~~ Thank you so much for the coffee ~~
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Upon entering the room, the broken bed immediately drew my attention.
It was where Hemion Martin had been lying asleep.
Naturally, she wasn’t lying on the broken bed.
Then I looked around the room.
There was a long knife mark on the wall, and the wall connecting to the pharmacy had completely collapsed.
“They really made a mess.”
They broke everything. Those tools must have been expensive…
Blood rushed to my face, but I tried to stay calm, scanning my surroundings.
There was no sign of blood that could be presumed to be Hemion Martin’s.
There were only the remnants of broken things.
‘Did I miss something?’
I closed and opened my eyes, regulating my breathing.
If Roxis had found Hemion, the room wouldn’t be such a mess.
He would probably try to secretly kill her.
‘Moreover, Roxis isn’t here, and Rulios was guarding this place.’
Had they managed to capture Hemion Martin, even if they didn’t immediately end her life, Rulios wouldn’t be present.
‘There’s only one answer.’
They still haven’t secured Hemion Martin.
Coming to this conclusion, I pushed off the bedside table with my foot for a final check.
Dust mixed with dirt fell heavily.
After roughly pushing aside the clumps with my foot, what I was looking for appeared.
Two intersecting lines are drawn on the floor.
At first glance, it was an X-shaped mark that one might overlook, but if you look at it, it is clearly there.
—Crash!
As I stood up to leave, I heard a loud crash outside.
It seemed like Rulios and Ares were still in the midst of their battle.
I quickly moved to the pharmacy to see if there was anything I could salvage.
There were still a few usable tools and ingredients left, so I swept them into my bag.
Having gathered everything, I stepped outside and looked for Ares.
Although just moments ago there was a loud noise that could make one’s ears ring, now it is strangely quiet.
“Sir Ares?”
A large hole had appeared in the garden.
Approaching cautiously, I heard Ares’ lively voice from within.
“Your highness, I’m here!”
Ares waved his hand with a bright smile.
And beneath his feet wriggled something; whether it was a lump of meat or a person, it was hard to tell.
“Oh my, could that be…?”
“He kept trying to commit suicide, so I went a bit overboard. What should we do?”
I wondered how far one must go before a person becomes unrecognizable.
I was curious, but I didn’t bother asking.
“Well… since we can’t carry him around, let’s put him in the Garnet Palace underground prison for now.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Ares tore off a strand of tassel from the hilt of his sword, then tied up his hair again.
“I’ll be right back!”
With those words, Ares surrounded Rulios and quickly disappeared.
After a short wait, he reappeared empty-handed, taking a deep sigh.
“Your Highness, I don’t suppose you intend…… to return to the banquet hall as it is.”
“Hemion Martin is missing; I have to go find her.”
“Do you know where she is? Prince Julion is probably already chasing after her.”
“No, I have to go.”
As I took a step, the elaborate party dress I was wearing became cumbersome, trailing all the way to my feet.
I took out the dagger I usually carry for self-defense and sliced through the flowing fabric.
“Your highness, why on earth… oh!”
In an instant, I cut off the trailing part of the dress with the dagger.
Ares’s eyes widened as he looked at the rather inelegant cut below my thigh.
“I knew it, but you’re even more daring than I thought!”
“It was getting in the way.”
“You’re not planning to fight directly, are you?”
“If necessary, I will, but for now, there’s something more important.”
This time, I took off my shoes and slammed the heels onto the floor.
The heel was torn off, transforming the high heels into flat shoes. I quickly put my feet back into them.
When I looked up, Ares, who had been observing me, now had a gaze resembling someone looking at a strange person.
“We need to run as fast as we can.”
“To where?”
Before Ares could finish his question, I stomped the ground.
“Let’s talk on the way, your highness!”
I could hear Ares’ stern tone.
I didn’t bother to answer him, knowing he’d be after me anyway, so I focused on running.
‘Please, let the plan work out.’
Maintaining balance was difficult due to the shoes. Even though I detached the heels, they were originally designed as high heels.
I barely managed to avoid stumbling and ran towards the castle wall.
Everything around me flashed by, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Your highness, don’t you think it would be faster and more efficient if I carried you and ran?”
Ares’ whisper, mixed with absurdity, reached my ears.
I gritted my teeth and shook my head.
“It would be too noticeable.”
“What? What’s that…….”
“It’s exhausting, so don’t make me talk!”
Running alone was already challenging, and he persisted in talking to me.
But soon, my exhausted legs gave in, and I stumbled.
To be precise, just before falling, Ares grabbed me, preventing me from crashing onto the ground.
“I told you it’s too much. Get on my back. I’ll run discreetly enough for you.”
“……I’m sorry.”
I ended up leaning on Ares’ back.
A darn body makes it impossible to do anything properly.
‘Once this is over, I need to figure out how to make an effective potion somehow.’
We ran and ran and ran until we reached the 21st watchtower on the castle wall.
Ares set me down and pointed in the opposite direction.
“His Highness Julion probably went that way.”
It seemed he found traces of Julion somewhere along the way.
“Why on earth did he come here… I feel like I might know.”
His voice, initially filled with complaints, suddenly changed, becoming serious.
A large, black-clad figure with a mask and hood emerged from the bushes.
Ares scratched his head and said it with a hint of complaint.
“To be followed like this, I must be really tired.”
He let out a long sigh and blocked my front.
“Your Highness, it seems like we have a lot of enemies.”
“Well, more importantly, can we handle them?”
“Are you seriously asking me that?”
Ares confidently smiled.
The tip of Ares’ sword gleamed in the sunlight filtering through.
Without hesitation, both of them lunged at each other.
A piercing sound rang through the air, and dust rose thickly.
At first glance, Ares seemed to be at a disadvantage due to his opponent’s immense size.
But it was the big man who pushed back.
“Kuluk!”
Unable to evade Ares’ agile movements, the man’s body became covered in bruises.
“Don’t kill him!”
If possible, I needed them alive, and I had to bring Roxis up to the surface as well.
Furthermore, if I could involve Cassian himself, that would be more ideal.
The moment one knee of the man knelt, Ares’ sword shot up high again.
—Clang!
With a thunderous sound, Ares was pushed back a few steps, glaring in my direction.
More precisely, behind me.
I felt a familiar sensation at the back of my head.
A chilling gaze, as if a snake were coiling or an insect was crawling.
Turning my head quickly, unsurprisingly, there stood a concealed man.
“……Roxis.”
As I’d suspected, he really had a confrontation with Julion, and Roxis was bruised and battered.
There was a long scratch on his cheek, and blood was dripping from his left arm.
However, his ominous gaze remained unchanged.
Roxis twisted his lips strangely.
“Rotty, long time no see.”
Although it wasn’t the most appropriate conversation in this situation, I accepted it to buy some time.
“Indeed. If you attended the banquet, you could have quietly enjoyed it. Why did you create such a disturbance?”
“You should know better than that.”
“It’s not something Father would approve of.”
“He’d probably congratulate me. Look, I’ve successfully found the target.”
Roxis’ gaze turned towards the watchtower.
His eyes burned with greed and bloodlust, sending chills down my spine.
“What you want isn’t here, Roxis. It’s not too late to turn back now. Go quietly.”
“If that’s the case, then open the door, Rotty.”
“……I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Isn’t she right there? Hemion Martin.”
I tried to maintain composure and raised the corners of my mouth with a sly smile.
“What makes you think that? Do you not think I lured you here?
“You? Luring me?”
Roxis laughed loudly, as if he had heard a particularly amusing story.
“Rotty, I know you well. If that were the case, you wouldn’t have acted so desperately.”
“……This is the Imperial Palace; are you sure you want to get into trouble?”
“What’s the matter? No one will ever know I was here.”
Roxis spoke in a dainty tone and drew his sword.
“There might be one unnecessary pest, though.”
It happened in an instant.
In an instant, in invisible movements, Ares, who had been on guard, urgently leaped away.
After blinking a few times, I saw that Ares’ clothing was cut as if he had been in a clash.
“Sir Ares!”
Blood seeped through the torn fabric of Ares’ sleeve.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem too deep, but it was definitely a warning sign.
Ares looked at the cut piece of fabric and chuckled.
“How amusing, it’s been a while.”
Watching Ares laugh nonchalantly, Roxis raised an eyebrow.
“Why don’t you understand that the more a pest wriggles, the more brutally it gets crushed?”
The conversation ended there.
During a single breath, they clashed several times, raising dust with each collision.
Ares’ sword made a cut at Roxis’ earlobe, and Roxis slashed Ares’ side.
“Kkuk….”
Roxis had a somewhat pleased expression, as if something enjoyable had happened.
“Ever since you stirred up my territory, you’ve been a nuisance. I should have dealt with you properly back then.”
Uttering vague words, Roxis drew another sword.
With a sword in each hand, Roxis was so formidable that even in Cassian territory, he would have no equal.
It was because of this strength that my father had considered putting Roxis as a strong candidate for the next duke.
‘It’s dangerous.’
Even Ares could barely hold out.
I’ve heard that Julion is after Roxis. I wonder when he’ll be here.
“……!”
One of the swords Roxis was wielding flew out, landing with a thud on the ground.
Then another gust of wind.
“Was this the place where the little mouse ran off to?”
Julion stood there with an expression I had never seen before.
