Chapter 71 – Asven (2)
[Translator – Peptobismol]
Chapter 71 – Asven (2)
After encountering Merlin, Diana thought to herself.
‘How did that woman get here...’
Merlin Trivia.
She knew that Merlin was in a cooperative relationship with her master, but Diana didn’t trust her.
She didn’t like her from the first meeting.
It wasn’t just a one-dimensional issue like her impression, personality, or speech style.
Her veiled identity? Her history of destroying the world? Her outrageous request to go through the dimensional gate with her master?
It didn’t matter.
If she was a woman who was helpful to her master, then such minor flaws wouldn’t be a problem.
However, whenever she faced Merlin, she felt an indescribable sense of enormous threat.
Whenever she felt this sense of threat, her highly developed senses screamed.
Merlin Trivia, that woman is dangerous.
“...”
Merlin was still looking around, searching for something.
What reason could she have for waiting here on this date, at this time, at this place?
It’s still suspicious.
Especially since she hadn’t shared anything about her plans with Diana since her master’s death.
Suddenly, her master’s voice echoed faintly in her ears, like an auditory hallucination.
— When and how you will revive me is up to you, Diana.
— But don’t tell anyone about your plan.
— It would be troublesome if the plan goes wrong.
“Ha.”
Diana raised her hand.
She pulled down her hood all the way to cover her face.
Slowly and secretly.
She moved while maintaining her widely spread senses.
— It will take some time for complete revival even after drinking the Elixir.
— As far as I know... about two days?
Her destination was an inn.
There, she would give her master the Elixir, and the next day, as soon as the sun rose, she would find a carriage and leave for Asven.
Then, two days later, on the day they arrived in Asven, her master would come to his senses.
She couldn’t trust anyone right now.
So, this was an inevitable choice.
****
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. We completely missed him.”
Rudine listened to the knight’s report with a stoic face.
And then she retorted in a gruff voice.
“You say you just missed him?”
“I’m sorry, but the situation was quite chaotic as they were leaving...”
Rudine looked the knight up and down without saying a word.
It was a disapproving look.
However, she didn’t feel like reprimanding him properly, so she swallowed her annoyance and added.
“I’m sure you said there were traces of a carriage.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And the direction?”
“There are a few possible areas, but the most likely one is probably Dakar.”
Dakar, Dakar...
Rudine tapped her fingers on the desk and thought.
Kyle was gone.
To be precise, someone had taken Kyle’s body and escaped.
The culprit was Diana. A woman she knew well.
Before returning to the past, she was a knight who blindly and foolishly devoted her loyalty to the Empire until her death.
That woman had acknowledged Kyle as her master.
And then, as if she had planned it beforehand, she took Kyle’s body from the mansion and disappeared.
Dakar, the capital of the Eastern Continent.
Why would she go there? The reason was all too clear.
‘Where is she going to hide him?’
It’s impossible to even guess.
It’s not possible to search every inch of that vast Eastern Continent, and there are quite a few anti-imperial forces among the fragmented kingdoms.
And most importantly.
‘Maybe it’s for the best.’
Yes, if that woman Diana was involved, she would foolishly hide Kyle’s body in a safe place.
And then she would have a funeral.
In a quietness close to rest, without any interference.
Wait a minute.
Alarm?
Was that definitely an alarm sound?
I lifted my heavy eyelids.
A voice calling my name.
And the sound of an alarm.
What was it?
It was so natural that I had completely forgotten about it for a moment.
“Hey, Lee Seung-jun!”
Oh, what a surprise!
I jumped up.
Through my hazy, half-closed vision, I saw someone coming in.
Right in front of the open door, a woman was calling me.
I blinked my eyes blankly and looked at her.
Dark black-brown eyes.
A somewhat fierce-looking brow and a downturned mouth that seemed annoyed.
A sharp nose and jawline, and a familiar bluish complexion.
“Huh?”
A sigh escaped from my parted lips.
My trembling gaze moved up and down, checking the woman’s face several times.
My mind was dizzy with the unbelievable situation.
“I...”
My dry lips trembled incessantly.
At the same time, a watery voice came out.
“Luna?”
Luna.
My only sister, with her piercing eyes, was glaring at me.
“Why are you here?”
“Oh, come on, what are you talking about! Get up quickly!”
The woman let out a snort, as if she was bewildered.
I could only stare blankly at her.
What the hell?
Is this a dream?
“Crazy.”
Pinch—It hurts.
I pinched my thigh just in case, but it hurt like crazy.
How is this possible?
As I was pondering this in a daze, she, who had been looking at me with pity, stepped back.
“I woke you up, so get yourself ready and come down!”
“Where?”
“Where else? You’re going to starve yourself in the morning?”
I watched her leave the room blankly and then clumsily got out of bed and followed her.
‘What on earth is going on?’
My mind froze at the unreal scene unfolding before my eyes.
I pinched my thigh several times, but it hurt so much that I screamed every time I pinched it.
What is this?
Is this real?
Then what about everything I’ve been through?
Was that a dream?
The thought made a pang of pain in my heart.
At the same time, my throat tightened with welling emotion.
“Oppa, here!”
As I passed through the familiar hallway, I could see the kitchen.
“Did you wake up? I’ve made breakfast, so come sit down and eat.”
“What time is it that you’re just getting up now?”
Mom and Dad.
Their voices pierced my throat.
My eyes turned red at the sight of my parents, whom I had missed so much.
I’m really back?
I missed them so much.
I was so tired of it all.
Tears that I had been holding back for so long streamed down my face.
Then, a voice came from beside me.
“Kyle?”
It was Isabel Yustia.
[Translator – Peptobismol]