INS 20

Jack’s eyes wavered. “Director…”

I stood up. The shawl draped over my shoulders fell to the bench. Sitting on the bench, Jack looked up at me. I reached out my hand to him and said, “Let’s go inside for today. It would be a disaster if you caught a cold. We can talk about the lessons again when you’ve had a good rest, eaten well, and the pressure has eased.”

Jack stared silently at my hand. Time passed, and he didn’t take my hand. But I didn’t pull it back. After a long moment, Jack finally took my hand and stood up. I smiled, as if to say, ‘You did well.’ A slight blush crept up Jack’s face.

“Hurry and go to sleep. Make sure you cover yourself with your blanket.”

I said this to Jack as I stood in front of his door. However, he hesitated in front of me instead of going straight in. After a moment, I heard his small voice. “…Thank you.” Leaving those words behind, Jack scurried into the room as if he were being chased by something. I stared blankly at the door that had closed in front of me, then chuckled and walked away.

Returning to my room, I began to organize my thoughts about my conversation with the Duke today. As I did, his face came to mind, and my pen tip stopped for a moment. His words echoed in my head.

‘I protect, too.’

At that moment, a knock sounded, and the door opened. I thought it was Jack again, but the person who came in was Cloan. I stood up.

“Cloan? What are you doing up so late?”

Like Jack, did Cloan also have something to say to me? Hesitating at my question, Cloan held something out to me. When I saw what he was offering, I was surprised by the unexpected item.

“This is…”

“Uh, you got hurt because of me this morning. So, you should use this to treat it…”

What he held out was a bandage. He must have been referring to the injury I got this morning when I caught him falling from the jungle gym.

‘I tried to hide it.’

Cloan, who had fallen on top of me, must have realized I was hurt. Still, I blinked in disbelief at Cloan’s actions. That’s because, in a different way than Jack, Cloan had always built a wall between us. The old Cloan wouldn’t have brought me medicine even if I were hurt. This was Cloan’s way of apologizing, his own kind of truce. An unexplainable emotion welled up inside me.

“I-if you don’t need it, then forget it…”

Since I wasn’t taking it, Cloan became embarrassed and tried to pull his hand back. I quickly snatched the bandage. Then, with a touched voice, I said, “Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

“Hmph…”

I silently stroked Cloan’s hair. Cloan seemed to dislike my touch, but he didn’t pull away. It felt as if a wary stray cat had accepted my hand for the first time.

After sending Cloan back, I wrapped the bandage around my ankle. After tying the tight bandage into a knot, I looked down at my ankle for a moment and smiled. I had a feeling that today would be a day I’d never forget.

“So, instead of securing a sponsorship, you’re reporting to me that you were chased away by the Duke?”

As the Emperor’s furious voice echoed, the messenger who had gone to the Siela Orphanage trembled and slammed his head to the floor. The atmosphere in the hall, where all the vassals were standing, was so tense and quiet that the only sound was the chattering of the messenger’s teeth.

The Emperor, who had seized the throne with the blood of his brother, stared down at the messenger with cold, frozen eyes. His lips parted, and a deep, murderous intent flowed out.

“How preposterous. There’s a limit to how much you can disgrace the name of the Imperial family. Not only did you fail in your command, but you dare to prattle in front of me that you were chased away by the Duke?”

“B-but Your Majesty! The Duke’s presence was overwhelming…!”

“Silence!”

“H-hnn…”

The messenger felt he was going to die from the injustice. It wasn’t just anyone, it was Duke Crayman who chased him away, claiming it was his territory. What power did a mere messenger have to resist?! He had no choice but to return and report exactly what happened, and now he was in this situation.

The messenger was certain. His head would be on the chopping block today. All the messengers before him who had delivered bad news to the Emperor had returned as headless corpses. Because of this, among messengers, there was a saying that you should wipe your neck before going to deliver bad news to the Emperor. The reason for wiping your neck was simple: to ensure a swift, painless death.

The messenger lifted his head. He immediately made eye contact with the arrogant and cruel Emperor. His knees buckled from the mere gaze, but he intended to give his full report before he died.

“Duke Crayman said that the Siela Orphanage is already a protection agency under the Crayman Ducal family and that the Ducal family will be the sole sponsor of the orphanage. He stated that no one else would be able to sponsor the orphanage…!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the messenger closed his eyes. He was certain that his head would be taken at any moment. But after a long while, his head remained. As the messenger slowly opened his eyes, he was stunned to hear the Emperor’s amused voice.

“I see. It’s now certain that some kind of relationship exists between Duke Crayman and the orphanage.”

The Emperor stroked his chin. When he first heard the messenger say he had been chased away by the Duke, his mind had gone blank with rage. He was about to deliver a fitting punishment to the messenger who had dared to tarnish the honor of the Imperial family. But the messenger’s next words made him change his mind.

‘An unexpected gain.’

Although he couldn’t establish a relationship with the orphanage, he gained confirmation that the relationship between the orphanage and the Duke was special. He didn’t think a mere director would have given the Duke information about the sea route. A simple director couldn’t possibly possess such information. But even if that wasn’t it, it was fine. If there was some special relationship between Duke Crayman and the orphanage, that alone was valuable enough. He had planned to establish a relationship with the director to keep an eye on her, but now there was no need.

“I have a new command for you.”

As the Emperor raised his hand, a servant who was standing by approached and placed a pen and paper down. The Emperor began to write something on the paper. After a moment, he stopped writing, folded the paper, put it in an envelope, and sealed it with the Imperial family’s crest.

“Messenger, come closer.”

“Y-yes, yes.”

Taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, the messenger crawled on his knees toward the Emperor’s command. When he finally reached the Emperor, the Emperor held something out to him. It was a blue letter.

“Deliver this to the orphanage director. You must not fail this time.”

The messenger’s eyes widened. With trembling hands, he took the letter and bowed his head deeply.

“I will obey your command.”

“Go.”

“Yes.”

The messenger crawled away again and quickly left the hall. Once the messenger was gone, the Emperor stood up and said, “Today’s audience is dismissed.” After giving the order to disperse, the Emperor was the first to leave the hall. A servant followed him.

Upon entering his room, the Emperor removed the heavy cloak from his shoulders. A servant quickly came and took it. However, the Emperor did not take off the heavy crown on his head. He spoke to the servant without looking at him.

“Have you found the child?”

“Not yet…”

The servant couldn’t finish his answer. An ink bottle flew from somewhere and hit his forehead. The corner of the bottle cut his forehead, and it began to bleed, but the servant didn’t wipe the blood or show any sign of pain. He simply bowed his back to the Emperor.

“I dislike incompetence. My brother was also incompetent, which is why he handed the throne over to me. I don’t think you fail to understand the meaning of these words.”

“I will find him as soon as possible.”

“Get out.”

“Yes.”

The servant bowed and left the room. When the door closed, the Emperor sat down in his chair. He closed his eyes and placed a hand over his heart. It was beating. Wildly, as if it would burst. Not because of excitement.

Fear.

The Emperor was clearly afraid. He was constantly afraid that someone, somewhere, would try to take the throne he had gained with blood. Because of this, he had always eliminated anyone who even seemed to covet his position. But there were some things he couldn’t eliminate.

One was Duke Crayman.

And the other was…

“Brother, where have you hidden him?” the Emperor muttered quietly. He calmly opened his eyes. The blue gleam in his eyes was chilling.

“But no matter where that place is, even if it’s the end of hell, I will find him and kill him.”

The Emperor sneered. To that someone he could no longer see or meet.