ALL NOVEL Chapter 142
Molga’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.
Rubette’s words, asking for forgiveness from her mother. Their meaning was clear.
‘How…?’
It was an event from a long time ago already. In order for Molga to survive within this family, she had eliminated those who posed obstacles, one by one…
“Rubette, I don’t understand what you’re saying—”
Ssreung.
At that moment, Molga’s eyes widened at the sound of a sharp, drawn blade coming from the scabbard. Victor, who was standing at the entrance, drew his sword and said, “If you don’t understand, you can go ask directly.”
And he approached Molga step by step.
“Oh my!”
Startled, Molga quickly hid behind a member of the guard who was nearby.Though it was amusing to cling onto a guard who would escort her, there was no other option.
“…”
Given Victor’s temperament, Molga knew very well that the sword could sever her neck in an instant.
“Calm down, Brother.”
Standing still with the guards restraining his arms, Victor’s gaze was fixated on Molga. The burning gaze was filled with sincerity.
‘What on earth is going on?’
Molga still couldn’t understand the situation at hand.
It was only natural. She couldn’t even imagine that the long-forgotten secrets of a heinous murder would come to light now.
Trembling with a pale face, Molga suddenly recalled her suspicious younger brother’s whereabouts.
‘No way… Where could Gail be right now?’
***
“Come in now.”
At the same time, in the palace.
Lark, with an indifferent expression, spoke, with Leonard leading the way.
This was the Star Palace, Soleil. This palace had been managed by the imperial crown princes throughout the empire’s history, and was said to have no underground section.
Well, it was only officially known not to have one.
Once you passed through a secretive entrance and descended for a while, many things were hidden.
For example, prisoners who were subjected to illusions.
“Heh, heh, heh…”
With a gag in his mouth and his hands and feet bound, an elderly man with his eyes rolled back lay writhing on the cold floor.
Benjamin Herman, who had been Leonard’s personal physician just a few months ago, was now in this state. He had worked for the duke’s household for a long time under Molga’s bribe and had been involved in the murders of the previous duke and duchess, as well as Leonard’s wife…
He was someone who had betrayed his medical ethics.
Click.
Lark opened the prison door and walked in. He promptly sat Benjamin down and removed the gag from his mouth.
It took Benjamin about a minute to realize he had emerged from the illusion. His eyes flickered and brightened.
“…!”
Quickly noticing, Lark pushed his hand into Benjamin’s mouth.
Benjamin bit down with all his might, trying to cut his own tongue. Unfortunately, it landed on the back of Lark’s hand.
“Let me… die… please…”
With his eyes closed, Benjamin hung there, tears streaming down his face.
Lark, who had been staring at Benjamin indifferently, promptly re-gagged him.
“Yes. You will die soon. Rest until then.”
Lark tossed Benjamin into a corner of the cell and got to his feet. He wiped his injured hand with a handkerchief and took a step forward.
“Are you okay?”
As Leonard, who followed behind, inquired, noticing the quite deep wounds, Lark shrugged. “I’m fine. Oh, if you want, you can continue to implant illusions in him.”
“No, it’s alright. Since he asked to be killed, this is sufficient.”
“…Alright. If you change your mind, you can always let me know.”
Footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor. When they arrived at the next prisoner’s cell, they peered inside the iron bars.
“Uh…huh…”
Gail Bert, with his eyes rolled back, was drooling profusely.
He was Molga’s younger brother, an accomplice to the 2nd Prince, and a genius pharmacist who had created numerous poisons—the shaman.
He looked no different from Benjamin just moments ago.
Click.
Lark opened the door.
***
Gail Bert, who walked tirelessly, looked up at the sky. An endless, vast space stretched out no matter how far he walked.
All he was given was an endlessly tall wall and a ceiling with an opening to discern day and night.
How many days had passed?
No, perhaps years. No, decades? Centuries?
Gail, who had bitten his fingers, drew a line of blood on the wall. The countless red marks, tallying the days that had inexorably flowed by, were already densely covering the wall.
“Ah…”
When he first entered this illusion, his whole body felt torn apart and shattered, only to reassemble itself. All the pain was felt just as acutely, but his mind remained clear.
Ten years? A hundred years?
Time flowed on, immeasurable in its duration.
Next, he found himself struggling in boiling lava.
Another ten years? A hundred years?
His clear mind made him feel the agony of his body melting away. And then, after that, the eternal wandering in the empty space without anything began aimlessly.
Gail walked in a daze and wished for something.
He would rather have his body torn apart and thrown into the lava… At that moment, when the pain left no room for other thoughts, he found it easier to endure.
“Has it been thousands of years?” Gail muttered with his mouth agape.
The wall was covered with marks.
It was impossible to gauge how much time had passed.
At that moment.
His view, which had been blocked by the bleak wall, was reversed.
“Ugh!”
An unfamiliar air filled his lungs.
Gail instinctively sensed it.
He had returned to “reality.”
And then.
Before him, there was a face from a very distant past, perhaps thousands of years ago, faintly remembered in his memory.
The crown prince!
“…Huh, huh…”
His savior!
My savior! Gail clung to Lark as if he were insane. “Sa-sa-save me. Please, please. Stop it. Stop…”
“…”
Lark, who had been looking at Gail with indifferent eyes, once again gagged him with rough hands.
“Ugh! Uh! Ugh!”
And then, with an expressionless face, he muttered, “You still have to live.”
Immediately, darkness fell once again.
In a flash, Gail’s eyes opened to a blue sky as he lay down. Slowly turning his head, he saw the familiar, monotonous empty space again.
The bloodied scratch marks on the wall had all been erased.
Once again.
It began.
“Aaaargh!”
Eternity in this endless illusion where he couldn’t die as he pleased.
***
Exiting the Star Palace, Leonard took in a deep breath, marveling at the eerily clear sky.
“Let’s wait a bit more before we go. The grand duchess will be escorted this way soon.”
Molga Diolus.
For her too, it was a time of eternal torment within a horrifying illusion, worse than death, before facing the judgment of the law.
“Alright.”
With tightly closed eyes, Leonard shuddered. The day he would personally condemn the vile demon had finally come.
“I received a lot of help. If it weren’t for Your Highness, I would have lived my whole life in ignorance and foolishness…”
“Well, if it weren’t for the princess, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything either. I owe it all to her.” With a wry smile, Lark added, “Remember what I said? She worried about your ailing health, investigated the medicine you were taking, exposed the scheming personal physician, and asked me to uncover the secrets behind the grand duchess.”
“… Yes.”
Thinking about his daughter, Leonard’s face twisted into an expression that wasn’t a smile or a cry.
“She’s not like her wretched father in the slightest. She probably takes after her mother.”
“…”
Seeing Leonard’s expression crumble, as if he had momentarily recalled the image of his deceased wife, Lark looked at him with sympathy and smiled wistfully.
“Nevertheless, Your Highness has indeed been of great help in many ways. I will make sure to repay the favor in any way I can during my lifetime.”
“Oh, really?”
Lark playfully grinned and showed interest, surprising Leonard. He had expected a customary response of gratitude and declined assistance, but this was an unexpected reaction.
‘What does he want?’
As Leonard pondered, he soon thought of his daughter and sighed in response, “But I don’t want that.”
“Ah, people can be quite resolute.”
Amused by their mutual understanding and unspoken refusal, Leonard chuckled. “It was just a joke.”
“Huh?”
“Why would I refuse when my daughter keeps insisting that she likes you?”
For the past few days, Rubette had been pestering Leonard about marriage to the point where it felt like a broken record. Perhaps, once everything was settled, marriage seemed to be the first thing on Rubette’s mind.
“Dad, Dad! I want to get married in May! ‘The Bride of May’ was my dream!”
“Then go ahead. Who’s stopping you?”
“Really? It’s that easy?”
“Well… around the spring of 1540 wouldn’t be too bad.”
“Wait… Are you telling me to get married 20 years from now?”
Leonard laughed out loud as he recalled his playful conversation with his daughter.
After laughing for a while, he noticed that Lark was staring at him absentmindedly.
“Well, it will only happen if you complete all the preparations you promised earlier.”
“Oh!”
Lark had promised Leonard he would change the empire’s marriage laws. He had requested that Leonard send a marriage proposal once he succeeded.
“No matter how much my daughter likes you, you do know that a proposal without my seal is worthless, right?”
“Of course,” Lark, excited and eager, immediately replied, but then he seemed to feel embarrassed and playfully kicked at the ground with the tip of his shoe. “So, are you saying that if the amendment to the marriage law is approved, you’ll send me a proposal?”
Seeing Lark blush and cough nervously, Leonard couldn’t help but feel mischievous.
Dare he already create a newlywed atmosphere…
However, Leonard answered calmly, “I will.”
No matter how great Lark might be, he couldn’t change the ancient empire’s marriage laws overnight. The Emperor wasn’t likely to readily admit to such a change, and Lark would probably have to rack his brain for several years at least.
‘A few years should be enough.’
Leonard needed time to create some good memories for his daughter, whom he had neglected for so long.
“Hahaha…”
“…?”
For some reason, Lark burst into laughter, then casually added, “Then I’ll ask at the end of this month.”
“Uh… What?”
Leonard’s eyes suddenly turned fierce.