RBAR 31

Chapter 31

‘I feel dizzy…’

After that, many memories repeatedly disappeared and reappeared like afterimages.

My head was buzzing with various noises. The headache also varied, intensifying and subsiding along with the afterimages.

‘Excluding minor scrapes, there are no major injuries…”Uh, patient. Are you awake?’

The increasingly clear noises helped me realize who the voices belonged to, and I slowly opened my eyes. My whole body ached, and my legs, in particular, felt numb and sore.

“Where am I?”

I opened my mouth blankly.

“The treatment room.”

A familiar, captivating voice settled over me. The treatment room?

The interior was similar to the one where the Princess stayed. So I must be lying in the palace treatment room. I looked around with a blank gaze and spotted a man.

Golden hair that looked like melted gold, and amethyst-colored eyes that brought to mind dark lilacs.
Pale skin, a sharp, high nose, and a carved jawline.

Below that, his attractively curved lips were as red as if they were stained with blood. His beauty was unreal. I unconsciously mumbled his name.

“Killian…””It seems your familiarity with me has increased since you were hovering between life and death.”

Killian replied flatly. His answer immediately woke me up. I tried to sit up by reflex but groaned in pain from my muscle aches.

“Are you alright?”

I was about to answer Killian’s question, but I clearly recalled the last moment and urgently asked instead.

“Luke, is Luke alright…?”

He was the coachman, sitting in the very front of the carriage. If the impact was enough to smash the carriage, he surely must have been injured. My heart was pounding.

The answer came from the doctor.

“Ah, if you mean the young man, he had a few fractures.””Th-then…”

My blood ran cold. The doctor, seeing my pale face, waved his hands and quickly explained.

“It’s not life-threatening. He was quite lucky. If he had been sitting slightly straighter during the collision, his spine would have been completely shattered…”

The doctor shook his head. The rest of his words were unspoken, but I could easily guess what he was thinking.

So, he almost died.

The thought sent a chill down my spine. But this situation wasn’t unfamiliar. A feeling of déjà vu crept in, and I soon realized the reason.

…It’s the same as when I went to the Cornelli estate.

The pattern was different, but this sort of sinister trap was exactly their style. And the magic formula I had briefly noticed on the carriage wheel.

…It was their doing.

I thought they were being quiet, but they were planning this scheme.

The difference from before was that Luke was also dragged into it, not just me.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek. It was an unconscious habit when I didn’t want to show my anxiety.

Immediately after, someone entered the treatment room. It was the person I least wanted to see at this moment.

“Edit.”

Richard. We had just been arguing and fighting, and meeting him like this made me uncomfortable.

“…How did this happen?”

He was using formal language, perhaps to be mindful of those around him, but his tone was utterly cold. Why don’t you just use informal speech if you’re going to be like that? I sneered internally and opened my mouth.

“Just as Sir Edmon said, I’m paying for my karma. I think I’m starting to understand the way the world works.”

The room temperature dropped rapidly at my words. In the frozen atmosphere, Killian spoke casually.

“Ms. Edit’s carriage crashed into a tree in the Imperial Palace and was destroyed.””…Is that so? What is the condition of the coachman?”

Richard’s question was directed at the doctor. His cold reaction showed he wasn’t at all curious about my condition.

Well, that makes things easier for me.

The doctor who was questioned repeated a statement similar to what he had told me.

“About 16 weeks for a full recovery.””…That’s a serious injury.”

Richard’s face hardened. He spoke with the doctor for a moment, then glanced at me and left.

Now, only the two of us remained in the treatment room. Killian asked me.

“Do you have any idea who did this?””…”

I stubbornly kept silent. A sense of helplessness suddenly wrapped around me like a persistent vine. It was a feeling I had often experienced back at the Duke’s castle.

I thought things would be different once I left the Duke’s estate.

Why was the same situation repeating itself? The answer to that question was easy to find.

I haven’t completely escaped the Duke’s family.

Leaving physically wasn’t enough. I needed to completely shake off the repercussions to truly be free. I was now painfully aware of this fact.

“Edit.”

Killian urged me to answer. I hesitated, moving my lips.

If I considered the public image of the Cornelli twins, no one would believe they would plot such a malicious scheme.

They were known as angels.

They often performed many good deeds, like using magic to rescue disaster victims as a kind of pro bono work, or solving severe droughts for farmers.

Their public image was vastly different from their true nature. If I exposed their actions now, I would likely be criticized for framing the Cornelli twins rather than doing any damage to them.

But wouldn’t Killian believe me?

He knew the duality of humans better than anyone… because he was a Demon.

“The Cornelli twins.”

He might be the only man who would believe me. With that, I closed my sleepy eyes.

More than anything, I was sick and tired of hiding and enduring the Cornellis’ evil deeds all by myself.

I desperately wanted to confide in someone.

…Terribly.

Meanwhile, Richard headed to the old tree in the Imperial Palace to see the accident scene.

The old chestnut tree in the Imperial Palace.

It was a little smaller than the one near the Emperor’s palace, but it was still the third-largest tree in the Empire.

When Richard first heard that a carriage had crashed into it, he was slightly surprised.

And when he learned that Edit was inside that carriage…

He was already making his way to the treatment room where Edit was.

Edit’s condition hadn’t seemed too bad. So he figured the carriage had only lightly bumped the tree.

‘Ms. Edit’s carriage crashed into a tree in the Imperial Palace and was destroyed.’

No, “destroyed” was an understatement.

The carriage was completely smashed beyond recognition. At this point, it was a miracle that there were no casualties, and one should be grateful to Heaven. Richard spotted a man and approached him.

“Your Grace, outsiders are not…”

“It’s the mark of Magic.”

Killian, who was looking at the carriage, spoke. The Magic mark. The trace left when magic is used.

“That can’t be…”

Richard mumbled, his face stiffening.

The palace wizards had already been there, but said they couldn’t find any traces of magic.

They were about to process it as a simple accident.

However, Killian Orfeo’s words could not be dismissed like those of a nobody. He was the Empire’s one and only Great Sorcerer.

“They skillfully erased the traces.”

Killian brushed his gloved hand over the wheel of the crumpled carriage. Richard’s tightly sealed lips would not open. A knight standing nearby overheard and asked a question.

“Then… does that mean someone deliberately caused the accident?”

Killian casually nodded. His attitude was as if his judgment was flawless. Everyone listening around him accepted it as the truth. Because he was Killian Orfeo.

“…Who is it?”

Richard, who had been silent all along, parted his dry lips.

“There aren’t many people with the skill to fool the Imperial Palace’s magicians.”

With that, Killian brushed past Richard. Richard froze like a statue. Such a skilled person… Only two people immediately came to mind. Natalie Cornelli and Lawrence Cornelli.

No, it can’t be them.

Richard sighed, rubbing his face. His mind was racing.

My leg injuries were thankfully only sprained ligaments, and I was able to walk again a few days later. Since I spent most of my time sitting at my desk for work, I didn’t need to walk much anyway.

I wonder if Luke is doing better.

As part of my daily routine, I knocked on Luke’s door to check on him. His voice sounded surprisingly bright. I sighed as I looked at him lying in bed, still wrapped up like a mummy in bandages.

“Are you feeling okay?”

I couldn’t hide my apology. Since the Cornelli twins were targeting me, he was inadvertently caught up in their scheme.

“Oh, come on, why are you worried about something like this? This much isn’t even considered an injury in my mercenary work.””What? If this isn’t an injury, you’d die if you got a real one.””Haha, crossing the line between life and death was our job, after all.”

Luke shrugged, trying to sound casual.

“Luke… I’ll be fine. I’ll give you a generous severance package, so… just tell me what you need.””Huh, Boss, are you kicking me out because I’m injured?”

Luke looked at me with a pretend look of hurt. No matter how much he stared with his deer-like eyes, it didn’t suit him since he was built like a bear.

“That’s absolutely not it. I just feel like you’re in danger because of me.””Haha, I know. You wouldn’t fire me for something like this, Boss.”

He said.

“Still, I’m glad you’re okay, Boss. It must have been Heaven helping you.””…I guess so.”

At that moment, the last scene I had briefly witnessed came to mind. The purple glow with a strange pattern had appeared on the back of my hand.

I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere.

My thoughts about that moment were broken by Luke’s question.

“So, what are you going to do about those damn twins?””If I attack now, I’ll just be counterattacked.”

The power and public image that the Cornellis held had a significant influence.

If I rashly exposed them now, no one would believe me.

Instead, I’d likely be completely branded as a fraud and a liar. Right now, the most important thing is for me to somehow enter the center of power.

To do that, I have to find a way to develop the cure.

However, the Pope’s letter still hadn’t arrived. My heart felt heavy. What if the Princess collapses before then and the treatment becomes impossible?

Just then, the butler delivered a letter after a knock. It was a pure white envelope with the World Tree pattern embroidered in gold. It was a letter from Pope Michel of the Holy See.

Reading the letter, I subtly smiled. Finally, the wind was at my back for the task I was trying to accomplish.

[I want to start that matter quickly.-Michel Ra Bahardi Logos.]