Chapter 39: 39

The next morning, I headed to the Imperial Palace with Alan to meet Benny.

We were said to be going to the Imperial Palace, but we could not even go near the Emperor Palace.

Benny’s existence was kept secret, and the dungeon he was imprisoned in was hidden in a wide forest.

Alan and I had to be alone in the dark because the window of the carriage was covered with a blackout screen to prevent anyone from memorizing the route.

He hugged me tightly and didn’t let go, as if I was about to run out of the carriage.

“This way.” 

After running for a while, the carriage door opened.

We entered the prison entrance hidden in the grass and walked down a long hallway.

As soon as the guard opened the iron door with several layers, I was startled.

Benny was kneeling in the middle of the cold stone floor.

He was restrained to the point where his skin could not be seen.

Both arms wrapped in chains stretched out diagonally as if they were broken, a metal eye patch was placed on his left eye, and a muzzle used only for dogs was placed on his mouth.

Benny raised his head as soon as I took one step forward.

His purple eyes widened and the leash attached to the ceiling tightened. 

He struggled as if he wanted to come to me. 

He kept doing it, and didn’t care if he was injured or not.

The guards menacingly held up their spears and said, ‘Stop it now!’ It was no use threatening.

Even if Benny was stabbed in the stomach with a spear, it seemed as if he wouldn’t even bat an eye.

“Be, Benny. You’ll suffocate.”

I hurriedly squatted in front of the iron bars. Then Benny stopped struggling and relaxed, like a dog that listened well.

To take a better look at him, I put my head out like a turtle, but Alan stopped me from behind.

“Lily, it’s dangerous, get off.”

I looked back at Alan’s eyes.

“Benny. How are you? Do you have… anything you need?”

There were many things I wanted to say to Benny, but Alan was right behind my back.

Benny raised his eyes and opened his mouth after a while.

And he made a completely unexpected request.

“Can you take off your gloves…?”

I couldn’t understand it at first, so I tilted my head.

“Gloves? All I have to do is take them off?”

“No, if it’s possible, then… take off the glove of your left hand, and then, as it is…”

Benny murmured for a while, then whispered softly, almost inaudible.

“Would you mind touching me just once?” 

“Your request was only to meet my daughter.”

Alan clenched the bars roughly as if he was about to whip out.

Just by the sound of the leather gloves clinging together, I could guess the grim expression on his face.

“We never negotiated physical contact.”

“Just once is fine. I want to make sure it’s not an illusion.”

Benny lowered his head sullenly. He didn’t beg Alan. 

The boy that was restrained like a beast did not care about my ‘Dad’ and looked only at me.

I hesitated for a moment, but soon took off my left glove.

As soon as I exposed my bare skin, Alan grabbed my wrist.

“Lily, didn’t I say it was dangerous?” 

“I won’t hurt the Princess.”

Benny slowly raised his head.

His purple pupils shone like embers through the cracks in the metal eye patch that covered half his face. 

“It will never happen. I don’t know about other people, but to Princess…”

“But still, you don’t even need contact. Is the talk over?”

“Ah, Dad. It’s okay.”

I had been watching Alan several times since yesterday, but I had to say these words.

“It won’t be dangerous… you know that.”

Ironically, it was Benny who held the hilt now.

If it was Benny, who could neutralize even the imperial knights, instead of being imprisoned in a form that was inferior to a beast, he could have threatened to be treated with luxury.

Nevertheless, he was imprisoned in a dungeon.

There was only one reason that I could predict.

‘To request a meeting with me.’

Without this attitude, Alan wouldn’t be able to bring his daughter.

“Please extend the chain a little. I can’t reach him.”

I waved my arms at the fully armed guards.

They hesitated and looked into Alan’s eyes.

Alan didn’t stop it anymore. It looked like he was going to roll the grate and bite Benny at any moment, but for the time being, he just kept an eye on him.

The cartwheels on both sides of the prison turned and the chains of handcuffs that were tight were stretched.

Benny crawled over to me and pounded his forehead to the floor.

It was like a monster hungry for warmth to the bone. 

I put my hand through the grates and swept down the silver hair as if petting a wild dog’s hair.

Benny’s shoulders popped out. The back, which occasionally touched the joints, was as hot as a ball of fire.

Breathing like a wild horse, he quickly raised his head.

Alan grabbed me with an arm almost at the same time.

“Are you satisfied now?”

His voice was so low that it gave me goosebumps all over my body.

After finishing his business, Alan tried to take me outside without hesitation.

Bang!

Benny slammed his body forward.

He was breaking all the restraints and being rough.

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Grrrr.

Alan choked his throat threateningly.

It was an unspoken pressure to behave. There was a sharp tension in the prison room.

The guards seemed to be in shock, as if they were going to faint.

I was puzzled too, but Benny spoke up first.

“…Don’t you need anything? Princess.”

The purple gaze flew like an arrow and pierced in. It was so intense that it seemed like it would come out in my dream.

“You just did me a favor. I’ll repay you, too. If you want anything, I’ll do it for you. Anything.”

“I, uh…”

What should I do? Even if I wanted to be honest, I was in front of Alan.

“I want you… to protect me.”

I spat out the conclusion first.

I had hundreds of lines in mind while I was coming, but when the situation came, it was useless for anything.

How could I explain while Alan was watching?

“Protect…?”

Benny looked puzzled. It’s bound to be.

“Uh, so… I heard you became a private soldier of our family. It means take good care of me. Ahaha. Haha…”

I spoke vaguely for now.

Benny licked his lips as if pondering my words, then nodded.

“…All right. I will protect you.”

“Lily, let’s go. We also need to prepare to leave for the South.”

Alan hugged me. I turned my head over his shoulder, startled.

Because Benny… 

‘Did you… smile?’

A faintly raised corner of his mouth could be seen through the gap between his tight muzzle.

Even though it was a boy’s smile, it was somehow bizarre. 

He was more like a beast expressing joy than a human. 

All the way back to the Duke Castle, Benny’s words lingered in my mind.

“I won’t hurt the Princess.” 

“It will never happen. I don’t know about other people, but to Princess…”

…Didn’t that mean he can hurt other people as much as he wants?

***

“Just in case, bring all the medicines. Make sure you pack clothes for all seasons in case of rain, snow, and even storms. Nike, is the spare horse ready?”

“Yes! They’re all the finest breeds!”

The duchy’s stable street.

Alan looked around the luggage carriage full of travel items and called another carriage.

I sat under the silk shade and opened my mouth in confusion.

‘What else are you going to pack? There are already six full carriages!’

Not knowing that I was flabbergasted, Alan said with a worried look.

“I am worried. It’s not enough because we had to prepare it too quickly.”

Alan came back to the seat next to me and sat me on his lap.

What did you mean by ‘that’s not enough’? If you had prepared slowly, the carriage procession would be long enough to wrap around the empire.

“Uh… I, I think this is enough. If it’s short, you said I can come back in a few days.”

“It’s not that short either.”

Alan sighed deeply. This situation seemed very unsatisfactory.

‘That’s understandable.’

Yesterday, the barrier of the duchy, which had been strong for over 100 years, was broken.

The Imperial Palace dispatched barrier magicians, but first, Alan and his immediate knights had to eliminate the remaining evil spirits in the circular stadium, before they could create a new barrier.

The remaining nobles also wanted their families to be evacuated to a safe place.

The same was true for House Bauner.

Hugo, who was seriously injured, was transferred to the temple, and I took refuge in the Southern part of the empire with Pedro, the commander of the knights.

In this situation, I wondered if it would be okay for the knight commander, Pedro, to be away, but my safety seemed to be the most important to Alan.

“I didn’t want to be away from you again.”

Alan hugged me slowly, and wouldn’t let go as if he were a nail.

I swallowed my nervousness and took a tense breath. 

Since yesterday, I had been careful when breathing out every single breath in front of him.

“I’ll miss you.”

Again. This desperate voice.

If I was his real daughter, I would have shed tears because I missed my dad already.

But now I was just curious.

‘Why am I alive?’

When Alan and I went to see Benny, the question still remained unanswered even after returning from the Imperial Palace.

Everything was weird. It felt like I was floating in the air like a soap bubble without a sense of reality.

I had been trying so hard to keep my identity hidden, but Alan still treated me as ‘Lily’ as if I didn’t even need to.

If this continued, my head would start to get weird, and I thought I was going to believe I was real.

‘No, get it together. If you don’t want to be stabbed in the back.’

I slapped myself on the cheek in my head and hung around Alan’s neck.

If Alan still wanted me to stay as a substitute, my plans for survival would not change.

“Me too. I will miss you a lot, Dad.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Alan’s hand on my back pressed me tight as if he was about to crush it.

Involuntarily groaning, Alan pressed his lips to my ear and whispered.

“I have something to ask before I let you go.”

His sharp eyes narrowed. Somehow I got goosebumps.

“Don’t trust Benimus too much.”

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