Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Bonds
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The Argent family archive was located in the deepest underground chamber, a sealed space where not even a sliver of light could penetrate.
Dust accumulated over centuries floated in the air, sparkling like gold dust whenever it caught the torchlight.
The musty smell of old paper, the oxidized tang of ink, and the rich aroma from aged leather bindings mingled together, stinging the nose with every breath.
Lilia sat perched on a narrow, rickety ladder. On her lap rested a thick, moldy leather tome, precariously opened.
Her gloved fingers slowly traced over the yellowed parchment. The paper's texture felt rough and brittle, as if it might crumble at any moment.
'Argent Family Chronicles, Volume 7.'
The gold-embossed title on the cover had been worn faint by time. She had already spent two sleepless nights wide-eyed in this place.
Her eyes were dry and stinging, her shoulders stiff as stone, but she couldn't stop her hands. The official ledgers from the past century, brought from the imperial capital, had left too many gaps unfilled.
That void had drawn her here, to the family's most secretive repository of memories.
"Fifth Emperor Gustos I..."
She murmured softly. Her voice echoed dryly off the archive's walls.
The handwriting in the document was sharp and irritable, the ink pressed deeply as if infused with the then-head of the family's fury.
[The Emperor's measure to drastically cut the management costs of the Black Forest. A foolish, ignorant decision. The 00 00 must be maintained at all costs. In the end, we emptied the family coffers to do it. On the family's honor, they must be protected.]
Lilia's eyebrow twitched.
'00 00?'
Two smudged, illegible characters. An emperor trying to slash funds, and a family pouring in their private wealth to stop it.
This passage hinted that the Argent family's title as the Empire's shield wasn't simply for guarding the borders.
The southern border had Roselia, a military powerhouse, and it wasn't in any dire state to begin with.
Before the emperor's madness, there hadn't even been any border skirmishes.
So why did we keep holding onto that moniker as the Empire's shield?
She turned the page. The rustling sound seemed unusually loud. Dust rose, tickling her throat.
[Records from the reign of Seventh Emperor Pikeus I.]
The handwriting here was a bit calmer and more steady.
[His Majesty has greatly increased the funding for Black Forest management. The 00 forces have long voiced complaints due to lack of funds, but now it should be better. A blessing for Argent as well. Loyalty to Emperor His Majesty.]
Lilia's finger stopped.
"Forces?"
She rubbed her eyes and checked the sentence again. No mistake. The scrawled script was clear on that one word: 'forces'.
[00 forces.]
The preceding characters were smudged as well. But from the context, it wasn't referring to mere guards or patrols.
The phrase about 'voicing complaints due to lack of funds' suggested they were an independent organization with their own structure and voice.
Lilia closed the book and climbed down the ladder. Thud. Her shoe heel hit the floor heavily.
She placed the book on the table in the center of the archive and rested her chin in her hand.
'An army stationed in the Black Forest?'
It was absurd. She had been born and raised in the Argent territory.
The Black Forest, the emperor's direct territory next to their lands, was a den of magical beasts and a wasteland overgrown with poisonous plants.
There was no space there for a large force to be stationed. If there were, her brother, Duke Karls the lord, or she herself would know about it.
Supplies? Food? Weapons? They couldn't have missed such massive logistics heading into the forest.
But the ledgers didn't lie. The enormous management costs from successive emperors, and the word 'forces' etched in the family records.
Lilia closed her eyes and pictured a map of the Black Forest in her mind. Dense trees, endless swamps.
'Underground, maybe? No, the Black Forest hasn't been fully explored or mapped anywhere.'
A chill ran down her spine. Not just the surface, but underground too... We truly knew nothing.
Why didn't our ancestors write down these records and then tell us about it?
No... Mother and Father never even had the chance to tell us.
She shook her head and refocused.
That 'something' which successive emperors had poured vast sums into maintaining, and which the Argent family had protected even at the cost of their private funds.
And now, the deposed emperor Batanias was heading there.
What if it wasn't mere exile to save his life? What if he knew all these secrets and was going there of his own accord?
"What the hell have they hidden in that forest?"
Lilia's clenched fist trembled. Sweat dampened her palm inside the leather glove.
The underbelly of the world she knew was cracking open, ever so slightly, but unmistakably, revealing its black maw.
'I need to meet that man.'
Every time the carriage wheels jolted over the rugged dirt road, the rough wooden seat bumped against my rear.
The creak of the worn axle and the steady rhythm of hooves pounding the earth filled the silence inside the carriage.
The scenery flashing past the window shifted from barren fields to the outskirts of a dense green forest.
Adella, sitting opposite, stared out the window.
The white bandages wrapped around her side peeked through gaps in her leather armor, and the thin tunic draped over them stretched taut and relaxed with her breathing.
"How did it feel when you came back to life?"
My sudden question made Adella turn her head. Her brown eyes met mine. She seemed lost in thought for a moment, lowering her gaze.
"Cold."
Her answer was short and dry.
"Cold?"
"Yes. I was near the river in the city, soaked through. The poison had paralyzed me, and when the soldiers found me and shook me awake, it felt like chill straight to my bones."
She spoke matter-of-factly, but rubbed her forearm unconsciously, as if recalling that night.
"I thought I was dead. Or that I had died. But when I opened my eyes, there was the medic, and His Grace the Duke standing there."
"Glad you're okay. Your taste coming back up the river was really something, in all sorts of ways."
She cleared her throat awkwardly and turned her gaze back to the window. Her flushed earlobes peeked through her hair.
"Anyway, thank you."
"For what?"
"I heard. That you, Batanias, kept yelling for them to find me..."
She swallowed a moment.
"If it weren't for you, I'd be a cold corpse. Thank you again. Actually, that's twice you've saved me now."
Such a sincere thank-you seemed new to her; Adella's face was red.
It was the first heartfelt words I'd heard since entering this game.
I bit my lip lightly.
Change the subject.
"How'd you end up as my escort? Your wounds aren't even fully healed."
I propped my chin and asked.
"His Grace suggested it."
Adella answered while pretending to count trees outside.
"Even a deposed emperor needs an escort. And..."
She paused and glanced at me.
"And?"
"He said he wanted to send the most trustworthy person. That I was needed to keep an eye on you, so you don't do anything stupid."
She used 'you'. Before, it had been 'prisoner' or 'hey'.
The polite formality felt oddly ticklish.
Maybe because I was used to the casual banter and curses through the prison bars, her refined tone felt even more provocative now.
Like she was drawing a line on the surface while aware the walls inside had already crumbled.
The carriage lurched hard. Adella's upper body pitched forward, her leather armor creaking.
She gripped the handle to steady herself. The motion made her chest bounce heavily.
The flesh compressed inside the armor pushed against the leather, asserting its presence.
I couldn't look away.
The strap at the neck of her leather armor was slightly loose. Through the gap, I glimpsed the white skin below her collarbone.
Sweat beaded on the smooth surface, and with each breath, her ribcage swelled, deepening and lightening the shadow between her breasts.
I'd seen her naked before. Vivid memories of stripping her in the prison under the pretext of 'poison check', inspecting every inch.
But back then, the tension of survival had left me no room to properly appreciate it, and that regret lingered.
Why did she seem even more tantalizing now, clothed? Was it because the covering stirred the imagination?
As Adella inhaled, the leather armor stretched tight, outlining her breasts prominently.
The round, heavy shape stood out clearly against the leather.
The armor looked rigid, but inside lay soft, warm flesh.
Like her buttocks that twitched under my touch, her breasts would yield and reshape in my hands.
'I want to touch them. Touch them. Touch...'
My fingertips tingled. Heat gathered in my palms, as if Delicate Touch was activating on its own.
It overlapped with the thrilling sensation of remotely kneading Helena's breasts. Adella's seemed a bit firmer than Helena's.
No, much firmer, with her muscular build.
"Lord Batanias."
Adella's voice snapped me out of it. She had turned to stare straight at me. Her brown eyes held bewilderment and a hint of wariness.
"What have you been staring at this whole time?"
She made a show of tightening the strap over her chest with one hand. She had definitely noticed my blatant gaze.
I blinked innocently, feigning calm.
"Nothing. Your armor looks tight. Isn't it hard to breathe? Want me to loosen it?"
It was a shameless response, but my heart pounded. Had I always been this perverted?
Or had possessing this game's emperor character come with his sexual urges too?
Adella's face flushed red. She pressed her lips together and averted her eyes.
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it."
Her tone was firm, but the end of her voice quivered slightly. She adjusted her posture, crossing her legs. The leather pants rustled in the cramped carriage.
"Good, then. Speak up if it's uncomfortable. You know my touch, right?"
I said it casually.
That old man, the army leader—what the hell? He just walks in, sighs to Lilia, tells her to flee within a month, then strolls out, and no one can stop him. Doesn't even kill the knights or soldiers, just leaves 'em at 1 HP.
Huh? What army? What leader? What's that even mean?
This guy's only doing the Argent start. Gotta become an Argent knight within a week and camp out in the audience chamber to meet him.
A week? Possible? And anyway, that place crumbles in a month no matter what.
That's why only perverts know this fact.