TVTLQ - Chapter 58

TVTLQ - Chapter 58

The Villainess Wants To Live Quietly

"Oh my God...."

Duchess Joséphine was impressed, and even Prince Arsan, who was displeased with me, could not take his eyes off me.

However, Penelope glanced at me with a suspicious look.

"I guess not everything that happened today was what you planned."

"Yes? What are you saying, Your Highness?"

Anyone who sees them will think that they only eat and make plans. It's sad to hear from someone who really plans a plan.

"Then I will come back."

The number of people going to see the Prince's half-brother was limited to the Prince, me, and the Prince's bodyguards.

The Prince's older brother is actually alive. This is because it was a sensitive issue for others to get involved.

"How long does it take from here?"

"You have to run without stopping for about a day."

The Prince looked anxious the whole time in the moving carriage. He shot me a lie and told me it was a lie, but when he actually went to look for his brother at my insistence, he seemed to have complicated feelings.

Since there was a long way to go, I talked to him to freshen up the mood.

"What kind of person was Victor Cerba?"

"..."

"There are conflicting opinions about the Empire. An illegitimate son who attempted the throne but failed, or an aristocrat who remained loyal to the royal family."

The Prince, who had been silent, slowly opened his mouth.

"He was my only older brother and family."

Viktor Cerba was an illegitimate son created by King Borsha outside the palace. From the beginning, the King had no intention of acknowledging Victor as his bloodline. Because he was a child born out of just a moment of joy. But one year, when an epidemic broke out in the kingdom, he lost his mother and was left alone, so he came to see the King.

"It happened when I was ten and my brother was eighteen." 

"The palace must have been in chaos."

"Because a bloodline I didn't even know existed came to me."

After some controversy, the King decided to accept him but did not officially recognize him as his son. The King simply gave him the surname 'Cherba' and recognized him as a nobleman.

It meant that since Victor had risen in social status, he should be satisfied with that. However,

"My brother had a talent for swordsmanship. It is said that before he entered the palace, he had never held a sword, but in just a few months, the knight commander himself praised him. He was a genius." 

"There must have been people approaching him."

"Because of the age difference, there were rumors that my older brother might become the successor. Still, I liked my brother... To the point where I think it's okay for my brother to become King instead of me."

I looked at Prince Arsan sadly. His moderation may have been a gentle consolation to Penelope, but it was poison to Victor.

In the end, it brought together those who supported the Prince. They wanted to kill Victor, who could be a threat to the Prince and their future.

Accordingly, they gave him a false mission to act as an escort to move important royal belongings out of the castle and planned to assassinate him. The plan seemed to be going perfectly.

Until Prince Arsan secretly boarded the carriage.

'Prince? Since when on earth have you been following me?'

'Hehe, brother. I've never been outside that castle. I want to follow you too.'

'No matter what, since when is it dangerous to be alone... Ha, at least put on these clothes for now. That outfit is so eye-catching.'

They should have stopped all their plans then.

However, those who were unaware of the Prince's existence attacked the group as planned. As the result,

"I owe you my brother."

Victor did his best to protect the Prince from those who did not want to leave even a single witness. However, in the end, they were unable to overcome their numerical inferiority.

Instead of the Prince, he became a target for arrows and fell off the cliff with the Prince. Fortunately, the Prince was rescued by those who noticed his absence late.

However, Victor, who also went missing, could not be found. It was later concluded that he had died after the shoes he was wearing and bone fragments that appeared to be human were found in a nearby wolf habitat.

And because of this, the Prince will live with an indelible sense of guilt for the rest of his life.

"If I hadn't secretly followed him, my brother wouldn't have died. He couldn't even fight properly because he was protecting me. But my brother..." 

The prince washed his face dry. A cracked metal sound came out between his palms.

"If what you say is true, it means that my brother has been hiding himself on purpose. He obviously didn't forgive me. So, I guess he didn't even reveal his life or death."

"Prince. That's not true."

He slowly raised his head at my firm voice.

"He probably never hated the Prince. He must have chosen to hide himself because he cared for the Prince so much."

"..."

"Princess Penelope loves the Prince very much. And the same goes for him. I think so." 

And this will soon be revealed w 

hen the Prince meets him.

***

Deep in the forest, a man holding a bow held his breath. About twenty steps away, a deer was looking around. 

Puck-

The bowstring was pulled and a sharp arrow pierced the deer's neck. With just one shot, the deer fell to the ground.

The man slowly approached the trophy, finished off with a dagger, and pulled out the arrow stuck in the deer's neck.

The man, who had sorted things out in an instant, put the deer on his shoulder and started moving. 

Clap, clap.

Every time he walked, there was a strange sound of metal clashing. The body was slightly tilted to the right as if the legs were of the wrong length. This was strange considering the deer was resting on his left shoulder.

Soon a small cabin appeared. Noisy laughter flowed through the open window. Then, a faint smile appeared on the expressionless man's face.

The man put the deer he had caught in front of the cabin for a moment and opened the door.

"Dad is here."

"Daddy!"

Young twin siblings who looked to be about four years old ran towards him. The boy almost hit his leg, but he quickly snatched it and threw it high into the sky. The child laughed as if it was fun. Then the girl got upset. 

"Me too! Do it too!"

"Okay. I get it."

"Are you home, honey?"

"Yeah, nothing bad happened, right?" 

A man who was playing with the children noticed a bulge in the boy's pants pocket. Shiny gold strings were flowing out of the small pants pockets. His wife realized it too late.

"What are you doing?"

He stole something from the child. What the child had was a watch with a gold chain. The watch, studded with precious stones and delicately crafted, was very beautiful.

However, there was a large crack on half of the surface, so it was not functioning as a watch.

"Oh my God. Where did you get this from? I told you not to mess with Dad's things."

"Ugh... It's mine!"

"Why is this yours?" 

When the wife tried to return the item to the man, the man stopped her.

"Do not do that. It's no big deal." 

"It's no big deal. It's important."

"But it's not enough to scold the kids."

After receiving the item, he motioned to his children. 

"Have you been curious about this? Do you want to see it up close?" 

The children, who had been scolded and discouraged, quietly nodded. The man smiled slightly and hugged the children who came close. The girl asked the man. 

"Dad, what's this?" 

"The watch dad received from his younger brother."

"Brother?"

"Juh. Dad has a brother, just like Lenny and Marty are her siblings."

"Really? Where is he?"

"It's a little far from here."

"I miss him too!"

"Me too!"

The children raised their voices at the same time as if they were united. The man just laughed.

He didn't say anything about where his brother lived or where they could meet.

After eating, the children went to bed.

The man sitting in front of the table organized the arrowheads. Only his hands were moving mechanically, and he seemed to be engrossed in other thoughts.

His wife, who was watching this, said.

"Wouldn't it be nice to go?"

The movement of the man arranging the arrowheads stopped.

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