Chapter 342

When the door of the Mage Tower's top floor opened,

The mage who had been standing guard in front of it froze in shock at the sight of the Queen Dowager emerging.

Surely her usual elegant pale dress should have been spotlessly clean without a trace of dirt.

But now the fabric's base color was so covered in blood that it couldn't be seen.

She threw the blood-stained dagger she had brought for self-defense down the stairs.

Clatter, clang, clank.

The Queen Dowager who had been watching this turned her head.

"Are there others who can enter that place?"

"Th-that, probably, ordinary people would be able to enter without, without difficulty."

"Then hang what's inside there at the highest point of the castle. So everyone can see it early tomorrow morning. If possible, rumors should spread widely even to the capital."

"Y-yes. I understand."

The Queen Dowager left only those words and walked down the stairs.

The mage, who had been alternately looking at the Queen's upright posture and behind her, poked his head through the open doorway,

But immediately flinched and pulled back at the fishy smell that suddenly hit him.

Blood. This was definitely the smell of blood.

The mage shuddered as he imagined what the Queen had surely done.

He couldn't directly touch such a thing.

If he had his subordinates hang it from the castle's highest spire, it would sufficiently satisfy the Queen's requirements.

The mage began carefully descending the stairs where red footprints remained.

* * *

"Anyone following us?"

"No! Keep running!"

Several hours had already passed since they escaped the royal castle.

On the pitch-black night road, five horses were truly running at full speed in all directions.

Clouds of dust spread thickly behind them, but no one paid attention to it.

Their goal was to leave the capital and reach a village called Sigrem.

It was a schedule that didn't allow even a moment's rest. Especially if one of the party was the 3rd Prince.

Moreover, after arriving at Sigrem, they would have to hide while waiting for someone who said he would come before dawn.

They rode frantically with their heightened senses on edge.

Having chosen only the deserted paths and empty roads of the capital, they finally reached Sigrem.

Relief finally appeared on their faces when they saw the village sign.

Cellinne removed her robe's hood and swept back her sweat-soaked bangs as she muttered.

"We really made it here. Amazing."

"Don't let your guard down yet, dancer miss. There's nothing more disgraceful than being caught when we've come this far."

"I'm glad no one got hurt."

"That's right, Eva. It's thanks to Cellinne handling things well right up until we left the royal castle earlier. It was good judgment."

"By the way, now that we've reached the village, can we sleep at an inn?"

"That would be dangerous. Let's camp out nearby first and observe the situation."

"Did you hear that? Anyone who has trouble camping out?"

At Valter's advice, Cellinne looked around at the group.

No one raised objections. Everyone was somewhat accustomed to camping out,

And they understood how dangerous it would be to enter an inn at a time like this.

But only one person.

After Dardin's words, someone who had been loaded like luggage with bound hands squirmed.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

"Huh? Dardin, what's he saying?"

"I'm not sure. Since there's no one here to hear even if he shouts, it might be fine to temporarily remove the cloth stuffed in his mouth."

Dardin said this and removed the cloth that had been stuffed in the hostage's mouth since they brought him from the royal castle.

Having finally gained freedom of his mouth, he burst out shouting.

"Are you people in your right minds?!"

"Dardin, put it back, put it back. I don't want to hear anything unrelated to camping out."

"Not only escaping the royal castle while under orders of house arrest, but daring to kidnap the Captain of the Royal Guard! Do you have common sense or not?!"

Milo, the Captain of the Royal Guard, turned red and blue as he snapped at Cellinne.

But Cellinne just shrugged her shoulders.

"But the Royal Guard and security forces swarmed in from in front of the Mage Tower. That's why we captured you, Captain."

"Couldn't you have released me appropriately before leaving the royal castle?!"

"But we couldn't guarantee our safety that way. The servant we originally planned to take hostage was soiling his pants and we didn't want to touch him."

"Just for that reason?!"

"Just? Hygiene is extremely important. That's what Eva said."

Milo quickly glanced at Eva once,

Then tried to soften his tone as if forcibly suppressing his anger.

"Listen... it's still not too late to turn back. Let's return to the royal castle together. I'll speak well of you to Her Majesty the Queen Dowager. If things go well, I might even get you exempted from execution."

"Everyone please ignore this. He's saying we should rot in underground dungeons for life."

"Wouldn't that be better than having your tongues cruelly ripped out and being hanged?!"

When Dardin smiled and interpreted his words, Milo gradually began losing his reason again.

He absolutely hadn't come here willingly.

Before he could even recover from his heartbreak in front of the Mage Tower,

Some servant from the bushes started shouting 'help' and soiling his pants,

And at the same time, the security forces and relief guards who heard the servant's cries came running.

The pink-haired woman—called Cellinne—protected Eva while instantly taking him hostage to keep the security forces and guards in check.

Even then it had been fine.

Being taken hostage despite being a captain was humiliating,

But he knew Cellinne had captured him for the safety of her group including Eva.

But the real problem was that the 3rd Prince's group including Cellinne didn't release him even after leaving the royal castle.

Only then recognizing the seriousness of the situation, he attempted belated resistance.

However, with a very clear 'clang' sound, he lost consciousness,

And when he opened his eyes, he was already loaded on a running horse.

Milo couldn't maintain his sanity.

How far did they plan to take him? To disobey royal orders and escape—did they plan to become rebels? Would he continue being dragged around like this?

While he was in a half-panic state, Eva said indifferently.

"Don't worry too much. We don't plan to take you to the end either."

"What?"

"Having extra mouths to feed is troublesome. So we'll definitely let you go within Aquilonia. Is that enough now? Do you believe us a little?"

"...If Viscountess says so."

Cellinne made a 'yuck' face on her horse, but Milo stubbornly ignored it.

He didn't know about others, but he could naturally trust what Eva Primavera said.

Once Milo became much more docile, they left the roadside and went into the forest,

And decided to rest after finding a place where dew wouldn't fall.

Before Dardin, who had spread his robe on the ground, could say he would take the first watch, someone stood up.

The large black figure quietly headed to a place some distance from the group.

While everyone was reading the mood, Cellinne whispered quietly.

"He seems to be in a bad mood?"

"He would be. He seems worried about Yesung."

"I'm a bit like that too. He'll be able to find his way here well, right?"

"Oh my, that young man isn't a child. Won't he manage to come well?"

Valter tried to console them, but Eva let out a short sigh.

"...I hope nothing strange happened to him."

"If it's Yesung, wouldn't he be fine? Why, there's the snowman, and there are rumors about the big black bugs he summoned to the royal castle."

"Even so. It seems we have no choice but to trust and wait. But I think I'd like Yesung to come quickly too."

Since they couldn't return to the royal castle now,

All they could do was pray he would arrive here safely.

Cellinne glanced worriedly in Yurik's direction while wrapped tightly in her robe.

"In the old days, His Highness didn't show much whether he was in a good or bad mood. Somehow he seems to have become more human around the time he met Yesung."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Of course, Eva. It's good. How could you live if you're always just stoic?"

"People are easily swayed by emotions. When anxious or nervous, your vision narrows and you make wrong judgments."

"Even if that happens, there's been no problem so far. It's embarrassing to say after coming this far, but I never dreamed he would decide to leave Aquilonia. Yes, really."

"Actually, me too. Leaving Aquilonia... will it be okay? It's not the wrong choice, right?"

"We're just making the best choice. Risk always exists no matter what we choose."

Brief silence.

"To be honest, I thought fulfilling all of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager's demands might be the path closer to the throne. But to recommend such things, His Highness also has things he can't compromise on. And as a human, he would too."

"Huh. What did the Queen Dowager demand from His Highness?"

"Such things exist. You don't need to know."

"Ah! Tell me!"

"Cellinne, it would be better to ask later. For now, let's all rest and restore our strength. We'll be busier when Yesung comes."

At Eva's words, everyone settled down to lie down.

Valter, taking responsibility as the eldest, put the abandoned Milo under a robe with him.

Thus everyone got some sleep and just quietly lost themselves in thought during rest time.

Gradually the moon declined and the stars withdrew from their positions.

The sky was mostly black with night's curtain not yet lifted,

But when faint blue light began dimly swirling on one side,

Dardin, who had been lightly dozing, suddenly opened his eyes at the sound of someone moving.

"Who's there— Your Highness?"

Yurik, who had been sitting until before falling asleep, was standing. With one hand placed on a tree, he was looking into the distance.

Had he noticed something strange?

Dardin stealthily got up and carefully approached Yurik's side.

"Your Highness. Did you rest a little? Yesung will come soon. Please sit until then."

"...Don't executions usually begin with sunset or sunrise?"

"What?"

It was a completely out-of-the-blue question.

But thinking of Yesung's situation, Dardin soon understood.

"Generally, yes. Rarely, they're also carried out at noon."

"At this time, they should have already dragged the mage out of the Mage Tower."

Yurik muttered as if talking to himself. Dardin felt he knew why Yurik was standing here so vacantly.

Usually prisoners sentenced to death are moved from their prison to a waiting area one day to several hours before the ceremony is held.

But considering the special circumstances, in Yesung's case, he might come out just before execution.

They probably didn't want to give Yesung a chance to come outside and use magic.

Fortunately, since they couldn't bring the execution platform into the Mage Tower, there would definitely be a moment when Yesung would come outside.

Thinking that Yesung would target that opportunity to somehow get here, Dardin answered somewhat carefreely.

"Let's wait a little longer. They can't kill him inside the Mage Tower. Since he attempted to assassinate royalty, he'll receive the punishment of being torn limb from limb, and for that he must come outside."

"......"

"...I'm sorry. Anyway."

Yurik waited silently. Dardin stayed by his side too.

After that, people who woke up one by one approached while yawning. And they waited for Yesung together.

The sky brightened and the stars dimmed.

Instead of the moon hiding, red energy spread over a blue background.

The sky, colored like flower petals he had once seen, shone golden,

And when the red sun began from one point and gradually illuminated the earth,

They gradually began to think something had gone wrong.

Dardin, who ran first to the unofficial guild in Sigrem to investigate this,

Returned in less than half an hour and delivered the news that 'the corpse of the mage who attempted to assassinate royalty would be hung from the spire.'