Chapter 236. kill me 2022.05.07.
The imperial palace had been noisy since dawn. The cause was none other than someone’s gift. The procession of presents, which continued endlessly, finally stopped. Leaning against the railing, I muttered quietly as I watched the boxes filling up the entrance in the distance.
“…end?”
“no. There are more!”
As soon as Larimar finished speaking, the servants again diligently carried the goods.
“Is it over now?”
“yes. I guess it’s over now.”
Xavier’s calm answer calmed my bewildered mind a little. The first floor of the original building, which was crowded with people coming and going, was filled with large boxes. When I went down the stairs, the servant in charge of transporting the real goods bowed his head.
“Meet Your Majesty the Emperor. These are items that the Marquis of Gardenia presents to His Majesty.”
“What is it?”
“A total of 21 relics from the reign of Emperor Aktaon.”
“…?!”
I suddenly thought it was a gift, but it was a relic? I looked back at the boxes in amazement. The number of relics Mrs. Deverill had given me was a formidable amount of twenty pieces in total, but my grandfather presented only one more. It’s definitely a good thing, but I was bewildered by the suddenness. Just then, a familiar voice came from the entrance.
“Meet Your Majesty the Emperor.”
A deep, deep voice. At the appearance of the grandfather, not only the servants but also everyone around them froze with their movements stopped. There was a dangerous atmosphere that could not be approached hastily, with cool eyes and an unapproachable sense of intimidation. But as soon as our eyes met for a moment, Grandpa approached me with a big smile.
“your majesty! This savior has arrived!”
“Welcome, Grandpa.”
“Do you like the gift I gave you? Recently, His Majesty said that he has a deep interest in history, so I prepared a small one. Heh heh heh.”
At that moment, I witnessed the people at the residence of the Marquis of Gardenia looking at my grandfather with bewildered eyes.
‘You must have roasted them…’
But apart from that, when I heard that I was looking for relics, I was moved by the heart he collected with care. My heart warmed.
“grandfather.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“thank you.”
“Hmm. Isn’t this a natural thing as a ‘grandpa’? I am Your Majesty’s ‘grandfather’.”
I think that there is an accent in the word ‘grandpa’, but am I mistaken? Grandpa, who laughed at my greeting, looked away for no reason and started talking.
“It’s not a big deal, but the old man who lives next door says that his granddaughter hugs her grandfather when she receives a present. I just wanted to say yes hehehehe.”
It just never seems to be like that. I opened my arms wide and hugged my grandfather.
“Oh hey. Your Majesty is far away from your grandfather! I! Do you hug me? Heh heh heh.”
Grandpa’s mouth caught my ear in my embrace. I smiled brightly and buried my face in my grandfather’s arms.
“grandfather. You should live a long, healthy life.”
“sure. You will live a very long time.”
Grandpa smiled and patted my back affectionately. Meanwhile, why do I keep thinking of Mrs. Devellll’s face?
***
Rumors spread that Mabel was interested in relics from the reign of Aktaon the Great. It didn’t take half a day for the rumor to reach the ears of the Huang family. After the meeting, when Mabel returned to her office and had a snack break, Esteban broke in and handed her something huge.
“Go ahead, Mabel. It is the scepter of Emperor Aktaon.”
“huh? This wasn’t even in the imperial report! Where did you get it, Dad?”
“I inherited it, but it’s useless now.”
It was the royal scepter that she especially cherished, but nothing in this world was precious to Mabel. And that evening, just before leaving the palace, Oscar came to visit and indifferently put something on Mabel’s desk.
“It’s the original memoir written by the teacher of Aktaon the Great. Take Mabel.”
“wow. Can I have it?”
“of course.”
Although he received the artifact from the two, he felt uncomfortable.
‘They don’t know why I’m collecting them.’
Only Mabel and Yang knew why they were collecting artifacts. There was no choice, but it was separate from the understanding of the two. In the meantime, an enormous amount of artifacts were piling up one after another, enough to open a museum. The nobles who heard the rumors also applied for an audience and began presenting the relics. Things were going smoothly. Mabel dragged the annoying sheep to the imperial treasury. It was full of relics that had been deliberately collected.
“Sheep. how is it? Will this be enough?”
[Gather a little more. Hmmm.]
“I’ve collected this much, but it’s still not enough?”
[Did you think going back in time was that easy? A little left, a little.]
“Ugh. okay.”
Since he was also collecting artifacts through Casey, he seemed to reach Yang’s goal quickly. Even if it wasn’t so, Aidan was out of the imperial castle today because an item suspected of being a relic from the Aktaon Great Emperor was being exhibited at the auction house. I wanted to go out too, but I had no choice but to send Aidan to the audience.
‘Let’s go on a date next time.’
I calmed down and climbed the stairs for the next audience.
***
The statue of the red tide that Casey said came out as a prize. It was not popular because it was in poor condition, so it was easy to win the bid.
“Auction! You have won the bid!”
Aidan, who easily obtained the item, quickly left the auction house. The mission was over, so I thought of returning right away. It was when Aidan left the auction house and entered the alley. Someone reached out to him. swish-! Aidan grabbed him by the arm and knocked him over immediately.
“Ah! Wait a minute! Aidan It’s me!”
Hearing a somewhat familiar voice, Aidan confirmed the man’s face.
“I am Dex. do you remember I was in the room next to you.”
“….”
“I heard that he was exiled to Ermano, but he seems to be doing well. thank god. Ha ha ha ha ha.”
The man, who seemed to be in his late thirties, smiled awkwardly and desperately explained himself. It was a familiar face. The time when Aidan is called Devlin’s demon and runs dark errands under Veron’s orders. He was the only Devlin knight who spoke to young Aidan.
“It remains silent. Do you know that I’ve been the only one talking so far? But my throat hurts so much, can you please release it…?”
He smiled somewhat servilely and pointed with his fingers at the tightly gripped collar. Aidan’s hands slowly relaxed as he stared at his stupid face. After shaking off his clothes, Dex straightened out his wrinkled clothes and, feeling Aidan’s gaze, began to say something he hadn’t asked.
“Oh, why are you at Ermano? Didn’t you hear it too? These days, Devlin is bloody. Isn’t it that he took all his possessions and fled with his family at night because he was afraid he wouldn’t even be able to preserve his life there? hahaha.”
“…”
“Anyway, it must have been years since such a small kid became such a grown-up man. I almost couldn’t have recognized it. am i not the same? I ate all the good things.”
Regardless of what he said or not, Aidan started urging his feet again. Dex chased after him and continued talking.
“Where are you going? Instead, there’s a nice restaurant around here, so why don’t we have a meal together? i’ll shoot haha.”
“go away.”
“and. The first thing you say is ‘go away’. You are still the same, Aidan.”
Aidan didn’t care about the voice that sounded really heartbroken and moved on. minutes like that. Being this persistent, Aidan couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“I’ve been here for about four days, and the dark beer in that bar over there is especially good. You’re an adult now, so dark beer! I can drink-.”
Dex’s words cut off mercilessly in the middle. there was no way i could say The blade of black energy that was created in an instant was aiming at his whole body.
“What trick is it?”
Aidan’s red eyes shone fiercely. Facing that gaze, Dex felt a chill run down his spine. Then I suddenly realized that no one was around. It was deliberately lured to a place where people were rare.
“…It was like that when I was little, but isn’t it cuter now that I’m older?”
“Stop making noise.”
“You are still quick-witted.”
The kindness you showed to a child who didn’t say a word. Dex was the only one who spoke friendly. So I thought it would be a little more special, but it didn’t seem like that either. In fact, Aidan already knew that the ‘kindness’ at that time was not a pure intention either. Realizing that no matter what he said, Dex finally gave up and told his original purpose. He was sent to this mission because he had a little bit of a bond with Aidan, but the result was not good.
“My lord told me to tell you. Well, rather than convey it, he told me to get it into your hands somehow, but the result is the same.”
Aidan’s expression hardened. It was something he was familiar with. How could you not know? It is the very record that made me decide to leave Devlin, which was the starting point of my memory, and exile to Ermano.
***
When the sun went completely behind the mountain, Enrique left work.
“Then I will go in first.”
“huh. See you tomorrow Enrique!”
After seeing Enrique off work, I glanced at the balcony, which was spread out in the bedroom.
“…it’s late.”
There was still time left after the mission was over, but Aidan hadn’t returned. After thinking about it, I got out of bed. When I opened the door to the hallway, I saw Xavier, who was just passing by.
“On mercy. Haven’t you seen Aidan?”
“I didn’t see it. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you all day today.”
“I sent you a mission. There’s no way you haven’t come back yet.”
“When I see it, I will tell you that Your Majesty is looking for it.”
“Yeah thanks.”
After sending Xavier, I immediately contacted Casey using the communication magic tool.
[This is the lady’s cutie, Casey.]
“Casey. How did the auction go?”
[yes? How is it? I know it ended a while ago.]
“What about Aidan?”
[They must have returned to the imperial palace.]
“I didn’t come.”
A moment of silence passed.
[I’ll look for it.]
I heard an answer that wasn’t playful. After the communication with Casey ended, my feelings became more complicated.
‘As expected, what happened…’
Devlin’s situation was constantly being reported. Veron wasn’t in a relaxed situation right now to extend his magic power to Ermano. So, I was putting my mind at ease, but did I commit a gear nose job? When I inadvertently opened the balcony door, a blizzard blew in.
“…?”
It was winter, but it was warm like late spring, so the weather felt even weirder now.
‘Is the extreme weather over?’
As I walked towards the railing, I saw someone shimmering in the darkness on the ground.
“Aidan…?”
It was definitely Aidan. No matter how dark it was, there was no way he wouldn’t be able to recognize Aidan. Why are you standing outside instead of coming in?
“Aidan!”
When my name was called, our eyes met. But even for a moment, Aidan avoided my gaze.
‘It must be an illusion?’
Aidan averted his eyes. At the moment of doubt, Aidan turned around and started walking. But that wasn’t the direction of the Knights’ quarters. Suddenly, anxiety overtook me. Even though the job should have been over soon, he doesn’t come back right away, and he avoids it even though he should have seen him again.
‘that’s right. You’re avoiding it.’
As soon as I was sure, I grabbed the railing and jumped down. The impact was minimized by controlling the speed of falling with the wind. I ran in the direction Aidan had disappeared. The snow, which had been thin, had grown so thick that it was impossible to see in front of it.
“Aidan!”
He wandered around calling for Aidan, but he was nowhere to be seen. My body started to tremble from the snow and the wind that bit my skin. It was then.
“…!”
A familiar scent that hits you from behind. A warm feeling settled over my shoulder. I hurriedly turned around to see Aidan standing a few steps away.
“What’s going on?”
As I took a step closer, Aidan took three steps back. Aidan’s clear refusal didn’t feel realistic at all. And most of all, what I couldn’t believe was that Aidan’s face felt sad.
“Kill me.”
