Chapter 41
Chapter 41
Translation: godsn
"Saya. If anyone comes looking for me, say you don't know me. If they find me here, you'll be in danger too. This country is rotten. I'll avenge our father and return. Wait for me."
The next day, imperial soldiers swarmed the streets searching for the assailant who had struck the captain of the guard.
Only then did Saya understand why her brother had fled in such desperate haste.
Saya buried her face in her hands.
"Look at you, Theo. You abandoned me without a second thought, yet here I am, so worried about you that I can't even take care of myself."
Was this really right?
But her tears dried quickly. Though left utterly alone, she had to survive.
Saya chewed and swallowed the dry bread mechanically.
"I promised to deliver the herbs before sunset."
Finishing her meager meal, she got moving. Just as she finished preparations and opened the front gate—
"Hello."
Saya found herself face-to-face with a girl standing at her doorstep.
With moonlit silver hair and emerald eyes, the girl bore the refined appearance of a noble young lady—someone who had no place in these slums.
"What's your name?"
The young lady who'd been studying Saya intently suddenly asked.
"S-Saya."
The girl smiled gently.
"I apologize for coming unannounced like this, but if you're not too busy, might you spare me a moment?"
Medeia stepped into the house where only embers of fire remained.
Though daylight still lingered outside, darkness filled the interior.
The young homeowner bore an uncanny resemblance to the boy she remembered.
'Was Theo actually a girl?'
"Do you have no family left?"
"My parents passed long ago, and I had an older brother... He's dead now."
Though questioned by a stranger, Saya found herself answering automatically under the clear green gaze.
There was an awkwardly long pause after the girl's response.
"Your father was a retired soldier, correct?"
Saya's pupils trembled. Her heart pounded at how this girl seemed to already know about her.
Had she come to arrest her for her brother's crimes?
Saya prostrated herself on the floor. The girl was quick to change stance.
"My father was Pearson, and I had a twin brother named Theo. Three years ago, my brother struck the captain of the guard and fled. I lied earlier."
Medeia raised an eyebrow.
"You don't know where your brother went?"
Saya shook her head.
"He occasionally sends word just to say he's alive. That he can't return yet because he's still being hunted."
After three years, any warrant or punishment should have weakened considerably. Yet if he still wouldn't approach the Royal Castle...
'He must have already joined the Rebel Army. For that meticulous Theo to risk sending messages, he must care deeply for this child.'
Lost in thought, Medeia absently tapped her index finger against her knee.
"That's not why I came here. I heard you'd been left alone to suffer hardships, and thought I might offer some help."
Neril glanced at Medeia. Perhaps thinking her mistress intended to take Saya in, she hastily interjected despite knowing it was improper.
"Your Highness, I can handle that matter later. We can't possibly keep an unidentified stranger by your side—"
Mid-sentence, Neril froze upon realizing she'd revealed the princess's identity.
But Saya was already wide-eyed, staring at Medeia.
'A princess...!'
Even in her slums, stories circulated about the princess living in that magnificent Royal Palace.
Saya pressed her forehead harder against the floor.
"Please take me with you. I don't want to stay here."
The young girl thought:
This lady—no, Her Highness the Princess—was the first and last lifeline she'd ever be given.
"I'll do anything you ask. Anything at all. Just please, don't leave me here."
A princess could surely make her brother's offense against the imperial guards disappear as if it never happened.
She rejoiced at finding a way to survive despite bearing her brother's sin.
"Though my sibling committed a crime, my father fought and died for Valdina on the battlefield. Your Highness, isn't that worth something?"
Somehow, the young girl's voice carried desperate hope.
Yet at the same time, her voice was clear and articulate.
Saya was both similar to and different from the Theo in her memories.
Her delicate yet resolute eyes held an unyielding determination that seemed unbreakable.
The way Saya pleaded with the Princess while simultaneously gauging Neril's reaction showed just how desperately she had scrambled to survive in this place—even going so far as to evoke sympathy by mentioning how her father had been one of Valdina's soldiers.
"Even if you don't follow me, I can arrange a way for you to live."
A hefty pouch of gold coins was extended toward Saya.
"I don't keep just anyone by my side."
Saya was quick-witted.
An elegant-faced Princess. And this knight who obeyed her absolutely.
That meant there was only one gap she could wedge herself into.
"Your Highness would have no need for someone as lowly as me, but there's nothing I haven't done before, and I learn new things quickly. I can do anything. Even the tasks Your Highness might find too distasteful to order your knight or others to perform."
Medeia stared down at the child in silence.
"Look, it's the Princess! Seize the Princess!"
"Everyone, behold! Here stands the Princess who was caught fleeing to save her own skin!"
Theo, if I consider my past life, I should kill you now.
But in the end, you showed me mercy by letting me go. So in return, I'll look after your little sister.
The debts of past and present lives end here, but I'll grant you one more favor.
I'll spare your life too.
Instead, when you and the rebels scale the walls, this child will be the final tether holding you back.
Medeia gave her fair warning.
"You may come to regret having me as your master."
Because I intend to use you as your brother's leash.
"Are you still willing?"
Saya met her gaze. At the very least, there wasn't a trace of deceit in those pale green eyes.
She nodded fervently.
"Then come with me."
The white hand that grasped and lifted the child was cold.
At that very moment, in the same district's slums.
Cesare stepped inside.
As Facade's mercenaries—utterly out of place in the shabby, narrow alley—appeared one after another, an ominous tension filled the air.
Thugs who had been looking for trouble shrank back at the killing intent radiating from them.
"Is this the place? Where the prophetess is supposed to be?"
Gallo answered Cesare's question.
"Yeah, Boss. My informant said they saw an old woman in the slums outside the city walls using an ancient continental tongue. She had markings that looked like Shadeia tribal symbols among her belongings."
"Don't get your hopes up, Cesare."
Terence, who had come along out of concern for his friend, shook his head emphatically.
Cesare scanned the empty street intently.
It wasn't a large neighborhood—they'd find her by today.
They quickened their pace.
Just as they passed through an unusually dark and shadowed alley—
"Looking for me?"
A robed old woman chuckled without lifting her head.
"You're late. With so little time left, this old woman thought she'd have to depart for the underworld first."
Gallo frowned.
Her words made it sound as if she'd known they were searching for her.
Had she been deliberately evading pursuit all this time, making her trail so hard to follow?
Then why reveal herself now?
The old woman spoke to Gallo.
"Those meant to meet will meet. Our threads of fate have crossed upon the loom of destiny, creating this intersection."
Cesare sauntered forward and stood before the crone, casting a deep shadow over her. The wind blew, dislodging the robe that had been covering her forehead.
"Are you the Shadeia Prophetess?"
"Black star, how pitiful—a vile thing has coiled around your fate."
Terence froze when he saw her unfocused, milky jade eyes.
"You... you can't see—"
Yet the prophetess lifted her head and stared directly at Cesare as if she could see him perfectly.
"The Primordial Darkness is vicious and tenacious—it clings until the very last breath leaves your body. You've been bitten by something wicked."
Cesare's golden eyes flashed. He knelt to meet her gaze and asked,
"Do you know a way to lift this curse?"