ICTFF - Chapter 77

The difference between awareness and illusion (7)

That morning, Ian returned, resting Luther.

Vivian, who had been staying up all night unable to sleep, ran to Luther and hugged him.

"Luther!"

"Sister!"

Seeing the siblings hugging each other and shedding tears reminded me of my older brothers and my heart ached.

Luther, who had been crying his eyes out, could not overcome his exhaustion and fell fast asleep in Vivian's arms.

Vivian bowed her head to me several times while holding the child in her arms.

"Thank you for saving my brother, Miss. I will never forget this favor..."

"I'd like to give you more time, but it's almost time for everyone to wake up. Now, you go back to your room. Do you know how to behave?"

"Of course, Nadia, I'll take care of my brother."

"Don't worry."

Vivian laid Luther down on the sofa and quietly left the bedroom.

While Nadia looked after Luther, Rahon, Ian, and I sat around the tea table.

"Rahon, please heal the little Duke."

"Huh? Are you hurt?"

Rahon's eyes widened. That was understandable, because Ian's coat was in perfect condition, without any wrinkles or tears.

Ian looked down, embarrassed.

"Lift your arms a little."

"Which one? Take it off."

"Here?"

"You went out for night training, with the Knights to prepare for the small rift. But you came back injured. Won't everyone look at you strangely?"

The moment Ian sighed and took off his coat, the smell of blood grew stronger.

His left arm was soaked in blood. When Rahon brought a pair of scissors and cut off his shirt sleeve, a gruesome wound was revealed.

It looked like he had been stabbed with something blunt, like an axe, not a sharp knife. How could he sit there with such a wound?

Rahon raised his eyebrows at the situation being much more serious than he had thought.

"What is this, you-."

"Rahon."

At Ian's soft voice, Rahon glanced at me and changed his tone.

"... It's... it's nothing special. It just bled a lot, bled."

The two of them were acting like they were watching me without even realizing it. I felt sick, so I just closed my eyes.

"It's a wound that will heal quickly, but... Should I heal it with my power?"

"Just a bandage..."

"Rahon. I ask you to use your authority."

The two men finally stopped acting, perhaps sensing something odd in my voice.

Rahon pointed at me with his eyes and shook his head slightly. Soon, Ian's arm was bathed in a pure white light.

"Millenia, the healing is complete..."

"Thank you, Rahon. Can I pay you the money all at once later?"

"... Do whatever you want."

Maybe it was because of the trauma, but my voice was unpleasant. I greeted him with a smile and asked Ian.

"Is Baba hurt too?"

"Ah. Baba..."

Ian looked slightly embarrassed and couldn't continue speaking.

"He's hurt."

How badly injured are you? Are you unable to move?

Even though Baba and I were just using each other, my heart was pounding.

I think of my family from my past life who lost their lives because of me.

They were not assassins, just a bunch of thugs and wind catchers. I had no idea that they would hurt not only Baba but Ian as well.

"It was my fault. I underestimated their skills and that's why you got hurt."

"No, It's not Young Lady's fault..."

Ian hesitated and then completely shut his mouth. It seemed like there was something else he couldn't tell me.

I gritted my teeth and held back the nausea.

My stomach turned again as Ian's shirt sleeve, soaked red, overlapped with Chevio's hand, which had been severed in my past life but still hadn't let go of mine.

"What happened to the wind catchers?"

"Only the leader was captured."

That meant that nineteen people, excluding the leader, had died. But I didn't feel sorry at all.

"We've only cleared out the thugs, but the three core assassins are still staying at the inn downtown. I'm going to hide Luther in my bedroom until we catch them all."

"No matter how young he is, he is still a boy. I will keep him in my bedroom."

"It'll only take half a day. It'll be fine if you use the dressing room."

"...Yes, let's do that."

I took a moment to collect my thoughts and then opened my mouth.

"I think we need to adjust our strategy a little bit."

"Huh? How?"

"Originally, when Vivian met the assassin, I planned to quietly follow her and subdue her with force. I also planned to capture the other two at once with the help of the Knights Templar."

Rahon and Ian nodded at the common strategy that anyone could think of.

"But I changed my mind. I don't think we necessarily need to move."

"Is there another way?" 

"You must be very tired. Go to sleep first. You'll know when you wake up."

As I said that and smiled, Rahon started to fuss, saying that my smile was like that of a witch.

***

Late that morning.

The castle of Eldern was turned upside down. It was because of the rumor that Vivian had attempted to poison Millenia the night before.

Eldern Castle turned into a sheet of ice.

It was only natural that Duke Eldern would vent his anger, and it was said that even Armian, who was famous for not showing her emotions, got angry.

Even the employees could not contain their indignation.

Threatening Millenia, Eldern's benefactor, was tantamount to challenging Eldern.

Whenever the employees gathered, they would vent their anger about Millenia's work.

"No, what the hell is going on? Did Vivian really try to poison our young lady with her tea?"

"You're late in getting the news. It's not that. It's that some guy ordered Vivian to poison our young lady. So Vivian must have been worried and told our young lady about it."

"Why is Vivian worrying about that? She should go and tell young Lady right now!"

"Those bastards who were going to kill young Lady kidnapped Luther! Wouldn't that be worrying for her?"

"What? Those dirty bastards took the kid hostage and threatened Vivian?"

"That's right! I think it's amazing that Vivian told the truth."

"Vivian did a really brave thing, but didn't that put Luther in danger instead?"

A dark cloud was hanging over the faces of the employees who had regarded Luther as their younger brother. The employees of Eldern Castle were like family to them.

At that moment, someone suddenly intervened between them. It was Nadia, the maid that Millenia had brought from the capital.

"Why Luther?"

"The bad guys used her brother as an excuse to threaten Vivian to kill the young lady."

"Oh, that thing? It's taken care of. If you're worried, go to our young lady's room. Luther is there right now."

"What?! They said he was kidnapped?"

"Oh, you didn't know? The little Duke and his knights came to our rescue this morning."

"Huh? Didn't he go to night training, Little Duke?"

"Our young lady asked the little Duke to handle it quietly, as Luther could be in danger. That's why we disguised it as night training."

"Ah..."

The employees' mouths dropped open at the fact that a series of catastrophic events had occurred while they were sleeping.

"So, is it all resolved now?"

"No, there are still remnants left. Even your side is the real deal. The ones who kidnapped Luther are the remnants."

"Huh! But is it okay to go around talking like this? What if they find out?!"

Nadia smiled softly as she watched the people nodding their heads like twins in agreement with those words.

At least she thought that none of the people here were informants for the assassin.

'Well, it doesn't matter anymore.'

"It's okay. It was something that was going to be known anyway."

"Is it something that everyone wilI know?"

Nadia held the bundle of papers in her arms without saying a word. The employees' eyes were immediately drawn to the papers. 

"What is that?"

"Oh, I have to run an errand for a young lady, but I'm worried because there's a bit too much."

"You want to run an errand for the young lady? Should I help you?"

"I'll help you too. Just give me half."

"If it's something you do, of course we should help you. What should we do?"

The thick bundle of paper was torn apart in an instant and thrown into the arms of the employees.

Nadia's smile also became lighter as her hands became lighter.

"Just stick them up all over the city by the end of today. You can hand them out to pedestrians. We want as many people as possible to see them."

"That's okay? Easy. We'll take responsibility and do it."

"But what does this say? My, assassination...?"

One employee, who had poor eyesight, would hold up the paper to his eyes and read each letter.

The employees who had been reading the words on the paper suddenly became quiet.

< We will reward 10 million gold to anyone who captures the assassin.

However, only one person per order.

Millenia Astrod >

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