Chapter 169
She was a little confused, but she felt it would be better to move quickly rather than question him, so she hurriedly put on her coat.
In the meantime, Sillian dressed Edwin in his clothes, wrapped him securely in a blanket, and lifted him into his arms.
She followed behind him as they left the inn.
Because she had to keep up with his long strides, Lynette had to practically run just to keep up.
Only after the man finally began matching his pace to hers did Lynette pour out the questions she had been keeping down.
“What are you planning to do, Sillian?”
“This wasn’t what I intended.”
Sillian let out a sigh.
“People sent by the Count will probably storm into the inn.”
“…”
“Since they saw both our faces, I doubt they’ll sit still.”
She lightly bit her lip.
“They must think we know that Edwin is the late Count’s son, right?”
“They’ll likely think we’re close enough to come looking for the child, even when he’s sick.”
Lynette let out a long sigh.
Is this also something she had brought upon herself? If only she hadn’t let Edwin inside from the beginning.
She hadn’t been able to turn him away, and now it came to this.
“At this point, even if we claim we don’t know anything and have nothing to do with it, they won’t believe us.”
“No.”
The man answered calmly.
“In a way, it might have been a trap.”
“A trap?”
“If they knew about what happened yesterday, then they must have also known that this child went out and came into contact with someone. And then they could guess that he would try to slip out again to meet that ‘someone’.”
“So you’re saying they deliberately let him out so he could sneak away.”
“Otherwise, there’s no way they would show up at the inn as if they had been waiting.”
“Haah…”
Her head throbbed.
Whatever the reason, it was certain that the two of them had become people who displeased the Count.
“Even if we had handed Edwin over earlier, the result would have been the same, right?”
Sillian walked several steps with his lips pressed together, then reluctantly spoke.
“The men who came earlier intended to get rid of you and me from the start.”
“…”
“If we had let them into the room, they would have drawn their weapons immediately.”
She belatedly realized why he had stood blocking the doorway, dealing with them.
A chill ran down her spine.
If it hadn’t been for this man… if she had been alone caring for Edwin, she would have been killed before she could even resist.
The two walked in silence.
Lynette suddenly remembered that they had left without leaving any kind of note behind.
“Wait, what about Euphen and Eshar? They won’t know we left like this.”
“If the innkeeper tells them we were all traveling together… those two might end up in danger as well.”
“W-what do we do? We have to find some way to let them know about this situation….”
“And how will you do that?”
At his calm question, she tightly shut her mouth.
There was no way to send a message.
Going back to the inn now would only make things worse, and they didn’t even know where Euphen or Eshar had gone.
The village wasn’t terribly large, but it didn’t seem likely that they would find them easily.
“For now, set your worries for those two aside. That man is also an Esper, so he won’t be taken down easily.”
“…I suppose so.”
That was the only thing she could rely on.
And if the inn turns chaotic, the two of them would at least notice that something had happened.
‘Calm down.’
Lynette took a deep breath, covering her face with both hands before slowly lowering them.
The child in Sillian’s arms was sleeping as if he had fainted, likely because of the medicine.
She pulled the slipping blanket back over his small shoulders and walked beside the man.
“I’m sorry, Sillian.”
“It isn’t your fault, Lynette.”
“I appreciate the comfort, but from the beginning, I…”
“You didn’t do this expecting that the child would cling to you.”
“That’s… true, but….”
He shifted Edwin into one arm and, with his free hand, took Lynette’s hand.
Warmth seeped into her.
“It would have turned out this way one way or another.”
At his calm words, Lynette gave a bitter smile.
Instead of repeatedly regretting what she had done wrong, thinking about what they should do next is far more productive.
‘We can’t just run away like this.’
Of course, they could run.
With Sillian and Euphen being Espers, shaking off pursuit wouldn’t be difficult.
But the real problem was whether the Count would stop.
If, by chance, he chased them to the end, Euphen and Eshar would be in danger as well.
People might not immediately recognize that Euphen is an Imperial Prince, but if the Count put out wanted posters, it would become very troublesome.
It would quickly spread that he wasn’t actually dead, and then other pursuers would join in.
Lynette frowned and shook her head.
‘We have to resolve this here.’
If so, there was only one conclusion.
They had to bring the Count down.
But wasn’t that something Euphen didn’t want?
She let out a deep sigh.
Sillian tightened his grip on her hand.
“Lynette.”
“Yes?”
“He also understands that he’s in a situation where he has no choice.”
“…”
“And rather than getting chased by the Count and being exposed for faking his death, it’s far better to turn this place upside down.”
Since Lynette had been thinking the same thing, she had no words to refute him.
“I know… I know, but ruining the plan like this from the very start is just….”
“It’s something that would have to be done eventually. It’s just happening a little earlier.”
She clamped her mouth shut and lowered her head.
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