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Desert Flower (10)
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
The mansion of Baron Syuphl was overturned.
Those who left on the mission came back later than expected.
Furthermore, why were there so many faces that could not be seen?
The baron and the marquis only blinked.
Rohan’s, who was holding the 3rd Prince, face was heavily sunken, so no one dared to talk to him.
Not just the knight commander, but his daughter and the knights were not present as well, so the baron could not find anyone to talk to. And that’s when he found a long line of beggars that were lined up behind the 1st Knights, then rushed to them.
“What the hell is going on?!”
“W-we… were…”
They didn’t know the baron’s face, but it was obvious that the man before them was a nobleman, so the villagers lowered their heads and did not know what to do.
“Come on, tell me! What happened!”
Sreung!
The baron, who was raising his voice, heard the sound of sword scraping against its scabbard.
He believed that those lowly things who were ignoring him would soon answer under his coercion, but soon he became timid again at the cool touch on his neck.
“Why? What’s… wrong?”
He asked Perry, who was staring at him.
“This is generous enough for a treason.”
The baron as well as the marquis opened their eyes in surprise at the murmurs.
Rohan, leaving them behind, went into the mansion while patting Leon’s, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion from crying, back all the way in.
He was trying to put him on the bed so he could get some rest.
“Mother… Mother…”
The little child rubbed his face on Rohan’s shoulder with a whining sleep talk.
Rohan brought his face to the 3rd Prince.
“Nothing will happen.”
Was he saying it for the child or for himself?
Or was it a whisper towards someone who wasn’t there.
***
Upon receiving Rohan’s communication, the emperor stopped government affairs.
And soon after, the disaster at the Syuphl Barony became known.
A huge amount of demonic monsters attacked the 2nd Empress and the party, and it was not a natural phenomenon, but someone’s conspiracy, and it was said that the people who did it were Tricia, the barony’s young lady, and Adam, the barony’s knights commander.
The two died during the riot, so it was impossible to dig up any more information, but the traces of the great power that instigated them remain, so a strict investigation is necessary. Since nothing has been clearly revealed about that giant force yet, Barossa’s advice was added to everyone to refrain from hasty judgment and not to cause confusion.
Because it is a crime of treason, the repercussions are inevitably large.
Each one surprised people so much that they couldn’t close their mouths… But the best of them was about the 2nd Empress.
For the sake of the villagers in the village where they stayed for only one day, she risked her life to inform them about the attack of the monsters and to save the villagers.
And for the 1st Knights and her son, the 3rd Prince, who were exhausted from repeated battles, she herself became a bait to lure the enemies.
The ending couldn’t be more dramatic… The ‘disappearance’ of the 2nd Empress.
No one knew what happened to her, who disappeared with the enemy.
Her deeds in the Verdin Duchy, along with the comfort she had given in these troubled times, aroused the love of countless people across the country.
There was already a lot of talk about the 2nd Empress, but this one exploded and overflowed.
It was as if the whole empire was talking about her and wishing her a safe return. As the atmosphere outside flowed like that, there was a place where one had to hold their breath quietly.
The Syuphl Barony,
Rohan and the 1st Knights still remained in the barony.
Treason is a system of association.
All blood relatives related to Tricia were to receive the same punishment. When the baroness and everyone associated with them were thrown into prison, the barony’s work became paralyzed, and public security, which was originally bad, deteriorated horribly.
The Western aristocrats, who did not know what kind of spark this unfortunate incident that had occurred in their territory would turn into, unconditionally cooperated and tried to help, but Rohan refused them all.
It was also the Emperor’s will to use this opportunity to give the Western aristocrats a leash, and Rohan was also reluctant to let them participate in this.
So, Rohan and his 1st Knights had to look over the barony until new people to manage from the capital arrived.
Actually, Rohan and the 1st Knights didn’t want to bother with that… They wanted to run to the desert right away.
When they returned to the barony and reported this to His Majesty the Emperor, everyone thought that a rescue team would be formed immediately to find the 2nd Empress.
However, the emperor hid the identity of the enemy after confirming that the 1st Knights were the only ones who had seen the desert tribe appear and pursued the 2nd Empress.
As the scope of the investigation increased, only time was wasted.
They couldn’t expose the Shadow Knights of Duke Cherkah because they had no evidence, but the desert tribe was different!
The kidnapped hostage should be saved as soon as possible.
The more time passes, the less likely the hostage is to come back, and the less likely the situation is to return to a normal state.
Of course, His Majesty must have other thoughts, and he must also be looking for a gap, but…
Suddenly, Rohan realized that he was only looking at lines like paper in his hand over and over again, and put them down on the desk.
As he was about to catch his breath, Perry swung the door open with the sound of thumping footsteps outside.
“Leader!”
Perry bit his lip as Rohan looked at him with a questioning look.
“I think you should go see the 3rd Prince.”
Rohan got up from his seat.
He immediately left the baron’s office and went to the third floor where the 3rd Prince was.
Rohan, who opened the door, found the 3rd Prince and William, the western mage, standing in front of him.
The 3rd Prince patted his reddish eyes with the back of his hand, and as soon as he saw Rohan, he ran and hugged him.
Rohan hugged the 3rd Prince and greeted the western mage.
“Why didn’t you inform me of your arrival?”
Judging from the fact that there was a presence of hidden mana, it was clear that they did it on purpose.
“Isn’t the child in a rough situation? I was in a hurry to see him.”
William’s friendly tone gave strength to Rohan’s arm, which was holding Leon.
“I have heard that Lord Mage is the guardian of the 3rd Prince.”
“Ahh, it’s a relief you’ve heard of this. Since that’s the case, now that my student is gone, would it be right for me to take that child with me?”
William was satisfied with the situation that could be solved more easily than expected.
There’s no way knights who pretend to be noble would like to take care of a difficult child.
It would have been a burden.
Rohan refused William’s hand, which he held out with a benevolent expression on his face.
“The Prince will go to Barossa. Even if you’re the guardian, the prince has nothing to do with the Magic Tower.”
“But am I not present now? I will keep him and send him back to the palace when the time comes.”
“The 2nd Empress asked me to take charge of the 3rd Prince until she comes back. I promised as a knight, so I’ll take good care of him. You don’t need to worry?”
“It doesn’t make sense, Count Scherzer!”
Soon, William wiped his smile away.
A nervous look hung in his wrinkled eyes.
But from his gaze, William read that no matter what reasons he gave, Rohan would never give up the 3rd Prince.
Unless the emperor orders it, there will be no chance.
William didn’t think the tough girl would have died.
He thought that if he had her precious son, he would be able to receive the other half of the scroll to break down the 8th-circle wall that he hadn’t been able to last time.
Then, if the girl really died, he was supposed to find the place where she had hidden secrets or important things by coaxing the child. However, the person in charge of the child at the moment was just bad news for William.
William could keep all nobles under his eyes, but there were a few people he couldn’t touch, and one of them was that man.
It hurt his pride to step back like this, but it wasn’t a situation where he would continue to be stubborn.
The Western Magic Tower was also part of the West. If there was a problem in the West, it could not help but be affected, if not as much as the noble families.
In fact, if William had not been the guardian of the 3rd Prince, the tower might have been in quite a difficult situation by now.
William, who was touching his wrinkled eyes, turned around and went outside.
“I’ll be back.”
“Next time, we’ll see you at Barossa.”
William glanced at Rohan, who politely refused, and disappeared toward the side of the altar. While holding Leon, Rohan walked towards the window.
Opening the closed window, the two stood there for quite some time and faced the wind coming inside.
***
“Nonsense.”
Ascensio didn’t believe what he had heard at first.
Didn’t Sir Rohan go with them?
But how did this happen?!
It was only a few days later that Ascensio, who had been stuck in the palace without taking a single step outside the Crown Prince Palace, regained his senses. He believed Elisha would return.
So he must do well in what he has to do until her return, then she will definitely compliment him.
Ascensio, who had been feeling down as usual, ran one step after hearing the news that the Imperial Palace portal had opened.
His younger brother, whom he had been waiting for so long, was in trouble.
From beyond the portal, Rohan, who was holding his brother, the maid, and a few knights from the 1st Knights appeared.
The rest said that they would come overland by driving the horses of the knights who had gone before after finishing the cleanup in the barony.
As they crossed the portal, the blue light that flickered around the portal disappeared for a moment.
“I see His Highness the Crown Prince.”
When Rohan greeted him first, Ascensio nodded.
Then he looked up at him and asked.
“You couldn’t save her?”
One couldn’t help but know who it was about.
“My apologies.”
“You really couldn’t stop them?”
“My apologies. It’s all my fault.”
Rohan bowed his head.
Ascensio bit his lip, and then his eyes met Leon, who raised his head from Rohan’s arms.
Ascensio refined his cracked voice and spoke softly.
“How long has it been since we saw each other, my brother?”
When Ascencio opened his arms, Rohan lowered Leon.
Leon ran to his brother and hugged him. One might have thought it was noisy outside managing the portal, but people that Leon knew showed their faces one by one.
As Georg, Jillian, and the maid Marie approached, Leon burst into tears.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t protect Mother.”
Jillian comforted Leon, saying “What are you saying?”
Ascensio whispered in Leon’s ear.
“It’s okay, Big Brother will do everything for you. I swear as the crown prince. I will never forgive anyone who harmed my younger brother or the 2nd Empress. I will pay back tens of thousands of times what they have done.”
The deep implication attached to that voice scared Leon, but instead of running away, Leon grabbed Ascensio’s hand.
He nodded his head up and down several times.
Rather than saying no, doing so seemed to ease his older brother’s mind.
Older brother must be upset that he couldn’t be with Mother and Leon when they were in trouble and that he couldn’t help.
After greeting each other, they slowly made their way towards the 2nd Empress Palace, but Rohan stopped and did not move.
Bewildered, Leon looked back.
“Sir Rohan, won’t you come with me?”
“I…”
“Sir Rohan has been away for a long time, so he must have a lot of work to do in the Knights Order or the county. So let him go, and stay with this brother. Or do you hate it?”
“N-no, Brother! I’d like it if you stay with me.”
At Leon’s words, Ascensio smiled after a very long time.
“Then see you soon, Sir Rohan!”
When Leon greeted Rohan, Ascensio bowed slightly to him and then walked away. Knowing that Rohan would not have been able to help in that situation, he didn’t want to resent him, but it didn’t work out. Above all else, as long as he was a person of the emperor, he would be at odds with them someday anyway.
Leon followed Rohan so well that Ascensio felt the need to draw a line.
He didn’t want to see Leon get hurt.