continued to pat her on the back as if to reassure her.

But there was no way she could be relieved.

In the first place, they would protect Seo Jiwoo at the cost of a few members of the group. Again, they are sticking to the same attitude this time.

“I’ll come back for you soon. Stay healthy.”

“Tevon.”

Tevon looked back several times as he was about to leave, wondering if he should leave Jiwoo who was dripping with tears.

It was not easy for him to break through the heavy security of the mansion alone. He had been hovering around the mansion for days, only coming in after dealing with a few guards during shifts. Soon it was time for a new shift.

Tevon didn’t have much time.

“Damn…”

But as Tevon tried to get out through the balcony, he spat out a low curse. He went this way again and grabbed Jiwoo by the shoulder.

He asked boldly.

“May I kiss you?”

As soon as she nodded, their lips met almost immediately. As she held her breath, fragrant flowers invaded her lips that had been crying without even making a sound.

The kiss was not soft. She couldn’t tell if it was because of his urgency or his unbearable passion. But when Jiwoo’s lips touched him, she felt that she could breathe.

This wasn’t a kiss to quench lust. It was like an act of handing over his breath so Jiwoo could live here for a little while.

“Ngh, mmph…”

The kiss mixed with tears became longer as if it would fall short. Even though he was about to go, Tevon breathed heavily and licked Jiwoo’s mouth again.

He stuck his tongue out, as if he was about to unleash the feeling he hadn’t shared in a long time. Common sense told him that no matter how much Jiwoo would cry, he should have left, promising to meet her next time.

But Tevon was too young compared to the other children of Elandos, and emotions always trumped reason.

“…This lowly thing.”

So usually, he tended to mess things up like this.

The two, who were absorbed in kissing, were shocked at the same time. The Crown Prince, who quietly opened the bedroom door and entered, stood there like a ghost.

Shiiiing. As soon as they turned their head, they immediately heard the sound of his sword being drawn.

Tak. The Crown Prince rushed towards this direction. It was a movement that Jiwoo could not follow with her eyes.

Tevon got away from Jiwoo and headed straight for the balcony. There was no way the Crown Prince would miss him.

The sound of the sword swinging, losing its cold reason, filled with murderous intent, was no match for the sound of the heavy club cutting through the air.

Shiiing! Clash!

The sword swung toward Tevon was blocked by Tevon’s dagger. The two had very little difference in strength. The problem was the state of the sword.

Tang!

As Tevon’s dagger barely held on, it soon snapped in half. Tevon hurriedly avoided it, but the Crown Prince’s sword was faster. The sword lodged in his forearm. The sword did not come off and dug in deeply, cutting through his elbows smoothly.

“Keugh!”

“A…AAHHH!”

Tevon held back his moaning, but Jiwoo screamed even louder. There was a suffocating scent of flowers in the room.

It was a strong, strong scent, as if ten bottles of perfume had been spilled. It smelled so good, but it made her nauseous.

“No, no, Your Highness, Your Highness, stop… please stop…!”

Jiwoo couldn’t stand it and ran to the Crown Prince. She tightly wrapped her arms around his waist. She had hated being touched by him, but it didn’t matter now.

She couldn’t open her tightly closed eyes. Her arms trembled. It felt like her heart was trembling too.

Even after the Crown Prince pulled her away, Jiwoo continued to stare at the balcony. Even after he picked her up and sat her down on the bed to calm her down, she continued. Fortunately Tevon has already disappeared.

“Akarna.”

“Ah, hiiic… please.”

“He’s gone.”

Jiwoo barely turned his head at his words. It was only then that she saw the dagger embedded in his shoulder.

Tevon was not just beaten.

Jiwoo realized that she hadn’t even noticed that he was injured until this point.

“…Akarna. Look at me.”

The kneeling Crown Prince buried his forehead in Jiwoo’s lap. As if Jiwoo’s gaze was more painful than the bloodstained wound on his shoulder.

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