It was a realization she didn’t want to realize. So she deliberately acted even colder. Like a hedgehog that curls up and puts up its thorns for fear of getting hurt.
Riiip. Herietta tore the knight’s cloak across with a dagger. She then used it instead of a bandage.
Herietta’s behavior of damaging the knight’s clothes without permission was annoying, but the knight quietly condoned it. She watched Herietta as she wrapped a piece of cloak around the wound.
“Maybe…… you are from Brimdel?”
The knight asked quietly. Herietta, who was skillfully putting on the bandage, lifted her head. In a quiet forest where they can clearly hear each other’s breathing. The eyes of the two intertwined.
“No. If you were really from Brimdel, you wouldn’t be treating me like this right now.”
However, before Herietta had time to reply, the knight smiled and denied the possibility of her own guess. Of course, the situation would be the same even if she was from Vellicia, but she added as if talking to herself.
Herietta stared at the knight’s face in silence for a long time.
Brimdel. A country she called her motherland and loved with all her heart until the year she turned eighteen. A country where she would have lived her life and died had it not been for things going awry midway through.
“Come to think of it, that rumor…… is it true?”
Herietta lowered her head and asked softly. She pretended to be as indifferent as possible to avoid arousing the knight’s suspicion. The knight raised her eyebrows.
“Rumor?”
“Rumors that Kustan destroyed Brimdel.”
Herietta replied.
“There are rumors that Brimdel has killed all the royals so that they can never be rebuilt.”
“Aah. Is that what you mean?”
With Herietta’s explanation, the knight looked like she finally knew what Herietta was talking about. The knight nodded her head.
“That’s right. It is true.”
“It’s…… true?”
Herrietta’s voice trembled as she repeated the knight’s words. She let out a short breath without realizing it.
‘Really……. All the royals are dead? The royal family……. Brimdel…….’
She had already heard rumors about that, but hearing that it was true made her feel different. The feeling of having been splashed with cold water. Or even the feeling of being slapped on the cheek.
The out-of-control emotions ran wild in Herrietta. Fortunately, however, the knight did not seem to notice the change in Herietta.
“At first, there were a lot of concerns about whether it was an extreme choice. But now it’s different. Everyone says it was a very wise choice.”
“A wise choice?”
“Yes. Because we don’t have to worry about what kind of tricks the Brimdel people are doing behind the scenes to get the throne back.”
The knight said indifferently. She was unstoppable in speaking and expressing himself. Well, there was no reason not to. The knight couldn’t imagine that Herietta, who was sitting in front of me, was from Brimdel.
Herietta gulped. Fidgeting with the knot in the bandage, she opened her mouth.
“It’s stupid. The country has collapsed, but do you think only the royal family will rebel?”
She tried to pretend nothing was wrong and reprimanded the knight.
“Even if it wasn’t the royalty, how many powerful nobles are there? If they make up their minds and unite their strength.”
“That won’t happen.”
The knight cut off Herietta’s words in the middle and asserted.
“Because it will be difficult to find a family with plausible power among the surviving nobles.”
It was a heavy statement. Herietta jerked her head up to see the knight. Her eyes were filled with confidence, not even a hint of hesitation.
“What are you talking about?”
Herietta asked in a slightly urgent tone.
“It will be difficult to find a family with plausible power?”
Please no.
Her long eyelashes quivered. The knight, who was staring at her, said.
“We got rid of them too. All of them, including families with a title of Marquis or higher, as well as those with some degree of fame.”
“!”
“Judging from your expression, it seems that the news has not reached this far yet.”
The knight muttered with a surprised face. It was a case that was talked about a lot between them. Because of that, she naturally thought that the news would have spread widely here, even in Velicia.
‘Did they get rid of them?’
Herietta, who was staring blankly, slowly repeated the knight’s words.
‘All the families with a title of Marquis or higher?’
She blinked her eyes. She was so surprised that no sound came out at all. Thump. Her heart raced and her breathing quickened.
In the midst of that, something suddenly popped into her head. The reason she decided to die and wanted to live again. The reason why she was heading towards Brimdel, leaving behind Bernard who was holding her back.
“Then Shawn……. No, Duchy Rowani…… ?”
Herietta managed to hold onto her shattering reason and put the cursed name in her mouth.
“Rowani, what about Duchy Rowani? Who is that successor? What has become of him?”
“Rowani?”
The knight tilted her head slightly to the side and repeated the name quietly. It’s a name she was sure she had heard before somewhere. Her eyes narrowed as she searched through her memories.
“Yes. Come to think of it, there was a family with the same surname as that.”
The knight muttered, slowly closing and opening her eyes.
“Of course, they too.”
“!”
“Not a single person survived.”
Hearing the knight’s words, Herietta widened her eyes. It felt like the words had turned into a huge mace and struck her in the head.
‘Dead? Shawn, him?’
Shawn’s face, who was laughing at her and accusing her, came to mind. He always used his background as a weapon to oppress and threaten her.
‘He who trampled on my life and eventually ruined the lives of my family and my precious people, is really…… dead?’
“But……But why…… ?”
Herietta asked, stuttering her words. Her eyes went dark, and it felt as if the bottom of her feet had sunk.
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