TLRP 23

chapter 23

The Golden Cat and the Silver Cat

It was late at night. Between the low shrubs, a man’s head popped up—only to be smacked down hard by someone’s hand. A groan followed, then a low chuckle.

“If you stick your head out one more time, I’ll bury you right here.”

“I can’t see, that’s why!”

“Just because you can’t see, do you have to show yourself to them?”

“Why are you so cranky? Did your wife dump you?”

Zakarian was lying in ambush with his men. But these bastards never listened, and his white hair was about to fall out from the stress. He had warned them not to get spotted, yet they kept sticking their heads out like moles. And when he scolded them, they only grinned slyly and teased him about a wife he didn’t even have.

He missed Lady Adeline. Closing his eyes tight, Zakarian thought of her. These men, who never listened to him, turned into meek camels pretending to be gentle whenever Adeline was around. It was maddening.

“I’m sick of this.”

“Exactly. Who knows when they’ll show up? How long do we have to wait… Let’s just charge in already.”

“I told you, no! Zakarian said no.”

The men with Zakarian were warriors of the Chanchaa tribe, who guarded the border. Among Odium’s twelve tribes, they were notorious for their aggressiveness. No matter how hard Zakarian tried to rein them in, they were always one step from charging straight into Marma’s capital.

Of course, they never acted like this in front of Adeline. Then they became pretentious—quiet, cautious, lowering their voices, sometimes even pretending to be delicate.

“Well, she is Odium’s first queen. That’s fitting.”

“Of course, of course.”

“You idiot. Do you pick queens for their looks?”

“Who said anything about looks? She’s smart, shoots a bow well, and has silver hair.”

There they go again. Zakarian wanted to cover his ears. At first, he was glad to find comrades who secretly supported the same couple he did. But now he just wanted this conflict over with so he could run far away.

“When she stands next to Baltica, they look like a golden cat and a silver cat. Cute, right?”

Damn it. I had the same thought as these fools? He was about to curse himself when—

“They’re coming.”

All the warriors instantly fell silent.

They were hiding among the desert shrubs. For all their earlier recklessness, once human presence was sensed in the distance, they didn’t even breathe loudly, eyes gleaming in the dark.

What they were hunting were bandits.

These bandits had long infested the southern Marma region, numbering around ten thousand. Like the northern barbarians, they moved through rough mountains, making them hard to wipe out. Marma’s nobles ignored them for years, even when they raided farms.

But when the bandits grew bold enough to attack merchants carrying Odium’s grain, the Lion King himself intervened. With only five hundred warriors, and with the Marma Emperor’s permission to cross the border, he stormed the mountains and slaughtered the bandits like he was in his own land.

Everyone thought they had been wiped out. Yet here they were again.

The Marma garrison at Brovi Fortress claimed that bandits appeared and were being pursued, but the Chanchaa tribe picked a fight just because they were near the border. The Chanchaa, offended, shouted back that it was the bandits who crossed into Odium first.

After hearing both sides, Adeline secretly summoned Zakarian and the Chanchaa warriors. With a grim smile, she said: they ought to meet these bandits themselves.

And so Zakarian came with the warriors. These “bandits” were like trained rangers—no sign of them for days, but once Zakarian set an ambush, they finally showed up.

“Teach them a lesson,” Zakarian said with a smile. For once, the warriors nodded without resistance.

“Let’s strip their flesh and bones for tonight’s meal.”

“What? No, wait—”

Too late. The Chanchaa warriors sprinted forward, weapons in both hands. Their dark skin, strange tattoos, and rippling muscles glistened in the dusk.

“I told you not to kill them…” Zakarian muttered, clutching his head in despair.

Meanwhile, Adeline was inspecting Brovi Fortress with the Lion King. The fortress commander was a fat noble stuffed awkwardly into ill-fitting armor, probably worn for the first time that day.

“We can’t hold out anymore,” he said, mopping sweat. “The soldiers are clamoring for full war. If this goes on, nothing but war awaits.”

He claimed their men were massacred by Odium’s savages without warning, when they were only pursuing bandits.

Adeline glanced at the Lion King. She expected him to sneer or rage, but he remained utterly calm, even when insulted.

“Your Highness, Zakarian has returned,” whispered Navi.

Adeline tugged the Lion King’s arm. He turned to her, sketching a faint smile.

“Why?”

“I want to rest.”

“Alright.”

Instead of mediating disputes, the two disappeared together every night into their chambers whenever Adeline claimed she was tired.

That evening, they slipped out secretly and met Zakarian.

“We captured them,” Zakarian reported.

“How many?”

“More than I expected.”

The captives were badly wounded but alive. Chanchaa warriors grinned wickedly, having restrained themselves from outright killing them.

Adeline approached one bound man.

“Are you bandits?”

No reply.

“I know you’re private soldiers hired by some duke. But of course, loyal men like you won’t talk.”

Still silence.

Adeline sang softly, her voice floating across the dark field:

“When I return, I’ll report this: we tried to capture them, but arrived too late. Odium’s warriors killed them all brutally. Not even bodies remained. Whether they were bandits or not is uncertain—but since none survived, such troubles will never return.”

The warriors chuckled and drew their twin curved blades.

“You heard her, right?”

“No corpses left behind, she said.”

The captives squirmed in terror as the warriors loomed closer.

It didn’t take long for confessions. Faced with death, many talked. With Navi and Ringo’s clever coaxing, even more admitted the truth: they were private soldiers tied to noble houses close to Duke Nord Hill.

The real mastermind, however, remained unspoken.

Later, Adeline asked the Lion King:

“How do we take them back to Brovi Fortress?”

“You want to take them?”

He suggested killing them all on the spot, but only Zakarian and Ringo agreed. Adeline vehemently opposed.

“Brovi Fortress must have known. They’re accomplices or at least complicit. That commander even insulted your men. We need to make an example.”

And so, the next morning, Adeline ordered the fortress gates opened. Despite protests, the gates creaked wide.

The bound “bandits” were paraded inside. The Lion King asked the soldiers:

“Look closely. Were these the ones who killed your comrades?”

Silence. Soldiers avoided his gaze.

“Strange, isn’t it? These bandits didn’t steal food or livestock. They only lured you past the border to die.”

Then Adeline stepped forward, declaring:

“I am Adeline Vita Marma, only daughter of the Emperor. Confess now and live—or be executed as traitors who sought war.”

Her words shook the soldiers. At last, confessions spilled: they had been deliberately ordered into unwinnable fights, casualties piling up by the hundreds.

The commander tried to silence them, screaming for executions. But the Lion King’s warriors stared him down, and Brovi Fortress fell into Adeline’s hands. She imprisoned the commander, his men, and the false bandits, and sent a swift messenger to the Emperor.

That night, as Adeline combed her hair, she asked the Lion King:

“Why did you come back from the desert so soon?”

“They kept teasing me.”

“What did they say?”

“…That we suit each other.”

Adeline laughed softly. “I was often told I looked like a cat when I was young. And lions are cats too, aren’t they?”

The Lion King nearly choked on his bread.

In the following days, tension at the border eased. Adeline held feasts for the soldiers, handed out gold, and even rode across the border openly with the Lion King.

But Duke Nord Hill’s name never surfaced.

Adeline sighed. “He’s thorough, I’ll give him that.”

They spoke of Cesare too. Adeline dismissed him as “a weak child” despite his size and violence. “He only bullies the small and weak. That’s no child’s prank anymore—it’s murder.”

The Lion King agreed grimly: Cesare was a coward.

Later, Adeline even challenged the Chanchaa warriors to an archery contest. She beat them easily. Ringo whispered to Zakarian that she had practiced for years, naming her enemies on each target, killing them in her mind every night before sleep.

Adeline laughed when she won. “What if I steal your king away?” she teased. The warriors begged her to.

The Lion King dragged her away, frowning.

“When are you going back? Don’t you worry about the western palace?”

Adeline only smiled slyly. She had left her enemies in disarray—one queen plagued by nightmares, a head lady in prison, and Cesare unable to return before her.

She leaned close, whispering, “By now, he’s probably wetting his bed.”

The Lion King glared at Ringo, who was happily humming behind them.