TOYDK Chapter 32: I Miss You

“Captain, didn’t you say you were joining Iska?”

Pessini asked, scratching his shaggy head as Lavella paused on a small hill.

He thought she would go straight to the Marquis’ estate of Nameren, where Iska was, but Lavella was going further. At this rate, he thought they might go all over Imperia.

Although he was following Lavella, Pessini honestly couldn’t read her intentions.

“Yes, I’ll join him.”

Lavella replied, rubbing the horse’s neck.

“I need to check something before that.”

Lavella, who raised her head, looked at the entrance to the village.

Pessini nodded silently, looking at Lavella’s sparkling eyes.

He didn’t know about anything else, but he knew one thing for sure.

When the Captain’s eyes looked like that, it means she was planning something.

“Let’s go catch locusts, Pessini.”

Sure enough. Lavella, who jumped off the horse, nodded.

“Huh? Locusts?”

“Follow me, you’re size is too conspicuous.”

Pessini tilted his head but followed in Lavella’s footsteps.

*****

“Pessini.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you think something’s strange?”

Lavella, who stopped every few steps and checked the traces on the road, suddenly asked a question.

“Strange? What?”

“The band of thieves.”

When Pessini mumbled, Lavela answered.

“The thief?”

Pessini brooded over the memory. On their way there, he saw several bandits.

While chasing after them all the way to their stronghold, Lavella did nothing, saying that they would be caught if they had a long tail. She ended up just watching.

“Captain, I don’t know.”

Lavella rose up with a smile as Pessini scratched his head.

“Don’t most thieves steal with the purpose to fill their stomachs?”

“Ah!”

Only then did Pessini open his eyes as if he had realized something.

“Yeah, the guys we’ve seen are ‘for fun’ bandits.”

In many cases, true bandits or thieves had relatives living in the areas they frequented, creating a community that formed much of the town.

However, the place where the bandits stayed was only a campsite that could be abandoned at any time.

The impression was closer to that of professional ‘mercenaries’ rather than a group of amateur bandits like Calibel’s.

“Yeah! It’s strange when you think about it!”

“Right? Well, that’s about it. Pessini, get the trap ready.”

“Alright, Captain.”

Lavella looked at the surrounding terrain and instructed him by tapping a thick tree with her finger.

“Hahaha, let’s have fun again today.”

And not long afterward, as Lavella predicted, a group of bandits appeared.

“Ah, I need to take care of business.”

“You can’t hold it in till after this place like a dog.”

“What the hell?”

A man who shook his fist at his giggling colleagues entered the grass.

“!”

And there was no time to scream as his mouth was muzzled.

“As soon as we came in, my stomach’s been grumbling. Ugh, this is going to take a long time. You guys go first!”

“You’re a filthy bastard, don’t be too late, alright?”

The hoofs of the horse quickly receded after Pessini replied with a shout in the man’s stead.

“Just answer some questions well. Then I’ll let you go before you get your pants dirty.”

Lavella, who saw the man hanging upside down from the tree and whining, warned leisurely.

Of course, the only thing the man with a gag on his mouth could see was Pessini’s huge ax blade in front of him.

　

*   *   *

Please bring peace to Imperia.

The woman, who knelt down and put her hands together, bowed politely in front of the huge stone statue.

Transparent water droplets collected at the corners of her slightly wrinkled eyes and fell to the floor.

The woman with wet eyes looked up high with desperate eyes and lowered her head once again.

Please.

The woman slowly rose after praying for a long time.

“!”

“Your Majesty, Empress!”

When her legs fell asleep and trembled, Marquis Morina’s wife, who was watching from a distance, ran in surprise.

“It’s all right.”

The Empress, who was assisted, assured the Marchioness with a kind smile.

“I just felt a little dizzy because I was on my knees all day.”

The Empress, whose dress was fixed, left the temple with her maids. There was no sign of tears, but a dignified appearance.

The Empress, who was heading to the main palace through the annex, found a group walking from the other side and slowed down her pace.

“Crown Prince.”

The Empress’ face showed signs of welcome.

“Mother.”

Lucavi, who found the Empress, also stopped walking.

“Don’t overdo it these days, your face looks a little emaciated.”

The Empress looked carefully at her son’s face, expressing her pity.

When she reached out carefully, the Crown Prince reached out to hold her hand.

“Don’t worry, I’m taking care of it. But….”

Lucavi, who glanced in the direction of the Empress, let go of her hand with a faint smile.

His soft smile seemed to be strangely twisted.

“You must be on your way back from the temple.”

“I went for a walk.”

The Empress paused for a moment and then smiled.

“The people of Imperia will be happy to know that the Empress is so obsessed with superstition.”

The Crown Prince hid the blame in a joke.

The temple that existed before the founding of the empire was a useless place. Imperia was a place where there was no faith or religion.

“I just went there to get some fresh air.”

Lucavi grinned as the Empress added an excuse.

“Mother, what are you so desperate for?”

It was a question with hidden meaning.

“What can this mother hope for? I’m just praying for the well-being of the Empire and for the health of my son.”

Listening to a calm answer, Lucavi burst into a small laugh. The sound was refreshing and clear, so it felt very pure.

However, unlike the Crown Prince’s smiling face, the Empress’s face became vaguely stiff.

‘Mother, you don’t think I know anything.’

Lucavi swallowed the words he wanted to throw at the Empress.

She wasn’t aware that he knew she was waiting for Rubitz’s return. What she prayed for in the temple every day.

“Whatever it is you desire, I’ll pray together for mother’s wishes to happen.”

“…….”

When he lowered his eyes, Lucavi stared at his mother’s pale face.

“Then…Take good care of your health, Crown Prince.”

The Empress, who swallowed dry saliva, said goodbye with a labored smile.

“Yes, my mother. I have to be healthy to see what you want.”

The smiling Crown Prince bowed politely.

“…….”

The Empress bit the inside of her cheeks. She couldn’t wait to get out of her son’s sight.

He was the son from her womb, but when she saw the cruel eyes with a soft smile, she was afraid.

It was time for the Empress, who had a hard time hiding her expression, to turn around in a hurry.

The jewelry embedded in the ring cracked with a crackle and a light rupture.

“!”

‘Rubitz…’

The Empress’s expression darkened drastically as she raised her hand.

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‘Where the hell are you doing?’

As long as you come back safely.

The Empress clasped her hand.

 

<flashback>

“Where did the Crown Prince go?”

“I heard he went to see Prince Rubitz!”

The day she ran to see the terrible sight, forgetting her dignity.

Everything was still vivid, even with her eyes closed. Even the cruel sound of the sharp sword cutting through the flesh.

“Rubitz!”

Rubitz, who was being stabbed with his eyes closed as if he accepted death, and Lucavi, who stood with a sword dripping with blood, looked coldly at his only brother.

A pale face kneeled with a big wound and the red face was covered in his brother’s blood.

As the contrasting faces of the two sons came to mind clearly, the Empress bit her lips.

As Lucavi raised his sword once more, she jumped in front of him.

“No, Crown Prince.”

She cried, blocking Rubitz, who might have already died, with her own body

“You know, Your Majesty. It was going to happen one day. Or he would cut my throat.”

“Look at this mother and let me recover his body intact.”

　

She knelt down and prayed desperately to the son she had given birth to.

“People will be here soon. I don’t want to hear that my son is already a blood-crazy emperor.”

“…….”

“The Crown Prince wants to be recognized by everyone and rise to the throne, right? If you have to wield this sword, kill this mother first.”

Her son, who was good at winning favor with his good face, lowered his sword with an annoyed expression.

It was fortunate that there were only a limited number of opponents who saw his brutal nature.

<flashback end>

 

Rubitz.

He was a good and kind son by nature.

The Empress clutched her skirt thinking of her missing son.

A smile disappeared from Lucavi’s face while watching the disappearing Empress’s back.

After that day, the Empress announced that the Prince’s illness deepened and sent him to a separate palace for medical treatment.

And she told Lucavi that Rubitz was dead.

She said that it was to hide the actions of the Crown Prince who killed his brother, but Lucavi did not believe his mother.

“Anything strange?”

“Nothing. We are thoroughly checking all visitors to and from the Empress’s Palace.”

Viscount Furei lowered his voice.

“Not even a word of contact, Brother? You’re committing quite an act of filial impiety. I have been waiting for you for so long.”

Lucavi burst out laughing.

“Keep an eye on it.”

“Yes.”

A good smile soon blossomed and Lucavi’s cool gaze disappeared.

*   *   *

“Mom!”

“Oh, my God, thank you.”

Thick tears flowed from the eyes of the mother and daughter hugging each other.

Families who met their lost daughters again burst into tears of relief and joy, while families who couldn’t find a trace burst into tears of despair.

“…….”

Iska’s jaw, which was watching the scene at a careful distance, tightened.

How many times have you saved women who were about to be sold and sent home?

“The situation seems to be getting worse with human trafficking being so organized.”

Ritelni, who joined directly from Kuzne after receiving Iska’s messenger, muttered worriedly.

They were hiding behind the soldiers of the Duke of Natral and working things out like shadows.

“I’m more concerned that the mastermind was caught even though normally they’re hard to catch. As expected, is it really him?”

“Well, I’m sure…”

Iska twisted his lips bitterly.

“What I want is for it not to be him.”

He wished it were just as simple as crime increasing in chaotic times, but unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.

“How much longer do we have to wait? Why don’t you move now?”

“It’s just a meaningless civil war if it moves like this. You know that, Ritelni.”

War was easy, but the fallout would go to the innocent.

“Whatever the answer, it’s very difficult.”

Iska said nothing at Ritelni’s words.

He just turned bitterly.

*****

“Haa.”

Iska, who collapsed on the table like throwing a sword, swept his face roughly.

The images of young girls who were drunk and unable to come to their senses did not disappear from his mind.

Where to start and how to correct it. He felt like he was walking in a long tunnel with no end in sight.

The curse grew thicker and heavier with each passing generation.

The wisdom that revived the empire had begun to disappear, engulfed in brutal blood, and all parts of Imperia were rotting.

The day when he came back from the brink of death.

 

“Rubitz. This mother wants you to succeed to the throne. I hope you break this terrible curse.”

　

It was the first word his mother said to him when he woke up, it was a plea she asked with tears.

Why am I Bismert? Iska felt that the fate given to him was truly cruel.

He had to take out his only brother who shared the same blood. So there shouldn’t be any hesitation left.

‘Lucavi, I hope it’s not you.’

And yet he hoped that all this evil had not happened at his fingertips.

“!”

Iska, who was covering his eyes with his big hand, paused and soon removed his hand.

Turning as it was, Iska took a step back from the window.

“You can come in now.”

“Excuse me.”

A white face appeared with a thin smile.

A smile blossomed around Iska’s mouth when he saw an intruder proudly crossing through the window.

“Why don’t you come to the door?”

“There were a lot of people passing by.”

The Duke of Natral’s soldiers should not see. Lavella murmured and jumped from the window frame.

“Come.”

Reaching out, Iska rubbed Lavella’s cheek lightly.

He hadn’t seen her in weeks. The heavy heart was erased and filled with joy.

He was just away for a while, but it felt like billions of years passed.

“Pleased?”

“In a word.”

Lavella, who heard the answer immediately, put her hand on her waist.

“It was worth the rush to see you.”

“Did you come to see me?”

“Kind of.”

“Then will you give me a hug?”

“…….”

Lavella stared intently at Iska, who was playfully spreading his arms without saying a word.

“You’re stingy.”

It was when Iska, who grumbled briefly, gave up and lowered his arms.

“!”

Lavella grabbed Iska by the neck and pulled him down.

“That’s too much. I’ll be more generous.”

Lavella muttered, looking at Iska’s slightly widened eyes.

He wondered if the feeling of wind brushed his lips, but soon something warm and soft touched and fell away.

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