161. ask one’s resolve (3)

morning has come Under the bright sky after a long, red-stained night, only the ruins of the royal palace, dried bloodstains on the stone walls, and corpses with severed limbs remained. Leon Bening was walking down the corridors of the palace. There were no escorts and no attendants to follow. Leon Benning just walked around with dry eyes, looking around as if inspecting the inside of the palace.

There was blood everywhere he touched. It was as if the shadow of Leon Benning was walking along, bleeding. Leon Bening walked aimlessly around the inside of the royal palace, turning the corner with straight steps as if he had decided on his destination.

Passing through a long hallway, where the space suddenly expands. Leon Benning looked at the red carpet on the floor. The part that is heavily stained here and there must be the blood that someone shed. Looking up, I saw a huge door on the other side. The entrance gate of Daejeon, which boasts a lofty appearance in ivory color. Leon Benning slowly approached the gates of Daejeon. The blood of those who died the night before splattered on the door.

“Ah, Count.”

When Leon Benning turned his head, the Bening family’s attendants who were tidying up the palace bowed their heads. The Count did not show any reaction and turned his head again to look at the entrance to and from Daejeon. The attendants secretly let out a sigh of relief and walked away from the count. Leon Benning’s hand touched the door. The huge door opened without a single creak.

“… It happened like this.”

Unbeknownst to whom he was speaking, Leon Benning entered the battle muttering to himself uncharacteristically. Even though the outside of the palace became a sea of blood regardless of the king’s sleeping quarters and the palace of the royal family, the Daejeon, where the king and his servants decreed and held meetings, remained intact without any change. The huge glass window through which the sunlight streamed in, the marble floor, and the king’s throne at the end of the carpet.

“A job that ends without seeing blood in the first place, foolishly.”

Leon Benning muttered as he approached the throne. There was no sadness or bitterness. The huge throne that made me laugh out loud was there, as if trying to make me realize the weight of that position. Leon Benning ran his hand over the hard armrest. I really had no intention of sitting here. If that was the case, he would have killed the second prince as soon as the ‘revolution’ was over.

did you get everything you wanted?

Leon Benning turned around at the sound he heard in his ears riding the wind. whose voice was it? Leon Benning frowned. A wind blew from somewhere, and the hem of his clothes fluttered.

‘You are that kind of person. He seems like a person who has no infinite greed, but if you look at the reality, he has a deeper ambition than anyone else… No, should we call desire without ambition as ambition? Yes, rather your heart is instinct. Close to appetite. I just eat because I can eat it.’

It was the same voice that someone once told him. The person who had a cynicism deeper than himself, and a despair deeper than himself. Leon Benning immediately looked at the throne again. Soon, an emotionless smile appeared on his face.

‘Would that be the feeling of looking at me right now?’

Leon Benning did not answer that question. No, I couldn’t answer. You won’t be able to answer that even now. Leon Benning turned his head. I just did it because I could, and I didn’t because I couldn’t. The wind that was blowing in Daejeon stopped. Leon Benning stepped out of Daejeon, stepping on the red carpet.

—

1 The place where the prince was imprisoned was not prison. Louis was detained in an outbuilding within the palace under the pretext of ‘protection’. Their hands and feet were not tied, and they were not tortured or tortured. But now, Louis was more distressed than ever.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

It was a word he heard regularly from Louis. Louis just stared blankly at the floor, ignoring that. After sending Maxim, on the way to the adventurer’s guild with the 2nd escort, we ran into each other. The 2nd Guards tried their best to get at least Lewis to escape, but they were destroyed one by one by the swordsmanship of Leon Benning’s knights.

‘majesty! You must run away! majesty!’

After a fierce battle, the ones who laughed were the knights of Leon Benning, who were constantly receiving reinforcements. Grabbing the escort knights by the hair, they persuaded Louis.

‘Your Highness, would you like me to be captured on my own feet, or would I just continue meaningless resistance until the end, kill all the knights, and injure Your Highness’ body?’

‘majesty! Run away! Don’t be seduced by their evil words!’

hooked

When the blade dug halfway into the scruff of the escort knight’s neck, who had been shouting out with evil until the end, Louis shouted.

‘Stop!’

pop. The hand that was about to decapitate the escort knight stopped. The escort driver looked at Louis with trembling eyes and said no, but Louis didn’t listen.

‘I will surrender. I mean, I’m going to be caught by you guys! So let them all live.’

‘majesty! No! majesty!.’

Louis still remembered the voice that nodded and spoke in an emotionless voice.

‘It’s a wise choice.’

And the time comes now. Louis rubbed his aching shoulder and raised his head at the sound of approaching footsteps. The soldiers guarding the detention room were in an uproar. Louis could tell who was visiting him without looking. A face that resembles you. However, a man who was not too similar to be called a brother stood in front of him.

“How are you feeling, brother?”

Kyle’s eyes reflected in Lewis’s didn’t look very happy. Lewis never thought the emotion in Kyle’s eyes was guilt. Even so, he only hastened Lewis’ wrath. If you’re going to blame yourself, do something you shouldn’t have done in the first place.

When Louis didn’t answer, Kyle gave a sullen shrug and looked around the room. A room too small for a royal family who has spent their entire lives in a spacious palace. Kyle had a sneer on his face and turned his gaze back to Louis.

“Why did you not imprison me?”

Lewis asked. Kyle looked into Louis’s wide eyes.

“The first reason is to prevent my older brother from coming into contact with those knights, and the second reason is to place my brother in a good place to ‘watch’ him as I come and go.”

Well, on the day the father’s sins are announced in detail anyway, the older brother’s head will fall and he will be executed.

Kyle said and looked at Louis. I hoped that even a little fear would dwell in Louis, but Lewis was accepting the story that he would soon die too calmly. Kyle frowned in displeasure and took a step closer to Louis.

“Perhaps… Are you expecting that Michelle, who left the palace the night before and left you alone, will save you, brother?”

Lewis didn’t answer. The wrinkle between Kyle’s eyebrows deepened, and then he suddenly grabbed Louis’ collar with a violent hand. Kyle growled as he grabbed Louis, who fluttered weakly like a paper doll.

“This brother kindly warns you in advance, it will never happen. Even if I overturn this capital city, no, even the kingdom, I will seize and decapitate all those who escaped from my hands the day before. The knight named Maxim who served you, the raven knights who dared to stab me in the back and run away, and the arrogant Count Ray Argon… !”

Also, Michelle’s sister.

Kyle sighed and sighed. Kyle left Louis and stood up. The soldiers outside were staring at Lewis with eyes full of ridicule.

“Well then, brother. We will see you again later.”

Kyle’s voice was as cold and hard as marble. Louis stared blankly at the back of his half-brother as he stormed the room.

—

Last night the kingdom was completely turned upside down. Earl Ray Argon was tapping his knee nervously. He couldn’t show that he was impatient, but the count’s heart was burning every moment. Every time the clock’s second hand ticked and moved, the count’s fingers tapped his knee.

“Isn’t it coming yet?”

“… It’ll be all right, Count. Are the people protecting Her Highness the First Princess normal?”

A long sigh flowed from Count Agon’s mouth. I told you to contact me first if anything happens. Was it because of the tribulation last night that he was not able to send it because he was not in a hurry? The vassal, who was exchanging words with Count Agon, also looked out the window with a tense expression. The fact that Leon Benning did not send troops here could only be explained by saying that it was luck.

Tick tock, tock.

The hour hand flowed helplessly. Count Agon could not stand his impatience and jumped up from his seat.

“I can’t. We’ll have to send someone to search first. François, go down now and bring Enric.”

A vassal, François nodded firmly. The fate of all of them was at stake. If all the members of the royal family, except for the 2nd prince, were killed or captured, then all the people of Count Agon’s family would be the same. It was the moment when François got up and headed for the hallway, and Count Agon started tapping his knee again.

thump, thump, thump.

A knock was heard at the door of the mansion. François, who was about to step out into the hallway, stopped, and Count Agon jumped up from his seat. Surprised, François sat the count up from his seat and said.

“I-I’ll go down.”

“… Be careful, Francois. I don’t know who came for what purpose.”

François ran across the corridor and opened the door to the mansion. Then, facing the face of the visitor standing at the door, I unconsciously rolled my eyes and took a step back.

“Sir Yvonne!”

As if coming back from a long battle, the female knight was completely exhausted. Seeing the scars all over her face, François looked surprised again.

“Is the Count there?”

Everyone was curious about what had happened and if it was happening, but François quickly took her into the mansion without asking.

“Count, Sir Yvon has come to visit.”

When Count Agon saw Yvon’s face as he entered the drawing room, he was happy and relieved. However, Yvon’s expression, who came to visit him, wasn’t very bright, so he soon hardened his lips again and sat her down at a nearby table.

“What is going on? 1 Her Highness, is your Majesty okay?”

When Yvon heard the Count’s question, he sighed. Realizing that something unusual had happened, Count Agon’s face became contemplative. The vassal, François, who had been listening to the story, also swallowed dry saliva.

“No way, Yvonne.”

Yvonne opened her mouth.

“His Majesty the King has passed away.”

Silence fell in the drawing room. Count Agon stared blankly at Yvon’s face like someone who had been hit in the head with a hammer, then covered his face with his palms and lowered his head. Yvon looked down at the floor with dead eyes.

“Damn it.”

Count Agon’s dejected voice leaked out between the palms covering his face. Yvon followed up and explained the situation.

“His Highness the 1st Prince has been captured by Leon Benning’s forces. Only Her Highness, the First Princess, was able to escape last night’s tribulation… . The 2nd Guards are presumed to have been wiped out, and the remnants, including the 4th Guards, are currently taking refuge in the adventurer’s guild and safe houses.”

Count Agon released his hand and let out a long sigh.

“His Majesty the King… In the end, in their hands.”

“as soon as possible. Please gather your troops and support Her Highness, the 1st princess.”

Count Agon nodded with a distraught expression.

“Where is Princess 1 now? Is there a place in the capital where I can contact you?”

“You are in the adventurers guild. However, since the entire capital is now under the control of Leon Benning’s forces, it is not a situation where you can easily contact Her Highness, the First Princess.”

Leon Benning’s troops were hovering around the Adventurer’s Guild. The process of Yvon secretly leaving the guild and finding Count Agon was also not so smooth.

“… i get it. I’ll gather my troops so that I can support you right away, and I’ll send someone to the adventurer’s guild, so you stay here. Leon Benning’s forces will keep an eye on you, but going back would be dangerous.”

“I don’t think you need to.”

Earl Agon opened his eyes wide and turned his head at the clear voice he heard. Three hooded people were entering the entrance of the mansion. As they removed their hoods, Count Agon stood up and bowed.

“Your Highness, this is how an ugly servant will greet you.”

Michelle shook her head, messing up her brown hair. Behind the princess, Maxime Appart was sweeping her light brown hair, and next to her was an adventurer with ultramarine blue hair staring at the Count.

“I need help, Count Agon.”

Count Ray Argon looked at the first princess. The Count, who read the desperation in Michelle’s eyes, nodded.

“First of all, please sit down. There is something I want to tell you.”