TCIWTFY - Part 2 Chapter 28

Instead of answering. Medea only smiled faintly.

Peleus sighed.

"Yeah, that's it."

He had an infinite trust in his sister. If Medea says so, there must be a good reason.

However, despite her lovely and fragile appearance, the younger sister was very independent and never asked her brother for help...

'You still try to handle everything by yourself.'

It felt like an invisible, thin, transparent wall was standing between the siblings.

He can see and feel Medea clearly, but he can never reach her heart.

He could not say anything, as this was also the result of Peleus' mistake of leaving his young sister alone.

"Dea, your intelligence has long surpassed mine, but I worry that your foolish brother will ruin the game you have prepared."

Peleus sighed, hiding the bitterness that was seeping into his lungs.

***

In the dark of night, Zeta came out of the villa.

He had been silently blending into the shadows, suddenly stopped in the darkness.

"What about Medea?"

"I came to see you."

Cesare looked at Zeta blankly.

His sharp golden eyes scanned him from head to toe.

"I have a question-"

"How was it?"

The owner suddenly asked out of nowhere.

'Haven't you seen her already?'

Zeta wanted to ask that question inwardly, despite the overly general nature of the question.

You must have seen it at the banquet hall, so why are you asking me again?

"She didn't ask my story?"

No. Zeta bit his lip as he tried to answer.

"What about the letter she left for Acares?"

There wasn't any. Zeta closed his mouth again at the answer that almost came out without him knowing.

"..."

A moment of silence passed between the two.

"Your Highness."

"It was done."

The cold, flying rebuke was chilling.

Zeta couldn't understand what had upset his master, so he fiddled with the bag of medicine in his arms.

"What is that?"

A low, rich voice was heard from the darkness.

"Ah, yes. Count Raju was after the Emperor of Valdina. This is the medicine."

He glanced at the bag containing the powdered medicine.

"It is said that long-term use can make the person ferocious and induce choleric temperament."

"Raju, he really is fearless. Did he try again after Valdina was promoted to an empire?"

Gallo shook his head.

He was even a little impressed by Claudio and Raju's persistent efforts that did not know how to give up...

"So, what are the orders?"

"She didn't ask me to do anything special, but she told the spy she put in Claudio's house to give this medicine to Count Raju."

"Huh? What?"

At Zeta's answer, Gallo looked as if he doubted his ears.

But Cesare, who showed no sign of surprise, looked calm. Only his well-shaped eyebrows rose slightly.

"Is that all?"

"Yes. For now, this is the order she gave me."

Cesare clicked his tongue at Zeta's sincere answer.

"Oh, our Princess is such a kind person."

"Huh? What?"

Cesare rubbed his chin as if he didn't hear Gallo's question.

The handsome man's face, leaning against the windowsill in the moonlight, was beautiful, but somehow eerie.

"Was Birna Claudio's biological father named Raju?"

"Yes, my lord."

The sculpted lips turned up mischievously.

"Feed this to all of Claudio. If you run out of medicine, we'll get it for you."

At that moment, Gallo, who had been silently listening to the conversation, spat out his tea.

"You're going to feed that to the whole family?"

"Why?"

Cesare turned his head towards Gallo as if to ask what the problem was.

"... It's nothing."

Gallo thought his boss was really mean and vicious.

Raju would never have dreamed that he, and even his beloved lover and daughter, were drinking the poison he intended to feed to Peleus.

How unfair. Why did it have to be the boss?

Yet the Princess of Valdina had a fair belief in seeking as much evil as she had received. That was no different from good to the evildoer.

But my lord...

Gallo thought of the twelve vassals who had died trying to poison the young Cesare, and of the Emperor's courtiers who had lost their lives because their masters coveted his son's power.

Fear leads to more fear, and death leads to more death.

Cesare was a man who believed that even if he caused world-shaking harm, it was meaningful if he could crush the first spark.

"... If it's all power, it'll be difficult to deal with the red foxes without being detected."

Zeta paused.

It seemed as if he was having trouble deciding which of the two should take priority, as his master's orders and Medea's orders were different.

"It doesn't matter if you tell Medea. Even if she finds out, she won't blame me."

Cesare was convinced.

The princess of Valdina shows her nobility even in small things, but there is no need for lowly people like him to receive her kindness.

***

The hallway of the Valdina Palace.

Even at a late hour, the lights in the villa did not go out. Guests and court ladies moved up and down the hallway without rest.

A blind spot at the end of the palace corridor where they couldn't be seen. The shadows of the two figures stretched out on the dusty ground.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Theo."

Saya opened her mouth.

On her chest was a badge indicating her membership in the Valdina royal family.

"You said you would go to the Holy Land. It turned out just as you said."

"Yeah. Saya, you look healthy too. That's good."

A deeper voice flowed out compared to three years ago.

The lantern cast shadows on the face of the knight in his cream-colored uniform.

Three years ago, the young boy who cried out for rebellion in the weight room reappeared as a member of the Holy Nation.

That too, as a knight of the temple who guards the Saint's side.

Saya looked at her twin brother, who had grown even bigger and stronger.

The young and beautiful knight exuded an air of faithfulness and strength.

"I heard that the Knights Templar mainly subjugate demons."

"Yes. It is our mission to protect the people and punish evil in this barren land where the goddess has left."

"..."

"Just as you chose to be by the Princess's side, I too have found my purpose. I intend to dedicate the rest of my life to this place."

Theo recalled the days after he left Saya calmly.

"Don't rationalize yourself because of me!"

"Should I be grateful that you valued the fake rebellion over my life?"

Three years ago, his only sister pointed out all his contradictions to him, and he was in shock for a while.

'What on earth was I trying to do?'

With faded dreams and mounting regrets, he left Baldina, stumbling along.

But the road to the Holy Land was difficult.

The sweltering heat and scorching sun, and the frequent appearance of demons that tried to claw at his flesh and bite his neck.

But even the danger of death did not bother Theo, for he was already in hell.

When he closed his eyes, it came to mind.

The rebel leader's neck falls, spewing blood. The rebels are swept away like falling leaves.

The clearest thing among them was the green eyes of the omnipotent Princess looking down at him.

It felt as if that cold gaze was still wrapped tightly around Theo's neck.

'What do I have left now?'

He ran without stopping, his breath was pounding. He didn't rest even once, but he had nothing left in his hands.

No revolution, no beliefs, not even his only blood relative.

He wandered, like a buoy floating in the vast ocean, not knowing where to go.

'Yeah, it wouldn't be so bad to just disappear like this.'

As the giant demon's maw opened wide to swallow Theo, he felt glad that the end was near.

"Are you in your right mind?"

"Where am I... Why did you save me, when I never asked for it..."

Just then, the Knights Templar happened to be passing by on their way to slay the demons, and they found him and took him in.

"Why is it so hard for someone so young? You are still a young man with a lot of energy. If you are suffering, offer yourself to the goddess. The goddess will not abandon you. You are not alone."

"Ugh, uh-uh-uh...!"

The Knight Commander recognized Theo's potential in the skeleton that had not even eaten blood, but only his sparkling eyes.

"And in His stead, I protect the suffering humanity of this land."

That's how Theo joined the Knights Templar.

"You're going to feed that to your whole family?"

"Why?"

Theo turned his head towards Godess.

The worries that tormented him, the regrets he could not shake off, the longing that blossomed like a burning thirst.

'Yeah, why was there a need to find a reason?'

The goddess would show him the way.

He willingly accepted the new mission given to him.

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