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Episode 81: Cruel Heavens (I)
‘…This amount is equivalent to the national budget of a huge empire, you crazy chihuahua.’
‘If a person with a lot of money gets rich, does that mean they fool around with money?’
I grabbed the newspaper and read the article with disbelieving eyes.
The article reads: ‘The Grand Duke said – ‘I am looking for my older sister whom I parted with in the Forest when I was young. Her name is Annette.’ She was the older sister who had left him mercilessly.’
—That was written.
How did the name ‘Annette’ appear twice in a global newspaper?
An empire was destroyed because of ‘Annette’, and ‘Annette’ tragically parted with the grand duke, and the reward for finding her was as much as the state budget!
I gave up on everything and laughed sadly with cloudy eyes.
‘…At this point, am I not the villain?’
I had gained notoriety all over the world.
This was nonsense.
I muttered in despair.
“You guys were so nice and happy, Sislin, Heinrich.”
In my imagination, that is. It was all haha and hoho.
“Why did Heinrich become an obsessive maniac…?”
Putting a bounty of 5.8 trillion gold was something that, no matter how you look at it, was what gangsters do.
It was then.
Suddenly, the light of the lamp went out.
“……!”
‘What is this ominous rendition?’
In a cold sweat, I looked at the door.
Last time, when the lights went out like this, the door opened and a madman appeared.
…Could the heavens be so cruel?
Three crazy guys in a week.
‘It’s just too much.’
I went to the door nervously and peered outside.
Then I carefully opened the door and poked my head out.
I was wondering if there would be a ‘grand ducal carriage’ or something like that that came to pick me up.
Fortunately, nothing was around.
Today, thanks to the shining moonlight, even though the gas lamp was broken, there were only bright streets.
I patted my chest and closed the door.
“Whew…”
Heinrich, cruelly, appeared at a time when I was completely reassured.
Wheeik—
Suddenly, a wind blew. I looked towards the window and found a man sitting on the window sill.
A handsome man with dazzling silver hair was relaxing in the pouring moonlight.
“……!”
My heart sank.
For the first time in 10 years, I met Heinrich, who had grown into a full-fledged man.
The purple-colored eyes looked somewhat ripe, and his nose was as perfect as a sculpture’s.
Especially those luscious red lips—
As if nurtured by God and having eaten only the most precious things, they were arrogantly closed and shrouded in a noble light.
It was beautiful and perfect.
Heinrich grew up like that. It was just like when he was young.
“…Heinrich.”
I barely called him.
Soon, his red lips rose and he whispered softly.
“Sister. I’m here.”
“……!”
‘Why are you here!’
I swallowed an unspoken scream.
I didn’t know why, but the first thought that came to me was that I had to run away; even though he was Heinrich, whom I loved and cherished so much.
If I was caught, it seemed like a really ‘big deal’ would happen.
I grabbed the cake and tried to go up to the second floor.
(TL/N: lmao did she think she can just unsee it and move on?)
“Hey, well… Where are you going?”
But Heinrich was much faster than that.
Jumping off the window sill, he came running like water, hugged me tightly from behind and looked down at me.
“Ah.”
Tuk, the cake fell.
“Sister still has a cute side.”
Heinrich said, blushing.
“Heinrich, hello…?”
I was caught helplessly and had no choice but to say hello.
Heinrich stared at my face from the side and then said admiringly.
“You are so pretty.”
“…….”
“You’re much prettier than I had imagined… I feel like my heart is going to explode. Is it just because it’s Sister?”
Heinrich buried his head in the crook of the girl’s back as if collapsing, and inhaled the body scent deeply. And whispered in a shudder;
“I missed you.”
The warm whisper pierced my heart.
“…Why didn’t you keep your promise? Sister, you promised not to leave me.”
Every time he uttered in a painful voice, his breath kept tickling my skin.
“Heinrich…”
Heinrich, who raised his head, looked diagonally down at my cheek and whispered in my ear.
“Lies are a bad thing.”
The long purple eyes were curved innocently and cruelly.
“For a child who broke a promise… What kind of punishment should I give?”
‘Oh my God.’
The boy I had abandoned long ago had grown into an obsessive man and was about to punish me.
The body temperature behind my back was hot and his tangled hands were holding me like a spider’s web.
I couldn’t escape.
“…Ah.”
I stopped; trembling and closing my eyes.
━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━
Could a person wither to death from obsessiveness?
There would be only bones and a thirsty heart.
“You mean that all the troops looking for Annette didn’t come back? You doubled the troops?”
Gerard’s aide, Avilos Theses, had a question when he looked at Gerard these days.
He wondered if his master would oxidize with anger.
Gerard, who was already originally looking for Annette, had been obsessed with finding the girl almost everyday since Sislin became crown prince.
The child named Annette, who he almost got his hands on 10 years ago, suddenly flew away just before coming into his arms.
No, she was not a child anymore.
She would be a complete lady.
Whether she was a child or a lady, they still, sadly, have not been able to find even the hem of her skirt.
—Unbelievably.
“Those who returned from the chase were already dead. It seems that there are still people taking care of her.”
It was reported by the captain who oversees the tracking team.
Kwajik—!
The glass in Gerard’s hand shattered.
“I can’t believe it. My men are so incompetent.”
“…I am ashamed. Prince, please take my life.”
The man went down on one knee in front of him. He was willing to sacrifice his head, if he did want to cut it off.
But Gerard knew.
The problem wasn’t the management.
In the past 10 years or so, countless captains had lost their lives, but few were as loyal and competent as they were now.
The real problem was something else.
‘Circe is still protecting her.’
No, he couldn’t call them Circe anymore, could he?
Because that name disappeared about 10 years ago.
Anyway, no matter what ‘they’ were called, it was clear that they were still protecting the girl.
This was because when he sent a tracking team, they came back as corpses with bullet holes.
“Don’t you dare evade responsibility by death.”
“…….”
“Stand up and finish reporting.”
The captain clenched his fists and stood up. Then he said,
“Prince, there are traces of the Crown Prince’s personal military constantly examining the bodies of our pursuers.”
“It looks like he doesn’t even want to hide it anymore.”
That monster child.
Gerard knew he was getting information about Annette from his chase, but he used to hide it.
Like a hyena stealthily devouring corpses.
However, since he became the crown prince and seized power, he was calling on Annette’s name and starting a war.
The corpses were being ravaged without hesitation.
‘Even if I know that, I know that there is no human being who can stop him.’
After letting the captain out, Gerard thought.
‘The reason that monster destroyed the Fris Empire.’
‘Didn’t I hear rumors that he stole the personal information department?’
‘It is clear that the information from the corpses of my trackers was pointing to the Fris Empire.’
All this while, both Sislin and himself had limited personal forces; Gerard had no more troops to investigate the traces of his trackers’ corpses.
Gerard used his troops to chase Annette, and Sislin used his to chase the corpses.
But now the tables were turned.
If the person who walks ahead becomes different, the strategy of those who follow would also change.
‘Now is the time to suck that monster’s information.’
It was time to change his ways and be smart.
“Avilus.”
“Yes.”
The man standing in the shadows appeared.
“The Crown Prince hasn’t returned to the Imperial Palace yet?”
“Yes, only the soldiers have returned. The Crown Prince and his aide have not yet returned. Ostensibly, it was to lay the foundation for the rule of the Fris Empire.”
Avilus had already completed the investigation.
“He has not appeared in the Imperial Palace of the Fris Empire. An official is taking over.”
“He must be looking for the girl. What’s his exact location?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Surprisingly, all the spies attached to monitor Sislin’s every move were discovered and killed with a single blow.
He had memorized all their faces.
—Sislin did.
The faces of the thousands of troops belonging to him.
Those who he saw for the first time were immediately killed. Easily, just picking out Gerard’s spies.
Thanks to that, his current location was unknown.
“Find out where the Crown Prince has gone to now. As long as he is a human, he will leave traces. Be sure to find it.”
“Yes.”
Unfortunately or fortunately, over the past 10 years of repeated failures, ‘tracking technology’ had developed beyond all expectations.
He would be able to find him. The crown prince.
Sislin wasn’t the only person Gerard was monitoring.
“Has the position of Grand Duke Heinrich been revealed?”
“He is not in the capital.”
Gerard gently stroked his chin.
That ‘Vivantum’ cub went insane, putting a huge sum as Annette’s bounty.
Thanks to this, bounty hunters from all over the continent have caught everyone with the name ‘Annette’, and their work was on the verge of being paralyzed.
‘It would be no coincidence.’
The two who wanted Annette disappeared at the same time from the capital of El Dorado.
He had a clear intuition that if he followed the two of them, he would find the girl he was longing for.
Gerard chewed a cigarette and raised his eyes.
Then he lit it up and gave an order.
“Follow them like dogs.”
“…….”
“Until the bitch comes out.”
Now it wasn’t Annette he was looking for.
To catch a rabbit.
He would chase after the sharp-toothed hunting dogs.