Chapter 190 – Remaining Behind (4)
The elderly doctor looked down at his hand, which would not stop bleeding.
The severed surfaces of his little and ring fingers were clean.
Even if he had cut them off himself, he could not have made such clean cuts.
These were no ordinary experts.
He stared at his powerless hand before slowly speaking.
“....That child was accidentally killed by Lord Ran some time ago. Lord Sein stopped organizing the documents properly at some point, so it appears her records were never processed.”
The man scrutinized him as though judging whether the doctor was telling the truth.
Apparently finding no disturbance in the doctor’s expression, the man surveyed everyone gathered inside the room.
They all remained silent, refusing to contradict the doctor’s testimony.
Finally, the man spoke.
“Then you’re the last one?”
The elderly doctor slowly closed his eyes at the emotionless voice.
He prayed that his neck would be severed as swiftly as his fingers had been.
* * *
As was usually the case with prayers, the elderly doctor’s prayer went unanswered.
And as was also often the case, salvation appeared of its own accord from a completely unexpected direction.
“As far as I know, none of the people remaining here had enough courage to commit a crime worthy of death.”
The irritated voice made the elderly doctor snap open the eyes he had closed in preparation for the approaching pain.
He was greeted by a sharp blade that had stopped inches from his face and a person whose golden hair contained a deep reddish tint.
Both were far too much for the elderly doctor’s frail heart to withstand.
Thud.
The elderly doctor collapsed as though all his strength had left him.
“Doctor!”
Anna, who had been hiding behind Celos Abiran, sprang out in alarm.
Celos indifferently watched Anna hurriedly lift the old man before turning toward the remaining intruders.
After seeing the displeasure covering Celos’ face, the intruders lowered their weapons for the moment.
“Even if he was only half-blooded, this was still an imperial prince’s castle. You must have some reason for casually murdering its servants.”
He was demanding that they identify themselves and explain why they had come there to cause a disturbance.
However, the people who had been threatening the servants’ lives merely exchanged glances and failed to give Celos a proper answer.
Having his pride wounded was one of the things Celos hated most.
The displeasure and irritation on his face intensified.
“Do you not understand human speech, or are you ignoring me? Or are your ears somehow blocked? I can’t forgive any of those possibilities.”
Celos approached the apparent leader of the group threateningly.
“Do I need to carve a passage connecting both your ears before you’ll listen?”
It was effectively the same as threatening to make him permanently deaf.
Only then did the intruder speak.
“Please forgive us, Prince. We were startled and behaved disrespectfully. We merely….received an order we cannot defy and came here to dispose of the thieves who remained behind.”
“What thieves? I heard the castle’s owner told them to take whatever they needed before leaving.”
“That statement was also revealed to be a lie, which is why they were being punished.”
The man politely extended his hand and showed Celos the doctor’s fingers lying on the floor.
Anna, who had instantly been made into a liar, opened her mouth in alarm, but no words emerged.
The moment she met the man’s chilling eyes, Anna could not even move her lips.
The corners of his mouth rose.
“Look, Prince. When I asked whether there was a child named Anna here as part of my investigation, everyone present claimed she had already died. But look at this.”
He instantly closed the distance to Anna and yanked the arm of the girl who had been supporting the doctor.
“State your name.”
“I-I...”
“This is not a situation in which you can lie!”
The man shouted and pulled Anna’s arm even more violently.
If she confirmed her identity, the others would become liars. Yet she could not lie in the face of such an obvious truth.
A satisfied smile appeared on the man’s face as he looked down at the tearful Anna.
“Prince, as you can see, everyone here is a swindler and a thief. We are merely punishing them, so....”
“Are you ignoring me?”
“....Pardon?”
Celos’ expression twisted even further at the man’s question.
“Why are you babbling about something I never asked? I questioned you from the beginning. Whose orders are you following? You still haven’t answered.”
“But punishing those who deceived the imperial family takes priority—”
Shing!
Celos showed no further patience. He drew his sword and swung it toward the man’s neck.
Just before the blade touched him, Celos stopped it.
“Do these people look as though they possess enough courage to do something like that?”
Although it was too insulting to be considered a defense, Anna and the other servants felt strangely grateful.
Celos had not intended to show them any kindness, so he did not care about their gratitude.
The only thing that interested him was the intruder’s identity.
“I’ll ask one final time. Who gave you these orders?”
All emotion disappeared from the man’s face.
Accepting that he had no remaining means of evasion, he slowly spoke.
“I cannot tell you.”
Celos raised one eyebrow crookedly.
However, the man did not yield.
“Please forgive me for having no choice but to disobey your command and for being unable to offer any further answer.”
Celos’ expression stiffened as he contemplated how to kill the man.
An order important enough to override his own meant the person they served was also a member of the imperial family.
Judging by how long that piece of trash had delayed answering, his orders probably included maintaining secrecy as well.
Celos withdrew his weapon.
He hated having his pride wounded.
However, he could not defend his pride at the cost of confronting another member of the imperial family.
Even if avoiding them out of fear merely created a vicious cycle that shattered his pride again, he had no choice.
“....Leave.”
“Thank you for your generosity.”
With Celos’ permission, the man bowed deeply in gratitude.
Celos ground his teeth and opened a path, allowing the men to pass beside him.
Flames seemed to burn within his eyes as he glared at their retreating backs.
His fury soared, but there was nothing he could do. He lacked the strength to fight their master.
Even amid his rage, one question led to another.
Who could it be?
What was the vanished Seventh Prince hiding that warranted all this...?
“P-Prince….”
Celos violently turned toward the voice that irritated his already strained nerves.
Several servants who looked ready to collapse were staring up at him alongside Anna.
“I never gave you permission to speak to me.”
After the humiliation he had just suffered, nothing gentle could possibly emerge from Celos’ mouth.
His shame and inferiority complex further provoked him because he believed everyone must have noticed his weakness when he allowed those insects to leave out of fear of another imperial.
“W-We apologize! We didn’t mean to….”
“If you didn’t, then do I look that ridiculous to you? You couldn’t say a word to those bastards, yet you dare address me. Were you truly harboring such disrespectful thoughts?”
Even Celos knew what he was doing.
He was merely venting his anger.
However, Celos’ self-awareness meant very little.
He knew no other way to relieve his anxiety and inferiority.
Faced with his unreasonable accusations and verbal abuse, the deathly pale servants slowly retreated.
All except one—the person who had personally witnessed his fear.
Celos once again looked down at the young Anna, who had been left alone.
Seeing the tiny maid standing there by herself calmed his mind slightly.
Perhaps it was because he remembered the Empress’ cold expression.
That was right. He had originally come here to capture this girl, only for events to unfold this way.
The problem involving the Empress, which he had briefly forgotten, once again weighed upon Celos’ shoulders.
This was no time to stand around venting his irritation.
He still had to drag away the maid who was too frightened to move.
Just as the irritated Celos reached toward Anna—
“....We weren’t looking down on you, Prince. Everyone merely wanted to thank you for sparing us. Truly....”
A clear voice flowed from Anna’s mouth.
Although its volume was still barely louder than an ant.
Having finally said what she wanted, Anna tightly clenched her hands in preparation for the abuse that would follow.
It was strange.
Since meeting the Eighth Prince, this was the most terrifying situation in which she had ever faced Celos at his most violent, yet she did not fear him as much as before.
Of course, if someone merely gave her permission, she was confident she could faint on the spot.
Nevertheless, something she could not precisely identify felt different.
Trying to grasp the source of that feeling, Anna cautiously studied Celos’ expression.
Fortunately, he did not appear to notice her gaze.
He seemed preoccupied with surveying the servants focused on him.
Celos, who had remained silent, abruptly turned toward Anna.
Anna, who had been watching him anxiously, jumped and lowered her eyes to the floor.
“Idiots. You’re all as good as dead anyway. If you want to survive, tonight is your final opportunity.”
His unexpectedly calm voice fell upon Anna’s head just as she was about to lose her courage and shrink toward the floor again.
When Anna looked up in surprise, Celos had already left the room.
* * *
Lucha Village was deserted and quiet in the hours before dawn, perhaps because it had not been long since the discussion ended.
With our robes pulled low, we headed toward Edan’s Inn on the outskirts.
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, no owner welcomed us even after we opened the door and entered.
After surveying the still-silent establishment, Jing looked toward Lia.
“Are you truly all right?”
Despite Jing’s worried question, Lia forced her lips into a smile.
“I’ll have to face him eventually. It would be better to come to Edan’s Inn than suddenly reveal myself before all the villagers.”
“Yes. It will be difficult for the villagers to accept the truth overnight.”
“In the worst-case scenario, the villagers may even try to kill us.”
Lia swallowed hard at Ratel’s brutal warning.
“They probably won’t believe us easily, will they? I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes.”
Muttering anxiously, she looked through the inn’s window toward the village with a worried expression.
“Perhaps they’ll give up, deciding there’s nothing they can do if it’s God’s will. They might all rush to the temple and demand that it take their lives immediately.”
Jing gave Ratel a meaningful look when he presented yet another deeply pessimistic possibility, but Ratel merely turned his head away.
Lia’s eyes grew even more worried as she stared at the village.
“He may be right. Everyone might give up. Lucha was the villagers’ hope….”
I followed her gaze toward the peaceful village for a moment before speaking.
“If they found salvation through something insignificant, they can likewise regain hope through something equally insignificant. For now, could you please carry me upstairs?”
Still clinging to Jing’s back, I raised a hand and pointed toward the building’s upper floor.
I wanted to enter a room and lie down before the owner returned.
Being carried on someone else’s back was extremely uncomfortable.
Admittedly, I had no other option after using my power at the river and collapsing again.
“Ah, right! You need to rest.”
Startled by my voice, Lia came to her senses.
“Endure it a little longer, Ran. You’ll be able to move after resting in a bed.”
Jing’s words were not comforting in the slightest, so I pointed toward the counter instead of answering.
Jing placed money on the unattended counter above the entrance to the kitchen, then headed toward the stairs.
Still, the fact that not a single customer was present suggested that Edan’s reputation had thoroughly collapsed after the last Lucha Tournament.
“It seems the temple hasn’t completely abandoned him. Otherwise, he couldn’t still be operating an establishment without a single customer.”
Ratel muttered before stopping and looking upstairs.
“Or perhaps he has been waiting for someone.”
Lia tilted her head, unable to understand Ratel’s words. Then she noticed the person descending the stairs, and her expression stiffened.
“L-Lia.”
It was Lia’s older brother, Edan.
With a rag in one hand and a bucket in the other, he unmistakably looked as though he had just been cleaning.
Lia turned and descended the stairs as though she had seen something she should not have.
“Lia!”
He urgently tried to chase after her.
Crash, bang!
However, he tripped over someone’s leg and tumbled down the stairs.
I glanced at Ratel’s and Jing’s legs, both of which were protruding unusually far beyond the table, then turned away and pretended not to notice.
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