My Lord Who Is Being Prudent! [EN]: Chapter 162

§ 162 – Kyle’s Memoir (2)

Kyle didn’t answer my question.

‘I’m sorry…’

He just kept repeating these words.

‘Is it because I’m lacking? Do you feel like I don’t have the ability to lead people?’

‘No, you are a great leader. You have the ability to empathize with people and embrace them. That’s something I… can’t do.’

Kyle lowered his gaze slightly and continued.

‘If it weren’t for you, if you weren’t here, we wouldn’t have been able to gather like this. If it weren’t for you, I, and this continent, would have collapsed.’

‘Then why! Why do you have to leave us!’

I shouted, but Kyle still didn’t answer.

‘I can’t… tell you many things.’

Because if you knew, you would be in danger too.

Kyle uttered the last words in a voice barely audible.

But the meaning was impossible to understand.

I looked up at Kyle.

A stoic face that didn’t show any emotion.

The first time I met Kyle.

A cold appearance that was no different from then.

Only then could I realize.

That I couldn’t hold onto Kyle any longer.

‘You… were always like that.’

I had no choice but to give up on holding onto Kyle.

‘Are you coming back?’

‘…I can’t say for sure either. But I will definitely return someday.’

I couldn’t say anything, anything at all.

Soon, Kyle slowly moved his steps.

I stared at Kyle’s back and threw a word.

‘Leah.’

Kyle’s steps stopped abruptly.

‘Are you going to leave without even seeing Leah?’

Kyle was stuck in place and didn’t show any movement.

As expected, without answering.

An awkward silence fell.

In that silence, I, Kyle, stood silently.

‘Let me ask you one thing.’

I broke the silence and opened my mouth.

Looking at Kyle, who had turned his back, I asked a question that I had been wondering about for a long time.

‘Is the reason you’re leaving related to the person you’ve always longed for?’

The existence that Kyle longed for.

Kyle leaving suddenly was still heartbreaking.

If I could hold him back, if there was a way, I wanted to use any means to hold him back.

But if the reason Kyle was leaving was related to something he had longed for for a long time.

I thought I could accept it a little.

But ironically, I also didn’t expect an answer.

Because Kyle never answered when I asked these questions.

It was just a question thrown as part of my lingering feelings, having to let Kyle go.

However.

‘No.’

This time, Kyle answered.

And the answer was different from what I expected.

Kyle slightly turned his head and looked at me.

In Kyle’s eyes, there was no more regret or longing.

Only some unknown determination was contained.

‘It’s to protect everyone here.’

Kyle left those words and disappeared.

I blankly stared at the place where Kyle had left.

And Kyle promised to return someday….

I knew. I could know.

That Kyle would never, never return.

That I would never see Kyle again.

Like a long time ago, when he left suddenly.

That’s why I….

I couldn’t bring myself to tell Leah the truth.

‘Leah, listen to me carefully from now on.’

I had no choice but to lie to Leah.

Because Leah had to forget Kyle, I had no choice but to lie.

That Kyle had someone he loved a long time ago.

That Kyle had always longed for her.

So now that everything is over.

Kyle went to meet her.

I ended up lying to Leah.

‘H-how… how…!’

Leah was, as expected, in shock.

She missed Kyle, who had left, neglecting food and sleep.

Watching Leah suffer, I hesitated hundreds of times a day.

Should I tell her the truth now?

But I didn’t tell the truth.

Because Kyle won’t come back.

So she had to forget Kyle.

Because there’s nothing more painful than waiting for someone who won’t return.

It’s hard and painful now, but it’s only temporary.

As time passes, Leah will forget Kyle too.

And she’ll meet a good person.

Because love… is forgotten by another love.

However, I soon had to bitterly regret that choice.

‘Charlotte, Leah….’

Elodie’s words that suddenly came.

Elodie told me all the details in between.

I couldn’t remember the details.

The only thing I could hear was one thing.

That Leah was sealed deep in the palace.

I rushed to find Leah and found Leah asleep.

The time… was already irreversible.

‘I’m sorry, Charlotte. I didn’t know Leah had these thoughts….’

Elodie lowered her head and said.

And I… I couldn’t say anything.

If I had known this would happen.

If I had known it would turn out like this.

I should have told Leah the truth.

No, no.

Even if I had told the truth, nothing would have changed.

Leah would have continued to wait for Kyle, who would not return.

So I shouldn’t have introduced Kyle to her in the first place.

I shouldn’t have let Kyle and Leah meet.

If this was a destiny that had to be faced.

If this was a fate that had to be faced.

I shouldn’t have accepted Kyle as our companion.

For the first time that day.

‘Kyle…!’

I resented and resented Kyle.

But the object of resentment was already gone.

And he never came back.

That’s why my resentment was losing its way.

How many days, two days, and how much time had passed like that.

When my resentment, which had lost its way, took root as resentment.

‘Charlotte.’

Kyle, who had left, came back to me.

.

.

.

Rustle.

“Huh? What is it?”

Cyan shouted like that without realizing it.

Because the next page of the memoir.

“It’s not there…?”

Because the next page was not written.

Cyan kept turning the next page of the memoir.

But after that, it was all filled with blank white paper.

No story was written.

Squinting his eyes, he looked closely, and it seemed like there were faint letters written.

But these were things that he didn’t know whether they were doodles or letters.

Could it be that a thousand years have passed and it has become old and worn out?

Or was it not written from the beginning?

“Is this even possible?”

Which side is it, is it possible to cut it off there?

Wasn’t it cut off at the most interesting part, the most curious part!

“Are you crazy?”

This was a real madman.

Leader of Arnaise or whatever.

First emperor of the empire or whatever.

Charlotte was really a madman!

He really wanted to catch Charlotte and lock her up.

But he couldn’t lock up a person from a thousand years ago.

From the beginning, he didn’t have the ability to do that.

Exceed’s knight, what could he do to Arnaise instead?

“If I ask Leah about the rest of the story….”

But I don’t know.

Cyan sighed softly.

In the memoir’s record, Leah fell asleep before Kyle returned.

And a thousand years passed and faced Cyan.

Leah would not know what happened after that.

So what did Kyle say to Charlotte who came to find her?

More than anything.

“So what’s the reason Kyle left?”

Why Kyle had to leave them.

He still didn’t know about this.

Not only Leah but also Charlotte didn’t know the reason—.

Right then.

Ding!

A cheerful notification sound rang from the smartphone.

Looking at the screen wondering what it was.

〈Start the main story quest ‘The Truth Kyle Faced’.〉

“The truth Kyle faced?”

I did this last time.

Cyan tilted his head.

Because this was a quest that he had already cleared.

It was the quest he received on the day he first met Leah.

And it was also a quest that he cleared while confronting the demon of lust in the Holy Empire.

Anyway, it’s a quest that has already been cleared.

As expected.

Ding!

〈Error! The relevant causality has already been recorded.〉

An error window popped up on the screen along with the notification sound that rang again.

Cyan was finally able to nod at the error window.

“Ah, this. Was this originally a story quest that started from here?”

So the story quest ‘The Truth Kyle Faced’.

It seemed that this was originally a quest that started from here.

By reading this Kyle’s memoir.

But Cyan had already received that quest.

It was because he heard the contents directly from Leah.

Leah, who had been sleeping in Arnaise Hall for a thousand years.

And in terms of the quest’s flow, Leah was supposed to disappear.

Because the ‘Arnaise Legacy’ quest at the time.

『[Story Quest] – ‘Arnaise’s Legacy’

▶ Find and defeat the vengeful spirit guarding the hall.

Acquire the legacy left by Arnaise Kyle!』

.

.

That was to defeat Leah, the ghost of the hall.

But Cyan did not destroy Leah, unlike the purpose of the quest.

A fairy tale that had been passed down in Arnaise Hall.

A great man.

The woman the man longed for.

And the emperor who coveted such a man.

Finally, the existence of a woman who had a political marriage with the man but was forgotten.

And the truth of the story in the fairy tale was that the man was Kyle.

The emperor who coveted the man was Charlotte.

The woman the man longed for was a fictional existence.

And the existence that was politically married to the man and forgotten was none other than Leah.

But no one knew the truth in the fairy tale.

And if Leah was defeated without knowing it, it seemed that the truth would be faced in the library of this imperial palace.

As expected, by reading this Kyle’s memoir.

But Cyan dug into the truth of the story alone.

He understood and pitied Leah.

And finally, he removed the madness that had fallen on Leah.

As a result, he was able to clear the story ‘Hidden’ quest and be with Leah.

And he was able to start the quest ‘The Truth Kyle Faced’ from Leah.

It seemed that Cyan was able to receive the quest earlier thanks to Leah.

The causality was twisted in the mobile lord-style expression.

“I wondered why the story quests had been so unfriendly all along.”

Cyan was able to understand why there was no content in the story quest at that time.

That means.

『[Story Main Quest] – ‘Unresolved Question’

▶Find the relic.』

.

.

As expected, a new content appeared in the story quest.

However, the problem is.

“Relic?”

That it is still unfriendly has not changed.

“If it’s a relic….”

If you interpret it as it is, relic (聖物) [a sacred object or artifact].

It literally means a sacred object.

And Cyan had heard about this relic.

None other than the demon of sloth, Nurvia.

As one of the seven demon lords who invaded Ruben, Nurvia was clearly looking for a relic.

He didn’t know exactly what it was.

He didn’t know exactly what it was for.

However, the relic mentioned in the quest was the same as what the seven demon lords were looking for.

And when it comes to holiness (聖), what comes to mind is the Holy Empire.

“Could it be related to Aria?”

The Holy Woman (聖女) [a woman recognized for exceptional holiness], Aria.

If you think about it simply, you could think that it is related to Aria.

But he couldn’t just think that way.

Because there was no special reaction when he visited the Holy Empire last time.

“Is it a relic in a different sense?”

Deepening worries.

“It just made my head hurt more?”

Somehow, he felt like his head was just getting more complicated.

“Hey, I don’t know.”

Cyan shook his head and shook it off.

Because he couldn’t know by worrying here.

Right then.

“Count Cyan. His Majesty is looking for you now.”

The librarian’s voice was heard from outside the door.

It seemed that preparations to leave for Ruben were all finished.

“I’ll have to go back and ask Aria once.”

Cyan organized his thoughts like that and left the secret archive.

#

Cyan was granted the title of Count!

The rumor that started in the capital spread like wildfire throughout the empire.

No matter how much a word without feet goes a thousand miles [an idiom meaning rumors spread quickly],

There was no way to avoid how much time it would take.

But this rumor was not.

It was literally in an instant, in vulgar terms, it was done in a jiffy [very quickly].

The rumor that Cyan was granted the title of Count spread throughout the empire was really done in a jiffy.

Numerous stories circulated among the people.

The emperor is giving strength to Elandur.

The weight tilted on these two scales, Lorschild and Elandur.

There were many opinions that mainly thought of Elandur and Cyan together.

There were not many people who thought of them separately.

Amidst the numerous rumors and stories.

Durac’s office located in the Marquisate of Elandur.

“…That’s all, this is what happened at this event.”

Durac’s movement stopped abruptly at the report of the chief manager, Lerrit.

A heavy silence settled over the entire office.

Durac didn’t say anything.

He was just sitting in the office chair and tapping his index finger.

A place for an event to praise the merits of the North.

Durac did not impose any special restrictions on Cyan’s participation in the event.

Cyan was also the main character of the event.

He couldn’t disobey the emperor’s orders.

More than anything, there was no place for Cyan to return.

Kai and the White Wolf Knights are now heading to Ruben.

Soon Ruben would be erased from the map.

Nevertheless, he put Aaron on as a guard and surveillance to make it more certain.

So everything was perfect.

He blocked all variables.

So Durac wasn’t paying much attention.

Rather, he had some curiosity about the gifts that Cyan would receive at the event.

A huge incident that turned the entire North upside down.

Even Durac felt that Cyan’s contribution was overwhelming.

At least the expansion of the Marquisate’s territory.

Perhaps he would also receive tax reduction benefits.

Durac was half-doubtful and half-expectant and listened to the news from the imperial palace.

And Durac’s expectations were half right and half wrong.

The reward given to Elandur was unconventional.

15 villages and 2 territories under the direct control of the imperial family.

At the same time, it is exempt from taxes collected in Elandur for the next 6 months.

This was an unconventional reward that broke Durac’s expectations.

And the content that was heard after that also shattered Durac’s expectations.

The title of Count given to Cyan.

The title of Count in the empire was not something to be easily seen.

The highest manager in a region.

In other words, it referred to a lord who had achieved hegemony.

In short, he was given the qualification to build an independent force.

To put it another way, Cyan was given the qualification to become independent from the Elandur family.

“….”

Durac was lost in thought.

Of course, just because Cyan received the title of Count did not mean that he had immediately built an independent force.

Qualification is only a qualification.

If he doesn’t like it, that’s it.

But Cyan is trying to build an independent force?

Then Durac himself would not stand still.

So, would Cyan be crazy enough to do such a thing?

There was no way he would do such a crazy thing as to turn the entire Elandur into an enemy.

So the fact that Cyan received the title of Count was not a big problem in itself.

But.

“….”

Really… isn’t it a problem?

“Where is Kai?”

“Currently, he is heading to Ruben with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th White Wolf Knights.”

Lerrit answered immediately to Durac’s question.

White Wolf 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Knights.

At this level, even a Count’s territory would be destroyed.

With Kai added to this, there was no worry that Ruben would disappear from the map.

So the place where Cyan will return disappears.

The force that Cyan will become independent also disappears.

This is an unchanging fact.

But why?

“….”

Durac couldn’t shake off the strangeness that tickled his chest.

First of all, the merit event itself was too strange.

Truly unconventional imperial family’s actions.

Also, setting excessive rewards for the nobles earlier.

Also, giving Cyan the title of Count.

Also, giving Ruben as the territory under the jurisdiction of the Count.

More than anything, setting unconventional rewards for Elandur.

This is like….

“I’ll give you this, so separate Cyan and Ruben?”

Isn’t that how it can be thought of?

Durac’s eyes flashed for a moment.

In fact, if you look at the work itself, it was a very good situation.

Not only did he receive unexpected rewards.

The fact that Cyan received the title of Count was ultimately to raise the Elandur family.

It couldn’t have gone better than this.

So it was strange.

Didn’t it fit together too well?

Like a script written by someone.

Like a plan that someone meticulously planned.

Durac silently tapped the armrest with his index finger.

Then, one incident suddenly came to mind.

“What happened to the missing budget?”

“I’m still tracking it down, but….”

Lerrit lowered his head and slurred his words.

It seemed that he still hadn’t found the circumstances.

82 million gold disappeared, but he still can’t track it down….

“When did the budget disappear?”

“It’s been a little over 2 weeks.”

A little over 2 weeks.

That overlapped perfectly with when Cyan left for the imperial palace.

Durac had an absurd thought in his head.

If. Really if.

What if all of this was planned by Cyan?

If it was something he had been preparing for a long time?

If it was something he planned to rebel against Elandur and himself?

What if everything he had shown so far was acting?

What if he was playing in his palm?

It’s not certain.

But when I put this hypothesis in… all the pieces fit together.

Silence falls once again.

“Right now….”

Durac’s eyebrows are distorted.

“Bring Cyan to me right now…!”

A clear emotion of anger was on Durac’s face.