Chapter 363
Chapter 363
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.76 – The Knight Leaves the Stage (3)
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Of course, those in power never take kindly to anyone who might threaten their authority.
Especially...
- What are we supposed to do if he's some kind of heretic inquisitor!
- He's the one who'll tear the kingdom apart! We can't just let him be.
- Do you have any idea what he's done to the kingdom's economy?!
...if that threat could strike at them at any moment.
The Noble Council and the Merchant Alliance vented their fury at the knight, insisting with all their might.
Could you believe that they looked like nothing more than cowardly mongrels, trembling in fear?
Well, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
- So, you're saying you're afraid of him.
- !!!?
- I suppose that's understandable. A champion of the territory, a famed assassin, even poison or schemes—none of it can kill him. He's a walking disaster. I get your fear.
- ......
...They affirmed it with silence.
Yes, they were terrified.
Of a knight who wanted none of their power, authority, honor... no matter how precious or glittering the treasures.
And so.
- ...Yes, we're scared.
They openly admitted their feelings.
Where had their usual pride gone?
- Crown Princess. We know you're protecting that knight. We know you're plotting something. But we won't pry into your schemes... However, we cannot tolerate his existence. No, we won't allow you to keep him around.
- You dare give me orders?
- It's not an order—it's a plea! From those who would be your vassals...!
- He is not my subordinate. We're just occasional allies.
- We know. Who but a war god could command such power? But what matters is your friendship with him.
- ....
- Sigh, please understand our position. We're just ordinary people.
- Pathetic lot.
- ....
Even under the insulting rebuke, they held their silence.
They had something to protect.
The 'power' handed down through generations.
...And so.
"-They lack the guts to execute you or the nerve to punish you."
"Who's saying I'd go quietly?"
"Exactly. That's why they fear you all the more. You're too strong to punish."
"Hm..."
Lee Han shrugged at those words.
"But you know."
"Something else you want to ask?"
"Yeah, one thing."
"What is it?"
Isis narrowed her eyes slightly.
Wondering if he was angry and about to lash out at the Noble Council or Merchant Alliance this time... No, out of anxiety.
With that serious expression, he said,
"Since when am I close to you? We're not even that friendly."
"......"
"Those guys are seriously deluded."
"......You bastard."
...drawing curses from her lips.
After their banter ended, Lee Han fell silent for a moment.
"......"
"......"
Isis waited quietly as if giving him time to gather his thoughts, and after about ten minutes of silence.
"Do you remember when I first agreed to play along in this ridiculous farce?"
He brought up something seemingly unrelated.
"Just two weeks ago—how could I forget?"
But Isis didn't falter, nodding calmly as ever.
If anything, her eyes gleamed, as if guessing his intent.
"Good, then."
Two weeks ago—right after Lee Han had been beaten by Albert and regained his senses.
Isis had forcibly changed his clothes and.
- Attend the banquet.
...issued a blunt command.
...Of course.
"I refused."
"You did. You looked ready to punch me."
"Punch you? I just won't see your face next time. Why bother hitting you?"
"...That's even crueler."
To think it now, but Lee Han had never sworn loyalty to Isis.
Their bond was merely cooperation, or a contract.
He wouldn't deny a slight familiarity.
But friendship?
...No, not that.
- Since when am I your subordinate?
- Don't get mad. You know why I'm doing this.
- I do. That's why I'm even listening.
If it had been anyone else—like if Duke Blake had pulled such a stunt—Lee Han wouldn't have held back. He'd have gone berserk.
If they'd chosen coercive tactics to use him, he'd have taught them the cost in blood.
In that sense, Isis had crossed a line their familiarity didn't allow.
She knew it too, nodding impassively.
- I know. That you'd be angry, that you're displeased, that I've overstepped.
- Then why'd you do it, smart one?
- Don't be sarcastic. You should know how to listen a bit.
- I am listening. That's why it's ending here. Otherwise, I wouldn't even treat you like a person.
- ......Cruel boy.
Lee Han hated being used.
Who likes being exploited? But he despised it with particular ferocity.
No helping it.
From his past life to this one.
No—precisely after regaining memories of his past life, he'd still lived for a time as others toyed with his fate.
So he'd never slacked in his efforts, striving to grow stronger.
So no one could trifle with his life.
So he could live by his own will.
- My father betrayed the Pendragons. King Edmund did.
That's why Lee Han cooperated with Isis.
She'd given him a valid reason, a justification to join the play.
She'd shown him reason to barely cross that line.
...But.
"I've been thinking about it from then until now..."
From hearing of King Edmund's betrayal and its truth, up to deciding to cooperate— a lingering doubt.
None other than.
"-Did you really not know?"
"......"
"Did you only learn the king betrayed us then and ask for my help?"
"......"
"Not that you knew from the start?"
"......"
An unease he couldn't shake.
Not based on clear deduction.
More like pure instinct.
But Lee Han had relied on this instinct hundreds, no, thousands of times, and never ignored such unease.
"I'm being blunt, but don't think of it as questioning. Just me talking to myself."
"...No matter how I look at it, that sounds like grilling me."
"If it feels that way, it's because you've got something to hide from me."
"......"
"Anyway, I think you already knew about the king's betrayal. I didn't know you'd been cooperating for 30 years, but at least you knew he was up to something."
"An amusing hypothesis."
"Yeah, just a hypothesis. My mumbling. So hear me out a bit more."
His theory wasn't over yet.
Clink.
Lee Han lightly tapped the iron bar, as if demanding focus on his words.
In response, her cool, gem-like eyes fixed on him unwaveringly.
No flicker at all.
"I've pondered what exactly bugged me about you these past two weeks. Trying to put the unease into words. And surprisingly, I narrowed it down to two things."
"Ho. With that thick skull of yours? Must've been tough."
"You bet."
Clack.
"The two sources of my unease. First, things don't add up."
"Don't add up?"
"Yeah. You told me this banquet had to succeed. That your son, Arthur, needed the spotlight, that it'd positively impact unifying the south. But..."
Creak!
"...despite that, you caused an incident? You, of all people, said that to me."
The iron bar screamed, twisting under his monstrous grip, beginning to crumple.
"The second doubt is unrelated to that, but thinking back, I haven't seen your son since last spring."
"And why is that unsettling?"
"It is. You said Arthur needed attention, yet you've strangely never brought him to official events or gatherings."
Not even at the war games. Not in countless meetings.
Oddly, Lee Han had never seen Arthur.
No—she'd never brought him.
That meant...
"There's a reason he can't be seen by me. Or rather, shouldn't be?"
Precisely by someone like Lee Han, fully matured.
In the past, she'd assessed him.
Lee Han's senses were extraordinary.
And a year later, they'd grown even more so.
Enough to detect Irene Windler's true parentage before even Duke Blake could confirm it.
And if she'd noticed this marvel and kept her son from Lee Han as a result, it planted a certain 'hypothesis' in his mind.
None other than.
"...Arthur Pendragon."
─Is he really your son?
...The possibility she'd hidden him to avoid him learning it wasn't hers.
And if that was true.
"The day before, when the Brass Knights infiltrated, I saw their vice-commander, but not the commander. And if you met the Brass Knights' commander and heard something similar to what I'm thinking..."
"......"
"...Your actions make sense. All your sudden moves."
"......"
"My unease explained entirely..."
Lee Han muttered like a soliloquy.
At some point, free of the iron bar.
Like a beast unleashed, yet she showed no change in expression.
"Well done."
She simply smiled warmly, as if proud.
Meeting that smile, Lee Han let out a weary chuckle.
"...You could've just denied it."