Episode 34

“I don’t really want to go back yet either, Ria.”

Sien, who had been dozing on the bottom bunk of the bed, blinked groggily and spoke.

I thought he had just crawled back into bed to sleep again after breakfast, but apparently, he had been listening the entire time.

Since I hadn’t been able to find the previous Tower Master’s remains, I couldn’t really argue if he insisted on staying. But still…

You said it was fine. You said you were fine! Why are you suddenly changing your mind again, you fragile jellyfish!

Just then—

“I will be returning. Do not forget our first agreement.”

Jaeger, who had been silently watching us, spoke with a cold intensity.

I was starting to get seriously annoyed.

Oh, for f— Then why don’t you all figure it out amongst yourselves instead of leaving the decision to me?

Two of them wanted to stay. One was hell-bent on leaving. And the last one…

I made eye contact with Danha, who gave me a gentle smile, as if to say he was fine with any outcome.

Danha is really the only sane one here.

I sighed and continued debating the thought I had left unfinished.

At this rate, should I just leave two of them behind and take the other two with me?

But, of all people, the ones I’d be leaving behind were the Crown Prince and the Tower Master.

Leaving just the Tower Master might be one thing, but leaving both of them? Even if they stayed voluntarily, would I really be able to avoid moral responsibility?

However, if I chose to stay and put myself in danger alongside them, it would only confirm any suspicions that I had some kind of “purpose” for remaining here.

The original Redria would have returned the moment she had permission.

No, actually, she would have hidden the existence of the warp scroll entirely.

I let out a shallow sigh.

The truth about my goal being revealed wasn’t necessarily an issue.

After all, I was only moving to survive.

The problem was the secret that would inevitably come out along with my goal—that I knew about the zombie outbreak before it happened and that the culprit was my brother.

I was deep in thought when—

“You seem troubled, my lady.”

The Crown Prince smirked, shrugging his shoulders in amusement. I shot him a sharp glare.

“Thanks to you.”

“Oh dear, am I the problem? I already told you, I’m fine. Just leave without worrying about me.”

For a moment, my headache was so bad that I was almost tempted to take his words seriously.

“…Are you serious?”

“Of course. If I die here, then it’s fate. What else can I do?”

“……”

“I should say my goodbyes in advance, then.”

He walked around the table and picked up the rabbit, then shoved it toward me.

“Goodbye, my lady.”

The Crown Prince grabbed the rabbit’s soft little paws and waved them up and down.

Is he seriously messing with me right now?

“Nggh…”

The rabbit, who had been minding its own business, turned red with humiliation as its plump belly was exposed.

Then, the Crown Prince turned the rabbit around, stroked its tail, and suddenly stared at something.

His honey-colored eyes widened.

“…Wait. You’re a male? Then why have you been sleeping with the young lady this whole time?”

He tucked the rabbit under his arm and walked back to his seat.

Then, setting the rabbit beside his plate, he whispered.

“From now on, you’re sleeping with me.”

“Kiing…”

The rabbit trembled violently, looking at me with an utterly devastated expression, as if it had just been given a death sentence.

Why are you tormenting an innocent rabbit, you lunatic?

I sighed and swept my bangs back before glancing at the Crown Prince.

Then, I shifted my gaze to Sien, who had already dozed off again after muttering a single sentence.

I know I broke my promise, but seeing him sleep so peacefully, like a baby, is actually pissing me off for the first time.

I glanced at Jaeger next.

His gray eyes were sharp, predatory—like a hawk eyeing its prey.

There was no other option. I had to try reasoning with Jaeger.

“I’ll go with the majority vote. So talk it out amongst yourselves.”

“Sounds good to me.”

The Crown Prince raised his glass and readily agreed.

“……”

“……”

The ridiculously handsome prince glanced between Jaeger and me, then set down his glass and grinned.

“You both look like you want to punch me.”

Oh, you bet your ass that’s going on my bucket list starting today, you little—.

* * *

Jaeger pulled back the curtain and looked out into the yard.

Near the base of a tree, an axe lay discarded.

Beyond that, Danha was wiping sweat from his brow after chopping firewood, while Redria was installing security devices on the back gate fence.

Jaeger, who had been watching her, spoke in a low, restrained voice.

“What exactly are you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

Jaeger turned to Lihad, giving him a look that asked if he was really pretending not to know.

“Kiinng…”

Lihad, who had been lying on the table playing with the rabbit’s paws, scoffed at the sharp glare directed at him.

“Don’t look at me like that, Duke. I already told you—it’s to investigate the incident.”

“Are you serious?”

“Didn’t you also suspect that this disaster wasn’t natural but someone’s doing? We won’t know if it’s a disaster or a scheme unless we investigate the scene.”

“This is something that can be investigated after we escape. You know that prioritizing our survival is the right course of action. This place is overrun with zombies and could collapse at any moment.”

Lihad chuckled and leaned an arm over the back of his chair. The rabbit, finally freed, scurried away to the edge of the table.

“If the Holy Zone sinks, all evidence will be lost, just as you said. And how can you be certain we’ll be able to return after we escape? You already know why the transportation route to the Holy Zone was switched to portals. I bet the rescue ship they sent for us never arrived because of monsters.”

Several years ago, sea monsters had begun appearing in the waters near the Holy Zone, causing numerous ships to vanish.

Following that, the Empire demolished the docks and established a portal-based transport route. The westernmost village near the original route had also been wiped out by monsters, leaving portals as the sole means of access.

Knowing this all too well, Jaeger clenched his jaw, his expression turning stormy.

Lihad smirked at Jaeger’s grim face.

“But at least we have the young lady’s warp scroll, so why don’t you relax? Besides, the Saintess you cherish so much is probably working hard at the temple. Although… it is strange that we haven’t heard a word from her.”

Even as Jaeger’s piercing glare bore into him, Lihad continued to grin nonchalantly.

“You’re making that face again. You look just like some back-alley thug.”

Jaeger’s expression darkened further at the mention of the scar on his brow.

Lihad tilted his head slightly and scrutinized him before casually asking,

“When did you get that scar?”

For a brief moment, Jaeger’s gray eyes wavered before flickering away.

He rubbed at his eyebrow, an unmistakable sign of unease.

“…There’s no reason for you to know that.”

Lihad’s gaze sharpened.

‘Ever since the Dawn Forest, he’s been acting unusually tense.’

Was it because of the woman at the temple? Or was it because of Redria?

‘Fascinating… It seems even he doesn’t know the answer to that himself.’

Lihad’s golden eyes gleamed with amusement as he rubbed his chin before shifting his expression, as if he had lost interest in the scar.

“Well, I’ve explained why I plan to stay in the western region… Now, what about you?”

Jaeger, his face once again unreadable, looked at Lihad as if he were speaking nonsense.

“What do you mean?”

“What exactly is your relationship with the young lady?”

“There is no relationship.”

Lihad scoffed and tapped the wooden table with his fingers.

“I doubt that. The way you treat her—so unusually hostile—it seems like you’ve known her for a long time.”

He raised an eyebrow at Jaeger, who remained tight-lipped.

‘And it seems to be connected to that scar of his.’

Jaeger had a habit of touching it every single time Redria’s name was brought up.

“Don’t be so stingy with information. You know I spent most of my childhood on the battlefield—I don’t keep up with the petty rumors in the Empire.”

“……”

“Are you refusing to speak? Fine. Then answer me this—what exactly happened in the Dawn Forest? Why is it that the Duke, who was practically foaming at the mouth to take down the young lady, now seems so on edge?”

“I already told you. Nothing happened.”

“Aha, is that so?”

There was no way that was true.

Lihad’s golden eyes flashed with mirth as he smirked slyly.

Just then—

“What a joke.”

Squeak.

The creaking of a bed frame broke the silence.

Sien sat up, tying back his tousled hair as he approached them.

“The way I see it, poor Ria picked up a bunch of wild mutts thinking they’d be well-trained dogs.”

Letting out a languid sigh, Sien perched himself on the armrest of the sofa.

He sat diagonally across from Lihad, who occupied the head seat at the table, and Jaeger, who stood by the window.

Lihad tilted his head toward him.

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

“It’s hard to sleep with all the damn barking.”

“That has to be the most offensive insult I’ve ever received as a royal.”

“Then why don’t you go die an honorable death?”

“Has the little wizard decided to throw all decorum out the window? You really need a filter on that mouth of yours.”

Jaeger, who had been silently watching their bickering, suddenly furrowed his brows as a realization struck him.

…Surely not.