บท 37: CRY LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW

EDMUND rushed up to follow the general. That last expression the general made showed that he was 100% in a bad mood. Edmund truly thought that he would beat up that black-haired teenager – Astrid. He was even readying himself to stop the general if he ever did raise his hand. After all, one punch from the other would surely put Astrid into a hospital.

But who would have thought that the general would only leave in disgust? Maybe even the general thought that it would be such a waste to beat up such a pretty face. But Edmund still followed the general quickly. It would be super bad if he started one of his rage-induced episodes. The house would definitely be decimated.

And since he's the only member of Fenris here, it's his responsibility to stop the general from hurting innocent citizens and destroying their houses. He already did a not so-great job at that Lawless Den. So, he should at least make sure that he would not repeat the same mistake here. Especially since the family they were imposing on were simple farmers.

He followed the general back to the drawing room and saw the other plopped down on the couch he had sat on earlier.

"General—"

Edmund stopped speaking when he saw the general suddenly leaning forward. He was surprised to see that the other seemed unable to stop his action, as if he was about to fall forward. Edmund moved as fast as he could and quickly caught the general's limp body.

"General?" he called but didn't receive an answer.

He helped the general leaned back on the couch he was sitting. Once he did so, he was startled to find that the general was really unconscious just as he thought. Edmund couldn't help but be flustered. Thousands of thoughts entered his mind. But the most prominent one was that someone attack the general and made him this way. Although that thought only lasted for about two seconds.

Because in this Empire, who could actually attack and hurt the general?

With that thought, Edmund quickly forced himself to calm down. The general's Terminal was currently turned off. Only the owner of the Terminal could turn that on. Thus, Edmund was unable to check the general's vital signs through his Terminal. So, he could only check him for any physical injuries. Although he didn't find any prominent wounds, he still couldn't be relieved.

What if something did go wrong? What if the general had some kind of mental breakdown? That could certainly make someone unconscious. If something bad happened to the general under his care, the lieutenant would definitely kill him. Maybe Hildred might even skin him alive. And there was also Slade who would surely not let him off.

The more he thought about it, the more he became flustered, and the more he couldn't think straight. When he was at his wit's end, the door of the drawing room suddenly opened. He looked back and saw the madam of the house.

She looked at the unconscious general, then at him. After that, a worried frown appeared on her gentle face. "Is there a problem, Captain?"

Seeing her, Edmund's IQ seemed to go online again. "Madam, the general suddenly lost consciousness. Can the Madam take us to the nearest hospital?"

Emmy inwardly let out a sigh of relief. So, Leighton's sleeping drug did work. That guy was truly formidable. To even create something that could affect someone who had undergone poison training since young. But she didn't show that on her face. Instead, she appeared even more worried. She was finally able to utilize all those acting skills she acquired from dealing with all those people in the nobility.

"Captain, we have an equipment here that could check a person's vital signs. Let's use that to check His Highness first. And if it's something serious, I'll drive you both to the hospital. What do you think?"

"Okay, let's do that. Thank you, Madam."

Emmy left and went to the kitchen where she put the said equipment. It was just a simple one-foot metallic rod. She had already prepared it earlier and put it on a place where she could immediately take it. As she was about to walked back to the drawing room, she met with his two sons who just walked through the side door which lead to the back garden of their house.

She quickly made an 'ok' gesture, telling them, particularly Astrid, that the sleeping drug worked.

Astrid already expected that but it was still a relief to hear it. He stood beside his mother and whispered in an almost inaudible voice, just to avoid the possibility that prince's subordinate might hear them, "Mom, play along with me later."

Although Emmy didn't understand what his son meant, as a good mother, she still nodded.

Reas, who saw this all, could only shook his head at the realization that their mother was apparently also in it on the plan.

Emmy entered the drawing room first. Reas also wanted to follow but Astrid stopped him. Of course, they had to enter at the right moment.

"Captain, please wait awhile," Emmy said after entering the room.

She walked towards the unconscious prince. She was about to scan him using the body scanner he was holding but the captain stopped her.

"Madam, please, let me do it."

Emmy had no problems with that and just gave him the scanner.

With it, Edmund turned the equipment on and scanned the general's body from head to toe. After he's done, a virtual screen appeared on top of it. He read the result and almost froze.

"Asleep? How could the general fall asleep?" he couldn't help but mutter.

At that moment, Astrid walked in the room with Reas in tow.

"Mom, what's wrong?" he asked, walking beside his mother. A confused look appeared on his face.

Seeing him like this, Emmy also entered acting mode. "Well, it seems like His Highness had suddenly fallen asleep."

"But- but the general could never fall asleep in an unfamiliar environment!" Edmund said, he wasn't sure who he was justifying that to. "Unless some kind of external factor was involved. Like he ingested something—"

He stopped. Because throughout the day, the only thing that the general had eaten came from this house.

Astrid smiled inwardly. He didn't expect for this captain to immediately said that keyword. So, he also quickly entered the play.

His expression changed from shock to scared very quickly. As if he suddenly realized the implication of what the other just said. His body started to tremble.

"H-his Highness only ate the food we m-made," he muttered, as if telling that to himself. Then he glanced at his mother. His black eyes started to be filled with tears. "M-Mom, what should we do? What if His Highness blame us? Wh-what if he punished us?"

Emmy was startled seeing Astrid like this. If she didn't remember what this son of hers said about playing along, she might get extremely rattled right now. But before she could say anything, Astrid suddenly rushed towards the captain.

Astrid held the other's arm. His tears started streaming down his cheeks. He looked at the man in front of him imploringly.

"Please, s-sir. W-we didn't put anything on the food we s-served you. Please, don't blame us. I b-beg you. Please, believe me. W-we really didn't. We have n-no intention of h-hurting His Highness. We could n-never do something like that! P-please… please, don't punish my family. Pl-please… please don't kill us!"

And he cried and sobbed like there was no tomorrow.