Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Rejected Loyalty
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As the village full of red-roofed houses came into view, Laura, whose broken leg had been mended, burst into tears and snot again and ran toward her home.
“Mommy! Daddy!”
Lauro still seemed glued to the sales counter with no intention of moving, so Dun picked him up like a piece of luggage.
Now that the house was in sight, Lauro buried his face in Dun’s back and began sobbing.
“La, La, Laura! Lauro!!”
“Oh my god, Illitia, thank you!! Thank you!!”
The twins’ voices boomed from outside, and the vice-captain and his wife rushed out of the house.
They wore expressions of utter disbelief.
“Thank you, oh god, thank you! Ahh!”
The vice-captain and his wife hugged the twins and cried. The twins hugged them back and wept bitterly.
“Didn’t I tell you not to wander around late at night?! Do you know how scared I was seeing your bloodstained clothes?!”
“Waaahhh!”
“But what on earth happened to you two?”
The vice-captain, his eyes bloodshot, gently stroked Laura’s hair.
“S-Sis saved us, sob.”
Laura pointed at Prim with her tiny finger. A girl with long golden hair hidden under a hood. The vice-captain knew who she was.
“P-Princess, no. Lady Prim?”
He had almost called her princess and hurriedly corrected himself in embarrassment.
“Did Lady Prim rescue my children from the Lux den by any chance?”
“Thank you, Lady Prim! We have no face to show. Thank you so much.”
“They came back without a scratch……. This is a miracle. It’s just…… I’m so relieved, truly. This is a miracle…….”
The vice-captain’s wife carefully checked Lauro all over, noting how spotless he was compared to the blood on his clothes, then hugged him tightly.
“Big Sis healed him…….”
Lauro pointed at Dun with his finger.
The vice-captain’s wife, Lisa, looked up toward the one who had done the healing.
A girl with light brown hair and red eyes stood there, arms crossed and one leg bent casually.
“H-Ha…… Thank you so much, both of you. Truly…….”
Prim stared silently at Vice-Captain Albert, who kept repeating his thanks. What a waste of talent. He had shown exceptional leadership skills.
“Well then. Make sure the kids don’t stray off again this time.”
“Please wait, Lady Prim!”
Prim let out a sigh and started to leave, but Albert hurriedly stopped her.
Albert dropped to one knee before Prim, bowed his head, wiped his tears, and spoke in a calm tone.
“I, Albert, as vice-captain of the 3rd Army and as a knight of Primavera, pledge to serve with my life. If you give me the chance, once again…….”
“Enough.”
“Pardon?”
“Your position has already been filled by someone else. It’s not a spot you can just come and go from as you please. You know that, don’t you?”
Albert’s position hadn’t been filled yet. Prim was temporarily overseeing his soldiers, who were accustomed to his ways, to keep them from falling apart.
“You’re a man who values family more. Having made a weighty decision, forget what you set down and live the life you chose.”
A bitterness lingered at the corners of her mouth. Prim grabbed the shoulder of Dun, who looked somewhat dissatisfied, and left the home of the former vice-captain.
* * *
They were on the road back to Genesis. Dun, hands shoved deep in his pockets, strode ahead until he finally blurted it out.
“Why’d you turn him down? Pretending to be all noble when you’re short on manpower? Every single person counts. He was subtly good at leading the other soldiers. If the leader changes, the 3rd Army’s structure will collapse and shake things up?”
Surprised by Dun’s anger for a moment, Prim soon smiled bashfully.
“Pfft, Dun. When did you watch me so closely? You cute thing. Secretly fond of me, huh.”
“No, fuck, you bastard. Shut up and listen. If he feels guilty and indebted to you, he’ll obey better, right? If you’re scared he might snap and desert again, just ask him to train them until a replacement shows up!”
Dun unleashed a rapid-fire barrage in a slightly raised voice.
“Whoa, Dun. You must’ve been really dissatisfied with my choice earlier. Don’t get mad, my baby slime.”
“Fuck, I’ll kill you, seriously.”
“Looks like getting mad lifts Rihaowel’s curse seal on swearing.”
Prim draped an arm over Dun’s shoulder, which had turned menacing at the baby slime remark.
“I just don’t want unstable people around after getting royally backstabbed by the emperor. All relationships are better when they end cleanly. What if dragging it out leads to another big hit?”
“Is that situation the same as this? I’d get your point if things were going well for you, but you’re short even one talented person. And that guy’s absence is huge!!! He was a solid strategist!!”
“Hmm. True. I was thinking of using good items like you as bait for adventurers, but they’re like uncontrollable mercenaries.”
Prim recalled the adventurers they’d dungeoned with earlier. Those ones had been predictable and well-behaved. If she could pick the tame ones carefully, it might work.
“Adventurers? For real? They share info crazy fast among themselves. If they hear your plans and some join the other side, you’ll be on the guillotine the next day.”
“Can’t have that. If I go up, it’ll be after crushing the rebellion. Anyway, seeing you care about me like this gets me all emotional. Weird. Maybe because I’ve been rejected for so long…….”
“Are you pretending to be laid-back, or are you actually? It’s super annoying. You’ve got something to rely on, that’s why you act like this?”
From what Dun had gathered, all Prim had were a few secluded mage academies, five armies being raised in secret locations, and maybe a handful of adventurers she was on nodding terms with.
She’d built a lot on her own, but it was laughably insufficient compared to the imperial forces backed by vast capital. In quantity or quality.
The emperor seemed to be catching on to Prim’s rebellious momentum, yet here she was, acting like a loose screw.
Sending letters and notes every day, wanting to hang out. Why the fuck did he have to worry? That damn bitch.
“Of course I have something to rely on……. Even if it’s the weakest offering.”
“What is it?”
Prim hesitated to speak, but when Dun glared murderously, she stammered it out in panic.
“W-Well……. I don’t know if it’s unique to me among offerings, but there’s this ability called ‘Self-Destruct’ that I can target at someone. I was on a death clock anyway, right?”
Dun’s fierce expression hardened coldly.
“Self-destruct is your backup? Your face says it’s no joke……. Then why bother raising an army?”
“It wasn’t originally for rebellion. The emperor was so lax on monster control that I made a temporary group to handle them instead of adventurers. Then the goal shifted from monsters to the senile emperor. And dying alone with no forces? Too pathetic, right?”
“Worrying about pride even then, you fucking asshole.”
For a brief moment, a hollow emotion flickered across Dun’s face.
“B-But hearing what you said to the twins earlier made me depressed, and now I don’t want to die!”
“Fuck off, what do you want me to do? I’m done playing with you. Go die far away. Dangle from the guillotine or whatever.”
Prim hadn’t expected Dun to get this angry and hurried after him. She’d brushed it off as a joke at first, but seeing his genuinely hurt expression made her heart race anxiously.
“No way, Dun. The Lux earlier, saving the kids…… it was all for me?”
Dun, who had strode ahead, responded by flipping her off instead of answering.
* * *
Dun returned home alone and stomped up to his room.
Rihaowel called out to him, but somehow he doubted his expression or words would come out nicely, so he quickly shut the door.
“World Transfer.”
[[World Transfer] activates.]
It was night, so the sky was blanketed with stars. A massive pink moon adorned the heavens.
Dun stared blankly at the sky before curling up and lying down.
{Primavera: Sorry, Dun. I absolutely won’t self-destruct.}
{Primavera: You’re more pissed than I thought. You’re the first to get this worked up over my stuff. Hmm, should I call it touching……? Honestly, I thought you wouldn’t care.}
{Primavera: Still, since meeting you, my lifespan’s extended, and I don’t want to leave behind a bunch of fun stuff and go. I’m racking my brain hard. While you were gone, I even roughly planned the palace reclamation op.}
{Primavera: Sorry. I won’t think of dying easy anymore. How could I die leaving behind my one and only friend?}
Ding ding.
Prim’s notes kept pinging the pigeon messaging box.
{Dun: Who is this.}
If you’re set on dying, just die quietly. Why make a fuss about being friends all of a sudden……? Should’ve shut down that fake closeness harder.
He hated himself for being so angry. He’d thought she resembled Seol Do-yun in how she subtly grated on his nerves, but in this, they were definitely different.
Unlike her, who clung desperately to life, Prim acted like she’d die anytime as long as she could take out the emperor.
Like, just like.
Just like……
His past self.
Suddenly, memories of Seol Do-yun getting mad surfaced. The guy who didn’t take bait easily after growing up and rarely got angry had once bared his neck veins and gone dead serious.
‘Dosing yourself with experimental drugs all at once? Intentional suicide? Your blood flooded back, wrecked the lab. Abyss ended ages ago.’
‘So that’s how I awakened?’
‘……You’re saying that now?’
‘Why the scary face? I didn’t die. Ah, thirsty. Water?’
A vivid face popped into mind. The pretty features crumpling miserably lingered as an afterimage, haunting even his new life after death.
After age 13, they’d had separate rooms, and classes split by awakening rank, so they’d grown apart.
That’s why he’d thought the sudden visit and outburst was impulsive.
‘Was he mad because he wanted me to keep living?’
His past self, a non-awakener, had kept diving into gates worrying about others dying. He hadn’t cared if he died, so that’s probably why.
A sudden mood for self-reflection.
Facing someone who treated life so cheaply hit hard. It infuriated him now, their reckless actions and words. In his previous life, he’d been the only one like that, so only now, confronting Prim, did he belatedly understand.
He could keenly detect hostility, killing intent, threats, jealousy from others, but reading worry, emotion, affection was still hard.
Was Prim going through the same as his past self? No strong attachment to life itself, enjoying day by day until death anytime. The more he thought, the more her mindset mirrored his past self, tormenting him.
It felt like a memory assault.
{Dun: You irresponsible bastard, what happens to your followers if you die?}
{Primavera: Dun!!! Thank goodness. Went from ‘brat’ to ‘bastard,’ so you’re calming down? Actually, I need to confess something to you about that. Might as well spill all my ulterior motives now.}
{Dun: What is it, brat.}
What else is left?
Dun frowned, uneasy.
{Primavera: Truth is, I was planning to make you emperor.}