Chapter 203
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 203
“To begin with, the curse Your Highness mentioned was the curse of the Ruined Continent.”
My eyes snapped open at Kaitan’s words. Klaus, who had been watching me closely, asked immediately, “What is it?”
“I heard that from the fanatics in the cave back then. They called me a woman of the Ruined Continent.”
“In the cave…?”
“The cave in the Belus Territory. The day I saved you.”
“…”
Klaus rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
Perhaps it was because of his bright hair, but he glowed with a special radiance, looking like a being caught between the sunset and the moonlight of the evening.
After staring at Klaus for a moment, I turned to Kaitan—who was now gazing at me with eyes full of worship, unlike before—and asked, “But where is the Ruined Continent?”
Kaitan hesitated slightly.
“That is… I apologize, but it is a secret, My Lady. It has been designated as classified not only by His Majesty the King of Lupinus but also in accordance with the laws of the major Summer Continent nations…”
“The Summer Continent.”
“Huh?”
“The Ruined Continent is the Summer Continent.”
“Your Highness!” Kaitan shrieked, his face a mask of horror.
Regardless of his aide’s reaction, Klaus remained deep in thought, his chin still resting on one hand.
“I’ll deal with that old man myself, so just shut up.”
“How many times must I tell you not to refer to His Great Majesty the King as ‘that old man’!”
“I’m trying my best not to call him that to his face.”
“Sigh… Moreover, to leak a secret like this… If His Majesty finds out…”
“She’s my companion. I can’t even tell her that much?”
“You said it was temporary!”
“A temporary guest is still a guest, and a temporary snack is still a snack. That’s how it works.”
“What on earth are you talking about?!”
Kaitan clutched his head in agony. I shifted my gaze back to Klaus and asked, “Is your continent ruined?”
“No. If it were ruined, would I be here? The ones that actually fell were the Autumn and Winter Continents, but…”
Klaus continued, his eyes sinking deeper than I had ever seen them.
“The heretics who lived there started calling the Summer Continent that. The Ruined Continent. Well, to be fair, thirty percent of the Summer Continent has already rotted away.”
“Your Highness! Please! That is the secret of all secrets!”
“I told you, she’s my companion.”
“You said temporary!”
Kaitan looked like he was suffering because he couldn’t just faint and get it over with. However, the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity was more important.
“Why is the Summer Continent rotting? Is the land just becoming contaminated for no reason?”
“I was supposed to hear about that today as well. Kaitan. Speak.”
Kaitan was now shedding actual tears.
“Yes. Even I do not know.”
A voice of utter despair leaked out.
“I will just tell you everything… This is an urgent report I only just received myself, but the source of the rot in the Summer Continent was the fanatics who crossed over from the Autumn and Winter Continents.”
In an instant, Klaus’s pupils constricted like a beast’s. A murderous intent radiated from him for a split second.
Having been staring at him out of habit, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was in moments like this that I truly felt Klaus was a descendant of the Wolf King’s lineage.
“So those bastards actually wanted to destroy the Summer Continent. Their reason?”
“The reason has not been uncovered yet. However, now that we know it is the work of the fanatics, the Guardians of the Summer Continent have become extremely busy.”
Listening to their conversation, I reached for my teacup when I suddenly looked down.
“What? What’s going on?”
It was because Kaitan, his face turning deathly pale, had grabbed my hand firmly.
“W-Wait a moment! My Lady?”
“Yes?”
In an instant, several magic circles manifested in the air. They were only about the size of a teacup, but the color drained from Klaus’s face immediately.
“You crazy bastard, who do you think you’re casting magic on?!”
Crack. Along with the sound of crushing bone, Kaitan was kicked by Klaus and sent rolling across the floor.
“Are—are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but he doesn’t look okay, does he?”
“This crazy bastard, laying a hand on whose companion…”
The snarling Klaus was different from his usual self. Even his canines, sharper than a normal human’s, were menacingly bared.
The problem was Kaitan. Even as blood poured from his cracked head, his eyes seemed fixed only on me.
Kaitan shouted while trembling, “Your Highness! The blood of a Summer Continent Guardian flows through this lady! And it is incredibly strong!”
“Kaitan, if I had known you were the type to spout nothing but bullshit, I would have gone to that old man Lassen and complained. I would’ve told him not to send someone like you and to let you rot in the Summer Continent forever!”
“No, Your Highness! I am truly not talking nonsense…! No, and ‘that old man Lassen’?! Please do not call the noble King by his name so recklessly!”
Kaitan, appealing his grievance through blood and tears, suddenly bolted upright.
“I understand! If you cannot believe me, I will investigate and bring back certain proof!”
And then.
“Ow!”
In the blink of an eye, he nicked my finger and dabbed the blood onto a handkerchief. Klaus immediately struck Kaitan’s cheek with his fist.
“This insane bastard must have lost his will to live.”
“I am sorry! Your Highness! My Lady! I needed a bit of blood for a perfect examination!”
Kaitan dashed out of the tea room like the wind. His speed was enough to earn him the title of a god of lightning.
“I should bury him in a corner along with that old man, that lunatic…”
I never thought I’d live to see the day someone suddenly extorted blood from me.
I put the finger that had been bleeding into my mouth.
To think he sensed my lineage as a Summer Continent Guardian so quickly.
The mages of the Summer Continent are certainly impressive. Since he’s directly under the royal family, he must be exceptionally skilled.
Truly, he wouldn't be out of place if compared to a drug-sniffing dog.
“Hey.”
Klaus pulled my finger out of my mouth and examined it this way and that. His eyes were burning with intensity.
“Are you okay? That bastard, I’ll… I’ll kill him right now and bring him to you as a gift.”
“A gift? Is he a taxidermy project?”
“Is that thing even human? He drew your blood! How dare he!”
“I’m the one who got my blood drawn, so why are you more heated than I am?”
“Because you’re mine! Naturally, he should have asked for my permission first!”
There he goes again. At this point, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a disease.
Klaus seemed angrier than I was about the blood. I soothed him, saying the bleeding had already stopped and it didn't even hurt.
“Didn't you say Summer Continent mages are precious talents?”
“No matter how precious, they’re still just mages. Do you think they’re more precious than royalty?”
“Still, if you kill him, you’ll have to call another mage from the Summer Continent, won’t you? I’m fine, so just tell him to come and apologize later.”
I already knew the general truth from my father, but I was a bit curious to see what official results he would bring.
“Sigh…”
Klaus wiped his face repeatedly before saying, “Let’s go eat. I’ll tie that bastard up limb by limb and gift him to you later.”
* * *
Klaus really eats a lot when he’s deep in thought.
Does Klaus himself know that he devoured almost an entire deer on his own?
He had been diligently and silently eating meat dishes dripping with hot juices, but anyone could see his mind was elsewhere.
Dinner ended quietly.
The thought that it was quite funny how over twenty plates were cleared between just the two of us flashed through my mind for a moment.
Just as I finished cleansing my palate with some sherbet.
“Lady Tulia.”
A servant approached and asked quietly, “Now that you have finished your meal, would you like to return to the main building? Head Maid Adel has come personally to escort you.”
“I’ll stay a bit longer. Tell Adel to wait and rest in the waiting room.”
“Understood, My Lady.”
The reason I didn't return immediately after leaving Klaus was, of course, because of the Quest.
A Quest had popped up urging me so desperately to come see Klaus; I didn't believe for a second that nothing would happen afterward.
Anyone would become this sensitive after being backstabbed about three thousand times by Kim Ddong-byul.
I planned to stay by Klaus’s side as long as it didn't violate etiquette. So, until midnight?
However, my plan was ruthlessly shattered.
“It is—it is certain!”
Kaitan came running back, a dark bruise around his eye.
“My Lady! Your mother was a Guardian of the Divine Tree!”