Chapter 82

“Lina.”

“What?”

“Let’s take a break.”

Evelina was so exhausted that she accepted his words with a grain of salt. Kaiden seemed fine, but she was the only one who was having a hard time.

He looked around and dropped Evelina down by the tree. As Evelina leaned helplessly as if she were going to burn out, he said, touching her forehead with his hand.

“You have a high fever.”

“…I think so. My eyes are too hot.”

Evelina’s eyes were hot and tears were constantly forming, making her eyes cloudy. There, the fever was so severe that her face was hot and her body was shaking from the cold.

“Kaiden.”

“Yes.”

“It’s time for me to take my medicine soon.”

Evelina took her meds in advance last night and set off. But she hadn’t taken the medicine she takes in the morning yet.

She didn’t know what kind of medicine he was using on her. And if he’s serious, what the hell was the drug?

Evelina was so caught on that part.

The medicine spilled blood from the nose and mouth as soon as she stopped using it. It was too suspicious to call it heart medicine. And after changing the prescription of the medicine, she kept seeing strange dreams and hearing hallucinations.

But how on earth can he be serious about her? If what she saw was sincere, wasn’t he really crazy? Why did he want to kill her even though he really likes her?

The drug wasn’t heart medicine by any stretch. It was more likely to be a poison to slowly kill.

“That’s a big deal. I’ll walk without delay.”

He sat down with Evelina for a moment and tried to see how she was doing, but when he heard her, he hardened his expression as if surprised and carried her back.

“Ah…”

Evelina was so weak that it was hard to carry her on her back. He soon managed to carry her back on his back. It was because of her condition that he said let’s take a break in the first place, not because he was exhausted.

How long did he walk?

– Neigh

“Louis?”

The abandoned horse suddenly appeared before them.

“…I’m a little reluctant.”

Kaiden said so and looked around at the horse.

“Isn’t this the reason Lina got hurt?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“I want to kill him right away.”

“I don’t think we should do that now.”

He lowered herself to the floor as if he had accepted Evelina’s words. Then he immediately lifted her and sat her down on Louis. Perhaps because it was a horse that was tamed by people, there seemed to be no great antipathy to picking her up again.

“You should ride too, Kaiden.”

“Until we go further down, only Lina should ride. And after we are completely down, let’s ride together and run to the castle.”

“I see.”

Evelina felt sorry for her sprained ankle, which seemed to be a burden to him. Even though she suffered so much yesterday, her ankle was a little better, but now it was worth standing up. It hurt when she was standing yesterday.

She grabbed the horse’s dirty reins and moved slowly as Kaiden led. She held the horse’s reins and barely held it in her arms. Because it was Kaiden, not her, who was leading the horse anyway.

He was paying attention and very keenly examining whether there were other knights nearby. There’s no way the knights have disappeared since yesterday.

“Kai…”

“Shhh.”

As soon as he thought about it, she heard the faint sound of people swarming down. Looking closely, four knights were riding around armed with guns.

Evelina hugged Louis tightly and patted him so that he wouldn’t make any noise. They glued themselves in so that they could not be seen from below. Then the still forest was filled with birdsong.

Kaiden looked up at the birds around him at that strange time. He didn’t know when the birds came in like this, but they were making different sounds.

In the meantime, people’s voices grew as if they were annoyed by the sound of birds.

“Is the body real?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Are all the corpses that washed up in the river the emperor and the queen?”

“They were the only two who fell and washed away yesterday.”

“You said the face was a total mess. But how can you be sure?”

The conversational knights did not seem to be high-ranking. They heard the rumor and we were communicating it to each other.

“It is said that the sword and gun used by the emperor were also washed away. Don’t you know how expensive that knife is?”

“Oh, is it the one with the royal pattern?”

“Yes, that’s the sword that the former emperor himself gave him.”

“The gun was also unusual. It’s very expensive.”

“Oh, yes.”

“I looked at them from afar and they both looked expensive.”

They were walking and chatting among themselves. Evelina seemed to understand why the search was slacking by the knights’ words. Kaiden must have realized it as well, he looked at her and smiled when her eyes met.

Soon as all the knights moved away, Kaiden carefully led her horse on.

The birds around them followed them so loudly that the sound of birds was full.

Kaiden told Evelina, ignoring the phenomenon of birds chirping around.

“It seems that they arrived earlier.”

“I guess so. So it seems they made a fake body.”

Evelina responded to Kaiden’s words and held the horse’s reins loosely.

“Come on up now, Kaiden.”

Evelina, once they were in the forest area, told him to ride. She thought it would be better to ride the horse together from here.

“When we’re completely out of the woods. I don’t know how strong the horse will be.”

“Yes.”

She spoke sourly and he quickly added.

“Lina. I want to be cautious when Lina’s life is at stake. If your horse runs out of stamina before reaching the castle, it can be dangerous. There might be a chase party after seeing us.”

Evelina was embarrassed when he spoke with such an excuse. Because she didn’t understand what the contradictory behavior was. He drugged her hoping she’ll die, but he looked sincere in wanting to keep her alive

They almost died. They were not quite out of the woods yet. But he was rather pretending to care for her more sincerely at this moment.

How can he be so blinded by revenge? Rather, it was a more reasonable judgment that his heart should see sincerely. Who would go this far for her life?

In addition, he didn’t have to do this and could just execute the Marquis of Logias. Hugging her wouldn’t change that fact.

“Kaiden.”

“Yes. Even if I have made an arbitrary decision, please follow me this time. I’ve lived on the battlefield for a long time. I hope you can trust me.”

There was nothing wrong with what he said. So far.

So she didn’t want to think anymore. It hadn’t changed what was on her mind.

“It’s so cold. I think my temperature is higher.”

“Oh… yes, we’ll be there soon. I just thought of myself and made excuses.”

“No. I would have followed Kaiden even if he didn’t say that…”

She sighed, thinking it was because of a cold that stung like a thorn in her throat.

“I’m so glad you said that. I hesitated because I thought I shouldn’t be happy with this situation.”

As Kaiden turned to Evelina and said, she sighed, hugging him tightly for his words. Perhaps because she hugged him on the horse, she thought it was a little awkward for her to hug without bending down. Because he bent over and hugged her every time.

“…I’m sorry. There were a few times when I felt the same way.”

He said so, exhaled as if relieved by her tight embrace on his neck, let her go, held the horse’s reins again, and began to move.

By the time we got out of the woods, it was daytime.

“Let’s wait here for a moment.”

“I will.”

He left Evelina alone for a while before leaving the forest. So he ran east.

Soon after less than ten minutes, she wondered if she was abandoned.

“Let’s wear this and go. It’ll be a little helpful.”

He returned and handed over one of the two black lobes.

“This is…”

“It just happened.”

When Evelina saw him killing two people and stealing things without making any noise, she felt indescribable emotions and then closed her mouth. She put a robe on herself and asked because their eyes met.

“Were they traitors?”

“Yes.”

“How did you kill him?”

At her words, he said in agony because he didn’t know what to say.

“The cervical spine… breaks easily.”

“You broke his neck.”

“…Yes.”

Evelina was a little scared to hear that he had killed two people without a knife. But her body was too tired to feel emotions, and she was in a state of high fever.

“You also got a gun, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Do you want one for self-defense, Lina?”

“…no.”

She laughed at herself, realizing that he didn’t even teach her how to shoot.

He said, stroking her cheek before getting on the horse.

“I hope Lina doesn’t shoot.”

“Why?”

She couldn’t figure out why the question popped up. She threw it without realizing it because she thought maybe he wouldn’t give her justice for this suspicious behavior.

“Lina, I still have vivid memories of my first murder.”

“Ah…”

“It’s something I can do, so I don’t want Lina to go through it if possible.”

“Is Kaiden all right? You said you still remember.”

“I’m fine now. But it took me years to get to a point where I’m okay.”

He made eye contact by putting the hood of the robe over Evelina’s head.

“Some soldiers can’t escape the shock until they die.”

It seemed as if she could no longer escape, and he seemed to be reading her mind to her. How seriously he looked at her every time he met her eyes.

“Not now, but later. If Lina really wants to get out of this situation and learn guns then, I’ll let you know then.”

She nodded at his words. That’s how they headed for the castle.

~~~~

“His Majesty is back!”

As soon as they arrived at the castle, everyone began to greet them, shouting that they had come back alive even though they were haggard.

“His Majesty!”

“Bring His Majesty to the palace right now!”

The vassals ran out to the gates.

“Your Majesty! I have caught the real culprit of this!”

Kaiden looked at him at the shouting voice of the guard captain running from behind the ministers.

“The culprit behind this is Marquis Logias!”

At that moment, the knights all looked at Queen Evelina, who was hugged by Kaiden and dismounted from her horse.

“Get away from the queen now!”