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Chapter 14: The Dog of the Imperial Palace Part 1
“Yes, Khalid Louirk. The dog of the imperial palace who sold his country and obtained the title of duchy of an enemy country. Well, it’s not exactly the Imperial Palace, it’s the dog of my ‘Brother’.”
All thoughts in my head disappeared. Lucifella looked down at the man, tightening her hand on the balcony’s window sill until it turned white. She opened her mouth and lowered her voice, but it couldn’t come out well as she couldn’t breathe.
She didn’t know what she was going to do. She leaned her upper body against the railing.
A dangerous wind blew. There was only one thought in her mind.
They have to meet. She has to catch Khalid. No….
“Young Lady?”
She stepped on the railing and tried to jump up. There was no fear. No, she didn’t even feel afraid.
It’s okay. This is the third floor at most. It’s not even high. Estelle knew very well that she could jump. Because she’s Estelle.
“Young Lady, wait a minute!”
Lucifella tried to shake off the hand gripping on her own waist as she was about to jump.
Khalid is over there. It seemed that Khalid would disappear if she looked away even for a moment. They had to talk right now. Right now, she had to look at that face. Looking at his face….
I’ll kill you.
“Kha…lid!”
As if boiling in her mouth, a resentful voice came out. She called his name with all her heart.
Duke, a Duke? You’re the Duke of Jansgar? You’re the dog of Imperial Palace? You, now!
You killed me, and you were alive?
“Khal!”
“Young Lady!”
It is quite rude to touch a woman’s body, but Eozif was desperately holding her waist at this moment. But she tried to shake his hand once again.
I’ll kill you. I will kill you. I can’t believe you’re alive. You’re alive like this! I’ll kill you!
“Let go of me!”
“Young Lady, are you crazy right now?! This is the third floor! You’re going to die!”
The field of vision turns red and white repeatedly because of anger. Her body, which had become more exhausted than necessary, breathed heavily, and her mind became clouded.
“Khalid!!”
Finally, she called his name. But it was already after Eozif pulled her back hard. Thanks to him, she fell behind her and rolled onto her floor.
But despite the pain, she crept up to the railing. Then, Khalid and her eyes met.
Khalid was looking directly at Lucifella. I can see the beautiful purple eyes. The face, in time, was pointing at her and dictating something.
She opened her mouth again to say something.
“I’ll apologize later.”
At that moment, a strong shock was felt in the back of her neck. Knowing what this meant, she struggled to the end.
No! I just saw it. I just saw his face! It’s right in front of me!
But her vision was getting blurry. Then, at some point, darkness came, and she collapsed on the spot.
***
Zed was proud to have seen a lot of dirty things in his life.
He witnessed the horrors of the battlefield and how disgusting the demon was in the battle against the demon. But the ugliest thing was the ‘human’ itself.
As the war escalated and food ran out, people began to eat each other.
It was the same when catching monsters. Even though people could unite and fight against each other, they were afraid of losing their lives, so they used other people as bait and ran away.
It was repeated over and over again, and under that situation, people had to turn not only monsters but also people into enemies. So the situation got even worse.
In the end, it was knights dispatched from the imperial family, including Zed, who handled this situation.
However, if he had to pick the most gruesome and unpleasant scene of his life, it was three years ago.
The day Ersha was conquered by Jansgarh. Opening the gates, the emperor and Zed entered Otrop, the capital of Ersha. Everyone in Ersha surrendered. Even the king.
Zed’s army remained vigilant in case something unexpected happened, and soldiers with shields surrounded the Emperor (who was the King at the time).
The footsteps of the conquerors echoed through the palace, melancholy and mercilessly. On the day they entered the audience room, Zed saw the ugliest scene.
“……”
The woman’s neck rested on a man’s hand. Her hair was gray, and even it was stained red with her blood.
Zed was looking at the head. The conversation between the Emperor and the last Ling of Ersha was not heard. Zed’s gaze was focused only on one place, the head held in the man’s arms.
That face, was asleep with a peaceful face, not the same expression for a moment.
Peaceful? She was killed. Peaceful? Zed suddenly burst into rage.
“Isn’t that woman the Ishtar of Ersha?”
At the Emperor’s words, Zed finally came to his senses.
“Yes.”
The man with his neck up answered quietly.
“Why did the loyal knight of Ersha have her head cut off?”
At the Emperor’s words, the man smiled bitterly. The smile on the man’s white face with his neck up was soft, but his eyes glistened gloomily.
“She insisted on resistance until the end, so I cut her throat because we couldn’t communicate.”
“I know your name. Khalid Gabrin. The Deputy Commander of the Sitora from the Third Divisoin.”
“That’s correct.”
“And the neck of the woman you are holding is Estelle Supert, the Commander of the Knights of Sitora.”
“That’s correct.”
“Did you cut off your superior’s head yourself?”
“That’s correct.”
A quiet silence enveloped after the third answer, “That’s correct.”
Only then did Zed take his eyes off Estelle’s head and look closely at the man’s face.
He was a handsome knight with light blue hair. Zed had seen him. And how the dead woman in his arms looked at him with trusting eyes….
“Cut of you Commancer’s neck, you’re worse than a dog.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Zed’s words, unable to hold his disgust.
Khalid’s expression didn’t change despite his insulting remarks.
“If I don’t do that, everyone will be killed. I didn’t want to die because of my stupid Commander.”
Khalid’s voice was calm, saying why he was worse than a dog. The corners of the Emperor’s mouth went up when he saw it.
“You wanted to save your life…… So, Khalid Gabrin, do you mean you want to survive even you become Jansgar’s dog?”
“If I can be a dog, I will. If you let me live, I won’t bite my owner.”
Khalid said calmly.
Zed gritted his teeth at his repulsive words.
Then Khalid walked and threw her head in front of the Emperor. In response, Zed had to work hard to resist the urge to cut his throat immediately.
The man knelt before the Emperor.
Before being the Duke of Ersha, Khalid Gabrin was a swordsman who guarded the country.
A knight who swore to protect his country with his life is now kneeling before the King of another country. It was more shocking than a defeated King kneeling down on his knees.
“The honor was thrown away when I cut her throat. I have no honor left.”
Then he hit his forehead on the floor and bowed to the emperor. He looked servile to a disgusting extent.
Even the Emperor was displeased with men. If he had been the usual Emperor, he would have beheaded Khalid. But Zed saw a gleam of terrifying curiosity on the Emperor’s face.
“If it’s the Gabrin family, it’s the bloodline of the Ersha royal family. If that’s the case, then it’s probably not a distant lineage from the royal family of Jansgar.”
“Your Majesty!”
Zed looked at him as to stop him, but the Emperor’s face did not change. It was an old man’s wretched curiosity.
Kill him. The dog that bit his master deserved to be killed. However, the Emperor could not overcome his twisted impulse even with Zed’s words.
“From now on, I will give you the last name of Louirk, not Gabrin. Although I will not give you the land, you can keep the title as it is.”
“……”
“And you are the only surviving royal of Ersha.”
At the Emperor’s words, Zed gritted his teeth. The meaning of the word was so clear. The Emperor looked at Zed.
Zed followed the Emperor’s command and cut off King Ersha’s head.
Thus, Ersha was destroyed, the knight who was trying to protect the country died, and the bastard who betrayed his Commander to survive.
If that bastard seemed tormented by guilt, Zed wouldn’t have had that much repulsion and hostility toward him, Khalid.
He has seen many times how humanly people struggle in the face of death.
But Khalid was different. The man had no regrets for what he had done.
He couldn’t define his feelings for the dead woman. Is it sympathy? Compassion? Or a sneer at her dying? For her foolish appearance? Or is it a pity?
“Nevertheless, I owe you, so I’ll pay you back personally. I promise you next time.”
That was the last thing she said to Zed. That’s how the reunion with her happened. In such a dirty and ugly form.