You Will Pay With Your Life For Deceiving Me

 

 “You’re not a sinner, so why are you suddenly kneeling like that? Please stand up and sit comfortably.”

 

  Winfred widened his eyes and spoke as if slightly surprised by her appearance. Alexia shook her head.

 

  “What am I if I’m not a sinner?”

 

 “… … “Abama said she would not punish you, so get up quickly. Unless you are ignoring the prince’s orders.”

 

 When Winfred smiled kindly and spoke, Alexia only then stood up. However, her expression was still not at ease. It was as if she would feel better about being punished.

 

 “Your Majesty said he would forgive my sins by escorting me safely to the imperial castle and returning, so all you have to do is work hard to protect me, Sir. “Just relax your face.”

 

 In the first instance, it was her responsibility to do it, but how could she use it to atone for her sins? Alexia had to respond that she would do so even if she was left with a bad taste in her mouth.

 

 In a few days, they would be leaving Agrio and returning to the capital, Venator. We had to make every effort to provide security.

 

 They were supposed to leave Agrio on the regular schedule, but their search for Cloud caused them to be delayed for a few days. The title of the book Winfred was reading caught her attention just as she was about to hurry back and get ready to go.

 

 ‘A list of imperial nobles?’

 

 She wondered why he was reading so seriously. Why was he suddenly looking up the list of nobles?

 

 Winfred felt Alexia’s eyes fall on the book cover and quickly covered the list with other documents.

 

 Seeing him hurriedly covering it made her even more suspicious, especially since his face had a fidgety expression.

 

“… … “Bo, is there anything left to do?”

 

Moreover, he was even stuttering for words.

 

 Alexia narrowed her eyes and looked at Winfred. She said she had seen that expression before. It was the expression her son Bradley made every time he had an accident and hid it from her.

 

 However, the other person was the only prince of the empire who would become the crown prince. Since it was something that could not be questioned, she left the room with an uncomfortable feeling.

 

 “after.”

 

 When Alexia left, Winfred sighed heavily. He didn’t know why he was so embarrassed.

 

 He hit his head with both fists, saying it would have been less suspicious if he had behaved with confidence.

 

The reason Winfred was searching through the list of imperial nobles was because of Ayla.

 

 Having heard of the surname Hailing, he assumed that it belonged to a nobleman. He thought that if it was a high-ranking aristocrat, he would definitely remember it. As a result, he carefully scrutinized the list of all the lesser nobility’s names.

 

‘Is Ayla doing well?’

 

 He couldn’t understand the cause of his chest’s numbing sensation when he thought of her. Was it a sickness of the soul?

 

 He was really curious about where she was and what she was doing, but he couldn’t even imagine it. That’s because Winfred didn’t know anything about her. Except for her name.

 

 She couldn’t even tell if the name was real. For a girl with so many secrets, she could have given an alias.

 

 But still, he tried to pronounce that precious name without a sound. The tip of his tongue tingled again.

 

‘miss you.’

 

 Ehyo. Winfred sighed and looked up at the ceiling, as was his habit. As if Ayla was on the roof beyond the ceiling.

 

 They will meet again someday. Because of that, she said so.

 

 Winfred closed his eyes.

 

 * * *

 

 Cloud opened his eyes with difficulty. Because his right eye was bandaged uncomfortably, his vision through one eye felt very narrow.

 

 Even that was difficult to focus on because he was dizzy. It was truly an incredible power. Alexia’s sword.

 

 What kind of spirit could he have had to escape the city? His head was dizzy, and blood was constantly flowing from the corners of his eyes.

 

 He administered first aid on his own with the hemostatic agent he had and jumped off the high castle wall to avoid the guards. Although he sprained his leg, he endured the pain in his swollen ankle and ran non-stop until he escaped here.

 

 And then, he immediately lost his mind. As soon as he came to his senses a few days later, he sent a letter to his sister-in-law Capella.

 

 Cloud struggled to get up. It was because he had to join the group as soon as possible.

 

“Hey, are you trying to wake up already? It would be better to get some more rest.”

 

 The gray-haired councilor who took care of him opened his mouth with concern. But Cloud shook his head.

 

 “… … Well, that’s what I mean. Just drink this medicine.”

 

 The old man clicked his tongue and held out a bowl of medicine. The medicine was bitter, but after drinking it in one go, his mind seemed to become a little clearer.

 

 “The letter… … .”

 

 “I told you. “Don’t worry.”

 

 The old man was a quack who lived in hiding in the forest outside the walls of Agrio and would treat anyone for money. He did not care at all if they were criminals, so he saw countless suspicious patients.

 

 However, most of them were regulars, so it was unclear how this young man knew about him and came to visit.

 

 “thanks. then.”

 

 Cloud said as he put down a bag full of gold coins on the desk. Now that he had recovered enough to move, it was time to return to where his nephew and sister-in-law were waiting.

 

  “… … “Wait a minute. I have to take the medicine.”

 

 The old man hurriedly handed out the medicine. The patient, who spoke little, silently accepted the bag of medicine he held out.

 

 “Your eyesight will be worse than before, but you won’t lose it completely. I think I got my money’s worth.”

 

 The old man said while looking at the gold coins in his pocket. His eyes were shining with greed.

 

 However, scars were unavoidable. If it had been treated with healing magic from the beginning, it would have healed cleanly without leaving any scars, but it was not easy to remove the scars that had already formed.

 

The old man clicked his tongue, saying that it was a pity that his handsome face was disfigured. When the old man was having fun counting his gold coins, and raised his head, the taciturn patient had disappeared without a trace.

 

* * *

 

 “… … How long do you plan on making me wait on the street?”

 

 The noble lady questioned in an obtrusive tone, covering her mouth with a scarf covered with gorgeous lace. She was also met with disapproval by the noble lady seated next to her, who seemed to be her daughter.

 

 The soldier in charge of inspection at the Agrio Castle Gate bowed his head with a frightened expression.

 

 “I’m sorry. It’s an order from superiors… … .”

 

 Because they had been ordered to open and search even the wagons, the inspection was delayed considerably. Holding in his hand the portrait of the prince who had rebelled 10 years ago, it was not easy to check the faces of the people who opened the castle door one by one.

 

 It was especially difficult to search the carriage of such a nobleman. No matter how courageous he was, he couldn’t help but be scared when he saw the look in the eyes of that overbearing noblewoman.

 

 After such a breathtaking time.

 

 Nobody in their group seemed suspicious. He allowed the lady’s carriage to pass, verifying that, despite some carrying weapons, they were an officially sanctioned mercenary outfit.

 

 The soldier sighed as he sent the fancy carriage out of the castle gate.

 

 And that moment. The noble lady, or even Capella, who was riding in that carriage sighed. She couldn’t tell how fortunate she was that she was able to get out safely.

 

 “… … We soon passed through the gates, my lord. “If we go to a deserted place, I will take it out immediately.”

 

 As she muttered in a low voice, a groan was heard from beneath her feet.

 

 “I feel like I’m going to die from the pain. Tell the carriage to speed up more.”

 

 Byron answered in a somewhat irritated tone. As expected, his voice was very quiet, so she had to concentrate to hear it.

 

 Capella opened the window connected to the coach seat and conveyed Byron’s instructions. The coachman then increased his speed.

 

 After driving for a while, the group arrived in a forest with few people and hurriedly stopped the carriage. As they hastily opened the bottom of the carriage, Byron had been hiding inside and stood up with an irritated expression on his face.

 

 “The ride quality is really the worst.”

 

 He got off the carriage with a grunt and stretched out his arms. There was a clicking sound coming from the joints.

 

“… … miss. miss?”

 

 While Byron was walking away from the carriage, Capella was waking up Ayla. It seemed like she was tired from the long inspection and had already fallen asleep.

 

 Ayla woke up to Capella’s voice, opened her eyes, and looked around. She couldn’t believe it. How could she have fallen asleep in that situation?

 

 She even had a pretty good dream. It was a dream from her childhood. It was a dream from the time she lived with her biological parents in the duchy, a dream she couldn’t even remember.

 

 Surprised by her own indifference, she got off Byron’s carriage and was preparing to camp.

 

 “… … “Uncle!”

 

 Laura screamed in surprise. When she turned her head in the direction she was  looking at, Cloud with a bandage on his face was walking hurriedly.

 

 “Laura.”

 

 “Where have you been? How much, how much I am!”

 

 Laura, forgetting that there were many eyes around her, ran to Cloud and hit his chest with a tightly clenched fist. She gritted her teeth, wondering if she was worried or not.

 

 Although she spoke bluntly, to her, Cloud was a replacement for her father who passed away when she was young. She was so upset when Cloud stayed silent and did not return for several days.

 

 “… … I’m sorry. “Can I report to the master for a moment?”

 

 Cloud said with an awkward smile. Laura was still looking at Cloud with tearful eyes.

 

 “Either it or not.”

 

 Happiness. Laura blew out her nose and ran to her mother, who was staring at Cloud with wide eyes of surprise.