CH 78

When I opened my eyes again, it was a cabin.

‘Ah, the expedition is over.’

She could feel it instinctively.

When she turned her head to the side, she saw Redan leaning on his forehead while holding her hand tightly. 

“Oraboni—” (t/n: From now on, I will just use Oraboni, Unnie, Nuna instead of Brother and Sister.) 

Startled. 

With his face up, he saw her and stood up.

His eyes were red.

He cried again. Was he always good at crying?

A bitter smile came out.

“Are you awake? How about your body? Are you okay?”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry to surprise you.”

Unknowingly, the words of apology came out first.

“Serdel?”

When she turned to another familiar voice, Addis looked at her with a surprised face as if she had just entered the cabin.

“Serdel!” 

Her trembling hand brushed her cheek as she approached her hastily.

“A, are you okay? I, is there no pain anywhere else?”

“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt. How long has it been since I collapsed?”

“Even in the midst of this—!”

“Unnie.” 

Addis’ eyes, which seemed to be upset or distorted, were also a little red.

Did she cry too?

“Two days have passed. As soon as you collapsed, His Highness immediately ended the expedition. If you were not feeling well, you should have said it all! Then what if something went wrong—!”

Oh, Blenn seemed to have roughly wrapped it around just in case she was in trouble.

Serdel raised her body first.

“I wasn’t hurt. It’s not like that, so don’t worry. More than that—”

Knock, knock.

As she was about to call Falden, the door opened with a knock, and he came in.

Falden’s eyes, which saw her, grew a little and then subsided.

“So you’re awake, are you okay?” 

As he approached, he suddenly reached out with his big hand, grabbed the back of her head, and pushed his face close as it was.

She was so surprised at how powerful it was, and her body hardened.

His forehead touched her forehead. Then her eyes blinked wildly.

“Hmm, you don’t have a fever.”

Only then did he pull off his face.

The energy of anger erupted from both sides. Addis and Redan’s eyes were burning.

“What are you doing!”

“What are you talking about? I was just checking my temperature. Is there any place where you feel uncomfortable, Young Lady? No, why are people so foolish? If you were sick, you should have told me that you were sick. Do you know how surprised I was?”

With Redan joining, Falden quickly hit the target.

“I am not sick. I didn’t fall because I’m sick, first of all—”

Serdel glanced at Addis and Redan for a moment.

“Unnie, Oraboni, please go out for a moment.” 

“What? Why do we have to go out?”

Redan frowned.

“Because I have something to tell Your Highness. Please leave for a moment.”

“Hey, just send Your Highness out and talk to us. Then I can kindly explain it to Your Highness, right?” 

“Both of you stop and go out.” 

Falden pointed out with his chin to Redan.

Nevertheless, the two of them held on for a while, and when Serdel glared at them, they just left.

Serdel also tore the magic scroll that blocked the sound to prevent the conversation from leaking out.

“It seems like you’re nervous, Young Lady? What are you trying to say that you’re so thoroughly prepared?”

Falden, who pulled out a chair, sat on it, and crossed his legs.

“Can you take out the map first?”

“Map? Why?”

“The expedition is not completely over yet. I’ll mark the places we haven’t looked around. Then you can explain to the scholars, Your Highness.”

“…Did you find out with the power of that crow? That’s why you sent those two out?”

Serdel shrugged.

“Aren’t you going to take out the map?”

“Ah, wait a minute.”

He spread the map in front of her. Everyone worked so hard, but there were more empty places than filled ones.

While swallowing his useless bitterness, Serdel slowly explained what she saw and felt.

She drew the empty spot without hesitation with the charcoal he handed over.

Startled.

“Young Lady. Wait, wait a minute.”

Gulp. Swallowing his saliva, he glanced over the map with a grim expression on his face.

“That, won’t you give me some charcoal? Ah, I’m so sorry. I made a big mistake.”

“…What mistake?”

“I didn’t think that the Young Lady’s dexterity was this terrible! But I didn’t know you couldn’t draw this simple picture! What is all this? What did you express? Is there an art level that I don’t understand?”

“….”

Serdel’s eyes became cold.

She took turns looking at Falden and the map.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it?”

“A sense of not even noticing something strange—. Did the trend code of the system change these days? Or is Young Lady’s sense that special?”

“…Are you being sarcastic?”

“No. I’m telling you the truth.”

“Here.” 

She grabbed his hand and put charcoal in it.

“Draw it yourself.”

“Are you upset?”

“I’m upset. I’m going to keep explaining, so please watch. From here to here, it’s the monster area. A fairly high wooden fence was very solid, and a magic circle was drawn here. Beyond that—”

After one smirk, Falden listened to her explanation.

After listening to it for a while, it was about the time he completed the map.

He sighed.

“I wasn’t expecting them to be small, but this is more than that. We’d better revise the subjugation plan altogether.”

A deep tension flashed across his face once.

“But it’s a relief. I like the Young Lady’s ability. Otherwise, we would have suffered.”

After folding the map carefully, he stared at Serdel for a moment.

“Why do you think so?”

“Do you trust me?”

“…I can’t say I’m not.”

That doesn’t mean she fully trusts him.

“Then are you sure you won’t feel threatened no matter what I say?”

“Are you going to threaten me?”

“No. I don’t have any intention of doing so, that’s why I’m asking you. But from Young Lady’s point of view, it’s a story that’s likely to feel that way, so I’m taking time.”

Is he trying to bring up the smokescreen he had done so far? (T/n: I’m not sure what this mean;;)

“Please say it.” 

“Why did you go to the slave market?”

As soon as he said it, he hit the point. 

“….”

She was flustered.

When he gives off a hint as if he knows something, he actually does.

She didn’t think she’d really get caught.

As she closed her mouth without saying anything, he took something out of the bag around his waist.

It was a mask that was the entrance ticket to the slave market.

“Look here. Because I’ve erased everything they’ve covered.”

Her name was engraved in small letters in the place where Falden pointed with his finger.

“They don’t just give out passes. This is how they deal with it so that they can check their opponent’s identity at any time. Few customers can recognize this.”

“….”

The strength in the hand holding the half mask was so strong that the tip of the finger turned white.

‘Didn’t he say it was burned down?’

Blenn said so to her when she asked where he left the half mask. 

But why is it in Falden’s hands?

Even though she didn’t ask, he continued to talk.

“I secretly put my subordinate there two years ago because I needed to find out something.”

“….”

“When he saw the silver hair acting suspiciously that day, my subordinate blocked the way. Then my subordinate was apparently on the verge of death, and of course, he was well treated and moved without any problems, but anyway, he seemed to have dropped it while running away.” 

He tried to maintain the calm atmosphere as much as possible, fearing that Serdel would be scared and wary.

“But it seems that Count Sollette picked it up first in the chaos and checked who it was. He’s also one of the few customers who knows there’s a mark on the mask. Young Lady.”

Serdel bit her lip.

“And Count Sollete is now being arrested. Because his son swore allegiance to me.”

Startle.

Ah.

‘Is that why his whereabout were strange?’

A bitter laugh came out.

It is also shocking that Count Sollette’s son swore allegiance to Falden, unlike in the past.

‘Blenn deceived me…’

Tiredness poured in rapidly. The strange sense of force made her feel down, and she lost strength in her body.

She couldn’t believe it.