The Villain Dreams Of World Peace

Episode 59: Gentle Moon (2)

Muriel couldn’t bring herself to answer and only pursed her lips. The man, perhaps noticing her momentary hesitation, exclaimed in admiration.

“You… you saw me. I see. Because I have Sharan’s eyes. That’s why the Saint could see me….”

The man seemed unconcerned about the fact that he could have died, he was solely focused on the fact that Muriel had seen him through her prophecy. Instead of questioning why it was important that she’d seen him, Muriel made a cowardly excuse.

“…Now that I’ve helped your highness, the future has changed.”

“Who killed me?”

“Well… w-what’s so important about that? It’s already in the past… Strictly speaking, it’s a future that was likely to happen, so even saying ‘it’s in the past’ is a bit of a stretch…”

“….”

“…Do you really want to know that badly?”

“Yes.”

Muriel surrendered to his stubborn insistence that seemed likely to last until the end.

“Me. In the future I saw, I killed you. But now, I have no such intention at all. And I will never do such a thing in the future. I can swear to it. If necessary, I can even take an oath.”

The price for breaking a pledge of oath was one’s life. It was a powerful and unbreakable restraint, but if it meant he’d trust her, Muriel could bear it.

He shaked his head.

“Thank you for answering.”

The man stood up from his seat and bowed politely.

And now he looked at Muriel as if he was ready to follow her.

Though he didn’t get too close, maybe because he was afraid of touch, he came close enough that it was difficult to say he was being wary.

“That’s it? Are you okay without a pledge? Is that really it? I killed you, even if it was in a prophecy! Aren’t you scared? Aren’t you going to ask more? Why did you do that? Are you sure it won’t happen anymore? Aren’t you going to ask me this?”

“Ah… Should I ask?”

“No!! Why are you believing me so easily? What would you do if I come at you saying I’ll kill you again?!”

“…If from now on, Muriel… if you want to kill me, you can.”

Aaah!!

In a frenzy, Muriel let out an internal scream.

“Who said I’m going to kill your highness?! I’m not that kind of person!!”

“…I’m… I’m sorry.”

“No! I’m not angry…”

With the man’s eyes covered, it was hard to tell what kind of expression he was making. His firm lips showed no emotion. However, with his slightly lowered head and fidgeting fingers, he seemed depressed.

Sigh…

Muriel touched his forehead and cooled off the hot steam.

She thought that getting angry would only make the man more frightened, so she put on a gentle tone.

“Haah… Then why did you ask in the first place? Weren’t you asking to check if I was trustworthy?”

“…I just wanted to remember. Muriel… I wanted to remember who it was that rescued me. I’m glad that the person who tried to kill me was also Muriel… It was all Muriel.”

It wasn’t just words; the man’s voice trembled a little with joy.

What’s going on…

Why did it feel so sad…

 

“Thank you. Thank you so much.. For coming. Everyday… I’ve been waiting everyday.”

She wanted to give him a big hug. She wanted to embrace him, share his hardships and his loneliness. She wanted to shower him with some attempt at consolation and comfort. But she withdrew her hand, recalling that someone else’ warmth, which should be comfort to a person, was torment to him.

“Sigh… Um… Shall we… go now? You can follow me, right?”

Nod.

“There might still be monsters on the way. Please… hang in there, even if it’s gross. I don’t want to show you anything scary, but even with the sculpture, magic attracts monsters.”

“Oh, no.”

“What?”

“…Oh, it was beautiful.”

“…What?”

“Not a single… not a single thing was gross at all. Every moment of you coming to save me, you were beautiful.”

“….”

“To the point.. I thought for the first time that I’m fortunate to have Sharan’s eyes.”

“Sigh… Excuse me, Your Highness. Hold this. It might be dangerous on the way. I know you can see everything, but hold onto this, let’s go.”

Muriel held out the ornament hanging from her waist. In truth, she wanted to hold his hand and take him along like a crying baby brother, but this compromise was the best she could do.

“You don’t have to hold it if you don’t want to, but I’m afraid you might trip. Just hold onto it here. I won’t touch anywhere else. Is that okay?”

“I don’t… mind.”

“I thought so. Let’s go then. We have to escape from this dreadful place.”

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Muriel was astonished to see how quickly she became wanted. Within hours of leaving the palace, wanted posters with her face and name were plastered all over the capital. It seemed like he’d used the Knights of Sharan who’d developed mobility to deal with Ur and connected each territory to the palace, so the entire kingdom must already know about Muriel’s escape.

Muriel went deep into the forest to avoid people’s eyes. She was going to meet August and ask for help. Walking alone was already exhausting, but having another person with her made it even more physically demanding.

“…!”

Muriel stumbled and finally knelt down, unable to go any further.

The man following behind couldn’t let go of Muriel’s waist ornament, nor could he support her and help her up. He stood there, helpless.

“Haah… Haah… Your Highness, should we take a break?”

“W-where… are you hurt?”

“Just a little tired. But since it’s nighttime now.. You can see ahead, right?”

“Oh, d-did you push yourself too hard because of me…”

“It’s not your fault, I’m just not used to it. But if you can see ahead, I think it would be better to improve your stamina and conserve magic power now. Can you do that?”

After hesitating for a while, the man spoke with determination, albeit hesitantly.

“You must never… look back… if you promise… to… and not push yourself too hard…”

“Because you don’t want me to see your eyes.”

Nodding.

It was beautiful to see the white hair nodding exposed in the moonlight. There was a description on the wanted poster that said, “Accompanied by a man with white hair,” so even though they couldn’t dye his hair right away, she thought it would be best to cut it so as not to stand out, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it in the end because it felt wasteful.

Muriel knew that the man had been abused by his parents and siblings because of his unusual appearance. With his snow-white hair, he was called a demon and various other names instead of inheriting the Sharan name. Because of that, he had a serious complex about his appearance. No… Could it simply be described as a complex when he had been trapped his whole life just because of his appearance and the fact that he couldn’t see light with his eyes? It would be more accurate to say that it was a deep trauma.

So Muriel simply nodded.

She was just grateful he was willing to take off that blindfold for her.

“But I still want to know if you’re following well, so keep holding onto this.”

Nodding.

“But Your Highness. I thought it was pretty.’

“?”

“I’ve already seen Your Highness’s face in my dream. I thought Your Highness’s eyes were like very beautiful red gems.”

“Oh…! Ah, no…! I…”

The man panicked, breathing heavily and becoming flustered.

Just as Muriel was trying to calm him down, thinking she might have said something she shouldn’t have yet, the sound of carriage wheels could be heard in the distance.

“Hush. Come this way.”

Muriel quickly pulled the man and hid their bodies behind a tree.

To come across a carriage in the middle of the forest. It was a strange occurrence.

The horses pulling the carriage seemed exceptionally well-trained, and the carriage itself, adorned with jewels, appeared to belong to a noble who enjoyed luxury. It was difficult to understand why it was passing through this deserted forest.

It would be a relief if it were on a secret outing that was hard to reveal to others. However, the carriage was moving slowly as if it were in a parade. As if flaunting, ‘look here.’

Muriel gathered her magic power, preparing to attack if necessary, but then jumped to her feet when she saw the pattern painted on the carriage.

“Eklum…!”

Upon closer inspection, the person pulling the carriage didn’t seem ordinary either. Although they wore a cloak, the expensive shoes peeking out from under the cloak’s hem appeared to be worth a small fortune.

“Can you hide here for a moment?”

“…Are you leaving me behind?”

The man anxiously held onto Muriel’s waist ornament.

“He’s a reliable friend, but just in case. It would be good if at least one of us could escape.”

“…Can’t we go together?”

In fact, she wondered if leaving him behind even had any point. The man’s appearance looked too prominent. Even if he ran away alone, it seemed like he would be caught again soon. While she was contemplating the best way for him to survive, the hand holding onto the waist ornament fell off.

“I-I’ll wait.”

“…Are you sure it’s okay?”

He nodded.

She didn’t mind him being insistent, still, the man bowed his head with a meek face, as if he didn’t want to upset Muriel.

Ugh… Muriel forced her tired body to move her creaking joints and quickly caught up with the carriage. The carriage’s speed was so slow that even though she ran slowly, huffing and puffing, she quickly managed to reach the coachman’s seat.

“August.”

“Oh My God, Muriel…!”

“W-Wow!”

Muriel shouted stupidly and wriggled in August’s embrace. As soon as August spotted Muriel, he jumped off the driver’s seat with an ecstatic expression and pulled her into his arms in a heartbeat. With the big man rushing towards her, her entire body wobbled as if she had been attacked by a bear.

“Thank you for being alive.”

Ah… to think she doubted this person for a moment. August had a visibly relieved expression, but his face still looked rough to look at. He hadn’t perchance been tormented by guilt ever since Muriel took the place of the arsonist, had he? She felt sorry for not even sending him a single letter to let him know she was doing well.

“I’m so glad you’re alive…”

“That… I’m sorry I couldn’t contact you. I haven’t been in a good situation lately. How have you been, August?”

“I… I’ve been fine, thanks to you. But more importantly, Muriel, you’re wanted all over country. Do you know?”

Nodding.

“So, I would like to ask you a favor regarding that…”

“Why else would I come here? This is the most remote road connecting the kingdom to the Eklum territory. I’ve been waiting for you, Muriel.”

“…Are you saying you were waiting because you thought I would pass through this road?”

August chuckled, saying it was a simple matter.

He appeared to be a glamorous handsome man who only indulged in luxury and parties, but it seemed he was also indeed a shrewd strategist with no flaws.

“I’ve been waiting for the day to return the favor.”