Episode 69. Secret Death
When Laxus heard Renisha was coming to the palace, he hurried.
He had to confirm that Renisha wasn't doing well. That every day should be hellish and miserable, like Renisha.
But the Renisha he saw... Renisha, wearing a blue dress and smiling brightly... was shining like a blooming flower.
Like a vibrant rose covered in dew.
This wasn't what Laxus had expected. Shouldn't she be begging, like a street urchin, with a worn-out face, to come back to him, to stay by his side?
It's Hiloshine, Hiloshine. The land of death!
Laxus gritted his teeth. He was miserable.
Instead, it was Laxus who looked like a cowardly foal.
Laxus's lips trembled.
A stomach-churning rage and sadness surged through him.
He thought the feud between Laxus and Lottera had ended in his victory.
Looking at Renisha's face, he seemed the only loser.
"Damn it. When did Count Calliot say he'd arrive?"
"He'll be in the archipelago this evening, Your Majesty."
There was definitely something going on in Hiloshine.
Laxus's eyes glimmered darkly in the darkness.
"Have you heard anything from Henry?"
"Yes, as usual."
The chamberlain's voice wavered.
If he told him that Henry had been out of contact for days, Laxus might try to kill him. After all, Laxus's mood swings were dozens of times a day.
It was better to be cautious about even the smallest things.
"As usual. But Renisha is different."
Laxus smiled coldly.
Reason seemed to be returning to him for the first time in a while.
"It might be worth listening to what Count Calliot has to say and investigating further. Did Prince Meteo cross the border?"
“Yes, Your Majesty. The splinter I planted said the same thing.”
Laxus nodded.
Count Calliot was a double-crossing trap.
Count Calliot was also being tested.
He was also curious to hear what Laxus’s splinter hidden within him would tell.
If it were confirmed that Count Calliot had betrayed Laxus...
‘Calliot, I will cut off your head.’
Just like Count Calliot’s children, who met their end at Laxus’s hands in the past!
Calliot let out a weary breath.
The capital was within sight.
The group, which had decided to rest in a shady forest, finally stopped.
Except for a few brief days in Hiloshine, they had never properly rested.
From Hiloshine to the border with Shamdir on the other side, and from the border to the capital.
They had run without rest.
“Whew.”
Count Calliot took off his helmet and placed it on his lap.
His tired eyes looked skyward.
“You look tired.”
"I'm old enough. You should have retired from the front lines already."
Count Calliot said bluntly.
If it weren't for Laxus, Count Calliot would have been resting in the background.
On that day, when he lost both his child and his daughter-in-law, his peace vanished.
Count Calliot rubbed his helmet with a hand as wrinkled as an old tree. The faces of his wife, his son, and his daughter-in-law—those who had left him—flew through his mind like a kaleidoscope.
Count Calliot, too, longed to join them and rest. But he still had children left.
Children protected by Renisha.
Cute children who resembled half his son and half his daughter-in-law.
Until those children grew up and settled down, Count Calliot could do nothing.
Not even risk his life.
"The Emperor will be suspicious, Gale."
"I'm prepared."
A man with a long scar on his face bowed his head before Calliot.
"It's good to mix in some truth. If what you and I say is the same, the Emperor will suspect you, and if what you and I say is different, he'll suspect me. I should be the one who's being suspected, Gale."
"But, Count..."
"You have something to bring from the Emperor."
Count Calliot's eyes were filled with a bright blue anger.
He spoke as if he were chewing on each word.
“My son’s remains are still in his grasp, Gale.”
It was the Emperor’s dirty, narrow-minded tactics.
He controlled and manipulated not only the lives of his family, whom he had taken with his own hands, but also even after their deaths.
Count Calliot clenched his fists.
The bone-crushing pain gnawed at him with every moment.
He could not watch over his son’s path, nor could he hold his hand until his last breath.
Even after his death... He could not lay him to rest in peace.
Because of Laxus.
“I will do my best.”
Gale bowed his head.
“Renisha will cause turmoil in the Imperial Palace. She is a woman who cannot give up her destiny. We must seize that moment. The Emperor will never give me his remains.”
“Yes, Count. Drink more water. The sun is hot.”
Count Calliot smiled bitterly.
His son must have died, wandering, unable to rest, yet Count Calliot, unable to endure even the heat, sought out cold water for a drink.
His life, which continued, was lamentable and miserable.
Count Calliot leaned his head against a tree.
“...Do you believe Lady Renisha can defeat the Emperor?”
“Of course. She was born for that purpose. The Emperor may have sensed this and banished Renisha. The empire has always been governed by Renisha’s will. The nobles, fearing the Emperor’s madness, pretended to be wary, yet clung to Renisha. They acted as she wished, preserving their own safety. Ultimately, it’s safe to say that the empire is in Renisha’s hands.”
“Is that what you wish?”
When Laxus heard Renisha was coming to the palace, he hurried.
He had to confirm that Renisha wasn't doing well. That every day should be hellish and miserable, like Renisha.
But the Renisha he saw... Renisha, wearing a blue dress and smiling brightly... was shining like a blooming flower.
Like a vibrant rose covered in dew.
This wasn't what Laxus had expected. Shouldn't she be begging, like a street urchin, with a worn-out face, to come back to him, to stay by his side?
It's Hiloshine, Hiloshine. The land of death!
Laxus gritted his teeth. He was miserable.
Instead, it was Laxus who looked like a cowardly foal.
Laxus's lips trembled.
A stomach-churning rage and sadness surged through him.
He thought the feud between Laxus and Lottera had ended in his victory.
Looking at Renisha's face, he seemed the only loser.
"Damn it. When did Count Calliot say he'd arrive?"
"He'll be in the archipelago this evening, Your Majesty."
There was definitely something going on in Hiloshine.
Laxus's eyes glimmered darkly in the darkness.
"Have you heard anything from Henry?"
"Yes, as usual."
The chamberlain's voice wavered.
If he told him that Henry had been out of contact for days, Laxus might try to kill him. After all, Laxus's mood swings were dozens of times a day.
It was better to be cautious about even the smallest things.
"As usual. But Renisha is different."
Laxus smiled coldly.
Reason seemed to be returning to him for the first time in a while.
"It might be worth listening to what Count Calliot has to say and investigating further. Did Prince Meteo cross the border?"
“Yes, Your Majesty. The splinter I planted said the same thing.”
Laxus nodded.
Count Calliot was a double-crossing trap.
Count Calliot was also being tested.
He was also curious to hear what Laxus’s splinter hidden within him would tell.
If it were confirmed that Count Calliot had betrayed Laxus...
‘Calliot, I will cut off your head.’
Just like Count Calliot’s children, who met their end at Laxus’s hands in the past!
***
Calliot let out a weary breath.
The capital was within sight.
The group, which had decided to rest in a shady forest, finally stopped.
Except for a few brief days in Hiloshine, they had never properly rested.
From Hiloshine to the border with Shamdir on the other side, and from the border to the capital.
They had run without rest.
“Whew.”
Count Calliot took off his helmet and placed it on his lap.
His tired eyes looked skyward.
“You look tired.”
"I'm old enough. You should have retired from the front lines already."
Count Calliot said bluntly.
If it weren't for Laxus, Count Calliot would have been resting in the background.
On that day, when he lost both his child and his daughter-in-law, his peace vanished.
Count Calliot rubbed his helmet with a hand as wrinkled as an old tree. The faces of his wife, his son, and his daughter-in-law—those who had left him—flew through his mind like a kaleidoscope.
Count Calliot, too, longed to join them and rest. But he still had children left.
Children protected by Renisha.
Cute children who resembled half his son and half his daughter-in-law.
Until those children grew up and settled down, Count Calliot could do nothing.
Not even risk his life.
"The Emperor will be suspicious, Gale."
"I'm prepared."
A man with a long scar on his face bowed his head before Calliot.
"It's good to mix in some truth. If what you and I say is the same, the Emperor will suspect you, and if what you and I say is different, he'll suspect me. I should be the one who's being suspected, Gale."
"But, Count..."
"You have something to bring from the Emperor."
Count Calliot's eyes were filled with a bright blue anger.
He spoke as if he were chewing on each word.
“My son’s remains are still in his grasp, Gale.”
It was the Emperor’s dirty, narrow-minded tactics.
He controlled and manipulated not only the lives of his family, whom he had taken with his own hands, but also even after their deaths.
Count Calliot clenched his fists.
The bone-crushing pain gnawed at him with every moment.
He could not watch over his son’s path, nor could he hold his hand until his last breath.
Even after his death... He could not lay him to rest in peace.
Because of Laxus.
“I will do my best.”
Gale bowed his head.
“Renisha will cause turmoil in the Imperial Palace. She is a woman who cannot give up her destiny. We must seize that moment. The Emperor will never give me his remains.”
“Yes, Count. Drink more water. The sun is hot.”
Count Calliot smiled bitterly.
His son must have died, wandering, unable to rest, yet Count Calliot, unable to endure even the heat, sought out cold water for a drink.
His life, which continued, was lamentable and miserable.
Count Calliot leaned his head against a tree.
“...Do you believe Lady Renisha can defeat the Emperor?”
“Of course. She was born for that purpose. The Emperor may have sensed this and banished Renisha. The empire has always been governed by Renisha’s will. The nobles, fearing the Emperor’s madness, pretended to be wary, yet clung to Renisha. They acted as she wished, preserving their own safety. Ultimately, it’s safe to say that the empire is in Renisha’s hands.”
“Is that what you wish?”
“Do I wish Renisha to seize the Imperial Palace? That was the wish of my old friend. The former Duke of Lottera knew that if his daughter did not follow that path, she would die.”
Count Calliot spoke in a heavy voice.
Count Calliot sided with Renisha out of gratitude for her saving the children, but also because he was fulfilling a friend's request.
The previous Duke of Lottera had repeatedly asked him to protect Renisha if anything happened to her.
...Even in death, he would never be able to close his eyes because his own daughter was trampled upon.
Count Calliot muttered.
Count Calliot leaned against a tree.
Strangely, he seemed to be growing increasingly tired. Sleep was creeping up on him.
“Are you sleeping, Count?”
Gale shook Count Calliot.
“Count.”
But Count Calliot didn’t move a muscle.
Gale knelt with a somber face.
Slowly kissing the back of Count Calliot’s hand, Gale lifted his head.
“I will grant your last wish, Count.”
Tears glistened in Gale’s eyes.
Tears flowed down the hideous scars.
Gale retrieved the canteen from Count Calliot's hand.
His heart felt like it had been slashed with a knife.
He hadn't done this out of waning loyalty or fear.
Gale simply had something to repay.
Gale sobbed quietly.
His wife and child were in Laxus's hands.
Laxus had robbed him of his family's safety just before he left for Hiloshine.
He'd hidden them when he'd begun his double agent work, so how had he found them?
Laxus held his young son's lifeline in his hands.
He was a wicked man.
Laxus had given him poison and told him to kill Count Calliot immediately if he appeared to have betrayed him.
Gale's throat felt like it was burning.
If he returned this time, Count Calliot would die anyway.
Having found his weakness, Gale would have no choice but to reveal all the secrets of Hiloshine and Renisha.
Even if he didn't confess, the Emperor would surely continue sending men to Hiloshine until he got the answer he sought.
Gale consoled himself with this. He even thought it would be better to die like this than to see Count Calliot humiliated at the hands of Laxus.
That, too, was merely self-justification for Gale, but it was necessary.
Gale cried quietly for a long time, until the knights, who had been resting their exhausted bodies, sensed the abnormality and approached.
"Sir Gale? What's wrong? The Count..."
"The Count... has passed away,"
Gale said, his eyes reddened.
His tear-stained face shone with sorrow under the sunlight.
"It seems this journey was too much. He won't wake up even when I wake him."
"Huh?"
“What do you mean? He looked tired just a moment ago, but he was fine!”
The knights protested.
Those who approached shook their heads and approached Count Calliot.
Those who couldn’t bring themselves to touch him, repeatedly calling out to him, were gradually overcome with despair.
“T-This can’t be happening...”
Gale burst into tears.
No one suspected Gale of his sorrowful weeping.
Count Calliot, a veteran who had long protected the empire, was leaving.
The knights could not hide their grief at his sudden death.
Only Gale knew the secret of his death.
Lying on Kassius’s arm, Renisha looked unusually peaceful.
And that peace was tinged with joy.
Kassius asked with a puzzled expression,
“Has something pleasant happened? You seem to have been smiling ever since you visited the palace.”
Kassius kissed the corner of Renisha’s mouth.
The corners of her lips were upturned, as cute as a cat’s. It was almost greedy.
“That was a nice thing, wasn’t it?”
Renisha turned to Kassius and lay down.
Then, leaning her head against his warm embrace, she laughed.
“I never knew teasing Canary could be so much fun. She doesn’t always think she’s the smartest in the world. She thinks she can have everything if she becomes Empress. How naive.”
“...”
Canary, that crazy woman?
“That dazed look on Canary’s face. She must have thought she’d defeated me because she was simple. She had what I had and sat where I used to sit. But she didn’t realize she’d gained anything.”
Count Calliot spoke in a heavy voice.
Count Calliot sided with Renisha out of gratitude for her saving the children, but also because he was fulfilling a friend's request.
The previous Duke of Lottera had repeatedly asked him to protect Renisha if anything happened to her.
...Even in death, he would never be able to close his eyes because his own daughter was trampled upon.
Count Calliot muttered.
Count Calliot leaned against a tree.
Strangely, he seemed to be growing increasingly tired. Sleep was creeping up on him.
“Are you sleeping, Count?”
Gale shook Count Calliot.
“Count.”
But Count Calliot didn’t move a muscle.
Gale knelt with a somber face.
Slowly kissing the back of Count Calliot’s hand, Gale lifted his head.
“I will grant your last wish, Count.”
Tears glistened in Gale’s eyes.
Tears flowed down the hideous scars.
Gale retrieved the canteen from Count Calliot's hand.
His heart felt like it had been slashed with a knife.
He hadn't done this out of waning loyalty or fear.
Gale simply had something to repay.
Gale sobbed quietly.
His wife and child were in Laxus's hands.
Laxus had robbed him of his family's safety just before he left for Hiloshine.
He'd hidden them when he'd begun his double agent work, so how had he found them?
Laxus held his young son's lifeline in his hands.
He was a wicked man.
Laxus had given him poison and told him to kill Count Calliot immediately if he appeared to have betrayed him.
Gale's throat felt like it was burning.
If he returned this time, Count Calliot would die anyway.
Having found his weakness, Gale would have no choice but to reveal all the secrets of Hiloshine and Renisha.
Even if he didn't confess, the Emperor would surely continue sending men to Hiloshine until he got the answer he sought.
Gale consoled himself with this. He even thought it would be better to die like this than to see Count Calliot humiliated at the hands of Laxus.
That, too, was merely self-justification for Gale, but it was necessary.
Gale cried quietly for a long time, until the knights, who had been resting their exhausted bodies, sensed the abnormality and approached.
"Sir Gale? What's wrong? The Count..."
"The Count... has passed away,"
Gale said, his eyes reddened.
His tear-stained face shone with sorrow under the sunlight.
"It seems this journey was too much. He won't wake up even when I wake him."
"Huh?"
“What do you mean? He looked tired just a moment ago, but he was fine!”
The knights protested.
Those who approached shook their heads and approached Count Calliot.
Those who couldn’t bring themselves to touch him, repeatedly calling out to him, were gradually overcome with despair.
“T-This can’t be happening...”
Gale burst into tears.
No one suspected Gale of his sorrowful weeping.
Count Calliot, a veteran who had long protected the empire, was leaving.
The knights could not hide their grief at his sudden death.
Only Gale knew the secret of his death.
***
Lying on Kassius’s arm, Renisha looked unusually peaceful.
And that peace was tinged with joy.
Kassius asked with a puzzled expression,
“Has something pleasant happened? You seem to have been smiling ever since you visited the palace.”
Kassius kissed the corner of Renisha’s mouth.
The corners of her lips were upturned, as cute as a cat’s. It was almost greedy.
“That was a nice thing, wasn’t it?”
Renisha turned to Kassius and lay down.
Then, leaning her head against his warm embrace, she laughed.
“I never knew teasing Canary could be so much fun. She doesn’t always think she’s the smartest in the world. She thinks she can have everything if she becomes Empress. How naive.”
“...”
Canary, that crazy woman?
“That dazed look on Canary’s face. She must have thought she’d defeated me because she was simple. She had what I had and sat where I used to sit. But she didn’t realize she’d gained anything.”
Kassius kissed Renisha’s forehead. Renisha was like a mischievous child.
“She didn’t seem that smart when we first met.”
“Kassius saw it clearly. She doesn’t even know she’s being manipulated by my puppet. She thinks she’s her best protection.”
“…”
Renisha wrapped her arm around Kassius’s waist.
The skin felt hot against her palm.
Whenever she slept, she couldn't shake the feeling of being devoured by Kassius.
Was it because of this heat?
Renisha whispered, breathing languidly.
"She didn't even know that the baby was poison that would devour her."
Renisha's pink eyes gleamed beautifully.
"Enjoy it now. Wouldn't destruction be sweeter the more you do it?"
The future was foreseen.
“She didn’t seem that smart when we first met.”
“Kassius saw it clearly. She doesn’t even know she’s being manipulated by my puppet. She thinks she’s her best protection.”
“…”
Renisha wrapped her arm around Kassius’s waist.
The skin felt hot against her palm.
Whenever she slept, she couldn't shake the feeling of being devoured by Kassius.
Was it because of this heat?
Renisha whispered, breathing languidly.
"She didn't even know that the baby was poison that would devour her."
Renisha's pink eyes gleamed beautifully.
"Enjoy it now. Wouldn't destruction be sweeter the more you do it?"
The future was foreseen.
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