Chapter 124: Queen Maker (22)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124: Queen Maker (22)
The nobles from the Karta Kingdom were detained. They would not be released from their cramped prison cells until their respective families sent their ransoms.
One might argue the punishment was too light for their crimes, but Cloud had no other choice.
Although he had been siphoning off Lorian’s food supplies for a while, Lupus’s situation hadn’t improved.
The food shortage persisted, and they needed money to rebuild the city.
Collecting ransoms was the perfect way to secure those funds, and naturally, for that to work, the hostages had to be kept in one piece.
They had to be left unharmed.
This was only possible because they were nobles from another kingdom.
The vassal families of the Prona Kingdom’s royalty, however, could not escape capital punishment. A domestic uprising was an entirely different matter from a foreign invasion.
Callion and Louis insisted they had acted independently of their families, but…
Bullshit.
No matter how powerful the heir of a great noble family was, they couldn’t lead an army on their own without the family head’s permission. That would be an act of defiance against the head’s authority. It was safe to assume they had received approval.
Normally, the punishment for treason was the annihilation of the entire family.
This time, however, they decided to execute only the ringleaders.
Lupus currently lacked the resources to cleanly wipe out two great noble families, and even if it did, Cloud had no desire to start a war.
Instead, under the pretext of punishing them for their failure to supervise their heirs, he planned to bleed the two families dry.
With a very, very large straw.
However, a small problem arose with this plan.
Callion Oller.
Eri’s older brother.
No matter how bad their relationship was or that she had been disowned, blood was still blood. Cloud didn't want Eri to become depressed or, worse, resent him over Callion’s execution.
So, Cloud asked Eri about Callion’s fate.
Doing a favor for a companion.
To Cloud, the matter was that simple.
Eri’s mind, on the other hand, was a tangled mess.
Callion.
The name of the brother she hated.
Oller.
The family she had spent her entire life trying to belong to, only to be cast out in the end.
When one hated word combined with another, it became a loathsome one.
But contrary to her thoughts, she couldn’t answer right away.
The faint, yet lingering, bond of blood.
The flicker of hope that this might be her chance to be accepted back into the Oller family register.
These things made her hesitate. Finally, she spoke.
“I’ll… I’ll meet him and then decide.”
*
“I don’t need it.”
“…Did I hear you wrong? What did you say?”
“I said, I don’t need it.”
Eri was momentarily stunned by his sharp, decisive words.
After collecting herself, she continued, “You did understand what I said, right?”
“Of course. That I’m scheduled to be executed, that you can stop it, and your little taunt about how the nobles of the Karta Kingdom will walk away unharmed. I understood perfectly.”
“And that’s your answer?”
“Did you expect me to crawl between your legs and kiss your ass just to save my own skin?”
Callion snorted as if the idea was absurd.
“Not only do I have no intention of doing so, but what would I have left even if I did survive? Nothing but my shattered honor.”
“Ha! What are you talking about? You’re going to throw your life away for something as petty as pride?”
“It is not petty.”
Leaning back in his chair, his expression was utterly serious.
“A noble is a ruler. That means they have people beneath them. If a noble casts aside their pride, they bring shame upon their subjects as well. Do you think those subjects would look up to such a pathetic noble? Would they trust and follow them? I, for one, do not think so. That is why a noble’s honor is important.”
His hair was a mess, and his face was caked in grime.
Even so, the dignity etched deep into his bones proved he was still a noble.
Eri felt a wave of displeasure wash over her. Why? She was clearly the one with the upper hand in this conversation.
The reason wasn’t hard to find.
It was a familiar feeling for her, the daughter of a concubine.
A sense of defeat.
How would she have reacted if she were in his situation?
Could she have faced death with such composure, as Callion was doing?
Probably not.
She couldn’t deny it, even if she wanted to.
Eri had always pursued practical gain over honor.
Her way of thinking was different from Callion’s, who valued honor above all.
Yes, different.
They were born and raised in the same family, yet they were so different. This was probably the mindset of a typical high noble. Born with everything, they never had to struggle to obtain anything.
Unlike her.
“Well… I suppose it’s not my place to say, having already lost my honor.”
Callion smiled bitterly.
Eri stood up from her seat.
“I gave you a chance. You’re the one who said you want to die.”
With that, she turned and quickened her pace.
I want to get out of here.
I want to escape this unpleasant space as quickly as possible.
“In any case, congratulations, Eri Oller. This is your victory.”
A single sentence from Callion, spoken from behind her, stopped Eri in her tracks.
At his words, her feet felt as if they were glued to the floor. Without turning back, she asked.
“What did you say…?”
“Because of my foolish judgment, the family’s standing has been compromised. You are its only hope now. The family will try to welcome you back, of course, on much better terms than before. You might even become the next head. That’s why I said it’s your victory.”
Eri’s clenched fists trembled. She whipped her head around and shouted at Callion.
“Don’t give me that shit!”
The next head? A victory?
When had she ever wanted something like that?
“I just wanted to be accepted as family! I told you so many times!”
She had wanted her father’s praise.
She had wanted to get along with her half-siblings.
She had wanted to say the name ‘Oller’ with pride in front of others.
“That’s all I ever wanted… Why…”
Overwhelmed with sorrow, tears welled up in her eyes. Eri bit her lip hard. Wiping away her sad expression, she glared at Callion with venomous eyes.
“You disowned me whenever you felt like it, and now you’ll take me back? Don’t make me laugh. I wouldn’t take that damn ruined family now even if you begged me!”
Having vented all her pent-up frustration, she stormed out of the visiting room in a huff.
Watching her leave, Callion let out a small laugh.
“As if…”
A few days later, Callion and Louis were executed.
*
The dungeon’s facilities were plain.
Nothing but stone walls and steel bars.
As if to compensate, the shackles binding Lorian and his companions were enchanted with restraining magic. Even so, Lorian and his party members could break them if they were willing to endure some internal damage.
But they didn’t even think about breaking the shackles and escaping.
They knew.
If they escaped on their own, they would truly die.
At the hands of none other than the Hero, Cloud.
Lorian, being the Hero, might be spared, but the others would certainly be killed. The murderous look on Cloud’s face that day supported this assumption.
And so, they remained quietly in their cells.
The air was thick with humidity, leaving their bodies sticky and grimy with no way to wash. The food was worse than dog slop, and the occasional appearance of bugs and rats wore down their spirits, but…
It was better than dying.
Still, that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable.
The nobles, who had never been treated this way in their lives, and even Lorian’s party members, grew discontent.
Ironically, their frustration was directed not at Cloud, but at Lorian.
He was the one who had half-forced them to go along with the plan, and he was the reason it had failed.
Of course, since Lorian was both the Hero and a prince of the Karta Kingdom, no one voiced their complaints openly.
They merely wore displeased expressions or refused to even look at him.
It was a petty act of rebellion, but it was more than enough to fill the cramped dungeon with a tense atmosphere.
This is not good.
Lorian, of course, noticed. He was racking his brain, trying to find a way to change the mood, when it happened.
“How’s everyone doing?”
With a clatter of footsteps, Cloud appeared in the corridor.
“Judging by your faces, not too well, I see.”
He glanced at the cells and chuckled. Lorian frowned.
“Are you here to mock us?”
“No, I’m here to let you out.”
Cloud took out a ring of keys. At the jangling sound, the nobles’ eyes changed. One by one, they pressed their faces to the bars.
“Have our families sent the ransom already?”
Cloud shook his head, dashing the hope on their faces.
“Ransom? I haven’t even gotten a reply yet. And I’m not here to let you all out.”
“…Then?”
Instead of answering, Cloud opened the door to Lorian’s cell. A collective sigh of disappointment echoed from the other cells.
Watching Cloud unlock his shackles, Lorian narrowed his eyes.
“What are you planning?”
“What do you mean, what am I planning?”
“There’s no reason for you to release me so readily. Not unless you’re up to something.”
“Up to something? I just feel burdened by imprisoning a member of a royal family.”
After freeing Lorian, he immediately moved to release Lorraine. He didn’t free the Saint Candidate or any of Lorian’s other companions. The same went for the other nobles.
Lorian looked at them and said, “I’d appreciate it if you released the others as well.”
“No can do. I’m only letting you and Lorraine go because you’re royalty. And just because you’re free, don’t forget what you did.”
“…In that case, I will remain here as well. I cannot leave by myself.”
Lorian tried to step back into the cell.
Cloud grabbed his shoulder.
“You seem to be mistaken. This isn’t a suggestion.”
“…”
“Follow me.”
Before being pushed forward by Cloud, Lorian turned his head and looked around. The gazes fixed on him and Lorraine were anything but kind.
.
.
.
.
.
“Did you really have to go that far?”
In a plain room in an ordinary inn, the kind you could find anywhere in the city.
Lorraine confronted him, drying her freshly washed, damp hair with a cloth.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. A sly snake like you couldn’t possibly have missed that atmosphere.”
Lorraine glared at him.
Cloud just smirked and moved behind her.
He took the cloth from her and began to dry her hair for her.
“Hey, hey…! What are you doing!”
“Stay still. It’s hard to dry if you move.”
“Ngh…! S-Stop it!”
Lorraine flailed her hands, her face flushed, telling him to stop, but it was no use. Cloud skillfully dodged her attempts. In the end, she was the first to tire and give up.
“What is this, really…”
As she pouted and grumbled, Cloud spoke.
“You asked if I had to go that far, right? Yes. I did. To make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.”
“…Weren’t there other ways?”
“There were. But you asked me not to kill them.”
His calm tone held a meaning that was anything but. A shiver ran down Lorraine’s spine, and she turned to look back at him. Cloud smiled as if to ask what was wrong.
“Speaking of which, there was something you still haven’t answered, right?”
“Wh-What…?”
“Don’t pretend you forgot. You’re not an idiot.”
Cloud stroked her brown hair. Lorraine kept her lips pressed tightly together, hesitating, before glancing at him and answering.
“I… I can’t betray my brother.”
“Is that your answer?”
Lorraine gave a small nod.
“Fine, well… let’s just say that’s your answer for now.”
Cloud took Lorraine’s cheeks in his hands and kissed her. After the long kiss ended, he met her eyes.
“There’s still plenty of time.”
Cloud kissed her again and began to untie the laces of her dress.
Lorraine did not resist.
*
In the mountains near Lupus.
A young man stood on a cliff, looking down at the city and the army encamped before it.
“It’s just as grim as the rumors said. I wonder if Cloud is still around?”
It’d be a waste to come all this way if he’s not here.
As the young man hummed in thought, the voice of his companion came from behind him.
“Mars, what are you doing over there? Aren’t you coming?”
“Huh? Whoa, when did you get all the way over there? Wait for me!”
The young man, Mars, broke into a run toward his companions.