Chapter 41
“It was strange from the beginning, wasn’t it? Did you see the details in the article? Cherry Sinclair buying a derelict house in a rural village like that?”
“You’re right. Sinclair has always had an eerily good intuition.”
“Do you think she got her hands on some confidential data about the plague? There’s no telling what kind of information passes through that club she runs.”
“Perhaps. She was always quick with information. Whenever Lady Sinclair took an interest, that business succeeded. People undervalued her, but she is the Sinclair heiress, after all. Maybe the person we knew was just a carefully crafted image.”
Until things had reached this point, these were the very people who had been most diligent in badmouthing Cherry Sinclair.
Aurora looked at the young ladies with disdain, watching them flip their evaluation of Cherry so easily to suit their own convenience.
‘In the end, Lady Sinclair might be just like me.’
The kind of person who loses themselves under the weight of society’s prejudiced gazes.
“And to think she’s with Eden Duncan Lancaster… I’m so jealous. Ouch! Did you just step on my foot, Lady Cotton? What? Lady Lancaster…? Oh…?”
Lady Cotton had intentionally stomped on the foot of Lady Seymour, who had brought up Eden’s name. Realizing her lack of tact, Lady Seymour finally noticed Aurora and fell silent in embarrassment.
Aurora’s expression darkened again with worry for Eden.
K-boom!
Suddenly, a massive explosion thundered from somewhere. The sound had come from the middle of the street.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Bang!
Gunfire began to ring out across the streets.
“Oh my god! They must have come to rescue us!”
“We’re saved! Oh, thank God!”
The young ladies cheered, clutching their hands together with faces full of hope.
‘What if it’s not a rescue team?’
In this situation, Aurora was the only one harboring such realistic concerns.
The gunfire drew closer to the salon. Each time it did, the ladies waited with bated breath and excited faces for their unknown saviors.
Finally, when the gunfire stopped right in front of the salon, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed up the stairs, and the door swung wide open.
The first thing they saw were the uniforms of the armed Royal Army. Soldiers rushed into the salon, aiming their rifles at the ladies before quickly falling into formation.
The soldiers did not look clean. In fact, they looked terrifying. Drenched in blood, they looked like grim reapers sent from hell.
As the cheering ladies hesitated, their faces turning fearful at the sight of the blood-stained men, a man walked through the ranks of soldiers.
Black boots, snow-white trousers, and a matching white uniform jacket adorned with intricate gold cords and golden epaulettes caught the eye.
Aurora looked at the man’s face.
Pure silver hair and chillingly blue eyes. Every time he moved, a gold earring in his left ear shimmered.
Maintaining a noble dignity that remained untouched by the surrounding chaos, the man was none other than the Crown Prince of this kingdom, Theodore of Grayden.
“O-oh my… Your Highness the Crown Prince, what brings you here…?”
Leaving Lady Cotton’s dazed mutterings behind, Crown Prince Theodore scanned the room.
“This is not a situation where we can afford the luxury of formal greetings, so I shall skip the introductions. I ask for your generous understanding.”
Unlike Prince Lloyd, Theodore was a polite and gentlemanly figure who used formal speech naturally.
“Of course, Your Highness!”
As Lady Cotton cried out, Theodore’s gaze briefly shifted to her. He calmly surveyed his surroundings.
“W-what happened outside? Have the monsters all disappeared?”
“When will the situation be resolved?”
“I want to go home, hic!”
“You’ve come to save us, right?”
The young ladies, who normally wouldn’t have dared to speak a word out of intimidation, poured out questions through their trembling fear.
However, Theodore did not answer. He wasn’t acting particularly threatening, but overwhelmed by his commanding aura, the ladies soon fell silent.
At the edge of Theodore’s vision, a single girl sitting quietly caught his eye.
Wavy silver hair and mysterious violet eyes. A face that didn’t resemble the sharp-featured Eden in any way.
After watching her for a moment, Theodore looked back at the group and spoke calmly.
“Large-scale civil unrest is spreading across the nation. But do not worry. The Royal House of Grayden has declared martial law and is successfully bringing the situation under control. From this moment on, you must follow the military’s instructions and move calmly. Can you do that?”
Of course, the claim that they were successfully controlling the situation was a stretch.
Far from controlling the situation, they weren’t even managing to stop the spread of the virus. Even Grayden’s military hierarchy had collapsed. The soldiers currently with Theodore were the Royal Palace Guards.
But he couldn’t reveal the whole truth. For now, until they moved to a safe location, his priority was to keep the people calm.
“Yes, yes! We will follow you!”
“Y-you’re saving us, right? We’re all going to live, right?”
“Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you for saving us!”
The ladies burst into tears, repeatedly thanking Theodore. Theodore looked back at the military commander and nodded. The commander stepped forward and addressed the ladies.
“Will you please come this way in an orderly fashion?”
The ladies began to stand up hesitantly, following the commander’s instructions.
In the meantime, Theodore slowly approached Aurora and offered a greeting.
“I’ve been looking for you for quite a while, My Lady. It’s been a long time. I believe we last spoke at the Lubridge Benton College graduation.”
Theodore gave Aurora a faint smile. They had briefly exchanged greetings on the day of his and Eden’s graduation, when Aurora had visited the school to congratulate her brother.
“Ah. I-I remember, Your Highness.”
“Sir Eden once asked me to protect you if a situation like this ever arose.”
“My brother did?”
Aurora asked back, her face full of surprise. Theodore recalled the words Eden had spoken once.
“A situation might come where I can’t protect Aurora. I’m asking you to look after my sister then.”
“No, what could possibly happen that would require such a grand request to protect a lady living safely in the Lancaster mansion? And what kind of situation would prevent you from doing it yourself?”
“My father is hiding something about Aurora’s adoption. I don’t know the details myself.”
Of course, it wasn’t a request Eden had made because he foresaw the apocalypse.
But since Eden’s last known tracks ended in Brunel, the one who could protect Aurora in the capital was Theodore, not him.
“Don’t you miss that fellow, Eden?”
“I-I do! Is my brother safe?”
“I’m also very curious to know if he’s safe. I have something to ask him. So, I’m planning to go look for him now.”
Theodore held out his hand to Aurora.
“What do you say? Will you come with me? It might be dangerous. In times like these, I can’t even guarantee my own life.”
Staring quietly at Theodore’s large hand, Aurora nodded vigorously and took it.
“I’ll go. I want to find my brother.”
To do that, she had to go to Brunel.
I moved the large stones to be used for the catapult up to the observation deck.
“If they’re too heavy, they won’t fly far, so we need stones of a moderate weight like these. I’ll have to bring more from outside later. We’ll use up everything I’ve prepared today.”
I muttered to myself as I placed a stone on the catapult arm.
Since it was my first time using it, I was bound to fail a few times. If I was unlucky, I might use up all the stones without hitting the statue.
‘Wait, let’s not think like that.’
We didn’t have a Plan B, so I absolutely had to hit that statue.
“Let’s worry about that after we return from the village. If we manage to contact the capital, it might not even be necessary.”
If we manage to contact the capital.
Eden was speaking hopefully. Since I didn’t want to be a dream-crusher, I kept my mouth shut.
Hadn’t I said it? We needed hope right now. Just to stay sane.
I checked the condition of the rubber bands in silence and then adjusted the position of the catapult arm. In the distance, I could see the girl statue. It looked very small.
‘I talked a big game, but…’
What if I fail?
Brunel was such a small village that it could be seen in its entirety from Happy House, but the catapult wasn’t very accurate, and its range was maybe 200 to 300 meters at best.
‘Still, I have my Super Strength.’
The catapult I made worked on the principle of pulling back the arm and letting the recoil launch the projectile, so the pulling force was the most important part.
In other words, as long as I was strong enough, I could hit the target area even if the accuracy was a bit off.
“Wait, didn’t something just move over there?”
While staring intently toward the girl statue, I caught something moving behind a tree in the square.
Eden, who was beside me, immediately picked up the binoculars to scan the village.
“Dammit.”
Eden cursed under his breath. I turned to him, puzzled.
“It’s Rudfercher. He actually survived. The problem is, it looks like he’s currently pinned down in the middle of the square.”
