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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Encounter
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“Why you?”
I asked again. Rather than feeling relieved, I was puzzled.
“...Because I ran away.”
The child replied.
We observed each other in silence for a few seconds. The initial wariness was shifting into curiosity.
“You... have you ever fallen out of favor with Prince Calein or the Empress?”
I finished my brief deduction and asked again.
The 2nd Knight Order disguising themselves as commoners to search for someone happens in only one scenario: when someone Prince Calein or the Empress had imprisoned escapes.
In my past life, it was usually me, but occasionally it was also servants who disobeyed or people who badmouthed them behind their backs.
“What?”
“Did you pickpocket someone, or were you a servant who was disobedient?”
“...Something like that.”
The child replied briefly.
The situation was clear. It was easy to fall out of favor with the sensitive Prince Calein or the Empress, even without doing anything seriously wrong.
The Empress, who appeared gentle on the surface but secretly collected all sorts of whips as a hobby, and Prince Calein, who resembled her, would have punished him cruelly.
He probably made a snap judgment and slipped out through the Imperial Palace's back entrance, where the guards were relatively lax, unaware that Gale Osmond was right behind him.
I'd done all of that in my past life.
As these thoughts occurred to me, I felt a pang of pity for the child.
“What are you going to do now?”
“What?”
My question seemed to catch him off guard, and he asked back.
“Do you have somewhere to go? You said you came from the Imperial Palace.”
“...No one outside the Imperial Palace knows me.”
He shook his head. I couldn't help but sigh.
Looks like he has no friends or anything outside the Imperial Palace.
“Then?”
“I'll go back.”
The child answered softly. Then, in a voice barely audible, he added one more thing.
“If I don't go... someone else will get hurt.”
Did he leave family behind? To risk his life escaping a life he couldn't bear, only to return.
The child, speaking in a whisper with downcast eyes, looked so pathetic in that moment that I instinctively took a step closer.
This wasn't the time for this. I needed to find Sion.
Regardless of my intentions, I felt a growing sense of sorrow for this child in my heart.
“You just barely got out. What will be different if you go back?”
I asked again.
“It will be different.”
“How?”
“...Because I know who my enemy is now.”
After offering his difficult-to-understand explanation, he pressed his lips into a tight line. My gaze dropped to his two fists, clenched so tightly they looked bloodless.
His subtly trembling eyes suddenly gleamed dangerously. His eyes, which I had only thought of as pretty, sharpened, looking as if they could tear someone apart at any moment.
What he exuded was murderous intent.
A child who looked only a couple of years older than me had a face that seemed capable of murder.
My heart sank heavily.
How unstable must his environment have been for him to risk his life escaping?
If he went back, he'd have to face the object of his murderous intent again. Whether it was the Empress, Prince Calein, or a subordinate like Gale Osmond.
“...Should I help you escape?”
I asked. The child stared at me, his eyes slightly widened.
It wasn't an act of great kindness. If I could just get to the Ducal family's estate to avoid Gale Osmond, hiding a servant wouldn't be difficult.
“Your family, later...”
However, the child slowly shook his head.
“Nell will be in danger. And so will you.”
He replied.
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
His resolute expression left no room for persuasion.
He was a child who, though anxious, couldn't be swayed by force.
I had no choice but to change my approach to helping him.
“...It's important to get back without Gale Osmond catching you, right? Because if you're caught halfway, they'll break something.”
I asked again. He nodded, looking as if asking how I knew.
I took a deep breath and retraced my memories from my past life.
“Go out here and turn right, and you'll find another alley. Follow the alley straight, then turn right again, and it's the back of the Imperial Palace. Go further and turn left along the wall, and that's the main gate. Go in whichever direction you want.”
I said, as if bestowing a favor. The child opened his mouth as if to reply, but I quickly continued speaking.
“And it might not be immediately necessary, but I think you'll need it later... Between the East Gate and the South Gate, to the right of the outer tower, if you clear away the grass, there's a small passage.”
I diligently rummaged through my memories as I explained.
“It's a spot not easily noticed by guards, so there's a higher chance you won't get caught.”
In my past life, I'd used that hole to escape once, only to get caught. Because I was so hungry that I stole food.
“If you ever escape again, make sure to bring food.”
“...Who are you, exactly?”
The boy's voice trembled. His dark green eyes, observing me, also wavered slightly.
“Harper Luperne.”
“Harper... Luperne.”
He repeated my name as if I had just revealed a great secret.
“If you ever decide you really need to escape, you can find me.”
I hesitated for a moment, then added.
It wasn't simply because the child looked pitiful.
It was because his isolated state reminded me of my past self.
Lonely my whole life, constantly anxious, where at some point each day felt meaningless, and I just wished there was someone, anyone, I could rely on.
The child, who had been listening while staring at me, slowly nodded. His surprised gaze remained fixed on me.
“Then... now someone outside the Imperial Palace knows you.”
I said. It was because his words about returning since no one outside knew him had sounded so sad.
“So don't cry too much when you're alone. Okay?”
Because I used to cry a lot. And tears weren't very useful.
“Outside the Imperial Palace... someone who knows me...?”
The child repeated my words as if he had never heard such a phrase in his life.
“Yes. Because I'll be thinking of you.”
His eyes trembled intensely for a moment.
As if to confirm my sincerity, he slowly bent down and met my gaze. I didn't avert my eyes and met his directly.
His face, his gaze, his exhausted body, and his torn sleeve—they all exuded a kind of desperation.
While retaining the cold sharpness in his eyes, in this moment, he looked so desperate, as if he would burst into tears if my words were a lie.
“It's true.”
I said without falsehood. It was an undeniable fact that in this moment, I wished for this child's well-being.
After a long silence, a faint, almost imperceptible hope blossomed on his face.
“...I see.”
He said.
“...You know me.”
Just as he began to say something else, a familiar voice echoed from beyond the building.
“Lady Harper, are you nearby?”
It was Sion. I felt the tension drain from me.
“I have to go now. Are you really okay?”
I said, turning my body towards the gap in the building.
The child's face had already regained its previous wariness.
He pressed his lips together and nodded firmly.
Then, as if to tell me not to delay any longer, he raised his hand first and waved at me.
He'll be okay then, I guess.
My worry hadn't completely disappeared, but there was nothing more I could do at the moment.
I didn't ask further, waved back, and slipped through the building gap.
Turning around the corner of the alley, I saw Sion, whose face had turned pale with worry.
“Sion!”
“Lady Harper!”
As soon as he saw me, he sank to the ground. His eyes wide, gazing at the sky, as if trying desperately to hold back tears.
“I'm sorry, I misunderstood something.”
“Because I foolishly confessed... and almost lost you, young lady... *hiccup*.”
He eventually shed a single, large tear.
Oh, right. Besides losing me, he had another sad reason.
“Were you rejected?”
“*Sniff*, yes.”
Sion wiped his tears with his sleeve and stood up again.
“But it's alright. Surprisingly, it seems we're well-suited as friends.”
He cleared his throat and said. A small smile appeared on his lips, indicating that a meaningful conversation must have taken place between them.
It was the moment Sion and I had navigated the winding alleys and emerged back into the shopping district.
“Stop.”
A familiar voice echoed in my ears. I looked up to see five or six people blocking our path.
Standing at the front, smiling arrogantly, was Gale Osmond. He looked a little younger than I remembered.
“What's the matter?”
Sion asked, his voice laced with wariness, and Gale Osmond let out a nasty chuckle.
“We're looking for a child... Haven't you seen him around here?”
“I haven't.”
“What were you doing in that alley just now? There's no way through it.”
“We checked that there was no way through and came out.”
Sion, usually timid, answered with surprising composure.
However, Gale Osmond shook his head, his unpleasant smile still in place.
“Too suspicious.”
He gestured to his subordinates standing behind him.
“You'll have to come with us for now. And that child will need to be investigated separately.”
I gripped Sion's collar tightly, my mind racing.
Shouldn't I reveal my identity?
But neither Sion nor I had brought anything to prove our identities. Of course, we didn't expect anyone to just accost us like this.
More than anything, I didn't want to be investigated by the Imperial Guard. I didn't want Iris's tavern to attract undue attention, even by accident.
“Absolutely not.”
Sion's voice dropped, filled with a commanding presence. His hand was already moving towards the sword at his hip, blocking the space between me and the knights.
Gale Osmond raised an eyebrow, amused.
“Seize them.”
“Yes!”
*Swoosh—*
As Sion drew his sword, Gale Osmond's subordinates simultaneously drew their swords from their hips.
My heart began to pound.
Gale Osmond's subordinates were quite skilled among the Imperial Palace knights. There was no way Sion could fight them all alone.
“Hyaah!”
Five knights simultaneously swung their swords at him. Sion didn't back down, as if prepared to lose an arm.
From his deeply furrowed brows and the sharp gaze beneath them, I felt the dignified valor of a knight prepared for death.
...Or so I thought, until Sion suddenly delivered a powerful knee kick to the groin of the knight next to him.
“Aaaaargh!”
A long, agonizing scream echoed throughout the alley.
