I Picked Up an Abandoned Villain in the Polar Region

Episode 70

 

Brody had neither seen Rubinus before nor heard any description of her appearance. Yet, somehow, she recognized her immediately.

She was the mistress of the wildness and the mother of the baby in her arms.

“Ronald…!”

Rubinus recognized Ron at first glance and rushed toward him, only to stop abruptly when she noticed Brody.

Her gaze, a mixture of confusion and suspicion, made Brody hesitate and step back.

But in this tension-filled moment, an unexpected interruption occurred.

A weasel darted out from among the soldiers and pointed at Brody, shrieking,

“Lady Rubinus, it’s her! She’s the one who kidnapped your child! She threatened to kill me if I reported this, but I, your loyal weasel, defied her threats and came forward!”

The weasel’s sly voice, aimed at claiming all the credit for saving the heir of the wildness and pocketing the reward, echoed throughout the cabin.

The soldiers, though wary of the massive wolf standing in opposition, bravely pulled their crossbows taut, ready to fire, and shouted, “Hand over Lord Ronald immediately! If you don’t, you’ll die here and now!”

“Go ahead, then,” Kyle growled, baring his teeth.

But before the confrontation could escalate, Brody called out to him, “Kyle, stop.”

It was a simple command from her, standing silently face-to-face with Rubinus. Brody, unfazed by the arrows pointed at her, calmly walked forward. Then, gently set Ron down in front of Rubinus.

“Ronald…”

Rubinus, without hesitation, rushed forward and picked up her child. Her hands, full of relief, longing, and affection, lovingly caressed her son, who had been missing for so long.

Ron, who had been crying in fear due to the earlier chaos, gradually stopped as his mother’s soothing touch calmed him.

Brody watched the reunion of mother and child.

While a sense of relief washed over her, an emptiness lingered in her chest.

However, before she could fully process these mixed emotions, the soldiers surrounded Brody and Kyle, ready to apprehend them.

The weasel resumed its accusatory chatter, acting as the soldiers’ instigator.

“Hurry and capture them! To think they dared kidnap Lady Rubinus’s child! Without my loyal intervention, Lord Ronald wouldn’t be safe now!”

Distracted until now by Rubinus and Ron, Brody finally caught wind of the weasel’s ranting and lifted her head.

What utter nonsense is this?

Unfortunately, in this place, the only ones who thought the weasel’s words were nonsense were Brody and Kyle. As Rubinus and the soldiers had come here based on the weasel’s manipulative claims.

After reuniting with her son, Rubinus turned to the soldiers and gave a cold command, “What are you waiting for? Seize them immediately.”

“What? Wait a minute!”

Brody cried out in alarm.

She expected thanks for bringing the child back, not an arrest!

Feeling deeply wronged, she hastily protested,

“Hold on! There’s been a misunderstanding! We didn’t kidnap Ron! In fact, we’re the ones who came here to rescue him!”

The weasel, unabashed, yelled back,

“Lies! She’s trying to deceive Lady Rubinus! Don’t be fooled!”

“That’s ridiculous! We’re the ones who brought Ron to the wilderness. We came here on Shiloh Ennea’s request to return the child to you. If we were the kidnappers, why would we willingly bring him all the way back here?”

Brody appealed to reason, trying to counter the growing hostility.

But logic failed to sway the crowd. Rubinus, who had been silently listening to both sides, finally spoke in an icy tone.

“Shiloh Ennea ravaged Volcan and kidnapped my son not even two months ago. And now, you expect me to believe he suddenly sent the child back to me through you? That story defies all reason.”

Her cold voice turned the atmosphere even more hostile.

She then spun around, signaling the end of the conversation as if further discussion was beneath her.

But Brody, unwilling to die as a scapegoat after struggling to bring Ron back, shouted toward Rubinus, who was leaving with the child, “Eileen wanted this!”

The name Eileen stopped Rubinus in her tracks.

She froze mid-step at the cabin door.

Brody seized the moment and repeated firmly, “Eileen wanted Ron to be returned to you. That’s why we brought him here on Shiloh Ennea’s behalf.”

“Eileen… is alive?”

Rubinus turned, her face drained of color at the mention of the name.

Her reaction was far more intense than expected.

“That’s impossible,” Rubinus stammered, visibly shaken.

“She’s… she must be dead. I made sure of it. I-”

“Yes,” Kyle interjected, his tone sharp and mocking.

“She was dying for three years, unable to even move. But this woman saved her.”

Unlike Kyle’s cutting remarks, Brody felt pity for Rubinus, who seemed deeply unsettled.

It wasn’t hard to see that guilt over Eileen weighed heavily on her.

As Rubinus trembled with unease, Brody spoke softly, trying to calm her. “Eileen is fine now.”

Rubinus looked up.

“She doesn’t blame you. In fact, she defended you in front of her tribe, insisting you weren’t the one who hurt her.”

“Eileen…?”

Rubinus’s eyes wavered violently, as if the idea of Eileen harboring no resentment was more than she could process.

It was as though she had lived in fear of being hated by Eileen all this time.

Brody continued,”That’s why Eileen wanted Ron to be returned to you. We brought him here because she wished it.”

“…”

“In other words,” Brody added, “Eileen still considers you her friend.”

Though it might have been presumptuous, Brody couldn’t hold back from saying it.

She wanted to convey Eileen’s feelings, who still cared for Rubinus as a friend.

Rubinus, standing frozen as she listened, couldn’t remain in that spot any longer and left the cabin.

Brody didn’t stop her, having noticed her reddened eyes as she turned to leave.

Letting out a sigh, Brody watched Rubinus’s retreating figure.

Decades ago, the friendship between the two women—once the seeds of peace between the White Fox and Red Fox clans—seemed to still linger in their hearts, even after they had hurt each other.

 

***

 

The weasel, who had falsely accused Brody, was arrested on the spot.

Once the misunderstanding was cleared, Brody and Kyle were no longer seen as kidnappers but were elevated to honored guests, escorted by soldiers into Volcan.

Rubinus’s castle, where they were to stay, was located at the highest point in Volcan.

As they made their way there, the first thing Brody noticed was how dark and desolate the castle seemed—like a haunted house.

Throughout the castle were remnants of destruction, resembling the scars of war, with no signs of repair.

The troubling part, however, was that it wasn’t just Rubinus’s castle in such a state.

As they passed through Volcan on their way, Brody realized what the groundhog had meant when he said the city was in ruins.

Volcan looked like a wasteland.

The remnants of the war with the White Fox clan still littered the streets, with many buildings left collapsed and abandoned.

On top of that, countless vagrants wandered the streets, their faces dark with despair.

This was the state of a city abandoned by its ruler.

Seeing all this, Brody finally understood why outsiders were barred from entering Volcan.

The city, on the brink of collapse, had fortified its defenses against outsiders to prevent an imminent downfall. And the one who had let the city reach such a state was none other than the ruler of the wilderness, Rubinus.

Standing on a terrace, Brody gazed at the desolate cityscape with a bitter expression before turning away.

She was in one of the many rooms of Rubinus’s castle. After eating and enjoying a rare bath, Brody threw herself onto the large bed.

The blanket, unused for a long time, had a musty smell, and cobwebs hung like lace in the corners of the room. But it wasn’t just her room—this gloomy atmosphere pervaded the entire castle.

Lying alone in the eerie room, Brody couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning.

She had grown accustomed to sleeping with Kyle and Ron and now felt the sting of loneliness.

Out of habit, she began to wonder if Ron had eaten.

“I wonder if he’s been fed?”

Since returning to Rubinus’s arms, Brody hadn’t seen Ron properly. While she knew it was the right thing, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness and longing.

Eventually, the desire to at least catch a glimpse of Ron sleeping pushed her to leave her room.

As she quietly walked down the corridor near the stairs, she instinctively perked her ears.

That’s when she heard it—a baby’s cry coming from upstairs.

 

Realizing it was Ron, Brody headed straight up.

The closer she got, the louder his cries became. Following the sound, she soon stopped in front of an open door.

Inside was Ron.

Beneath a window illuminated only by moonlight, a woman cradled the crying baby.

It was Rubinus.

She seemed at a loss, staring at the baby with a troubled expression as she tried to soothe him to no avail.

Come to think of it, Shiloh had taken Ron away when he was just a newborn, meaning Rubinus had been separated from her son before she’d had the chance to hold him properly.

It was no wonder she looked so unsure, holding the tiny baby in her arms.

Unable to just stand by and watch, the ever-meddling Brody knocked lightly on the already open door and spoke up.

“Excuse me…”

Thank you so much for the Kofi, cupoftea 💗. It made my day!