CH 11

His hand, which had just signed the documents, came to a halt. Cartal’s eyes quickly cooled as he raised his head. “Are you sure you know what you’re talking about?” The voice was also filled with anger.

“Yes, I know. I’m aware that it’s also dangerous.”

“That you might lose your life?”

“Yes.” She gave a firm response. Cartal sighed in response to Serdel’s serious eyes, then pressed his fingers against the crumpled brow. For a brief moment, everything she had shown him over the previous few days felt like a lie.

“Father—”

“Serdel. What kind of ability do you have? It may sound cold-hearted, but you do not have a genius for swordsmanship like Addis, nor have you been trained since childhood like Redan. What kind of power do you have? Are you saying that you want to go out? Have you never thought that you might get in the way!”

The windmill’s rough momentum took control of the office. The air became intense quickly. But she also has a hard heart. She tingled and itched all over her body, but she didn’t give up.

“I’m not going into this with a light heart, Father. I’m not upset over my broken engagement to Count Maient.” She calmly stated that she was not acting recklessly due to mood swings. “We came to this conclusion after much consideration. Please look into this.”

It was exactly the reaction she had predicted.

As he mentioned, she lacks the ability to protect herself in comparison to Addis and Redan. She had no idea that going on an expedition would be a bad idea for him. 

Nevertheless, there is nothing she can do about it. For the future, she must go. Furthermore, this behavior of her own would save the Count from a crisis in the future.  So she got a few days to convince him. 

“…….”

He paused, nervously handing over the documents he had received.

Tuk, tuk, tuk.

He knocked on the desk with his fingers for a long time before returning to the front page. It’s been a dozen minutes already.

“Where in the world did you get this information?”

“In fact, I was interested in the Elbash forest long before the Mana stone mine was discovered. The environment is indescribably good if monsters live in territories for a long time, but I feel like it’s a waste that they’re being taken away.”

In fact, the forest was brimming with resources.

Even when everything was crushed and ruined by subjugation, it mysteriously came back to life after a while. It’s as if there’s a regeneration spell all over the place.

The lake was never dry or polluted, and the fruit of the tree was everywhere, no matter how hard they were picked.Aside from the Mana Stone Mine, there were hidden secrets in the forest full of such mysteries. That’s why she wanted to go there herself, even if putting herself in danger.

Opportunity.

The distribution of Radun. (t/n: I have no idea what Radun is.)

‘Originally, it was a special power that the 2nd Prince who participated in the exploration as representatives of the imperial family possessed, but—’

She was going to get her hands on it this time.

In the original work, the second Prince used his power to defeat numerous political opponents and become the emperor he desired. So it’s not that he doesn’t understand the significance of the opportunity in the forest in his life, but he was also desperate.

‘It’s the power of the Elbash forest.’

Count Robbesta had the primary right to all resources in the forest. Some of the Imperial family’s rights are limited to mines. Anything else, no matter how greedy the Emperor, will happen to all lords if they are overly desired.

In fact, even when the Emperor conspired with Count Maient and struck him on the back of the head, he did not first touch the right to trade minerals. Without permission from this side, the second Prince obtained such a thing.

‘Therefore, there’s no need to be concerned.’

He didn’t take his thing away; he simply took his own thing in his rightful place.

Furthermore, he did not hesitate to defy the Emperor’s order. He never used any of the power he gained from Elbash’s forest to benefit the forest. He must have been able to fly only through the Emperor’s eyes, so he is not aware of his position, which required him to obey his orders.

Understanding with his head and accepting with his heart are not the same thing.

‘If he had stayed—’

They wouldn’t have to make such a huge sacrifice. And it couldn’t have been set up by Count Maient. Serdel clenched her fist.

‘Damn. Because of Count Maient’s nature, no matter how neatly I cut it, he would not have given up on the forest just yet.’

He was the one who was greedy and wanted it all regardless.He was most likely only looking for a gap and opportunity in this area to acquire rights by participating in the development of the Forest.

‘I’ll never be humiliated in the same way again. I’m not going to be swayed by anyone.’

To do so, she must use her power to minimize her families’ sacrifices. The Count will not be shaken, and her life will be secure until the very end. Cartal was staring at her when she lifted her lowered eyes.

His eyes were fierce, as if he was trying to see through the intention.

“You’re interested because you don’t want to waste the resources? With only that, how did you find out about this? How? Because little is known about Elbash Forest, would the Information Guild have dealt with it as well?”

“There are estate-related documents in the library that I compiled a long time ago. Of course, the amount of information was limited, as you are aware, but I was able to draw a number of conclusions.”

“Did you do something that even the estate officials couldn’t do?”

Ha! Unbelievable, Cartal burst out laughing as he looked at the papers again. There isn’t much content there. Because it will almost certainly look ridiculous. She simply put in a few lines of information that would be appealing.

Nonetheless, it would be surprising in many ways. As Cartal stated, she discovered something that no one else was able to bring.

“Hm…” His mouth opened with a low groan. Even if she had done so, she was not easily allowed to participate.

“I understand your concerns. I’m going to join the expedition, and I don’t know if just going out is enough of a hassle. Still, Father.”

“…..”

“I’ll never put myself in a position where I endanger anyone. Trust me this time, just as you did when I ended my engagement to Count Maient.”

“That’s funny. There is no such thing as a ‘never’ situation. You’re not going to make it as bad as you already are? How can you be certain of that? Will the others just stand there and watch if you’re in danger?”

“…..”

“They’ll do everything they can to save you. Instead, you’ll be hurt or killed. Nobody knows what will happen outside the world, especially where such dangers lurk!”

Serdel hesitated for a moment. The words that will be spewed from now on may all be in vain. Nonetheless, she can’t step down in such a half-hearted manner.

Cartal will not even listen to opinions in the future if it is not confirmed now.

Her eyes changed.

“Although it may seem so absurd, I am confident that I will not be in danger. And there’s something to be gained by doing so.”

“…What will you gain?”

Cartal frowned with one brow furrowed.

“Yes. The special ability I will gain there will protect me.”

Her somewhat subdued tone belied a strange aura of charisma.

“…..”

Cartal’s hand, which had been staring at Serdel uncomfortably for a while, began to shake. His face began to turn blue as well.

“Something to get— something special—”

His eyes drooped as he repeated what she had said. 

Like a candle in front of the wind.

His eyes, which shook violently and lost focus, resembled those of a man in fear. It was the first time she’d seen Cartal in this state. Serdel was about to extend his hand.

“…After all, did you start the foresight dream in the end— in the end, in the end, ha—”

His whispered words rang louder than thunder in my ears.

Startled. ‘Foresight dream? Did he just say it was a foresight dream?’ She didn’t hear it wrong.

‘What, did Serdel have that ability?’

She’d never heard of it before. It was information she had never seen before in a game or in her life. 

“Exploration… permission. When you come here, it must be for a reason…”

His voice was so weak that he couldn’t believe she’d been standing there for so long. The complexion faded in just a few minutes. As if they were tired of something.

She bowed her head quickly after regaining her composure.

“Thank you, Father.”

“…no, there’s no need to bow down. Aren’t you also a member of the family, as you mentioned?”

The same words came back to her in her head as when she first put the broken engagement in her mouth. However, he no longer looked her in the eyes.

Instead, he’s still clutching his trembling hands. As if he’s attempting to conceal his agitation.

“Now leave.”

The congratulatory order fell.