TCRDG 16

There was no sign of life around, yet she glanced about for no reason before slowly brushing her palm over the grave and parting her lips.

“I’m here. Mom. Dad. I came too late, didn’t I?”

Her hand on the grave trembled.

Warm sunlight streamed through the trees. The scenery here, bathed in that sunlight, looked almost unchanged, as if time had skipped this place entirely.

Even just glancing around, she could see traces of her father and mother everywhere.

From the little girl who had once run around happily, to the final image of her parents who had suddenly left the world.

Biting her lip hard, she finally opened her mouth.

“I missed you. I kept pushing this feeling away because I was afraid I’d break down if I faced it… but I missed you so much.”

It was a feeling she had hidden and hidden again, afraid that letting it out would cause her to collapse — but it came pouring out helplessly.

The nameless feeling that had filled her chest all this time — it was longing.

Eventually, tears welled up in her eyes. It was the first time since the day she made Seniel take the memory-erasing medicine.

The tears couldn’t be held back and began to overflow, running down her cheeks and falling on the grave with soft plops.

Wiping her cheek, she let out a small chuckle.

“I wanted to show you only my smiling face. It’s been so long since I cried, so please forgive me.”

With tears streaming silently, she began pouring out the words she had stored in her heart, one by one, without order.

“I protected Seniel. Just like you told me, Mom — that if anything happened, I had to protect him because I’m the older one. So I did.”

She had given up her life to protect Seniel, but she had never once regretted that choice.

But a lump of emotion she hadn’t realized she was carrying suddenly surged up and caught in her throat.

“…I did well, right? I did the right thing, didn’t I?”

She wanted to hear an answer so badly, but no words came from her already-departed parents.

Instead, a memory floated up — a conversation from long ago with her father.

‘Rosia, sometimes in life, you’ll wonder — was this the right choice? Was it a mistake? You’ll have regrets.’

‘Why regret anything? You should just do things right from the start.’

‘True. That’s best. But if that moment ever comes, remember this — back then, you had your reasons.’

As if he had known this day would come, her father had already given her the answer.

“Yeah. Back then, letting Seniel go was the best I could do.”

She murmured to herself as she gently touched her father’s grave.

She felt as if the hollow part of her chest was slowly being filled.

She sat there for a long while, rambling on. After all, if it was her mom and dad, they wouldn’t get tired of hearing her.

Even though there was still much left unsaid, the time to leave had already passed.

She knelt down and wrapped her arms around the grave one last time.

“I’ll be back soon.”

With lingering reluctance, but firm resolve, she turned away from the place.

She wanted to look inside the cabin too, but she wasn’t emotionally ready to revisit the place filled with happy memories.

“……”

She touched the entrance of the cabin lightly, then hurried back to where she had parted ways with the coachman.

The man, dozing off and bobbing his head, wiped his mouth and stood up when he heard her.

“There was nothing after all, right? You were gone so long I thought something happened.”

“Let’s go.”

He still looked convinced that there could be nothing of interest in a place like this.

As she rode the carriage back, she recalled the strange things she’d noticed.

Why had her parents chosen such a place to run their shop?

How did her father rack up such a huge debt of 10 billion Jeri while living in the mountains?

And who had been maintaining her parents’ graves?

Of course, there was no one left to answer these questions, and the lack of answers only frustrated her.

Leaning against the wall of the carriage, she quietly closed her eyes.

“So what if something’s hidden? We were overflowing with happiness there.”

That memory had kept her going for ten years, and would continue to give her strength to carry on.

Perhaps because she’d spent so much time at the grave, it was already late by the time she returned home.

Naturally, she expected no one to be there — but the lights were on.

When she opened the door, she saw Seniel and Orbis sitting in the living room, having packed their bags and waiting for her.

‘Good thing I left a note.’

Though they’d both been staying out lately, she had left a note just in case — saying she’d gone on a trip — and she was glad she did.

“Sis! Was your trip fun?”

“Where’d you go? Would’ve been nice if we went together.”

Of all days, they had to return from the palace today.

Feigning fatigue, she walked into the living room.

“I went here and there. What about you two? All done with work?”

“No. It looks like it’ll take longer, so we came back to visit home for a bit. Our adoptive parents contacted us.”

Seniel now had a different family. Hearing the word parents still made her heart ache.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell him she had visited their parents’ graves today.

“…I see.”

“If you’re done with your business too, come with us.”

“Okay.”

She decided to hold off on telling him that she had found their old house, and instead began packing her things to leave too.

✧ ✧ ✧

Several days passed after they returned to the villa owned by the Vidler family.

Seniel had gone straight to his family home, so only Orbis and she remained here.

Since Seniel had been away from home so long, he was practically stuck there and hadn’t been able to visit.

In the meantime, she had come to a decision.

“I’m leaving the guild.”

Now that her mind was made up, she had no reason to hesitate. She immediately whistled to contact the guild.

Flap—

Shell, who always circled nearby, came flying through the air and perched on her forearm.

It was still daytime, so he looked sleepy — maybe she had woken him. She fondly stroked the feathers on his head.

“Shell, this time it’s for Railey.”

“Caw!”

But instead of flying off, Shell hopped onto a nearby branch and sat there.

“What’s wrong? Hungry?”

Perplexed by his strange behavior, she tilted her head — and suddenly, a throwing star came flying from that direction.

She quickly dodged, narrowing her eyes.

‘An enemy?’

But no one should have known she was here. She focused, trying to sense the presence.

Then, recognizing the familiar energy, the tension drained from her body.

“Railey.”

At her call, a tall man emerged from behind a tree — dressed surprisingly neatly, and without his usual mask.

She couldn’t help but smile at the unfamiliar sight.

“What’s with the outfit?”

Without his mask, Railey looked strikingly handsome — enough to catch anyone’s eye.

She scanned him from top to bottom, wondering when he had grown up so much.

“It’s been a while. I dressed up to look nice. How do I look?”

“Not bad.”

“The daytime prince is pretty. I always hated how you covered your face — but seeing it in daylight is nice.”

He kept smiling and saying cringey things — clearly in a good mood today.

“Cut the nonsense. Why are you here?”

“Because I missed you. It’s been so long since I saw you after you left the guild.”

“Just get to the point. People are watching.”

Railey stepped even closer, ignoring her cold response.

“Didn’t you miss me? We’ve never gone this long without seeing each other.”

“What’s with you today? You’re being annoying.”

She frowned and pushed away his shoulder as he tried to hug her.

Railey had always been shameless, so this wasn’t new. And he behaved that way with everyone, so even his pouty expression didn’t move her.

“Did you look into what I told you about William?”

“Yeah. That place was so well-hidden that I would’ve never found it if you hadn’t said something.”

As expected, there was something suspicious about the Black Eagle Order.

“Remember the new guild that appeared a few years ago? Aid — they didn’t take on many jobs but sometimes snatched major commissions.”

“You don’t mean Aid is—?”

Her eyes widened without thinking.

“Exactly. They’ve been trying to make contact with us, asking for the Dae-do map. I suspect Aid is just a front — it’s actually the Black Eagle Order.”

Who would ever suspect a prince’s personal order of knights of running a shadow guild?

The shocking revelation and her worry for Seniel made her head spin.

“Keep tight control over our intel. They’re just waiting for a chance to get their hands on the guild master’s empty seat.”

“I just investigated the new recruits… and turns out there were spies among them. Good thing I found them early.”

“Spies? What did you do?”

“I got them all to confess. Just a bunch of green rookies. They didn’t learn much. They were meant to be discarded.”

“You killed them?”

“No. If Aid really is linked to the prince, any rash move could be dangerous. I just gave them a warning and let them go.”

“Well done. Still, stay on guard. There might be others you missed.”

“Don’t worry. We’re not weak enough to fall for that. You know that.”

She nodded in agreement with Railey’s words.

“It’s suspicious that the Second Prince is quietly building his own force in secret.”

“Yeah. It’s not the First Prince, but the Second. That raises the possibility of rebellion. Risky theory, but…”

Given the conversation she had overheard between Vidler and the Empress, it didn’t seem too far-fetched.