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Chapter 77




Meeting Adeus was the first time since the fire incident that day. I had planned to check if his body was alright, if there were any injuries, and to thank him for saving me back then.
“What? What did you say?”
This man once again trampled on my plans. Adeus was always like this, unpredictable and exceeding my expectations.
“You’re a rebel?”
Instead of answering, he put on his robe again and laughed foolishly.
“Your Highness, do you know how funny your expression is right now?”
I had forgotten that my mouth was hanging open. Hurriedly closing it, Adeus adjusted his posture to make me more comfortable and muttered.
“Let’s avoid the fire first. I’ve had enough of fire since that incident.”
“...Wait! I still have things to talk about with the princess...”
“Now that the meeting is over, the princess has probably already fled the fire and gone down. And even if you go now...”
Adeus’s blue eyes flashed fiercely.
“It seems the princess is in no condition to have a normal conversation. Perhaps it’s better to wait until next time.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Adeus winced and groaned.
“Ugh.”
“...Adeus?”
His face was pale, as if he were in pain. Adeus, who had been caught off guard by my call, composed himself and smiled. Then, as if nothing had happened, he quickly moved to avoid the wildfire.
***
Terdeo spent the whole day in a daze. He just lay on the sofa in his office, staring meaninglessly at the ceiling with a chaotic pattern.
‘I must be crazy.’
He tried to rest to calm his mind, but it was of little use. Terdeo’s thoughts were always focused on Fereshati. Watching his numerous resolutions crumble one by one, he felt a bitter sense of defeat. At the same time, he realized that he would never win this battle of desire. The fever he had never experienced before was unbearably hot. When she wasn’t in sight, he wanted to see her; when he saw her, he wanted to be close to her; when he was close to her, he wanted to touch her. In the end, he wanted to hide her in his arms, keeping her away from everyone else. If he could, he wanted to make her legs unable to leave him, her eyes to see only him, and her bewitching lips to call only his name. It was a hideous desire and instinct that he could never let Fereshati know.
“...Crazy bastard.”
Terdeo, who had been lost in thoughts of Fereshati, slapped his cheek so hard it made a sound. He had just made a promise a few hours ago to free Fereshati from this misery. In his fantasies, he was imprisoning Fereshati and kneeling humbly before her, whispering passionate love. Endlessly craving her affection.
“...Really a crazy bastard.”
Look at this. He had slapped his cheek less than a minute ago, and he was thinking about Fereshati again. Terdeo slapped his cheek again. His cheeks were burning, but his heart remained hot. Just as he was thinking about soaking his body in ice water to regain his senses, someone knocked on the door of his office.
“Come in.”
As soon as he gave permission, the door opened, and a knight entered. It was a member of the pursuit team chasing the rebels. Terdeo immediately got up from the sofa where he had been lying.
“Do you have a report?”
While fastening the buttons he had undone to cool down, he asked. The pursuit team member answered with an excited voice.
“It seems we’ve caught a rebel.”
“...!”
Furrowing his brows, Terdeo quickly grabbed his coat and rushed out of the office. Despite all the efforts, they had not made any significant progress since the procession. Whenever they thought they had caught one, they would always lose them at the last moment or be one step too late. He had vowed that if he ever caught them, he would not let them go. Finally, they had caught one. He needed to resolve this before they realized and cut off the tail to escape.
“Where is he now?”
While putting on his coat over his shirt, which he hadn’t finished buttoning, Terdeo urged the knight. The knight, who followed him hurriedly, answered briskly.
“He is currently detained in the underground prison. And...”
The knight glanced around lightly and whispered to Terdeo.
“He has been given a truth serum.”
“...I will take full responsibility for any consequences of the truth serum. I will also take the confession myself.”
If something went wrong due to the use of the prohibited drug, it would be difficult to avoid punishment. It was right for him to take the responsibility. As Terdeo ran to the underground prison, he firmly instructed the guards.
“Do not let anyone in until I come out.”
“Yes, understood.”
“If someone is looking for me, tell them to wait. Even if it’s the Emperor.”
The guard bowed solemnly at Terdeo’s command, which showed his teeth. Terdeo ran down the damp underground stairs. As he entered the damp prison, he saw a man tied to a chair with ropes. When Terdeo appeared, the knights standing guard brought a wooden chair.
“How long has it been since he was given the truth serum?”
“Almost an hour.”
It was about the time the drug would start to take effect. While listening to the report, Terdeo scanned the man. His hair was greasy and tangled from lack of washing, his body was covered in dirt, and he was emaciated from malnutrition. Moreover, through the torn clothes, old scars were visible.
‘Whip marks?’
They were clearly the marks of a whip used to train horses or tame fierce beasts. Terdeo tilted his head in confusion, wondering why such marks were on a person’s body. The man trembled like a child who had been chased out in the cold winter, naked. The man thought he was trembling out of fear, but it was actually the side effect of the truth serum. His hands and feet were cold, his muscles stiff, and his blood circulation slowed, causing his body to shake involuntarily. The man, who was trembling with fear, fidgeted in his mouth. At that moment, Terdeo’s eyes sparkled.
“Do you plan to kill yourself like the others who were caught?”
Before the man could answer, Terdeo roughly inserted his fingers into the man’s mouth and stirred.
“Ugh!”
The man cried out in surprise, but there was no one to help him. As Terdeo’s fingers rummaged through his mouth, they bumped into something hidden under his tongue.
“Look at this.”
Terdeo, smirking, pulled his fingers out of the man’s mouth. In his hand was a familiar pill. It was a pill made from Ailett’s blood. He hadn’t expected the man to have it again. Terdeo clicked his tongue and glared at the knights inside the prison.
“Didn’t you search him after the last incident?”
“...We only did a body search.”
“Are you making excuses now?”
If they had been a bit late, they might have lost the man they had caught with such difficulty. Terdeo clicked his tongue and wrapped the pill in a handkerchief, putting it in his pocket. A knight, who had been watching, quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped Terdeo’s fingers, which were dirty with saliva.
“Since we have time, let’s start slowly.”
The man, who had missed the chance to die, looked desperate. Terdeo, who had been breathing heavily, ran his hand through his hair and sat down in the chair.
“First, let’s check if the drug is taking effect. You only need to answer ‘yes’ to my questions. Understand?”
The man did not open his mouth. Instead, he pressed his lips tighter. Terdeo, whose mood was souring, raised an eyebrow. At the same time, a knight grabbed the man’s shoulder firmly. The man’s shoulder ached as if it were about to break, and tears welled up in his eyes. The man was suddenly afraid. The violence brought out a deep-seated fear within him. The whip marks all over his body throbbed. He knew the pain too well and felt he couldn’t bear it again. He wanted to live. He didn’t want to die. That was why he couldn’t bring himself to use the suicide pill. Seeing the man swallow, Terdeo repeated the same question.
“From now on, answer ‘yes’ to my questions.”
“...Yes.”
He felt his stomach churn, and the answer came out involuntarily, as if he were under a spell.
“Are you a man?”
“...Yes.”
“Are you a rebel?”
“Yes.”
“Are you a woman?”
“Yes... Ugh.”
Clearly, he had given the same answer, but as he answered the last question, his stomach twisted, and a stream of blood trickled from his tightly pressed lips. It was definitely the truth serum! The man clenched his bound fists. The drug caused blood pressure to spike uncontrollably, leading to death by vomiting blood if one lied.
“The truth serum seems to be working well. Shall we start with the main questions?”
The man glared at Terdeo with wide eyes. Tension filled the prison. What would be the first question? The man thought of several possibilities: the location of the rebels, their identity, their goals, or the identity of their leader. He stared at Terdeo’s lips, tense.
“This journalist, we can’t find him.”
“...”
“The way he hides his tracks is too similar to yours. Is this also your doing?”
‘Is he trying to trick me? Is this some kind of test?’
The man blinked and looked at the knight beside him. The knight looked perplexed. It seemed this wasn’t a test.
“Answer.”
At the same time, Terdeo urged for an answer. He was serious. After finally catching a rebel, the question he asked was whether they had harmed his wife. He realized that the rumors about the empire’s executioner were true.
“Yes.”
As soon as the man answered, Terdeo clenched his fist tightly. The muscles in his arm bulged, and the cuff button on his wrist was about to tear off.
“Why did you try to kill my wife?”
One of the knights beside him muttered, “Shouldn’t we ask about the location of the rebels?” but Terdeo didn’t hear it. The man, who had been trembling with fear, suddenly burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha! The great Duke of Laphireon! It seems you do care about your family! Hahaha! They say you’re a heartless killer! Looks like the rumors were wrong!”
“Answer. Why did you try to harm my wife twice?”
“It’s the fault of that woman who became your wife. And to be precise, we weren’t trying to kill your wife. We were trying to kill you.”
The man, who had been laughing so hard he was choking, wiped his mouth and looked at Terdeo.
“No matter what we did, you wouldn’t die. Even the best assassins couldn’t kill you, and traps didn’t work. So, we had no choice but to poison the food. Everyone who ate it would die, but what could we do? ...But you didn’t die. Are you some kind of immortal?”
“If you have a grudge against me, you should have only targeted me. You almost killed innocent people, and you have no conscience?”
“It’s your fault for not dying no matter what. That’s why ‘the leader’ decided to verify it personally.”
Leader? The man, who had been laughing, leaned his head back and took a deep breath.
“Aren’t you curious about who we are?”
Sadness filled the man’s eyes.
“You don’t seem to care who we are, why we rebelled, or the reasons behind it. That’s why you’re not asking.”
Terdeo, who had been hit where it hurt, frowned. If he asked about their identity, he would inevitably hear the reasons and end up knowing things he didn’t want to. These would be memories that would haunt him with guilt in the distant future. Therefore, Terdeo had no intention of listening. The man slowly lowered his head and looked at Terdeo.
“We are the citizens of the Kingdom of Schwartz.”
“...!”
Hearing the familiar name of the kingdom, Terdeo visibly flinched. At the same time, the man’s eyes turned red with bloodshot.
“We are people who live worse than slaves in this empire, and we are the surviving grudges of those you killed.”