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Chapter 18
“Yes. From the moment I brought you here, that has been what I wished for.”
“Then I will also follow that decision. I am, after all, your faithful servant, Miss.”
Lucian had clearly changed.
The boy who once refused to leave this place, the boy who only became gentle in front of Medeia—both were gone.
Now, there was only a puppet that obeyed the person it recognized as master.
Lucian no longer expected Medeia’s touch, and Medeia’s troubled gaze confirmed this fact.
“Then, I’ll go. Wait here.”
Yet Medeia had no time to dwell on such feelings.
She hurriedly rose and took Daniel and Andrew with her, leaving.
At the same time, Lucian remained seated.
The boy with blue eyes who had once looked at Medeia with longing now only stared blankly into space, as if the departing Medeia were a dream.
Night had fallen over Pribel Port.
Two decrepit ships, as if ready to sink at any moment, and the people standing before them.
And there was a man shouting at them at the top of his lungs.
“Can’t you get on board already?”
“Go in, go in!”
Mosquis twitched the corners of his mouth, clearly irritated.
Next to him, Tommy, looking entirely exasperated, kept repeating the same words like a parrot.
“You have to tell us where we’re going! If we follow your words, can we even return?”
“Exactly. You’ve kept innocent people imprisoned until now—how can we trust you?”
“Let us go, hurry!”
As soon as one person voiced their complaints, chaos broke out among the group.
“It’s the Duke’s order!”
“What do we care? Just let us go!”
“Hey, Tommy. Did you actually give them the drug? Why are they acting so normal?”
If the drug had been properly administered, the mere mention of “the Duke” should have silenced them.
Mosquis, unable to contain his rising anger, took it out on Tommy.
“I’m in charge of errands for the Duke.”
“Then who did it?!”
“You were supposed to administer the drug.”
Mosquis delegated all the actual work to his subordinates while taking credit for the results.
“Did you take over my task?”
“Not me.”
“Neither was I.”
“You?”
As they all tried to evade responsibility, the commotion among the people grew.
“Can’t keep quiet, can you! You don’t want to return to Reneair, do you?”
Perhaps having given up on finding the culprit, Mosquis started shouting at the people again.
After a brief silence, the murmuring resumed.
“Come on, everyone, quiet down. Follow me obediently, and we’ll safely return you to this place.”
Tommy’s tone was oddly indifferent yet polite, and the murmuring immediately subsided.
With Mosquis’s group surrounding them, there was no way to escape.
Hoping Tommy’s words were true, the people stepped one by one into the old ships.
“Just you wait. Once we return to the Duke, we’ll see about you.”
Some of Mosquis’s subordinates boarded the ships alongside the others. As the anchor was lifted, Mosquis shoved past the remaining men, grinding his teeth.
“I never even gave them the drug!”
“Isn’t it enough if the Duke doesn’t find out you made a mistake? Technically, it isn’t entirely Mosquis’s fault…”
Fearing Alec Leshanin might discover this, the subordinates exchanged anxious glances and quickly followed, calming him down.
In an instant, the murmuring ceased, leaving only the two ships preparing to set sail.
“Departure!”
A voice on the deck of one of the ships called out.
Thunk.
However, the voice did not reach the other ship, and time seemed to freeze.
“The time I can grant you is about ten minutes. You’d better act quickly.”
Ryle, whose silvery hair now appeared in the sea breeze, had appeared without warning.
Medeia nodded at Ryle, then turned her gaze to the numerous people standing behind her.
They were Robin and Luna, along with those sent by Ally I.
“Divide into two groups evenly and help the people escape from the ships.”
Following Medeia’s command, the people began moving in perfect coordination.
Watching this, Medeia called Daniel and Andrew to her side.
Even the usually expressionless Andrew and the ever-smiling Daniel now showed tension on their faces.
“Andrew, Daniel. Lead the escapees to the secret location of the Lissran Trading Company. Just guide them to the halfway point; the rest will be handled by the people of Lissran.”
Returning the escapees directly would put them in danger, since the territory was under Alec Leshanin’s control.
Medeia planned to keep them at the secret location for some time and then send them to a third country via Ally I.
She set the condition that they could return to Reneair anytime once they wished.
“Yes, understood.”
Hardly had the words left their mouths when Andrew and Daniel sprang into action.
Medeia herself hurried off the ship, guiding the wandering people toward her.
“Come this way. Follow me, and we can avoid their eyes.”
“I feel like this might go wrong…”
“Please, just follow me.”
“Y-yes.”
Most, influenced by the drug, had initially resisted Medeia but now obeyed willingly.
“Why are those above on deck not moving while we escape right in front of them? The wind blows up there, but here it doesn’t. Can we really trust you?”
Some of the more perceptive people sensed something unusual.
“It’s an illusion. See, the man’s hair is blowing just fine. Perhaps those on deck are dozing off at dawn.”
Medeia glanced at Ryle standing calmly and then at Mosquis’s frozen subordinates, and said matter-of-factly, without a blink:
“…Exactly as I thought.”
Since Ryle had stopped time, he could allow only specific areas to continue moving.
But an ordinary person would never imagine freezing time. Those who witnessed it nodded in understanding.
“Then follow me quickly. We don’t know when they’ll wake and try to catch you.”
“Th-thank you.”
Convinced, all the doubting people bolted toward the direction Medeia pointed.
Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
In that short time, only Mosquis’s subordinates remained on the two ships.
“Then I shall take my leave here. I’ll collect the reward another day.”
Ryle, looking slightly weary, disappeared in an instant after his final words.
A fleeting moment that would later be impossible to pinpoint in time.
“Robin, Luna. Cover our backs.”
As soon as Ryle vanished, the still ripples of the sea began to stir.
Without waiting for Robin and Luna to acknowledge, Medeia hurried on, followed by Daniel and Andrew.
“…Set sail!”
Soon, the voice that had failed to reach the other ship earlier finally did.
With it, the two fragile ships began cutting through the waves.
Unaware that the “gifts” meant for foreign nobles had now become themselves, Mosquis’s subordinates leisurely watched the night sky.
At the same time, other eyes observed everything that had unfolded.
“…It’s time to leave. We’ve spent far too long getting here and watching the situation.”
A man spoke cautiously to a woman, showing her respect.
“They’ll probably try to find me again, won’t they?”
The woman’s gaze remained fixed on the silver-haired child, just like her.
“Just as you expected.”
“When I complained that you were lacking, and now you flatter me—how laughable.”
Her slight laugh somehow radiated nobility.
“What will you do?”
After the third time, the woman finally shifted her gaze to the man.
“Return.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
The icy dawn wind blowing from the port mirrored the woman’s inner resolve that day.
While Medeia was helping people escape with Ryle’s aid, Meril and Sophia stayed behind to guard the mansion.
As usual, they tidied Medeia’s room and checked on Sion and Lucian to ensure the Mosquis group hadn’t arrived.
“Then, sleep well.”
Meril closed the door to the room where Sion and Lucian stayed.
“Ah! You startled me!”
Gavizes had been standing at the door unnoticed, clearly in a foul mood.
“Meril.”
“What on earth do you want?”
Meril was just as irritated.
Despite repeatedly saying no, Gavizes had come all the way to Medeia’s room.
Meril shot him a look of contempt.
“I have something to say.”
“I have nothing to say to you. Go back.”
Fearing that Medeia might be discovered absent, Meril hurried past Gavizes toward her room.
“Is that how you intend to act? Then I suppose it’s fine if I tell the Duke about Sion Lete—about that child. The truth of their identity, which I revealed only to you.”
