Night of Chaos (4)
Night of Chaos (4)
"How insolent, truly insolent."
Belletria said this while looking down at the thirty remaining intruders who were still trembling.
Then, at the sound of movement behind her, she turned her head indifferently,
And discovered me, clutching my collarbone even harder due to the heavier-than-expected bleeding, watching her.
'... Ah, we made eye contact.'
"......."
She looked back and forth between my face and my bleeding collarbone for a moment without a word.
Finally, she glanced at Ruamel, who was also bleeding slightly on her forearm and shoulder, then shifted her gaze back to the front and raised her sword.
Hwareureuk—!
The aura, which had been flickering like blue flames revealed on the blade, grew in size,
And soon became large enough to cut down all thirty people in a single blow.
'... No way? Is she going to kill them right away?'
It went without saying, but if they were the gang presumed to be accomplices of those who attacked me, I had no intention of keeping them alive.
However, the sight of them crying their eyes out and begging for their lives was a bit questionable.
'To have the audacity to raid the Imperial Palace, the heart of the Empire, and then beg the continent's greatest Tyrant to spare them.'
Logically, the situation didn't add up.
They were a group of insane murderers who had broken the barrier of the Imperial Palace to get in.
If they were the gang known as the Black Mud, it would be normal for them to have committed suicide or fought to the bitter end.
But the thirty or so thugs in my view were banging their foreheads against the floor and wailing desperately.
"W-we just delivered the request to the Black Mud! The person who really ordered it, the person who ordered it is someone else!"
"We swear we only intended to pretend to carry out the request, watch for a bit, and then slip away! Please, please spare our lives, Your Majesty!"
"If you give us just one chance, we will live diligently from now on. So please...!!"
Seeing them trembling to the point of wetting their pants, it was clear they weren't assassins, but just informants or bottom-feeders from the back alleys who did errands for money.
However, despite their desperate cries, there wasn't even a hint of hesitation in Belletria's expression.
Instead, the blue-burning aura of the Snow Flower Imperial Sword grew deeper, as if she were about to blow off thirty heads at once.
But looking at that, my questions only deepened.
'Is there really a need to kill them right now?'
Of course, the crime of trespassing into the Imperial Palace deserved execution.
Even if she slaughtered them in one stroke, the justification was perfect.
But since the words "the person who really ordered it" had come out of the mouths of that trash,
It would be a serious loss to cut their lives short right now, if only to dig out the mastermind behind the incident.
Furthermore, a remark Grand Duke Zenos had left with me a few days ago suddenly flashed through my mind.
—I hope the Prince will become someone who can influence the Empress to change.
Even with perfect justification, the image of the Emperor personally slaughtering thirty impoverished people who had lost the will to fight in the middle of a blood-soaked plaza.
It would only solidify the cruel image of a Tyrant that was already etched into the minds of the Imperial citizens and nobles.
'What if she at least pretended to show mercy in a moment like this?'
It wouldn't be too late to execute them after digging out the whole story, finding the mastermind, and going through a formal trial.
Above all, there was no need to force the Emperor to get such dirty blood on her hands.
It was clear that would bring a much more favorable result for the governance of the Empire, and for my own survival by her side.
'... Screw it, I don't know.'
I finished my thought.
It was the moment Belletria, with an indifferent gaze, raised her sword, and the aura was about to be unleashed and brought down.
"Your Majesty, wait a moment!"
I rushed forward and grabbed Belletria's right arm, which was holding the sword, with both hands.
Flinch.
I felt her arm muscles tense slightly at the sudden intrusion.
Even the wailing of the poor people prostrate on the floor stopped for a moment.
I gasped for air, suppressing the pain from my bleeding collarbone.
"How about... giving them one chance."
"What...?"
The surrounding air froze instantly.
Belletria slowly turned her head to look down at me.
Her ruby-red eyes were filled with clear displeasure.
"No matter if it is your request, Idelon."
Her voice was as cold as frost.
"There is a line that must be drawn."
I could feel the tension in her forearm again.
It was a murderous aura, as if she would shake off my hand and swing her sword at any moment.
'Ah, was this a bit much?'
My mind went blank.
There was no way rational persuasion—about digging for the mastermind or the ruler's image—would work here.
The woman in front of me right now was not moving by reason, but by instinct and emotion; she was the continent's strongest force and a Tyrant.
But since I had already thought about it, made my decision, and shown it through action, I had to see it through to the end, come what may.
'Ah, damn it, I don't know anymore!'
I squeezed my eyes shut.
In times like this, there was only one way.
I had no choice but to bet everything on the act of a pure-hearted lover that I had been pushing until now.
I gripped her arm even tighter and raised my voice so that it rang throughout the plaza.
"I-I said that because I don't want the woman I love to get blood on her hands for useless reasons anymore!!"
"......."
"After hearing everything these worms have to say, couldn't we just have them killed by someone else's hands? I, I don't want dirty blood to stain the beautiful hands of Your Majesty... no, Belletria!!"
"T-this is unbelievable."
"What on earth did he just...?"
Reactions of disbelief erupted from all around.
The Imperial knights who had been running over after hearing the commotion, some servants who had poked their heads out to check the situation,
And even Ruamel, who had been following closely behind me.
All of them were looking at me with faces of such shock that their eyes seemed to be popping out.
Some of the knights holding weapons had their jaws dropped, frozen like statues.
Dozens of gazes gathered in the plaza turned toward me at once.
My face burned so much I wanted to hide in a mouse hole at the sight of everyone staring only at me, as if they had agreed to do so.
Nevertheless, since finishing what I had started was the priority, I swallowed hard and watched Belletria's reaction.
"......."
She had stopped the cold air she was emitting just a moment ago, and was looking down at me quietly with her eyes slightly widened.
Her ruby-colored pupils wavered slightly.
Her lips, which had been firmly pressed together, parted.
I could see that her cheeks, which had been like white porcelain, were flushed a very faint peach color.
"Th... that, I understand."
A moment later, Belletria turned her gaze slightly away and her voice trembled a little.
The strength in her hand holding the sword loosened.
"Since I understand...."
She cleared her throat once, then added in a voice a tone lower than usual.
"I would like it if you could say such embarrassing things a bit more quietly in the future."
With those words, the blue aura of the Snow Flower Imperial Sword, which had been burning fiercely as if to swallow the plaza, scattered into the air like melting snow and was sheathed.
I felt a sense of shame that was somehow greater than the sense of accomplishment, but I decided to be grateful that the situation was resolved well and shed tears.
These tears were surely flowing because of the pain in my collarbone.
No, they had to be.
Afterward, Belletria, who had left all the cleanup to Ruamel, was in the middle of urgently moving somewhere while holding my hand.
"Your Majesty? Where are we going right now...?"
"Obviously, we are on our way to treat my fiancé's wound."
"Ah... I definitely need to get it treated before it gets any later."
I hadn't realized it because my dopamine was pumping, but the amount of blood flowing from my collarbone was no joke.
The pain was also intensifying again.
It seemed the wound was opening up more and more.
'But... why is she dragging me somewhere?'
As far as I remembered, Belletria definitely knew how to use healing magic.
Hadn't she healed the enemy's finger herself in the dungeon before?
If so, she could just heal me right there on the spot... why go through the trouble of moving?
Questions filled my head, but since there was no need to voice them out loud,
I kept my mouth shut and followed her lead, and before I knew it, we had arrived in front of the infirmary.
Creeeak.
As we pushed open the door to the infirmary, a middle-aged man who had been sitting with his legs up on the desk and sighing as if the ground were about to collapse, turned his head irritably.
"If you're sick, please visit tomorrow. I need to get off work soon. Sigh, being on night duty is exhausting."
The man grumbled in a voice dripping with annoyance and let out a long yawn.
However, his slack jaw froze before it could even close.
"......."
It was the moment the man's dull pupils focused on the white-haired woman standing there holding my hand tightly.
He jumped up as if bounced off his chair, hurriedly straightened his posture, and gave a sharp, disciplined salute.
"M-Medical Staff of the 5th Division! Baron Vaylon! I greet the great Sun of the Empire!"
"......."
Belletria looked at Baron Vaylon, who was trembling like an aspen tree, with a slightly shadowed gaze.
"I am well aware of the hard work of the medical officers. However, I would not like to see you show such an attitude to a patient who has come to the ward in a place that is not a battlefield ever again."
"I-I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty!"
"You may go home."
As soon as Belletria's order to leave was given, the Baron rushed out of the infirmary as if fleeing, not even able to pack his briefcase.
Afterward, in the quiet ward, only the sound of my rough breathing echoed.
As the dopamine slowly subsided, the pain spreading from my collarbone was radiating throughout my entire body, and cold sweat soaked my forehead.
Drops of blood that hadn't stopped yet dripped down between the fingers I was using to clutch the wound.
Belletria silently pulled my shoulder and sat me down carefully on the soft hospital bed.
And before I could even open my mouth, her white hands roughly ripped off the buttons of my blood-stained shirt.
"Ugh...."
The slightly cool air of the ward touched my bare skin, giving me goosebumps.
The deep wound on my collarbone was exposed on my bare upper body.
She bent her knees slightly to match my eye level, and then carefully traced around my wound with her cold but soft fingertips.
Because of the close distance, her regular breathing touched my neck, tickling my skin.
Paaat.
Soon, a faint, warm light began to emanate from her palms.
I felt a strange sensation as the torn muscles twitched and reconnected, and the misaligned bones found their place.
Belletria watched in silence as the pain washed away.
Her touch, which had been stroking my wound, slowed down little by little.
Even though the healing was finished, her fingertips, which hadn't been withdrawn, lightly touched my collarbone, which was now smooth without a scar.
"......."
Then, a suffocating silence suddenly descended.
I didn't know where to look, so I stared at the empty air and swallowed dryly.
At that moment, Belletria, who had been keeping her gaze fixed on my collarbone the whole time, opened her mouth slightly.
"Fiancé... no, although it is the law of the Empire that a man and a woman cannot sleep in the same room until they are married...."
"Yes?"
"Idelon. For the sake of your safety, it seems we will have to share a room from now on."
"... Yes?"