CH 134

Conspiracy (7)

She immediately tried to reflect on the now missing sensation, but soon shook her head. She seemed to have mistaken the heartburn for another kind of pain instead.

‘I guess I had a slightly upset stomach.’

Roelin, who now became convinced of her own condition, launched her eyes outside again.

The scenery of Rakain was soon flicking away. It was just like the day when she left Rakain to be Kergel’s bride instead of Erita.

‘I left thinking that I would never come back here.’

Who knew that she would be coming back like this?

“The sun is setting in. Shall we draw the curtains, Empress?”

“Please do so, Lucy.”

Roelin nodded her head to Lucy’s words after looking out of the carriage. Then, Lucy reached out her arms and drew the curtains.

A small window had already been draped over with curtains, which blocked the sunlight. Roelin then mumbled to herself casually while leaning against the soft backrest.

“Now, it’s really… I won’t be coming back at all.”

No, how could she be so sure of it. That was what she thought then, but she still came here afterwards.

Nevertheless, she smiled. But really, it was her honest feelings that she never wanted to come again.

“Ah!”

Just then, Roelin made a brief sound as if she had suddenly remembered something. Lucy looked at her with a quizzical expression in response.

Roelin instantly took off the necklace that was hanging around her neck regardless of Lucy’s gaze.

“That necklace…”

“I don’t have to wear it anymore.”

She undid the necklace that her mother had given and put it down next to her.

‘Was it because of this necklace?’

No wonder she felt much more comfortable after taking off the necklace. Roelin thought that the pain which she felt a while ago was due to her necklace, but she then laughed since her thoughts sounded so wrong.

It was such a ridiculous idea.

What was the connection between a necklace and her physical condition anyway……

At that very moment, blood started to drain from Roelin’s face. And she immediately leaned forward in haste.

“Ugh!”

“Em, Empress! What is this…… Stop the carriage! Come on! The Empress is vomiting blood!”

Lucy soon turned blue and tapped on the carriage’s interior walls as she shouted. Her hands were already drenched in red with the blood that Roelin had just vomited.

* * *

“Huk, haah, Your Majesty, Your Majesty……”

“If it’s that hard to follow, then just give up at that point. Why are you following me so much when you can’t even breathe properly?”

Kergel tugged the reins of his horse and stopped it before he criticized Gilov. Then, Gilov, who had followed him vigorously, stopped and panted heavily.

“Your Majesty, hoo, going to Rakain without an attendant, hoo, hoo, hoo, we can’t just leave you alone…… whoo.”

He was going to lose his breath soon. Kergel looked at Gilov with a pair of disapproving eyes and rubbed the back of his horse’s neck. Since he kept on running and running, the horse’s body temperature had already risen to its fullest, thus making his palm warm.

‘These guys should take a break, too. Especially that guy.’

Kergel rubbed the back of the horse’s neck and tapped it before turning to look at the horse, which Gilov had ridden. Perhaps because he resembled his own master, Gilov’s horse appeared almost foamy and was about to faint as well.

Still, since he belonged to a famous breed, he would definitely recover quickly if he were to take a proper rest.

…The problem was actually the people rather than the horses themselves.

Kergel stared at Gilov, who was still panting about, and clicked his tongue in response.

“I’m actually disappointed to see that the Chief of Knights is having a hard time at this point.”

“What do you mean, this much? We came here in merely two days, which usually would take about a week, but I was still able to follow Your Majesty closely. The other guys couldn’t even follow me like this in the first place.”

Gilov eventually managed to catch his breath and refuted Kergel’s remarks in a fit of anger. Nevertheless, Kergel just snorted and opened his mouth again.

“But you still have your pride, is that it? Anyway, it seems like you’re still alive, so let’s start again.”

Kergel smiled as he listened to Gilov and he eventually got ready to proceed once again. Then, Gilov spoke up to him in contemplation as if he was utterly furious.

“Why on earth do you have to go in such a hurry? Even if Your Majesty doesn’t go, the Empress will surely come back safely. In fact, she didn’t go alone……”

“I know. Moreover, since the Duke of Bönt has gone along with her, he will definitely bring her back safely.”

Even though he had resigned from all his posts and retired as of now, the Duke of Bönt was still famous in the Empire for his bravery.

In addition, he had a rather straight and faithful personality that seemed to be strict, so Kergel could fully trust him and let them go.

“But I’m saying that I still have to be by the Empress’s side in person to finally feel at ease.”

Kergel opened his heart with a slightly awkward smile too. He thought that he should tell this much to the Knight Commander who was following after him. Of course, he then regretted his words with  utter embarrassment right after he said so.

Gilov looked at the reddened neck of the Emperor while smiling before he shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth.

“Okay then, let’s go. Don’t worry about me because I’ll still catch up with you even if I were to die.”

“Hmm, if I leave with that in mind, it will be hard for you to die even if you did catch up with me.”

Kergel said jokingly in order to hide his embarrassment.

“No matter what, I’m still the Captain of the Imperial Knights…… and well, it’s just undeniable.”

Gilov tried to refute Kergel’s joke, but he soon murmured in a sullen tone instead.

Kergel patted Gilov on the shoulder and kicked the horse softly on the side. Then, the horse started neighing before it galloped forward once again.