Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: My Brothers Aren't Villains!
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Bamper smiled faintly toward Aiel.
"By the way, White Flame, I've prepared some light teapot sets that you can handle, just in case you ever enjoy tea time in the imperial palace. How about we use them now?"
"Yes? You mean those Bamper homage ones we saw in Denpider?!"
She seemed to finally recall what she and Mayches had said in front of the carriage on the first day they'd visited the palace.
"Why on earth did you play along with something like that... Anyway, not now. Next time, Your Highness Bamper!"
Bamper did his best not to chase after Aiel, who was fleeing with all her might.
Aiel, walking briskly, glanced back and, upon seeing that Bamper wasn't following, came to a stop instead.
Bamper spoke while keeping his distance.
"If it's really no good, I won't pry anymore. Sorry for putting you in a tough spot, White Flame."
"Ah..."
"I just wanted to hear what happened. It's something that happened to me, yet everyone's trying to keep it from me."
Aiel stared straight at Bamper like that before opening her mouth.
"...My brother, and everyone else. They're all doing it to protect Your Highness Bamper."
"That's not how you protect me. I need to know. No matter how serious it is. No—in fact, if it's that bad, I need to know even more."
"......"
Aiel seemed hesitant.
Her gaze darted this way and that amid her inner conflict, until it met Bamper's. At last, her face took on a look of resolve.
"You mentioned tea time? All right."
With that, Aiel looked around. As if she'd found a suitable spot, she soon pointed somewhere.
It was the gazebo in the garden of the Orelot Imperial Palace, shared between the main palace and the crown prince's residence.
Aiel whispered.
"There might be ears listening here, so let's meet over there. We can talk where no one else will know. Then I'll help you. I'll tell you... everything."
Just then, maids from the imperial palace came walking from the opposite side of the corridor.
"Th-then, goodbye!"
Whether she was aware of their gazes or not, Aiel promptly turned and hurried away from Bamper.
"See you later, White Flame."
Bamper acted naturally as well. He had no desire to make things difficult for Aiel, who had offered to help.
He decided to head to the gazebo via the stairs on the opposite side.
The air in the imperial palace garden, brimming with early-blooming spring flowers, was a touch chilly, but the pleasant sunlight kept the temperature just right.
Visitors to the palace, admiring the lush blooms unseen outside the grounds at this time of year, had set up spots near the warm entrance—free of shadows—and were mingling.
To avoid drawing the eyes of those seated at tables and chatting, Bamper walked quietly along the edge.
One attendant, who had gone to fetch a phonograph to liven up the tea time mood, returned and crossed paths with Bamper. But when Bamper raised a finger to his lips in a gesture for silence, the attendant nodded cautiously and pretended not to see him.
Seizing the moment while the attendant busied himself setting up the phonograph and drawing attention, Bamper slipped safely into the garden.
Behind him, the gentle strains of music from the phonograph masked the sound of his footsteps.
Whatever it was, he was about to learn what those around him were hiding from him.
That thought alone eased the tightness in Bamper's chest a little as he strode along the familiar garden path.
"......"
But something was off.
At first, he hadn't even noticed.
Yet after a few attempts, Bamper clearly realized something was wrong.
"...Where's... the gazebo?"
He had been walking through the garden for quite some time, but he still hadn't reached his destination.
He just needed to keep heading right, as always.
Even after turning right several times, the gazebo that should have been there failed to appear.
Bamper suddenly noticed how quiet his surroundings had become and turned to look back.
Far off, the music from the phonograph had come to an end.
"......"
The sudden silence wrapped the garden's flowers and trees—and Bamper standing amid them—like a vacuum.
It was so still that he could hear even the faintest breath or the rustle of clothing from the slightest movement. Feeling a strange unease, Bamper took another step forward.
In the garden, quiet to the point of obsession, the only sound was the crunch of Bamper's footsteps on the grass.
People, birds, plants—so much life in the garden, yet the oddity of hearing only his own sounds made Bamper's eyes grow cold.
That was when Bamper suddenly felt his vision blur.
For an instant, his body swayed, sinking into the ground as if it were giving way beneath him.
"...Gasp!"
The next moment, Bamper jolted awake in bed with a sharp intake of breath.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
"......"
The ticking of the clock, filling the room, poured endlessly down over Bamper as he panted.
"This is... my room again...?"
Bamper quickly scanned his surroundings.
Abruptly, the door flew open, and Onjamari rushed in.
"Bamper!"
Followed by Benburo's shout from behind,
"My son!"
Onjamari hurried to the bed and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"......"
The violent, ominous sense of déjà vu in that moment sent a chill creeping down Bamper's back.
"...Th...this......"
My slack-jawed mouth belatedly unleashed a shrill scream.
"What is this...! Yan, you...!"
Sending me home by force like this?!
This damned gem was a teleport artifact after all!
Couldn't he have listened to my story just a little? He's not even Korean—what was so urgent that he had to hustle me back home in a panic? All I could manage was a sigh of bewilderment.
"This, this isn't the time. Let's think! The spirit clearly warned of danger. Did that incident happen? But in the original story, it was a sudden tragedy with no warning signs at all..."
Lost in uncertain worry, I soon shook my head.
No, don't get hung up on that.
Whatever the case, assuming the worst will help me prepare.
"The problem is..."
Even so, there might be nothing I could do even if I went.
"...Still, I can't just sit here."
At the very least, I—the one who knows about it—needed to be at the imperial palace.
Right. If I'd just be in the way, I could hole up quietly in the reception room.
What I needed to worry about now wasn't "should I go to the palace," but "how do I get to the palace."
"Should I ask Grenji for a carriage? No, that would tip off Mayches right away. A teleport would be ideal, but I don't even know where the facility is..."
That was when a grumbling voice reached my ears as I agonized.
"Having to work on a day like today... Of all days, it's the one where the Count is giving the encouragement speech. Sigh... This is my punishment for not finishing it sooner. My sin, my sin."
I stared blankly at someone shambling along from the corner of the road.
The grumbler spotted me too and froze in place.
"......"
Silently watching him, I shot up from my wheelchair. He was someone I knew.
Well, not by name exactly, but I knew his job. So, that man was...
"...Do you remember me? The Imperial Orchestra conductor!"
Someone who could get in and out of the imperial palace!