You are at the End of the Downfall

But this time, did she even look at him?

Peon suddenly felt an eerie feeling and turned around. But the door he had closed himself was still tightly shut.

Resisting the urge to open the door again, he walked down the corridor. Spring would soon come to Lusenford too, but the wind that still made him worry about Kaela’s health because of its chill shook the Grand Duke’s cloak.

“Your Highness.”

Secretary Regen cautiously approached and bowed his head. Peon had felt him hovering around for several minutes, waiting for him to come out, but he had left him be while repeatedly reassuring Kaela while holding her hands.

Peon turned to look at Regen, trying to shake off the eerie feeling that still lingered.

“May I come closer to report, Your Highness?”

Peon gestured wordlessly. Regen approached as directed, looked around, and then whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

“It was gold, Your Highness.”

The second mine would pour out gold abundantly. Peon nodded.

“What shall we do?”

“As we dig, we’ll find a few large nuggets. Bring those. We’ll send only one of them to Crania.”

He planned to completely hide the more precious diamonds and send the emperor gold, which, while not comparable to diamonds, was always considered valuable, to curry favor.

The emperor would no longer know the true state of Lusenford’s finances and military. Reports could be falsified easily, and as for the emperor’s eyes and ears, well…

“Yes, Your Highness. I will do as you command, but is it alright?”

Regen was loyal, but separately, he couldn’t hide his concern. It was always his job to examine every risk factor. If there was any danger to his lord Peon, of course he had to look into it.

In that sense, he was worried about whether it was alright to keep quiet to the emperor about the Kervan mine, which was producing enormous amounts of diamonds.

The emperor always showed a pathological interest in what was happening in Lusenford, obsessing over it and giving unsolicited advice.

It wasn’t once or twice that the emperor’s messenger appeared knowing exactly what had happened before Peon could report, or Peon was summoned to Crania.

Because of this, the people of Lusenford always thought the emperor was watching them, harboring both fear and hatred.

The ever-watchful emperor, the fearsome presence always watching, the ruler who held Lusenford’s leash, despising and scorning them, never giving them even a bit of freedom.

“Nothing will happen.”

Peon said firmly. He was the only citizen of the Cranian Empire who no longer feared the emperor’s eyes and ears. He had other fears.

“Yes, then I’ll proceed as such. And about the fourth mine…”

Regen lowered his voice even more. It was almost inaudible.

“Is it really ‘that place’?”

A different kind of fear showed on the secretary’s face. He seemed to be feeling a life-threatening terror.

“Really, Your Highness, if it’s ‘that place’, development is impossible. There will be enormous loss of life, and above all, it violates national law.”

“I haven’t given any orders about the fourth mine yet.”

“You said ‘yet’, Your Highness, ‘yet’. That means you will definitely give the order someday, and by the day you give the order, it will already be too late.”

Regen didn’t hide his expression that suggested he felt 10 years older because the Grand Duke, who was a head taller than him, pretended not to know this point at all.

“It’s true that you only mentioned the location of the fourth mine, but even that has kept me awake for days.”

Peon chuckled.

“As someone who always cares about his subordinates’ sleep, let me tell you there’s no need to lose sleep, Regen.”

“Since you care about my sleep, could you also care about my liver, Your Highness?”

“My, should I help you grow your liver a bit more now?”

“Unfortunately, this is the maximum. If I try to grow it any more, it will burst.”

As Regen walked alongside the Grand Duke, he explained how small and sensitive an organ the liver is. The Grand Duke half-listened to his secretary’s words as he descended the stairs and headed towards the stable.

“Bring out my horse.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

One of the knights immediately moved.

“As soon as I return, I’ll prepare a report for His Majesty the Emperor. Get ready for that, Regen.”

“Are you going far, Your Highness?”

Peon glanced down at Regen.

“I should consider your small liver. I’m going to scout the evil dragon’s territory.”

Although it was dangerous work, Peon had always done it himself, so the secretary didn’t try to stop him.

“Please be careful, Your Highness.”

The morale was naturally high because the Commander-in-Chief of Lusenford didn’t shy away from the dirty work that soldiers would do and conducted dangerous reconnaissance himself. Peon passed through the muddy path where snow had started to melt and swiftly mounted his horse.

“I don’t need an escort. I’ll be back soon.”

Of course, he didn’t need an escort when entering the evil dragon’s territory. There should be no watching eyes.

Peon passed through the melted path and headed towards the border, which was still frozen white. From there, this realm erased his traces on its own.

No one would be able to find the Grand Duke. The hoofprints left in the snow behind him were disappearing by themselves, but Peon paid no attention to it.

The deeper he went, the more his anxiety grew. He had skillfully hidden it in front of Regen, but he could no longer conceal it.

Perhaps, maybe, surely not.

The cold anxiety that had been running through his heart was gradually materializing.

He shouldn’t play blind. He shouldn’t, but he had never wanted to do so more desperately than now. He wanted to pretend not to know. He wanted to know nothing and just look away.

The horse finally stopped in front of a straight path where shadows and light were strangely intertwined, refusing to go any further. Peon tied the horse at a distance and slowly walked along the path that the shadows opened for him.

In the realm of the light dragon, there coexisted a cold that humans could hardly endure and a scorching heat.

It was also a space where deep darkness and warm light existed together. Peon walked along the darkness that was starting to become familiar to him. The heat and cold couldn’t torment him.

In the pitch-black darkness, golden fragments of light flickered like fireflies.

It was when his footsteps, which had been echoing in the deepest part, finally stopped. Cutting through the deep darkness, a pair of golden eyes, much larger than the spark the Grand Duke had set off a few days ago, opened.

Peon spoke in a voice tinged with self-loathing.

“Father.”