Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Translator: wuttisyun

“When the Empire was established, the first Emperor, who was bestowed upon great powers, acknowledged the status of templars and temples, and took sovereignty of our holy lands. The Emperor was also a high priest who dictated our religious beliefs and was in charge of enacting diplomacy while distributing some of the work to his templars in different institutions.”

“Hm.”

“The 12 institutions had since converged into 7 Administrations, 1500 years ago, of which the 4th Administration where the Princess is currently working is one of the most powerful. The Aedile is in charge of managing the city’s internal administrations, the economy, the private sector, the food and water supply as well as public amenities.” (1)

His explanation continued on without a mistake. As his explanation got longer, I yawned with my mouth wide open.

“I don’t really know…”

To tell the truth, I had already learned about all this when I had to study for a test with Fleon and Dane about a year ago.

‘Instead of explaining all this, he should just state why he was here.’

He had been avoiding explaining himself for an entire month. Pretending to be naive, I poked him like an arrow.

“Why do I need to know this?”

Once again, I pretended to be dissatisfied. Why did he go on about boring things when he could tell that I was bored? That was what I was trying to portray with my facial expressions.

“I don’t understand why you keep talking about these difficult things. Can’t you explain it in a simpler way? And why am I even here? Your explanation is so boring, I’m falling asleep.”

“Oh my, are you sleepy?”

I felt like a horrible boss who was blaming their employee for doing nothing when I stared into his deep blue eyes.

“It’s all because Hernan can’t explain things properly.”

“I think so. What should I do…”

He looked away sullenly.

“Don’t sulk and figure out a way. You must actively try to find solutions. I don’t think Hernan is very smart.”

With a slightly troubled expression, Hernan bowed his head, looking as if he was pondering. A little later, he raised his head and spoke in a low voice.

“Come to think of it… It seems like that”

“… LIke what?”

“I’ve only met with older people in my life and this is the first time I had ever interacted with anyone as young as you, Princess. I guess that’s why I’ve been influenced to not be as fun.”

“Influenced?”

“Yes. The people around me are… like that.”

He lowered his gaze before nodding his head.

“What should I do? As the Princess should know, we need to move on to the next topic…”

Hernan laughed awkwardly before muttering to himself gloomily.

“My apologies. It must be because I’m not very good at talking.”

Then with his puppy-like gaze, he lowered his head.

I was flustered by how he was acting. It was as if I had opened a jar and found something that I did not expect inside. Hernandez looked up at me. Why on earth was he on Castor’s side when he looked like he could not even hurt a weed along the streets?

“Alright. The reason why I cannot remember is definitely not because I’m not smart.”

“Of course.”

He smiled gently.

“To make up for what I lack, I will try my best to find a solution to this.”

I would really like to know what was inside of him today. Hernandez was Castor’s sole close friend so it was clear why he had sent him here.

It had been three months since I had trouble sleeping due to the anxiety eating me out.

“Don’t you feel bad? I’m just sitting here and complaining about everything?”

As if he had been taken aback for a moment, the Duke blinked his eyes innocently. But soon, a beautiful smile appeared on his boyish face.

“You are the 8th Child.”

Was he saying that I was too high of a status to boss around? His words that seemed to void himself of any human rights made me realise why he was in charge of all of Castor’s miscellaneous affairs in <The Light of Rusbella>.

As the dissatisfaction crept into my young gaze, I spoke out.

“Do you not hate me?”

“How can you ask the obvious?”

“Then, does that mean Hernan likes me? Will you marry me?”

He froze. He shifted his gaze and opened the book he had been holding before smiling awkwardly. His white eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“If it’s you.”

His eyebrows were twitching to the beat of the pouring rain. I looked like a pervert who was teasing a virgin. Maybe it was because he looked like a sweet puppy. As his moist eyes widened in size, he only looked more and more like a puppy.

“How could I hate such a cherished person?”

Before I could express my discomfort in words, I held back.

“The reason why I come here every other day is to make sure that the Princess does not get herself into more danger.”

Looking elsewhere at first, I then blinked slowly before turning my gaze back to him.

… Then why did he not stop me from dying so many times?

I laughed bitterly at the words that seemed to pop out of nowhere. He did not know of the blood that oozed out of the wounds I had hidden behind my many regressions. His words that he said without much thought only added salt to my wounds.

“You, are protecting me?”

“Yes. How can I not care and leave you here alone?”

Gulp.

The anger building within me ate at me and I tried not to reveal it.

He claimed to think of me as precious when I had been killed and decapitated by his Prince’s sword countless times.

The thought of falling into the abyss again. I had always been in danger. Why was he talking about such things now? I had struggled to escape from this miserable hell for a long time now. I was still wandering in nightmares every night. I hoped his Prince knew that. The anger and resentment within me was clouding my head.

And the same went for him.

I knew that my anger was misdirected but I hated him. But I did not hate him as much as I did Castor. The reason why I could not hate him as much was due to the scene that flashed across my mind.

“Die.”

The blood that covered his hair as white as snow was just an afterimage.

I had died and been revived dozens of times. I had seen the faces of not only Castor but everyone else who was there as well. At the scene of the massacre, only Hernandez showed a reaction to my death. He had a complex expression that was not of joy or duty. I did not know whether or not what he was feeling at the moment was akin to the cheap sympathy he would feel for beggars. His face that remained the same throughout my many deaths had etched itself onto my mind for a long time.

So to me, Hernandez was still a little different from Castor.

However, he was not different enough from Castorto be liked.

In the end, all he did was watch from the sidelines.

Therefore, I decided not to judge him for the brief moment of compassion he showed. If he had truly felt sorry for me, he should have stood up for me. But did he do anything at all? Even in my previous life, not helping to seek justice was also considered a crime.

No, this was not the time for such thoughts.

This was not the time to have such useless thoughts.

“Then, tell me now. Why did my brother send me here? I miss him.”

“… Do you, perhaps, wish to be by His Highness’ side?”

“Isn’t that a given?”

No. Not at all. If I really became Castor’s servant, I would have to relive those terrible memories that were already haunting me at every moment. I would rather kill myself. I could still vividly recall the excruciating pain from being stabbed and after dying that way so many times, I would know what to expect. I plastered a sad smile on my face.

Suicide was not easy either.

Since I had no idea what kind of expression was on my face, my hands covered my cheeks to hide my smile but Hernan already saw. For a moment, he frowned seriously before slowly standing up and leaning towards me.

“Do your cheeks hurt?”

“Huh?”

Before I could stop myself, his hand landed on my cheeks gently. Rather than saying he touched them, it was more accurate to say that it felt like a small ball of fluff was being placed against my cheeks. My eyes widened in surprise.

“I know of templars who are capable of treating wounds.”

He was looking at the scarred cheek and talking about how he could call a new cleric to check it out. I tried not to ruin the mood by telling him that it would be useless.

“… It’s fine. This is not a wound, it’s a scar. It doesn’t hurt.”

I was tired of seeing people apologise for my scar.bAfter experiencing it so many times throughout this decade, I knew that they were just flustered.

“It’s a scar that will never heal and it reminds me of why I’m here.”

When his touch felt uncomfortable, I leaned back only to see his eyes that were as clear as the Mediterranean Sea staring back in disappointment.

“If you don’t tell me anything, I won’t understand.”

He pursed his lips as if he wanted me to pay attention to him before speaking clearly.

“Don’t you think this can help you, Princess?”

“Look here, don’t you think I have a right to know what kind of help this is?”

“Oh… My apologies. I was not considerate of what the Princess had already told me and said such things. I apologise.”

“Are you taking me for a fool? I can understand you. I’m working in the 4th of the 7 Administrations! My boss is the Aedile! In the S-Sol… What was it again?”

“Solatorium.”

“Ah! The Solatorium Palace. Right. Granius, who’s in charge of me, is a templar of the God of justice and power. The nobles can be divided to the Curules who are templars and Plebys who are not templars. Am I right so far?”

He nodded blankly.

“A… Amazing…”

There was no way. I had been torturing him by making him repeat that about 20 times but at this point, even a stupid idiot would have already understood. And honestly, I was sick of hearing it too. It was hard to repeat the same thing over and over again. Hernan’s patience which I had seen at least 40 times now, was something I was used to though it could be considered his chronic illness.

“I told you I was smart.”

When I replied to him calmly, Hernan burst into laughter. Then, he whispered again in a soft and friendly voice.

“Yes, I must have misunderstood you. Oh, we don’t have much time. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow…”

“What?”

“… From the look on the Princess’ face, I don’t think that’s the appropriate course of action.”

“Of course.”

“To put it shortly, the 4th Administration has another role which is to oversee the general running of the capital. They’re in charge of something called ‘City Policing’. Most of the people working here are either templars or skilled knights in charge of the capital’s security. They have a different level of authority from that of the Central Palace or the Emperor’s troops. They have the authority to dispose immediately.”

That would be the same as the employees of the Seoul City Hall in my previous life who would work on some of what the police do like patrols and handling robberies.

Hernandez glimmered darkly as he told me about the dangers of being able to judge a sin and dispose of people immediately.

“I am a part of the Emperor and the Crown Prince’s Secret Service also known as the Dictators. I can’t tell you about anything in much detail but in states of emergencies such as rebellions or external aggressions, we have the authority to override the national consensus but the scope of our impact is usually quite narrow.”

As if I had been surprised by the words coming out of his mouth, I tried to guess how wide my eyes were. What was he talking about? Was he saying that Castor was not the only one responsible for me being sent here?

“There has been some suspicious movement in the 4th Administration.”

“Suspicious movements?”

No way, a rebellion?

“Yes. Rather than the Crown Prince, this place follows the orders of the 2nd Prince.”

He hardened his boyish face and stared at me. His eyes looked as if a drop of purple ink was diffusing into his sky-blue eyes. Was he a templar too? I was sick and tired of this. How did I not know for the past 14 years? I was then reminded of how I was an extra.

“It could be a rebellion. Or they could be committing treason. We don’t know.”

Well, that was weird. Why could they not just kill everyone like they did with me? To be honest, whoever he was up against, Castor would be stronger.

He did not even hesitate to kill his blood related sibling. He might not have been the Crown prince for no reason but why did he not go after the 2nd Prince in the first place? Why me?

Moreover, the Crown Prince was the most powerful in the Empire after the Emperor. Even if the 2nd Prince was powerful and excellent enough to be compared to the Crown Prince, this fact would remain unchanged.

While I pondered over this idea, Hernandez spoke softly.

“I would like for you to give me some information.”

T/N:

Rather than answers, this chapter seems to only give more questions. I would never thought the 2nd Prince would be integral to the plot (maybe a character that only occasionally pops up like Hannah or the 6th and 7th Princes) but who knew he would be this important so early :-0

(1): Aint that most things already sheesh what do the other 6 do HAHAAH