Translator: Lay
Raw Provider: Lay
I heard the hitting sound several times in a row. I opened my closed eyes gently. Tristan fell at Aurest's feet with a broken chair leg. Aurest threw the legs of the chair at the knights who had pulled out the sword late.
"Hey! Get this one right! Can't you catch it? You incompetent idiots. Ah! It's a waste of money that I give you every month."
The knights kneeled one knee and lowered their heads.
"I'm sorry! Your Highness the Crown Prince. Kill me."
"If you ask me to kill you, is that it? Is it the end if you say you're sorry for me? Do you know what just happened? Erin almost got hurt!"
"I'm sorry, Your Highness the Crown Prince. I'm sorry. Your Imperial Highness."
Aurest threw away the remains of the chair and threw the vase to see if his anger was already resolved. Blood was flowing in the faces of the knights who were beaten without avoiding. Aurest looked more excited at the sight of blood.
Someone else is going to die.
I slipped a hold of Aurest's arm.
"Calm down, I'm fine. I'm not hurt at all. Look! The dress you gave me is clean, too."
"You may be fine, but I'm not!"
Aurest, whose arm was caught by me, didn't run anymore. But he whittled his teeth into it.
"Didn't this son of a bitch, who didn't even know he was risking your life, almost hurt you badly?!" Aurest pointed a finger at the fallen Tristan on the floor. "But what? Shouldn't I kill a single sound in that situation? Do you want this so bad?"
"Beautiful things are bound to be poisonous. It's worth it."
I laughed with joy at the tip of my nose. Aurest clicked his tongue.
"Huh! I am very brave and have good speed. That's lovely, but I don't know who you took after." Aurest swept his face several times as if to calm his anger. He breathed a deep sigh as if he had calmed down.
"But it's too dangerous for you. I'm going to break it somewhere." Aurest trampled on Tristan's hand wriggling on the floor.
I can't believe it's this way!
I screamed and held him tight.
"No! I don't want to have anything that has a lot of scratches, and even flaws! Please let me decorate it in a whole and perfect look!"
Aurest groaned and put his feet away. He kicked Tristan on the head with his cleaned foot. Despite the Crown Prince's insulting attitude, Tristan only curled up and showed no unusual reaction.
"As you got older, your tastes have become very good. It seems like yesterday that I was worried about the problem with your aesthetics being around a funny-looking clown."
A funny-looking clown...
"Well, I understand your meaning of reluctance to have flaws, but don't you say you're going to scratch the rose thorn? It's just breaking a little so that it can't hurt you."
"Just kill me."
"Yeah. When I think about it, I don't think it would be bad to just kill and stuff it. It's not necessary to make it as slave. The use of handsome guys is endless."
"Please kill me."
It was a voice as dry as the ground cracked by a long drought.
Aurest, who was talking more about the colorful use of handsome men, glanced at him and kicked Tristan's side. Tristan uttered a blocked groan.
"Was it you? I never allowed you to tell me, so shut up."
"...Please kill me for being disrespectful to the attempted assassination of the Imperial Family."
Aurest changed his face to see if he knew that Tristan's attempts to attack me were not just anger, but suicide attempts.
Tristan leaped up his almost wound-filled body. As the knight of the oath, one knee kneeled and the other set up, and put his arm on it. And looked up at me.
It was a sympathetic face. The hair was tangled and tangled with blood and dust, and there was sadness in the black eyes. The swollen, bursty, blood-flowing lips moved slowly.
"Your Imperial Highness, please kill me."
"It's not the son of a traitor who attempted to assassinate me."
Aurest looked somewhat displeased, but I was still there with his arms folded in front of his chest. When Aurest spoke, the quiet knights threw up.
"If it's not me, then it's not."
"Guys. They said no." Aurest quenched the knights' complaints in a single word. Tristan continued with a harsh, cracked voice.
"Your Imperial Highness, please show me mercy and give me a chance to die like a knight." The image of the knight asking for his death seemed more sad than humiliating. Perhaps leaving Tristan dead here is the choice for him die here.
But, Lord Tristan. I cannot allow your death. I've been asked to do you a favor in Vathorlia's stead. I need you to fulfill my and Vathorlia's long-cherished desire.
Even if you feel pathetic and sad, please stay alive.
As long as you're alive, there's a second chance, a third chance.
I got a second chance to please the man who killed my friend and hide my hatred.
So you do the same. I'm sorry to force you on my way.
I grinned as I folded my fan.
"You've just been stripped of your knighthood. A man who is not a knight can't die like a knight, can he?"
* * *
I
ordered the knights and servants to wash and treat Tristan. Tristan's determination to die rather than survive alone is unlikely to change easily. But I can't say in front of Aurest, 'I'm actually your mother's partner in Vathorlia's favor, so don't think about dying, dream of revenge.'
Is Aurest going to die right now?
Aurest, who came back after a blow on the head of the knights, asked me.
"What are you going to do with Tristan? It won't be easy to beat the guilds. Don't you need help?"
It is obvious without hearing that Aurest's "help" is a violent way of doing things.
"Don't worry. I've got my own way." Tristan, who came back, was tightly shackled with chains. Just in case the knights surrounded him.
Tristan kneeled his knee in front of me in the chair.
"What's your name?" Tristan raised his head. Deep black eyes met eyes.
"Tristan Rowenthal of Rowenthal Duchy."
The dust and blood were washed away and the red and blue excitement remained on his clean face. I see open his face. The tight-lipped lips and straight eyes were much like someone in the past memory.
Vathorlia...
Something was piling up inside. I closed my eyes for a while and woke up.
"Tristan. Do you hate serving me more than dying?" The answer came quickly.
''Yes.''
"There must be a reason for dislike. Can you tell me why?" I put my hand on Tristan's shoulder. His body became stiff. "No matter what you say, I won't be rough on you, so be honest. I don't want you to be scratched."
"Honestly?"
"Yes, honestly."
Tristan was silent. His mouth and forehead were momentarily distorted and then returned to normal. He spoke with an expressionless face.
"I don't want to bow down to the man who took all my family members to live a life of little importance. Please kill me."
"It's just like a tree to take away. Didn't you feel like you had to be a gentleman and aim for revenge opportunities?"
The knights are buzzing. Tristan raised its head lightly. There was definitely a gale in the dark eyes, like a sea at night where even the depth was unknown.
"What are your intentions?"
"I thought you'd do that, so I asked."
He dropped his head again.
"I grew up as a knight. I don't do such mean and pathetic things."
Did he just say mean and pathetic?
That's right.
It is mean and pathetic to seek revenge with one's head down on the enemy. So my life has been mean and pathetic all along. But Tristan, you shouldn't say that.
It is an insult to the life of Vathorlia, who has been bowing to the emperor all the time and waiting for the right time.
If you really know the story, you shouldn't insult Vathorlia, who was worried about you and didn't bring you into the rebellion.
When I opened my mouth, a voice of emotion came out.
"Do you want some bad news?" Tristan did not answer. I didn't want an answer either. "I have no intention of killing you. You don't know if I kill someone else instead of you..." Tristan didn't budge.
Let's see how long it will last.
"Let's see, the housekeepers who have served Rowenthal for generations, the men who manage the mansion, your men who fought on the Western Front, ···"
The silent Tristan flinched and responded. He seems anxious to think of his men on the western front.
"I'd better start with your men, too. Your men's throats will run away as long as you stretch out to death."
"..."
"Don't even think of doing yourself a favor. On that day, the day you lived, the neck of a number of your men would be gone. What if they attack me? I haven't decided yet either. If you're really curious, try it. I won't stop you."
Tristan's eyes were wandering somewhere on the floor. After a long silence, he squeezed it out.
"It is not justifiable to strike the innocent in the neck."
"Who says they are innocent? There is no soldier who did not commit a crime, and it is what happens when you name it sin in the first place."
"Are you saying you're going to frame them? Because of me?"
"Yes. Do you want an innocent person to die because of your single stubbornness?"
I looked down at Tristan. Tristan glared with his mouth shut. I think I've shaken enough. You'll think it's better to live once you have many lives on your neck.
"Okay. You'll be confused, too. I'll give you plenty of time to think. Think carefully and answer."
"Wait, ··!"
"Didn't I say I'd give you time with my own mouth? I won't separate anyone's neck for a while, so don't worry." I got up from my seat. The chair pushed back and squeaked. "I'll see you next time, then,'' I turned around and gave instructions to the knights. Aurest, who was following me, smiled.
"Solitary confinement?" I shrugged.
Tristan had no time to mourn the death of his family.
After you've been grieving as much as you can and organized your emotions to a certain extent, you'll realize that you'd better be alive.
You'll think you'll have to get back at him alive.
"If you think in a quiet place, you'll realize what you're doing for yourself."
Auest, who was listening to me, burst out laughing at me.
"You're a very cruel part of me. You don't know how easily an isolated person can be ruined, or you know."
× × ×
T/N: LMAO. I like Aurest's personality, not that I prefer Yandere's like him or someone who's okay with incest but it's just refreshing to see really twisted villains. Aurest is the reason I picked it up actually...
And if ever Erin is really like her family (twisted and psychotic), the whole Empire is doomed. But I really like Erin thou...