Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Conquest
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The battle still raged below in the valley. The living and the dead devoured each other in a chaotic frenzy. Amid it all, Lena Rubel's blooming smile was absurdly endearing.
The marquis gazed at his daughter, radiant like a halo of sunlight, and muttered in a hoarse voice.
"You planned to toy with me from the start."
"It's a misunderstanding, Father. Toy with you?"
At the marquis's sigh, Lena let out a small laugh.
"Don't assume I only have malice toward you. Giving you a chance is genuine."
"A chance at ruin?"
"A chance to correct your mistakes?"
Even at the marquis's resentful question, Lena replied lightly. Then, as if regretful, she added,
"Of course, you might not see it that way. People's consciences each carry different weights. That's why I'm offering this chance. If you lack the temperament for remorse or reflection anyway, at least act on it."
At Lena's subtle rebuke, the marquis refuted her with a pained expression.
"Don't treat me like a heartless monster."
"A monster?"
Lena echoed as if hearing an amusing story. Then, suddenly, she cast her gaze down into the valley.
"Do you happen to know why they're wandering in that form?"
What Lena pointed to were the ones who had swallowed their first cries. Though the question came abruptly, the answer was simple. They were beings burdened with much regret, cursed and punished to endlessly repeat what they regretted. A few lines from Nihil's chronicle flashed in the marquis's mind, but disliking the abstract tale, he chose silence. So Lena answered instead.
"They killed their own children. Just like you, Father."
It was the first time the marquis had heard such a thing. But Lena continued matter-of-factly, as if it weren't particularly special.
"Isn't it interesting? So many people who devoured their own children."
Lena's smile deepened.
"So I don't think you're a monster or a demon, Father."
At the same time, her eyes captured the marquis once more.
"You're just an ordinarily cowardly person."
Lena Rubel whispered as she held her father captive with her gaze, cruelly twisting his heart. The marquis ground his teeth and glared at his daughter. He wanted to demand what the hell she knew. To argue how dare she judge him, who had clawed his way up from the bottom. But the marquis swallowed the words rising to his throat.
"Right, it's absurd to call someone like me a monster."
Suppressing his boiling anger, he took a gamble.
"The one who fits 'monster' is you instead. You're the real monster, showing mercy to your pathetic father."
As he spoke, the marquis slowly rose to his feet. The moment his foot touched the ground, his ankle throbbed. It must have been injured when he fell from the horse and hit the stirrup. What a wretched state. Thinking that, the marquis approached Lena. But Lena did not block her limping father.
"You aren't even on guard..."
How much did she underestimate him? Reaching Lena's side, the marquis slowly extended his arm. Yet Lena didn't even flinch. Even after his hands finally grasped her shoulders, it was the same. Seeing it as contempt, the marquis said with a pained face,
"Yes, what can a human do to a monster? You're entirely right. Powerless as I am, I can only prostrate myself and submit."
As he spoke, the marquis pressed down firmly on Lena's shoulders in his grip.
"But I still don't know if this 'chance' you speak of is mercy or revenge."
"Urk!"
A sharp pain stabbed into Lena's shoulder. Lena recoiled as if burned and shoved the marquis away. The marquis retreated, carefully opening both hands. Between his spread fingers gleamed a ring. Thorns protruded sharply from it, dripping with deadly poison. Realizing what her father had done, Lena groaned.
"Father..."
"So show me."
"Again like this..."
"What kind of being you truly are."
Ignoring Lena's whimper, the marquis intoned lowly. Then, with the still-thorned hand, he shoved the staggering Lena with all his might.
. . .
The poison from the marquis's ring was far stronger than the butler's. The butler's had been subtle, mixed into tea. But the marquis's ring bore a lethal toxin meant for instant death. Having used his final poison, the marquis looked down at the base of the walls. Fortunately or unfortunately, amid the endlessly surging wraiths, Lena's corpse was nowhere to be seen. Raising his weary body, the marquis muttered,
'If you come back alive again, I'll acknowledge it.'
That you've truly become a monster. Dragging his aching body, the marquis turned away. He trudged nearly an hour back to camp.
"Your Excellency!"
The adjutant spotted the marquis and cried out, pale-faced. The marquis answered before he could ask.
"While scouting entry routes into the castle, we encountered wraiths. All accompanying knights are lost."
A flimsy excuse. The adjutant thought so but didn't press. A monster's words are always right. The powerless can only prostrate and obey.
"The situation?"
"...Heavy losses. We've cleared the wraiths three times already, but they keep pouring from the castle, and the fighting repeats. Continuing is pointless."
"We retreat."
"But His Highness the Prince..."
The adjutant trailed off, glancing toward the far valley. Razor-sharp slashes still targeted the wraiths relentlessly. Over an hour since the battle began, Rubid doggedly unleashed his strikes. The marquis mounted the adjutant's horse and galloped to Rubid. As expected, his face was ashen, breath ragged.
"Your Highness, I hereby order retreat."
"What nonsense..."
Rubid snarled with bloodshot eyes. The impenetrable castle and endless wraiths had frayed his nerves taut.
"Shut up and kill one more!"
Rubid bellowed and unleashed another slash. The greenhorn, desperate only for glory, grasped nothing of the situation. But the marquis had anticipated the prince's reaction.
"Forgive my rudeness."
"Urk...!"
Thus, without hesitation, the marquis struck Rubid's solar plexus. Already on the verge of collapse, Rubid went limp, unconscious. Supporting the fainted prince, the marquis ordered the knights to retreat. The Northern Knights used their horses as bait to barely shake off the pursuing wraiths. A bitter defeat, but the marquis felt no worry. Thanks to the South and East. The Southern Duke's proxy had rashly advanced the expedition and perished pointlessly. The Eastern Duke hadn't even appeared near the castle. Failed South, fleeing East. And the North, who fought valiantly alone. Empty-handed, but with ample grounds to avoid blame. Satisfied with resolving his complicated family matter, the marquis prepared to depart. That was when.
"Your Excellency, the castle is collapsing!"
As the Northern remnants still crossed the valley, the castle of the King Who Swallowed His First Cry suddenly began crumbling. Like melting snow, it lost form and collapsed. At the unexpected turn, the marquis halted. He ordered knights to investigate. The report was even more shocking.
"The wraiths are all gone too. Nothing remains around the castle site."
He couldn't comprehend. Ultimately, the marquis turned his horse back to the site. As reported, not a single wraith lingered. Moreover, the valley had become a swamp. The melted castle had pooled into it. Nothing made sense, but the marquis first ordered a search. From then, Northern Knights spent five full days draining the swamp and digging the ground. But they found nothing. Except for Rubid, awakening after two days and punching the marquis's jaw, there were no incidents or gains. Five days later, the marquis halted the search and ordered return. All remained mysteries, but what mattered was the result. The castle crumbled, wraiths vanished. The marquis resolved to proclaim victory upon return.
***
The North returned to Do-um Palace after a week. Cardinal Clavis greeted the battered knights at the entrance.
"The second returnees are the Northern forces. Oh dear, you're all quite injured."
Even seeing the Northern Knights' dire state, Clavis's voice was cheerful. His appearance hadn't changed from when blessing the departure. The other priests were the same. The marquis had spent a week in the tomb, but scarcely dozens of minutes had passed outside. It felt like a daydream, but he focused more on Clavis's word "second."
'If we're second, first was the East?'
No sooner had the marquis mused inwardly than Clavis added,
"Then now we just wait for the East to return."
'What?'
At the unexpected words, the marquis's eyes widened. Doubting his ears, he reflexively scanned the palace interior. His doubt soon turned to shock. By Lena Rubel, standing beside the Southern Duke.
'Why...'
Spotting Lena, the marquis felt his heart freeze. At that moment, Lena saw him too. Their eyes met, and she smiled prettily, nodding. Dizziness akin to that smile overwhelmed him. It truly felt like a dream. Lena's figure matched his last memory. Her uniform, torn and dirtied in places, proved she'd visited the tomb. As the marquis stared at her like one seeing a ghost,
"Tomb expeditions are nice in that you don't have to wait long for results, unlike others."
Clavis spoke toward the rift. Beneath the blood-red sky, black-clad knights emerged. The Eastern Duke and his knights. Unlike the North, they were unscathed. They'd spent considerable time inside, their faces merely roughened.
"Welcome, everyone. Hmm, you look like you suffered here too. How long were you in the tomb?"
Clavis asked Lin, just returned. But Lin didn't answer, glaring darkly at Marquis Rubel. The marquis, fixated on Lena, noticed nothing. So Lin followed his gaze, then startled likewise.
"Eastern Duke? Something wrong?"
"...Nothing."
Spotting Lena, Lin hid his surprise and answered belatedly.
"So, how long for the East?"
"Eleven days."
"And the North?"
"Three days."
At Lin and the marquis's replies, Clavis grinned mischievously.
"Both quite long. Lady Lena retrieved the king's heart in just one day."
"The heart...?"
Clavis's words left the marquis not just flustered but dizzy. He understood nothing of what transpired. Aware or not of his turmoil, Clavis stirred more confusion.
"So what did the North and East bring?"
Bring? There was nothing there. As the marquis faltered, Eastern knights pulled something from their horses. A large sack thudded to the ground with a clank. Piled full, it was big enough for a person.
"What's that?"
Clavis asked, and an Eastern knight slashed the sack. The blade tore it easily under the weight. Golden jewelry and candelabras spilled out in a glittering cascade. Eyes widened at the splendor, and the Eastern Duke spoke in a dry voice.
"Spoils of war."
Lin glanced briefly at Lena as he said it. Their eyes met, she smiled brightly, and Lin swallowed his complex feelings before continuing.
"Gathered by searching the castle conquered by the Southern Duke's proxy."
Even the Eastern Duke said as much, and the marquis paled white. What trick had she used? He'd clearly stabbed her, seen her fall from the cliff. Breathing raggedly, Marquis Rubel glared fiercely at his tenaciously alive daughter. But Lena met him with her usual serene face. The moment their eyes locked, her words flashed in his mind.
—I was just playing around.
...Since when?
Probably from the beginning?
A prank. Yes, this was a prank. A demon's prank from hell. To stop his trembling lips, the marquis bit down hard. Seeing it, Lena said with laughing eyes.
"I'm sorry. You failed again. At killing me, and at being forgiven.