Supporting Characters Also Need Some Love

CHAPTER 5: HERE, NOW, AND YOU (I)

Part 097

 

She didn’t know how long it’s been like this. Scary thoughts kept gnawing at her mind, leaving her in a dazed state for a while. It seemed like a long time had passed, but she had no idea how time passed in the underground room where no sound could be heard. She exhaled for a long time and breathed in more deeply. She took a few deep breaths and looked around to see a large jar filled with water. She took water from a wooden bowl and washed her hands. The entire inside of the bowl turned bright red. As she looked at Jenny’s blood washed away, she burst into tears. She gritted her teeth and swallowed. Her throat tingles. After catching her breath again, she looked for a place to drain the water, and there was a portable toilet behind the screen. After washing her hands in cold water, she felt cold. A chill flowed from the wall made of bricks.

 

She looked around the small room she was trapped in. There was a shoddy carpet spread over the dirt floor. There was one small table and one chair where she had been sitting until a moment ago. The shabby closet with a cloudy mirror on it contained several thick gowns. After she thought she was done, it got colder so she put on a gown. The small bed was covered with a fairly thick blanket, and fur slippers were placed under the bed. For a cell that holds a kidnapped hostage, it looks like they put a lot of care into it. So should she be thankful! ‘Hey guys!!’ She felt so hot that I kicked off her slippers. Instead of just sending him away, she should have grabbed the bastard Hegel’s head and shook it. She was so shocked that she couldn’t even swear like an idiot. She was upset and disintegrated. 

 

‘Bad guy. He fooled us all and stuck a knife in the body of a woman who couldn’t resist, causing a lot of blood. Jenny will be okay, right? She will be fine. She will.’

 

Her throat hurts from crying again. She sat down on the bed and took another deep breath. It was so hard to keep her sanity. Still, let’s come to our senses. There might be someone watching her. She didn’t want to hear herself cry unsightly. ‘Calm down, Damian.’ What happened to Princess Remina? The Royal Guard participated in the rebellion and was disbanded. Then he gathered all his troops and went to the Zero Plain. There were only a few royal guards left, but did that mean the palace could collapse so easily? Militia, Hegel, and Milden Prize here. The whereabouts of the illegal weapons that could not be traced in the end. Adrian had said before that there were a thousand people armed with smuggled weapons. The militia numbered about 1,000 people. She thought the leaders, Hennessy and Hegel, had a hard time because they handled the work so well for a hastily created organization, but they were trained soldiers. Thousands of well-armed and trained soldiers. There were enough people to rob the royal palace, which did not even have a decent defense force. War was also expected. In order to be able to occupy the palace with just 1,000 men, they created a situation where the entire capital army would leave Midok. By the way, who was Hegel? Hegel said that Adrian was a colleague who had been with him since he was on the border. He must have been someone she trusted enough to entrust as her escort. Why on earth was he?

 

The more she thinks about it, the more the blood in her body feels cold. She wrapped her arms around her trembling shoulders. It’s so obvious why they kidnapped her that she can’t stop shaking. She was not royalty, and she didn’t have any great powers. They were trying to use her to blackmail Adrian. What on earth was that? Now that the National Guard had reached that point, the entire Raurentine army was under Adrian’s command. But what could he do with that? Was he going to war? With whom? What on earth do they want after deceiving Adrian for so long and going as far as kidnapping me? As he was chewing his nails and rolling his head, he heard the sound of locks snapping. It happened reflexively. She still didn’t know how to treat her. She was in an underground cell where no one could come and there was nowhere to hide, so she forced herself to straighten her back. She hid her shaking hands behind her back. Hegel came into the cell holding a tray in his hand. He smiled as he put down the tray with the meal on the table.

 

“It’s dinner, miss. Please eat it even if it doesn’t suit your taste.”

 

When she heard those words, the reason she was barely able to maintain was completely lost. Was he laughing now? He walked up to him and swung his right hand hard. She didn’t know everything, but first she had to at least give them a beating so she could breathe. Hegel backed away slightly and easily avoided her hand, but she knew he would. ‘You bastard.’ She kicked his shin hard with her shoe-wearing foot. Perhaps unexpectedly, the toe of the pointed shoe collided directly with Hegel’s shin. Her toes were hurting inside her shoes, but she held on and pretended it didn’t hurt. Hegel, who had jumped back and bent down to rub his shins, straightened his body with a stern grin.

 

“Ouch. I should have been slapped instead.”

 

“Jenny, what happened to Jenny? You bastard. Our Jenny!”

 

“It will be okay because the best doctor in Midok was called in. I managed to avoid the vital area and stabbed her.”

 

“That doesn’t even sound like an apology!”

 

When she got closer, wanting to give him another hit, Hegel spread out his palm and stepped behind him.

 

“I understand how you feel, but calm down, lady. It’s not good to make a fuss here.”

 

As she stiffen in shock, Hegel shakes off his beaten leg and jokes.

 

“It won’t happen, but if someone else comes in, you shouldn’t do this. There are no gentlemen like me here.”

 

These words summed up my situation all at once, so her body stiffened again. She didn’t want to show that she was scared, but she was so scared. She pretended to be calm and sat down on the chair next to the table. In fact, she was leaning because it was difficult to stand, and there was no way Hegel, the knight, would not know. Still, she sat with her back straight. She kept a blank expression, but that was her limit. She opened her mouth, hoping that her voice would not tremble, but even to her ears, her slightly trembling voice sounded pitiful.

 

“What are you trying to get Adrian to do?”

 

“Oh. You are as perceptive as expected, young lady. Do not worry. It’s not a bad thing.”

 

“So what’s not that bad?”

 

“I plan to put my lord on the throne. There are a few things I want him to do after he becomes king.”

 

“What?”

 

She was thinking about war or something, but what kind of nonsense was this? He kidnapped her and took over the palace to make Adrian king? Hegel’s face was smiling mischievously, but his eyes were serious, as if he was telling the truth. He blackmails an unwilling man into becoming king? What was it? He had to make Adrian King to make him do something.

 

“After I do everything you tell me to do, what happens next?”

 

Hegel looked excited and smiled brightly at the question that followed.

 

“Then we should send the young lady back to our lord. Once he knows what we are trying to do, he will understand me. No, rather, he will take the lead.”

 

“What on earth are you trying to get Adrian to do?”

 

“It’s someone’s unfulfilled dream.”

 

His expression darkened as he gave an incomprehensible answer to my question, and then he spoke again with a smile on his face.

 

“Anyway, that’s it, lady. I won’t let you stay here for a long time, so please behave yourself for a few days. I’ve brought you plenty of food, so eat until tomorrow morning. Don’t eat anything other than what I give you.”

 

“What are you talking about? Where are you taking me? Hegel! Hegel!”

 

He got up and called out to him, but Hegel just said what he had to say and left, closing the iron door behind him. She heard the sound of a lock being locked outside and knocked on the windowless door, but there was no answer. He kept knocking on the door, but he was afraid that someone else would come in, so he backed away from the door. Hegel didn’t seem like he’s going to harm her directly anyway, but other guys… she didn’t know.

 

She gathered her distraught mind and sat back down in her chair. There was enough bread on the table to last all day tomorrow, not just until tomorrow morning. There was clean water in a large kettle, as well as butter and jam. But she couldn’t seem to get an appetite. She felt like she had to throw everything away and do something evil to relieve herself, but she held back. Her heart ached so much as she held back from wanting to cry and from screaming. Her heart felt like it was being pinched within her ribs. She let out a long breath, letting go of the pain. She couldn’t confirm it, but Jenny probably avoided the worst. ‘As long as you’re safe, I hope you get well and become healthy again. And to Adrian, it didn’t seem like he was trying to do anything bad that would hurt him.’

 

Climb to the throne and do whatever they tell you. What kind of crazy nonsense was this? She didn’t know what Laurentine was trying to do, saying that it was not a country where the king could do whatever he wanted, but the nobles would raise it at the council and the administrators would raise it in practice, so what was she going to do about it?

 

Let’s say they explain the situation and ask Adrian to do something. So what happens when it’s all done? And when she returns to Adrian? Do they think Adrian will just leave them alone after that? They’re going to fight all of Laurentine with just a thousand militia? What on earth was this bottomless, shabby system? The more she thought about their plan as mentioned by Hegel, the more ridiculous it became. As she let out a laugh, the tension in her body eased a little, and the thirst she had forgotten came flooding back. She tilted the kettle, poured water into the cup, lifted the cup and brought it to her mouth, but then threw the cup away as a scary thought crossed her mind. After Adrian becomes king, they have to keep holding on to something in order to keep him from upsetting everything when he meets their demands and gets me back. 

 

‘This means that even after achieving what you want from Adrian, you need a means to control him. Otherwise, Adrian really won’t leave these guys alone. So in the end, it’s me again.’

 

A means to threaten Adrian. In the end, she was the one who could threaten Adrian and keep him down until they built up their own forces to oppose him. What were they planning to do to her before that? If Adrian had no choice but to become their puppet under the pretext of something, that something must be her life.

 

She looked down at the well-baked bread on the tray. She overturned the tray and threw it on the floor. There was a loud noise, water poured out of the kettle, and bread rolled around on the floor. She did not know yet. Was Hegel planning to poison her, or was he trying not to poison her? No, she may be overly sensitive and have a wild imagination. She didn’t know if there’s a poison that wouldn’t kill you but you’ll have to beg them for it. She didn’t know!

 

Her whole body was shaking. She hated it, she hated it, she absolutely hated it. She didn’t want Adrian to do things he didn’t want because of her, and she didn’t want him to beg for her life from these guys. She crawled into bed, covered herself with the blanket, and curled up. She couldn’t stop the uncontrollable shaking of her body.

 

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Translator Note: