Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 312

312.

“Don’t worry. His Highness the Grand Duke told us to just eliminate the Emperor. We will help with his assassination. However, we need to ask for your understanding regarding the tasks we are carrying out separately.”

“So you’ve been assigned other missions as well.”

“Yes. It’s about the espers [individuals with supernatural abilities] the Emperor has. I heard there are some young espers by his side? The Crown Prince of the Carters Empire is also with them. He has been our target for a long time.”

“The Crown Prince? But he’s…”

“There won’t be any conflict between the empires as you fear. As you know, Your Excellency, the Grand Duke is quite thorough. The imperial family over there is quite complicated.”

“……Hmm.”

“I heard that the girl who is said to be the daughter of the goddess is also a spirit mage. It’s my first time capturing a spirit mage, so I’m very excited.”

The leader of Ilya smiled triumphantly, eager to be entrusted with securing them. But Caribdis was no longer listening to him.

Spirit mage.

A cold sensation ran down his spine.

“Are spirit mages included in the target?”

“Of course, spirit magic is also a form of esper ability.”

Why did he feel uneasy at that obvious answer? There was someone he knew who was a spirit mage. Someone he initially treated as an obligation, but who had now become so precious and dear to him. A face he already missed so much, even though they had just parted.

The face of the Grand Duke smiling meaningfully at him came to mind. If that memory wasn’t a delusion, it was the expression the Grand Duke had made right after mentioning Rey.

“……”

What had he replied back then? How far did the Grand Duke think about what he had to offer, and what did he calculate?

“Your Excellency?”

He felt the gaze of someone looking at him questioningly. A gaze that had already become meaningless to him. His body moved faster than he thought. When he came to his senses, Caribdis was already on horseback.

“Your Excellency! Where are you going? Your Excellency!”

The leader of Ilya’s frantic shouts echoed like screams. The others were all flustered and bewildered. “What are you doing! Chase after him immediately! Don’t let him get away!” A shrill voice carried on the wind, but it soon faded away.

He galloped back the way he had come for hours. Now that he thought about it, the designated location the Grand Duke had told him was quite far from his residence. He had never paid attention to such distances before, but now he felt strangely anxious. He had a bad feeling that there might be a separate reason why it had to be so far.

After riding his horse without rest, he arrived at his residence earlier than expected. It was late afternoon, a time when the servants who had almost finished their daily work were taking a breather before starting dinner preparations. Even normally, his mansion was always quiet, in accordance with the owner’s preference for avoiding commotion. But now, the front of it was all in a stir. People scattered everywhere were searching for something with pale faces.

“Young Master! Young Master Rey, where are you! Young Master Rey!”

“……”

At the sound of the shouts, Caribdis slowly closed his eyes. Perhaps he was having a nightmare. But even when he opened his eyes again, the scene hadn’t changed. What he faced was the reality he didn’t want to acknowledge.

“Lo, Lord!”

The butler, Ruben, who had a tearful face, discovered him standing blankly on his horse and gasped. The other servants who were wandering nearby were just as surprised. Everyone who found him trembled like an aspen tree. Caribdis didn’t bother to pay attention to such reactions. He simply looked down at Ruben and asked quietly.

“Rey has disappeared?”

“Lord, that’s……”

“Since when?”

“Oh, he hasn’t been seen since this morning. He said he would be in the garden for a while, so I was going to escort him later, but……”

Why did this happen? Ruben felt like his vision was darkening. Until he escorted the Duke out and finished his morning duties, his daily life had been extremely peaceful. After confirming that all the ordered snacks were prepared, he happily set out to find Rey. But no matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t see the child. Since the garden was so large, almost like a forest, he didn’t think much of it at first. He just thought he was farther away than he thought. The Duke’s residence was a well-secured place. He didn’t think anything could happen inside. But now, after searching for hours, he couldn’t help but realize how naive his judgment had been. The child had disappeared inside the mansion. He had no idea where he had gone or what had happened to him.

“I’m sorry, Lord. It’s all my fault.”

After staring silently at Ruben, who was covering his face with trembling hands, Caribdis calmly scanned his surroundings. Everyone in the direction of his gaze lowered their heads with mournful faces. Caribdis focused on one woman in particular who was bowing her head. Feeling his gaze, she raised her head, gasped when she met Caribdis’s eyes, and quickly looked away. Her two hands, clutching her apron tightly, were shaking violently. It was a different reaction from simply being scared. Caribdis’s eyes sharpened.

“You, you know something.”

“I, I……”

“Rie! Is that true? Do you know where Young Master Rey is?”

Ruben, startled, hurriedly pressed her. The maid called Rie swallowed hard with a tearful face. She was terribly frightened, but Caribdis didn’t have the patience to wait for her to calm down.

“I’ll kill you if you don’t answer properly.”

Terrified by the clear murderous intent, Rie collapsed to the floor. But this was not a situation to lose her mind. If she hesitated any longer, he would sincerely kill her. Rie forced out a voice that wouldn’t come out.

“I, I didn’t see it exactly. I, I just……”

“Just?”

“I thought I saw His Highness… the Grand Duke passing by in the garden. He seemed to be holding something. Bu, but there’s no way His Highness would be here, so I, I thought I was mistaken……”

That was enough of an answer. Ignoring the voices calling him from behind, Caribdis turned his horse around. This time, he headed to the Imperial Palace. He brushed aside those who tried to stop him as he quickly walked to where the Grand Duke was.

Bang!

He pushed away those who tried to stop him and roughly opened the door to the office. As he stepped inside, the Grand Duke, who had been deeply buried in his chair, straightened his back and stood up. There was no surprise in his gaze. As if he already knew he was coming.

“Oh, my. Pai, why are you here? I thought I had given you a separate task. Has even the ever-diligent you become lazy?”

He didn’t have the energy to accept the leisurely words. A disgusting smell wafted from all directions. A scent that he had never gotten used to, even after a lifetime, and therefore hoped would never come from him.

“……I smell blood on you.”

“Really?”

“What have you done to my son, Rey?”

At the chilling voice, the Grand Duke widened his eyes with a surprised look. It wasn’t because his attitude was different from usual.

“Your son. Have you already given your heart to that little one so much? That’s a shame, Pai. If I had known earlier, I would have reconsidered it a bit more. Of course, the result wouldn’t have been much different.”

“……What did you do to that child?”

“Don’t be too heartbroken. No matter how much affection you have, it hasn’t been long, has it? He’s just a child you picked up anyway. As I said, it’s not as good as marrying and having a real child. Do you happen to have a preference for women? I happen to have a marriage proposal for you……”

“What did you do to that child?”

At the repeated question, the Grand Duke stopped speaking. A strange madness swirled in his slightly annoyed eyes. Caribdis clenched his fist tightly. For the first time, he felt like he was seeing his true face.

“Pai, I trusted you. But it seems you don’t.”

“……I trust Your Highness as well.”

“No, if you trusted me, you should have entrusted everything to me. No matter what I do. You said you would give up everything and protect me, didn’t you? Surely you haven’t forgotten everything?”

“No. I will protect you. I will definitely protect you with my life. I swore that. But Your Highness, this is not it. This is never… the right path.”

The voice he uttered trembled. He didn’t know what kind of expression he was making. Shouldn’t he have said this to him sooner? But he instinctively knew it was already too late. The image of the butler Ruben blaming himself, saying it was all his fault, came to mind. That wasn’t it. The real person to blame was not him, but himself. He had already sensed the subtle cracks in the Grand Duke, but he had simply closed his eyes and ignored it, thinking it would be okay. That’s why everything had been ruined beyond repair. Because of that, an innocent child was caught up in it. A kind and good child who deserved to be shown only beautiful and good things.

“Hehe, hahahahaha!”

The Grand Duke laughed, clutching his stomach. As if he was so happy he couldn’t stand it.

“Are you teaching me right and wrong now? Do you think I’m doing this because I don’t know that? No. I know that it’s not the right path, my loyal knight.”

“……Your Highness.”

“But I willingly decided to walk that path. Since you always boasted that you were on my side, I thought you would naturally follow me. But it seems that’s not the case. Yes. I misjudged people. I’m always betrayed by the people I trust. It seems like it’s the same this time.”

“Your Highness, please!”

“What are you doing? Drag that man out of my sight! He is a traitor who betrayed me!”

A rustling sound echoed in his chest. It was as if insects with many legs were crawling all over his body, piercing through his skin. Someone grabbed him from both sides as he stared blankly at the Grand Duke. Before he could shake them off, cold metal was fastened on his wrist. He immediately recognized that it was a restraint device that controlled mana [magical energy]. The face of the person who put it on him was familiar. The one-eyed man, the leader of Ilya. While he was heading to his residence to find Rey, they seemed to have come to report the situation to the Grand Duke. When their eyes met, the leader of Ilya smiled bitterly.

“Duke. You have made a foolish choice. That child Rey will already be dead. As you may have already guessed.”

“You…….”

“Why couldn’t you endure that one thing when you’ve been in charge of all sorts of dirty work until now? It’s just offering up a little kid who isn’t even your own flesh and blood. If you had just closed your eyes once, all the glory would have fallen at your feet. It’s a pity.”

Ha, a hollow laugh burst out.

He hadn’t been by the Grand Duke’s side until now to hear these words. He had never served the Grand Duke for his own glory and vanity. He just wanted to protect his one and only lord. He wanted to be a strong pillar supporting him. But why did it go so wrong? Why did it go wrong?

—Shall I help you?

Someone spoke in his head. Caribdis blankly raised his head. He felt a strange vibration in his body. It was as if wind was blowing from somewhere. His hair fluttered wildly as he felt his whole body floating. He thought he could hear screams from all directions.

—Didn’t I already say? You can fix what’s wrong.

He felt that his wrist, which had been heavy until just now, had become lighter. The restraints that had been fastened were gone. He looked around for a moment because he couldn’t understand the situation. But it seemed that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand. The Grand Duke, who had been leisurely watching him being dragged away until just now, had a surprised expression on his face for some reason.

“Stop him! Catch him immediately!”

A fierce voice was heard. The leader of Ilya was shouting from afar. That was a little strange. Surely that man had been holding him, but now he was very far away. Besides, he was quite badly injured. The neat space was also turned upside down in a mess.

However, there was no time to continue thinking because attacks poured in from all directions at once. The number he counted at a glance was over dozens. It seemed that all the guards in the Imperial Palace had rushed over. If he used all his strength in a place like this, the building would collapse and he would be buried alive. Caribdis decided to avoid this place for now. Then, the view changed in an instant. He was clearly in the office of the Imperial Palace, but he was now standing in a quiet alleyway. He quickly realized where this was because he was often out on business. It was a private house located on the outskirts of the capital. It wasn’t a place far from the Imperial Palace, but it certainly wasn’t a distance that could be traveled in the blink of an eye.

“……!”

Caribdis shook his head violently. He had no idea what was happening to him. His head was all messed up. It was as if his memories were cut off sporadically, and he couldn’t think of anything properly. Why am I here? What was I thinking until just now? He calmly tried to retrace his memories.

It seemed that he was desperately looking for something. He seemed to be trying to protect it desperately, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Who was I looking for? Ah, yes. I was trying to protect my lord. But he was already falling apart. He had to put the firmly twisted things back in place. What did he have to do to do that?