Chapter 153
“To dare, a snake, of all things…”
Lutan gritted his teeth and traversed the capital. She is somewhere here. Lutan knew Ryuhyeon.
He enjoyed hiding in plain sight, so he wouldn’t have gone far, and would be here in this capital, holding Roina as if to mock him.
He was on the verge of his mind going completely blank with rage.
It was then that a faint trace was detected by his senses. A tenuous trace, on the verge of disappearing. But he keenly seized that trace.
The place he arrived at, following the trace, was on top of a pile of burnt trash discarded from the Imperial Palace. A small piece of clothing, not yet completely burned, remained on top of the charred ashes.
This is Roina’s clothing. Lutan was certain.
His eyes were fixed straight ahead, on the Imperial Palace. The very Imperial Palace where the New Year’s celebration, which he hadn’t attended because of Roina’s disappearance, was about to begin.
Lutan moved his steps towards the Imperial Palace, his clothes fluttering. Because the traces of the contract between Kail and the first emperor remained strongly there, it wasn’t easy for him to approach, but all of that was something he could only consider when Roina was safe. Roina might be in the Imperial Palace, bound. Just like before, back then.
Lutan couldn’t leave her in such a quagmire for even a moment. Whether the entity was a snake or the disgusting descendant of the first emperor, he couldn’t forgive them. He would definitely retrieve her.
Not a trace of hesitation lingered within him.
The forces opposing the Kailum Empire included not only the rebel army composed of nobles but also the revolutionary army. The two were vastly different.
This was because the rebel army’s goal was the downfall of the tyrannical crown prince and the accession of a rightful king, while the revolutionary army’s goal was the collapse of the monarchy and the complete abolition of the class system.
Therefore, the rebel army arose among the nobles, centered around Marquis Amasto, while the revolutionary army arose among the lower classes, who were the targets of discrimination. The former was recently formed, while the latter had been repeatedly suppressed by the imperial family for a long time, and was a force that barely maintained its existence.
The revolutionary army was in a situation where they needed a lifeline to prolong their existence, and for that, paradoxically, they needed someone who could create ties with the nobles. They may have calculated that she could at least be used as a spy.
It was for that reason that Erika, having fallen to the very bottom, was rescued by them.
Whatever the reason, they gave her a place to sleep without worry and food to stave off hunger, and became a second family to her. As a young and powerless Erika, she had no reason not to be with them.
It was during that time that she learned the ways of the lowest of the low. Erika irritably combed back her hair as she watched the white, bookish-looking man who had reappeared. Whenever she recalled that time, she became sharp and sensitive. In fact, she had been in this state ever since she set foot in the Herick household.
This place was where pain and wounds, familial love and camaraderie, were all chaotically mixed for her. It was a place where good memories and trauma coexisted, so she was tormented by complex emotions.
“The master wishes to see you.”
“That’s a relief,” Erika replied, rising smoothly from her chair. While waiting, she had wrapped a handkerchief over her nose like a mask and tied the ends behind her head. The man
He only chuckled at the sight and didn’t say much. Erika confidently raised her head slightly. She didn’t need to pay attention to his reaction. If she could prepare for even the slightest danger, that was much better.
Creak, creak, as expected, the wooden floorboards groaned dryly as she moved her feet. If she accidentally stepped on a rotten part, she would hear a cracking sound as it broke.
In this building, where light barely entered due to the windows being blocked by wooden planks and other things, he walked silently, illuminating the surroundings with only a single lamp.
Erika felt that he was like a nocturnal animal, skilled at hunting something. Something cold and chilling, not a furry beast, but perhaps like a large snake. It was a strange sensation.
Even though the person in front of her was clearly a human, that feeling wouldn’t leave her mind.
He went down to the basement through an ordinary-looking staircase. Erika suppressed her uneasy feelings and quietly followed him. There was no turning back now. She could only hope that these people didn’t harbor ill intentions.
‘If things go wrong…’
Erika touched the small magic tool nestled in her bosom. It was a magic tool that emitted a powerful force capable of immobilizing the opponent in an instant.
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.