Chapter 11: 11

Chapter 11 | I Wanted To Meet You

translator/editor: astralmech

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The evening set in as swallows flew across the crimson sunset. A few men were passing through the outskirts of the capital. One reached out to the other, putting his hand on his shoulder as he lightly called out to him.

[???] “You….”

[Man] “Ugh!”

[???] “Hah!”

One of the men was startled by the sudden feeling of someone touching his shoulder, screaming out in instinctual fear. The one who bumped into him also screamed, but the moment the man was able to confirm the person’s identity as his neighbor, he took in a sigh of relief.

The man ran a weary hand over his darkened expression as he took a deep breath.

[Man] “Ah, it’s just you.”

[Neighbor] “What are you acting so surprised for? You scared the hell out of me, you know.”

The man’s brow furrowed as his justifiably grumpy and equally sour neighbor reprimanded him for behaving in such a way.

[Man] “Why do you think? It’s because of all those rumors that have been going around these days.”

[Neighbor] “Rumors?”

He looked down at the ground, looking up as if his neighbor were so pitiful for having asked that question. His shoulders tensed as got closer, whispering into his ear.

[Man] “Apparently they’ve been finding corpses, one right after the other.”

[Neighbor] “What? Corpses?”

[Man] “Shush, keep your voice down. I swear, you…..”

With his eyes widened, the man held onto his neighbor’s shoulder with a firm grip. He turned his head back, looking behind him for seemingly no reason at all.

The man swallowed hard.

Coincidence or perhaps not, it was only the two of them here right now. Them alone in this empty street, dark and dreary as night fell……

[Neighbor] “What are you talking about, a corpse…..”

[Man] “Ah!”

[Neighbor] “Huh!?”

The neighbor reached out to touch the other man, who again screamed out in fear, which he followed up with another frightful shout. For who knows how long, the two of them stared at each other with widened eyes.

Trying to break the awkward silence, the neighbor sighed.

[Neighbor] “Agh, you go off making me curious by looking off in the distance like that!”

Both his voice and his expression were very harsh, likely angry and upset that he got spooked for no reason twice in a row. The man took another look around, tapping his neighbor’s arm.

[Man] “Never mind. I don’t wanna stick around here, let’s just go.”

The man cleared his throat, rushing to try and leave. The neighbor grumbled behind him, moving to follow along in his steps.

Behind them were their long shadows, stretching out across the street, but before long, cutting through them was the shadow of another, slipping through before disappearing in the darkness.

[Man] “What’s—AGH!”

He turned pale as he tried to escape from his attacker, but he fell directly on his back as he stared up at the person, smiling maniacally with their mouth ripped. With a flash of his eyes, no longer was he able to remain conscious.

Thump—

As minute by helpless minute ticked on by, the night was edged out by the faint light of dawn.

Crunch, schlick—

Then there was the sound of something being ripped apart, as if being cut into pieces. Into another pit buried beneath the dirt, yet another body was offered as a sacrifice to the ancient God.

* * *

The next morning, the sun rose after a night when the damp smell of wet soil mixed with the fishy smell of blood.

Olivia was going to leave the Imperial Palace wearing a disguise.

Walking along the path where the servants often came and went rather than the main gate, she bowed her head, keeping her face hidden from the guard keeping watch over the door.

[Guard] “You’re leaving early. Most people would be returning by now.”

[Olivia] “Yes. I was sent out on an urgent task. Here’s my permit.”

Olivia’s answer was cool and concise. Not sensing anything strange, the guard took her permit, checked it, then promptly opened the door.

And the moment she took a single step out from the Imperial Palace, someone’s low voice flowed out into the air right next to her. Immediately she winced, both from the voice and the sudden bright sunlight poking her eyes.

[Cryer] “Are you planning on heading to the scene?”

Frozen in place, Olivia clapped her palms against her reddened cheeks, turning her head towards where she heard the voice coming from.

But he was nowhere to be found. What she found instead was an empty space, swaying in a haze underneath the sunlight in the vacant air.

Just as Olivia was about to voice her discontent, she turned her head back away slowly. She didn’t want to attract anyone’s attention by acting like a weirdo so early in the morning.

[Olivia] “Where are you?”

[Cryer] “Shadows.”

[Olivia] “What? Shadows……?”

The answer was so uselessly simple that Olivia had to pull back her thoughts the same way someone might grab the collar of a rambunctious child.

Obviously he wasn’t saying he was the shadows in a figurative sense because he wasn’t someone who would use such flowery language. So he must mean he was literally in the shadows, but how could a human hide in the shadows like that without leaving even a single trace of themselves?

[Olivia] “Actually, you know what? Yes, you must just be hiding in the shadows somewhere.”

But Olivia eventually shook her head, remembering that this man was none other than Cryer. If he wanted to hide himself, he could do it absolutely anywhere he wanted, much less the shadows.

Olivia took another step, then stopped.

[Olivia] “And I’ll just say this now—I’d like it if you could just say my disguise is good, rather than speaking ill of the guards for failing to recognize me. I’ve been doing this for over a decade now. If my disguise isn’t good by now, that would be just too unfair, don’t you think?”

Pinching the tip of her hair, Olivia rubbed her tired eyes, nudging the poking hair away.

Her vibrant red hair, a signature trait of Bolshek blood, was covered by a wig of dirty brown, and her cold blue eyes were partially covered by a set of shaggy bangs. Olivia even made sure to mess up her face a little bit, just as an added measure to make sure the guards who protected her would not recognize her.

Although, one must wonder how useful guards were in protecting the Imperial Palace on the path where servants come and go if they could not even recognize Olivia.

But the response that came back was odd, coming from Cryer of all people.

[Cryer] “If they can’t recognize someone who’s barely changing their appearance, aren’t they pretty terrible as guards? Even if I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they can’t recognize your posture or your walk, your skeleton is still the same.”

Suddenly standing at her left, he started matching her pace.

[Cryer] “And even ignoring all that, it’s obvious to tell who someone is by looking at their hands.”

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[Olivia] “Well, there might be some who would be able to understand that sort of stuff, but most people don’t look that closely at others.”

Olivia waved her hand, stopping Cryer without noticing he was about to say something.

[Olivia] “Don’t try and argue with me. You’re the only person alive who has the ability to notice all of that stuff.”

For the briefest of moments, there was a smile on Cryer’s face, but it bloomed and wilted so quickly that it could not even be noticed—disappearing in an instant.

Having become used to leaving the Imperial Palace on passing whims, Olivia kept up her steps, weaving and blending within the crowds of the busy capital streets. She did it so well, it was clear she was very used to it.

[Cryer] “You mentioned you left the Imperial Palace often.”

As they walked side by side, Olivia replied very simply and naturally to Cryer’s words.

[Olivia] “It’s my duty.”

Truth be told, there was no real reason for why Olivia, the Imperial Princess of the Bolshek Empire, needed to abscond from the Imperial Palace without an escort and wander the capital by herself.

Some might think, Oh she must be curious about her people’s lives! Or perhaps, She must long for the freedom found outside of the Palace!

But no. It wasn’t because of those soft hearted and fanciful thoughts.

Perhaps there was a time in her first life when she thought like that, before she started on this spiraling cycle of death and return. A past so distant that she could hardly remember the specific details any more.

But the reason for her current little stealth mission was because of her duties. Duties that came with being a part of the Imperial family and as one who inherited Bolshek blood.

[Olivia] “This isn’t because of an obligation. It was asked of me by His Majesty.”

It was dawn when the Emperor called Olivia to speak with her a few days ago.

[Olivia] —’A…..serial murderer?’

Olivia held an armful of documents in her hands given to her by the Emperor. They were riddled with notes, many of which were very vague in nature.

[Emperor] —’Yes. People have been disappearing on the outskirts of the capital. Not a single one has returned thus far.’

[Olivia] —’If they’re disappearing, then isn’t this just a case of missing people?’

[Emperor] —’I would like to leave it to you to confirm that fact, Princess.’

At the Emperor’s order, Olivia calmly bowed her head.

With her thoughts wandering in the past, Olivia’s focus was brought back to the present by Cryer’s question.

[Cryer] “Are the missing people nobles?”

To be fair, that was a natural question to ask. Since the Imperial Princess herself was being sent out to investigate, then the missing persons’ case must pertain to someone of great importance.

[Olivia] “No. I looked through the documents I was given, but it was a rare case of people disappearing near the outskirts.”

[Cryer] “Then why are you dealing with this?”

[Olivia] “This must be my punishment.”

[Cyer] “Punishment?”

Cryer raised an eyebrow and Olivia immediately shook her head.

[Olivia] “I’m not trying to say that it’s a punishment because the disappearance and probable death of my people isn’t important or anything like that.”

These days, Olivia had been keeping her head down, barely sleeping one or two hours every night in the process. She stretched out her back, smoothing out her neck with her hand.

[Olivia] “It’s just that, for the sake of the future, there’s something more important that needs to be dealt with that will save many more Imperial lives than this.”

[Cryer] “I didn’t ask because I meant it like that. Standing near the top of the Empire, I know how much work you do.”

Cryer replied, sweeping his hand across his chest in that same, instinctual and habitual motion as before.

[Olivia] “Oh, right. You don’t sleep much either.”

To be more specific, it was probably better to say that he couldn’t sleep…….

But anyway, Cryer could also hardly sleep, much like Olivia. Most of the time, he would idle the nights away in Olivia’s office, reading books about the Bolshek Empire’s history while she worked next to him.

[Cryer] “Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if that mountain range you call your work would collapse and crush you beneath it.”

[Olivia] “Oh, the mountains……..I once heard someone got seriously injured in the past because of something like that. Was it the previous deposed Emperor? Or was it someone else?”

Olivia continued to talk, fumbling through her memories.

[Olivia] “Even though it was only paper, he ended up fracturing a bone right around here.”

She tapped a spot near her belly, around her ribcage, speaking with a very calm voice.

[Olivia] “But even like that, he still had to finish all his work by the end of the day.”

It sounded minor, like it wouldn’t be that hard to keep working through a fractured rib, but it actually was kind of a big deal. It wasn’t easy compiling and processing all those documents while struggling to breath because of a bone fracture.

But for Olivia, recounting the story was neither shocking nor was it odd.

Being born as a Princess within the Bolshek imperial lineage meant that for every luxury she had to enjoy, there was a burden to bear alongside it. But after four returns, she learned that nothing was more valuable to her than her own life…….

And in order to live, she needed to protect world peace, and to that end, she needed to protect the well-being of her people.

Olivia shook her head, returning to the topic at hand.

[Olivia] “In any case, this investigation is my punishment for pushing ahead with the Continental Congress far ahead of schedule.”

Olivia sighed, pulling at Cryer’s sleeve like it was completely normal.

[Olivia] “This way.”

While she pulled him along, Cryer turned gently to his left.

[Cryer] “Speaking of, why was the congress held so early?”

[Olivia] “Oh, no particular reason. I just wanted to meet you as soon as possible.”

Such a bold and romantic thing to say…if the one hearing it did not understand the situation beforehand—The one and only Imperial Princess forced an unplanned Continental Congress just so she could meet Cryer.

But her next words were so grossly practical, not even a whiff of the word ‘romance’ could be found.

[Olivia] “In order to fulfill my duty as a dove of peace that protects the world, I had to be bold and direct, right towards the starting point of all the political strife, if only a little earlier than usual.”

And somehow, despite all her agitation, she actually managed to do it, surprising even herself. She even grabbed onto his pant leg as he tried to leave and hung on for dear life.

Olivia’s eyes dimmed slightly when that memory came to mind.

It was a memory she really didn’t want to remember, so she’ll be shooing it away.

[Cryer] “A dove of peace.”

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She heard a snide snicker coming from him, barely audible even if she strained her ear, but the second she saw that smirk of his, she slapped him on the arm.

[Olivia] “Quit laughing. Whenever I say something, you always laugh. That’s not like…….”

In the middle of her sentence, she turned quiet.

What was she about to say just now? It wasn’t like him?

But what was something that was like Cryer?

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