Chapter 108 Like A Poisonous Apple
A moment later, Veronia appeared, dressed in active breeches, and together they mounted their horses.
“Yay!”
They spurred their horses into a gallop. After all, riding a horse through the night air is pretty exciting, Veronia thought, and her excitement must have shown on her face.
“You seem to enjoy riding horses.”
“Yes, I do, especially at night, like now.”
“At night?”
“Yes. It reminds me of the night I escaped from the palace. I was scared of my new life outside, but I was also happy, because I thought I could finally live properly, really properly.”
“… I see.”
Killion’s heart sank heavily for a moment. That night, five years ago, was the night of the greatest crisis of his life.
It had been the night he’d lost her, the night he’d lain awake at night thinking he’d been a fool to realise the value of her until after he’d lost her.
‘But for Princess Veronia, it must have been the day she was finally free.’
Killion felt a little lonely at the disparity between their memories of the same day.
Veronia must have noticed his sinking spirits, because she glanced over at him and spoke cautiously.
“I’m sorry, that must have been a difficult memory for you.”
“… No, I know it was the best thing to do at the time. It’s just…”
Killion opened his mouth slowly, his expression as serious as ever. Hoping that some of his sincerity would reach her.
“Not in the future. Not ever, even in the moments when running away seems like the best option.”
“…”
“If you want to run away, tell me first. I’ll be there with you.”
A wry smile tugged at the corners of Veronia’s mouth at his sincerity. The sincerity of Killion’s unexpected confession tickled her heart. It was adorable.
“You said you would never run away for Jediel’s sake, and that will never change.”
“Yes …”
That’s enough, Killion thought. It was so obvious that Veronia’s priority was Jediel, not him.
But he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of bitterness. Kilion tried to hide his disappointment and spoke again.
“I hope we can go out for a horseback ride at night, just the two of us, from time to time.”
“I thought you’d say it was dangerous.”
Veronia looked at Killion questioningly at his suggestion.
“I don’t intend to stop you from doing what you like, I don’t intend to break your will to do it, I just intend to be there for you and protect you.”
Killion’s sweet words sounded good, Veronia thought.
“I’ll look forward to our horseback riding date tonight.”
The night air was cold against her face, but her cheeks were alive with heat.
***
“Huh? Nia?”
“Onyx, long time no see!”
Onyx, who had been waiting for Killion without any expectations, grinned broadly as Veronia appeared.
Killion frowned at Onyx’s expression, which didn’t look any different from what he had expected. But this wasn’t Onyx who cared about Killion’s expression.
Instead of taking Veronia’s outstretched hand to shake it, Onyx pulled her into a tight embrace.
“It’s the least I can do after all these month. Don’t you think so?”
“… Yes.”
Onyx laughed heartily, glad to see Veronia after nearly a month. Veronia was taken aback for a moment, as she had never greeted Onyx like this before, but she was grateful that he was so happy to see her.
As their embrace lengthened, a trace of irritation began to rise from somewhere deep within Killion’s body, and he resisted the urge to forcefully separate them, instead nudging Onyx on the shoulder and saying bluntly.
“Enough with the greetings, let’s get down to business. We’re both busy people.”
He was right about the busyness, so Onyx complied with Killion without protest.
“Let’s get straight to the report, as a thank you to the Chancellor for trusting our guild’s intelligence over that of the Imperial administration!”
Onyx, grinning unnecessarily, played the video sphere she had prepared. It showed footage of plague victims.
“It’s only been two weeks since the plague was first reported, and I’m sure you’ve heard that hundreds of people have already fallen ill and dozens have died, but it’s spreading so fast. There are estimates that the death toll could be in the hundreds by next week.”
Veronia and Killion frowned, speechless at the horrific sights in the video.
“The symptoms of the plague are said to start with the fingertips and toes, gradually rotting away, and eventually the internal organs, leading to death.”
“How does it spread?”
“They’re not sure. First it infected animals and plants, then people who ate infected animals and plants started getting sick, and now it’s spreading from person to person.”
“It’s not like a normal epidemic. It’s like the pathogen is evolving, and very quickly.”
Onyx nodded vigorously at Veronia’s words and continued her report.
“That’s right, and that’s why there is a cautious consensus among medical researchers that this plague is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, but a human-made one.”
“If it’s human-made… does that mean someone is deliberately spreading the plague?”
“It’s still speculation, but somehow I’m beginning to think it’s quite credible.”
Onyx’s tone was quite serious, and Veronia and Killion’s expressions darkened at the same time. If it was true that someone was deliberately spreading the dreaded disease, then the problem was very serious.
“The general consensus is that the plague started with the carcasses of demons. We all know that their bodies decompose very quickly. Within a week of death, they lose their shape and turn to mud. But the carcasses recently found in the south were different.”
“It remained the same after a week?”
“Yes. It was found in its original form, only slightly decomposed, rather than turned to mud.”
Onyx pulled out another image sphere, this time playing it. Veronica and Killion’s faces contorted in disbelief at the grotesque scene.
“Oh, my God…, the carcass of a demon has decayed and contaminated the surroundings!”
“Yes, that’s right, unlike before when the corpses of demons would rapidly decay and disappear within a week, the rate of decay has slowed down drastically, causing a bad effect on the surroundings.”
The blackening of the soil, grass, and trees around the carcasses of the decaying demons looked like a prophecy of the end of the world.
“That would mean that the flora and fauna of the contaminated forest got sick first, and then the disease spread to the humans.”
“We’re still investigating, so we can’t say for sure, but it seems likely.”
“If that’s true, then… maybe the Saint can cleanse the forest, which would slow down the spread of the plague.”
“But the problem is that the forest is so vast. Of course, the Saint’s divine power is so great that she can heal an entire village at once, but the forest is many times larger than a village.”
The three of them couldn’t tear their eyes away from the image sphere that showed the horrific scene. Veronia began to recall the original story.
“Did the original story say that there was a plague in the south?
Yes, there was an uprising in the south, and it was treated as a major event, as it spread across the country and eventually led to the overthrow of the imperial family, of which Veronia was a part, and the crowning of Killion as the new Emperor.
‘But there was no talk of plague anywhere else, not even in the south.’
Veronia was certain. She still remembered the major events vividly, even if they had faded from her memory more than they had five years ago.
‘Which means… that the cause of this epidemic is that the original novel went wrong…’
A chill ran down her spine. The reason the original story was wrong was her escape from the palace. The thought that she had caused a plague to spread that didn’t exist in the original made her shudder.
‘No. That’s too big a leap, Veronia, and I thought we agreed never to compare the original to the present again!’
She clenched her andamun molars together, pushing the unnecessary thoughts away.
‘The main thing that’s changed since the original novel was adapted… is that Jonathan became Emperor, not Killion, and it’s a southern tragedy that Jonathan became Emperor…’
Perhaps this was a leap of faith, but I needed to keep my mind open to all possibilities. Besides…
‘There was something… about Jonathan that seemed to have a black underbelly that was not easily visible to others.’
Veronia could still clearly remember the look in Jonathan’s eyes when she had seen him a few days ago at the magic tool commercialisation event. He’d spoken in a benevolent voice, smiling broadly, but his eyes hadn’t been smiling at all.
They were like poisonous apples that you don’t realize are poisonous until you bite into them, hiding a sinister underbelly deep within.
